(no subject)
Sadly, I'm back in Michigan after a fun-filled weekend in the nation's capitol. It was such a whirlwind experience that I can't wait to go back and see more of the sights and sounds that is DC.
Friday morning I took an early flight in. Matt picked me up from DCA and we went downtown to meet up with my friend, Madeline, for lunch. We ate at a specialty restaurant called Chop't. It's a gourmet salad place and it was fabulous. As much as Matt complained about it, he later admitted that the salad was quite good. It was so nice to finally meet Madeline face to face. She's such a sweetie. After lunch, Matt and I went over to the National Mall to see some of the touristy sights. From the center I was able to get a picture of the Capitol Building without actually having to walk to it. On my other side was the Washington Monument. We took a stroll over by the White House. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama did not make an appearance, but I still have a picture none the less. We were going to head over to the Lincoln Memorial and see some of the War Monuments but by this time I was quite honestly exhausted. I was running on 2 hours of sleep and there was just no way I could have made the walk there and back; not to mention it was freezing and I, like an idiot, had opted not to bring my coat with me. It's not like I'm never going back right?
The trusty Monte Carlo allowed me to travel in warmth and comfort with Matthew to meet his Uncle Leonard. The whole reason I actually went to DC this weekend was because my future father in law was going down to visit Leonard. They live in Maryland which was oh about a half hour or so from where we were. Leonard reminds me a lot of my dad actually. It made me smile. We went out to dinner with them at this Italian Place (Bertucci's?) in a pretty nice mall. As much as I love hanging out with them, I was eager to get away and be alone with Matt and go to sleep. Before we went to the hotel we had for the night, though, we stopped by Matt's office to see about getting me a later flight on Sunday. My original one was looking rather bleak. I got to see his desk and meet his roommate. It was kind of cool.
Saturday we got up fairly early to go apartment hunting. Since my potential job at Douglas J didn't pan out, I'm fully intending on moving to DC after the wedding. We went to several places, each having their own charm and hidden potential, but I think much to Matt's dismay, there was one in particlar that caught my eye and held my attention through the rest of the day's tours. It was a newer property nestled in a wooded area in Fairfax. It had the most gorgeous kitchen I had ever seen in an apartment... I'm talking stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, built ins... My dream. Matt said my eyes got huge when I walked in that place and I don't doubt that they did. This is definitely my first choice. The last place we looked at too was also fairly nice. It had a lot of counter space in the kitchen which is probably more important to me than the other luxuries. Of course, no one knows their availability for June yet, so we have some time to think about it before signing a lease anywhere.
Once that was finished, we headed over to Tyson's Corner to meet Toby, Lydia, and Hillary for lunch at Gordon Biersch. Lyds wasn't lying when she said they had the best garlicky garlic fries ever. The food was amazing and the company even better. This weekend was my first of hopefully many SO get togethers. It's so nice to put faces with screennames of girls I've grown rather fond of over the past year. We made a stop at the Cheesecake Factory to indulge in a slice, then headed up to Crystal City to meet with the Yonkes. The four of us (plus a friend of the Yonke's) had the pleasure of watching the DC Wizards win their 9th game of the season that night. It was my first NBA game and it was pretty cool. It probably would've been a different experience had it been a good team, like say the Pistons, but I still had fun. Afterwards we crammed ourselves into a tiny Irish Pub in Chinatown of all places to hang out and get a beer. I still don't really get the appeal of going out to the bar, but we were there and rarely will I turn down a beer so what the hey. We took the Metro back to the Yonke's and hung out for another hour or so before we made our way back to Matt's apartment.
Matt literally brought me to tears on our drive back to Manassas. Every so often I wonder how I can love him so much and trust him so wholly with my life, my heart... and it's through no fault of his own that I wonder this. It's just my nature I guess. I don't trust easily. I don't let my guard down and give myself completely to those around me... but from the first moment I met him he had some sort of power over me. I never doubted his intentions and sometimes that still scares me. To be in a relationship is to ultimately be completely vulnerable to your mate. That kind of trust is just amazing. And every so often he'll say or do something that reassures me that I have not been foolish with my heart and trust. He told me about a conversation that had gone on in his office a few days before. One of his coworker's marriage is falling apart and is ending. This guy is completely devastated over the situation and that got to Matt. You see, he believes in "man law" and that guys don't show sensitivity to other males. I guess they were talking about how the airline industry is hard on relationships and it starts to wear on them and a lot of people in the industry are on their third and fourth marriages because of it. This conversation frightened him and he told me that he would quit his job, give up a career in the field he loves, before he'd let it come between us. He loves me too much to let that happen. I'm not sure he can ever understand what such a simple statement meant to me in that moment. It's amazing to know that he is willing to fight for us, to do whatever it takes to keep us together. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing man in my life, and I hope he knows that I, too, will do whatever it takes for us to be happy and healthy together forever...
Leaving him today was difficult. I tried to come up with an excuse to stay with him. Now he knows how I feel when I leave him at the airport. It's an awful feeling to sit there and watch your love walk away. I'm sitting in the living room of my townhouse now all alone. My parents are bringing Reagan home tomorrow and life will resume as normal for now. I had a great time this weekend and I'm so glad I went, despite my less than stellar flights. Although, I think I blame the plane more than the pilots, since both of my scary landings were on CRJ 900's.
