Liebster Award

So my very sweet (and talented) cousin nominated me for the Liebster award.  I feel flattered that she would think to add me to her little list of nominees.  I figured I might as well participate!  You can find her blog Brighter Things here.  She is a fantastic writer and has the most adorable little girl.  She will make you smile, guaranteed. 

So the rules go as follows: Give 11 facts about myself, answer 11 questions from Kelsey and then nominate 11 people (we will see if I get to that part).  Here goes...

11 Facts about Me: 

1.  I almost always have my nails painted.  It's a habit I've had since I can't remember when.  I also      can't let my nails grow long, I have to keep them short or they drive me bonkers. 

2.   I was the only child in my family (of four children) who wasn't named after a family member. 

3.  I LOVE the smell of grapefruit candles. It smells so fresh and clean! 

4.  My least favorite chore is moping the kitchen floor.  This is in part because I am so anal about it that I won't buy a swiffer, I have to do it the old fashioned way- hands and knees.  How's that for a contradiction? 

5.  I am afraid of deep water and will not jump off a diving board.  I will happily wade in a pool, but only if I can touch the bottom.  This stems from experiences as a child. 

6.  Before I was married I always told myself I would never marry someone younger than me OR someone in the military.  I totally jinxed myself on that one, and am glad I did :) 

7.  I love taking small day trips to different places around my home.  One of my favorite things has been to explore the places I live. 

8.  I really don't like dressing up for Halloween. 

9.  I love cheesy shows.  Disney Channel anyone?  Good Luck Charlie?  I find them awkwardly entertaining, but mostly they are clean and I really like that! 

10.  I really dislike feet.  As I've grown older I am not so outspoken about it, but I prefer not to be near other peoples feet (besides my children). 

11.  I am a rule follower and am uncomfortable breaking rules (the ones that really count anyway).  I like to be scheduled and am not usually very spontaneous (except occasionally when I buy something).  My life just runs more smoothly if I can plan things.  

Kelsey's Questions: 

1.  (Required) Why did you start blogging?  My blog has always been about sharing our lives with family and friends who live far away or who we haven't seen in a long time.  Being in the Army kept us far from family for most of our marriage (and now Grad School).  It's a great opportunity for me to journal our adventures and share them with our loved ones. 

2. Where is your favorite place to go?  This question is hard for me.  As I said before I love to explore my surroundings.  I love to take my kids along for the ride.  I also just love to be at home.  Some days it is just so nice to not go anywhere or do anything.  I find that I am happy almost anyplace I  go.  But if I could choose to be one place right now it would be Disney Land!  

3. What's your most favorite time of year?  This is also a difficult question. I will say that toward the end of winter (Feb/March) is not really my ideal time of year.  I love the holidays - Thanksgiving and Christmas, but also LOVE spring and summer time.  I am not even sure if that was a real answer, ha! 

4. If you could go any place in the world, where would you go?  Europe.  I haven't been and I desperately want to go. 

5. Where do you like to shop? Most of my shopping is at the grocery store or Target.  It honestly depends on what I am looking for but some of my favorite stores are - Costco (especially when they have samples), Nordstrom, Outlet Malls or anyplace I can find fun things for my kids :) 

6. Who is your favorite Artist? I could probably use a little more of a humanity lesson before I answer this, ha! I do appreciate good art though (not just splats on a canvas).  I like art that says something, that creates a feeling.  One of my favorite pieces of art is one that my Aunt introduced to me - Song of the Lark by Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton

7. What do you do for family time with your family? I love family time!  Things we enjoy doing are - taking the train downtown and walking around, taking day trips, going out to eat, having a picnic and a movie in our living room, dancing around to music our kids love and just being together.  

8. What make-up item(s) could you not live without?  This is easy for me - moisturizer, mascara and chap stick. 

9. How do you like to style your hair? I never go crazy with my hair (see number 11 on facts about me).  Usually my hair is down, parted down the middle with a wavy curl.  Very predictable! 

10. What is one of your favorite memories? Picking just one is almost impossible!  One that comes to mind though is how my older brother and I (and even some of our cousins) would lip sync and dance to our favorite music.  Some dances we came up with were to the songs of 2Legit2Quit by MC Hammer (my brother would be the lead and we would be his backup) and also Michael Jackson's song Black or White.  We had a whole routine for that one.  It was, honestly, the most amazing thing ever. We also loved the song Kokomo by the Beach Boys.  I could go on, we were so cool. 

There you have it friends.  A lot more than you ever wanted to know about yours truly!  So if you are looking for someone to go bungee jumping with make sure you plan a month (or more) in advance.  Also, you know you won't be calling me if you want to go skinny dipping in the ocean.  It probably wouldn't ever happen. 

xo to you all.

Meliss

   

Spring Break 2013: Washington D.C.

Spring break.  Don't you just love spring break?   We honestly haven't really experienced spring break since before Andy and I were married.  The military doesn't really have spring break.  Having a week off from life's routines was nice.  We decided to go down to Maryland to visit Andy's brother, Corey and his family.  It was a perfect chance to see the D.C. sights and also visit a little town in VA where we will be spending our summer!

Our first weekday there we drove over to VA to visit Bechtel, where Andy will be working for the summer (about an hour drive, w/o traffic, from Andy's brothers house).  I am really looking forward to living so close to DC and am excited to explore the area.  Andy met with the Bechtel for a few hours that day, while the kids and it just tried to have fun and kill some time.  We hit up the local Target, drove around the shopping center and had some frozen yogurt.  It would have been a little easier to explore had it not been pouring rain.  We made the most of it though!

The following day we just spent some time around the house, went to the outlet mall and even did a little indoor s'more cookout.  The kids really loved cooking the s'mores but I think the parents enjoyed eating them.  My kids ended up just eating marshmallows and chocolate.

Here are the kiddies patiently waiting for the s'more fun to begin!  Noah and Clare and Brooklyn played so well together.  So well, in fact, that I am sure the neighbors below them were probably happy when we left! 

On Wednesday we planned our little day trip to D.C.  This was my first time to D.C. and I was really looking forward to the trip.  We started out, and pretty much spent the day, exploring the National Mall.  I honestly can't wait to go back and see more.  This will definitely be another fun place to take our family and friends who decide to come visit :) 

The cherry blossoms were starting to bud but hadn't bloomed yet.  I am sure we only missed them by a few days or a week.  Hopefully one day I will be able to see them in full bloom!  

There are so many museums in this area and almost all of them are free!  As I said before, my kids love the museum.  This will be a perfect place to go on long summer days. 

Our first real stop on the National Mall was the Museum of Natural History.  This museum is incredible.  So big, and admission is free!  The kids (Noah especially) loved every minute. 

We saw fossils of dinosaurs and all sorts of prehistoric animals.  

I always look at these things and think of how incredible it is to imagine that they even existed on the earth.  It makes me even more grateful that I live on the earth at the time I do.  I wouldn't have wanted to come face to face with one of these guys! 

The favorite part of the museum was definitely the Ocean exhibits.  Anyone who knows Noah, knows how much he loves sharks!  It is his new obsession and he was so excited at the idea that he might get to see one.  

There obviously weren't any living sharks, but they did have a really neat aquarium and we had fun looking at the fish.  Noah loved that they all looked like fish from the movie Finding Nemo.

Oh our way out we found this little hammerhead (Noah's favorite shark) in a display case.  He was a tiny little guy but Noah was SO excited that he got to see a shark.  It made his whole day. 

Last stop in the museum was the mammal exhibit.  Kids love the mammals...tigers and lions and bears, oh my! 

Whew.  Not even half done yet, friends. 

Next stop was a little walk over to the National Aquarium.  I didn't even take pictures because the place had such awful reviews and we didn't even pay to go in.  We were mostly looking for a gift shop and a place to buy Noah some toy sharks, which we did. 

D.C. was such a clean city and it was so fun to walk around.  I felt like it would definitely a place I would be comfortable taking my kids during the week and I look forward to that.  Andy and I joked about how I looked like a total tourist with my backpack and camera.  I embraced it and had a blast.

On our way out of the Aquarium we stopped at this little place called the White House, ever heard of it?  

Next up, and my personal favorite, was the Lincoln Memorial.  I have always wanted to visit this place and was certainly not disappointed!  What an incredible place and a very special experience for me. 

I honestly can't wait to go back.  I want to sit on the steps and have a picnic in the summer :)  I want to go back and learn more about this place and its history.  When I see places like these it makes me so grateful to be an American. 

Looking out of the Lincoln memorial, the view of the Washington Monument and the Capital are really beautiful.  

Lastly, we stopped by the Korean war Memorial.  The day, overall, was a fantastic day for me and I was so glad to be able to see so much.   

If you haven't been to the east coast, I would highly encourage a visit.  There is so much history here and so much to see.  I am never bored.  I am so grateful to live in such an amazing country and grateful to be sharing this adventure with my little family.  

Boston Museum of Science

There are many things I love about being near a big city, and one of them is that there is ALWAYS something to do.  I can choose to stay in my cozy little apartment on a snowy day, or I can go someplace.  I love having choices!  

This winter has been far worse for Boston than last year (or so I've been told).  We have and an ample amount of snow and cold weather.  To say I am ready for spring would be an understatement.  Less that a week before spring break started we had another 'snow storm' and were worried we would have to miss our fun field trip to the Museum of Science.   Thankfully the drive there was pretty painless and we got to enjoy a little indoor fun on a crummy day!  It was perfect (and my kids LOVE the museum).

The Boston Museum of Science is HUGE.  It will definitely take us multiple trips to see it all.  We saw the important things though.  Indoor playground, Dinosaurs and the Discovery center.  They have so much to see there, I will need to make more of a game plan for next time.  

 One of the great parts about museums here in Boston are the library passes.  If you hold a library card you can reserve FREE museum passes for you and 3 other people.  It's a great, and cheap way to see the museums in the area!  Especially since most of the admissions for these museums is $20+ per person.

Noah and his buddy Jackson, exploring the space shuttle.  I think they would have camped out on those  two beds if I would have let them! 

We later visited the Discovery Center, which is geared toward younger kids.  Noah liked the snake most of all (heaven help me) and they had fun just running around and getting some energy out! 

 

After some lunch at the museum Cafe we had to visit one last place before we left for home: the Dinosaurs!  It was a great way to end our visit.  

I hope all of our family and friends who plan to come visit are taking a lot of notes!  We have a lot to see!