I suppose I don't have much else to add for now... no wedding news or anything. Back to business as usual. G*night
Friday morning I took an early flight in. Matt picked me up from DCA and we went downtown to meet up with my friend, Madeline, for lunch. We ate at a specialty restaurant called Chop't. It's a gourmet salad place and it was fabulous. As much as Matt complained about it, he later admitted that the salad was quite good. It was so nice to finally meet Madeline face to face. She's such a sweetie. After lunch, Matt and I went over to the National Mall to see some of the touristy sights. From the center I was able to get a picture of the Capitol Building without actually having to walk to it. On my other side was the Washington Monument. We took a stroll over by the White House. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama did not make an appearance, but I still have a picture none the less. We were going to head over to the Lincoln Memorial and see some of the War Monuments but by this time I was quite honestly exhausted. I was running on 2 hours of sleep and there was just no way I could have made the walk there and back; not to mention it was freezing and I, like an idiot, had opted not to bring my coat with me. It's not like I'm never going back right?
The trusty Monte Carlo allowed me to travel in warmth and comfort with Matthew to meet his Uncle Leonard. The whole reason I actually went to DC this weekend was because my future father in law was going down to visit Leonard. They live in Maryland which was oh about a half hour or so from where we were. Leonard reminds me a lot of my dad actually. It made me smile. We went out to dinner with them at this Italian Place (Bertucci's?) in a pretty nice mall. As much as I love hanging out with them, I was eager to get away and be alone with Matt and go to sleep. Before we went to the hotel we had for the night, though, we stopped by Matt's office to see about getting me a later flight on Sunday. My original one was looking rather bleak. I got to see his desk and meet his roommate. It was kind of cool.
Saturday we got up fairly early to go apartment hunting. Since my potential job at Douglas J didn't pan out, I'm fully intending on moving to DC after the wedding. We went to several places, each having their own charm and hidden potential, but I think much to Matt's dismay, there was one in particlar that caught my eye and held my attention through the rest of the day's tours. It was a newer property nestled in a wooded area in Fairfax. It had the most gorgeous kitchen I had ever seen in an apartment... I'm talking stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, built ins... My dream. Matt said my eyes got huge when I walked in that place and I don't doubt that they did. This is definitely my first choice. The last place we looked at too was also fairly nice. It had a lot of counter space in the kitchen which is probably more important to me than the other luxuries. Of course, no one knows their availability for June yet, so we have some time to think about it before signing a lease anywhere.
Once that was finished, we headed over to Tyson's Corner to meet Toby, Lydia, and Hillary for lunch at Gordon Biersch. Lyds wasn't lying when she said they had the best garlicky garlic fries ever. The food was amazing and the company even better. This weekend was my first of hopefully many SO get togethers. It's so nice to put faces with screennames of girls I've grown rather fond of over the past year. We made a stop at the Cheesecake Factory to indulge in a slice, then headed up to Crystal City to meet with the Yonkes. The four of us (plus a friend of the Yonke's) had the pleasure of watching the DC Wizards win their 9th game of the season that night. It was my first NBA game and it was pretty cool. It probably would've been a different experience had it been a good team, like say the Pistons, but I still had fun. Afterwards we crammed ourselves into a tiny Irish Pub in Chinatown of all places to hang out and get a beer. I still don't really get the appeal of going out to the bar, but we were there and rarely will I turn down a beer so what the hey. We took the Metro back to the Yonke's and hung out for another hour or so before we made our way back to Matt's apartment.
Matt literally brought me to tears on our drive back to Manassas. Every so often I wonder how I can love him so much and trust him so wholly with my life, my heart... and it's through no fault of his own that I wonder this. It's just my nature I guess. I don't trust easily. I don't let my guard down and give myself completely to those around me... but from the first moment I met him he had some sort of power over me. I never doubted his intentions and sometimes that still scares me. To be in a relationship is to ultimately be completely vulnerable to your mate. That kind of trust is just amazing. And every so often he'll say or do something that reassures me that I have not been foolish with my heart and trust. He told me about a conversation that had gone on in his office a few days before. One of his coworker's marriage is falling apart and is ending. This guy is completely devastated over the situation and that got to Matt. You see, he believes in "man law" and that guys don't show sensitivity to other males. I guess they were talking about how the airline industry is hard on relationships and it starts to wear on them and a lot of people in the industry are on their third and fourth marriages because of it. This conversation frightened him and he told me that he would quit his job, give up a career in the field he loves, before he'd let it come between us. He loves me too much to let that happen. I'm not sure he can ever understand what such a simple statement meant to me in that moment. It's amazing to know that he is willing to fight for us, to do whatever it takes to keep us together. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing man in my life, and I hope he knows that I, too, will do whatever it takes for us to be happy and healthy together forever...
Leaving him today was difficult. I tried to come up with an excuse to stay with him. Now he knows how I feel when I leave him at the airport. It's an awful feeling to sit there and watch your love walk away. I'm sitting in the living room of my townhouse now all alone. My parents are bringing Reagan home tomorrow and life will resume as normal for now. I had a great time this weekend and I'm so glad I went, despite my less than stellar flights. Although, I think I blame the plane more than the pilots, since both of my scary landings were on CRJ 900's.
I suppose I don't have much else to add for now... no wedding news or anything. Back to business as usual. G*night