I'm HOME!!!

What a wonderful trip we had "in our nation's capital". Really though, have you ever been there? To see such rich history, treasures, art, life, culture all in one place is quite the journey and adventure. My mom and I took Big T to her conference and then enjoyed the city life. Including a trek on the city's Metro into the heart of DC to view the National Gallery of Art. I love, love, love Monet, Cassat, Renior, and all the impressionists from that era. That was a highlight viewing those original paintings. (and not the posters that hung in my college dorm rooms through the years)

The main objective on this trip was Christmas shopping and making a huge dent in the long list I have every year. We give each of our children THREE gifts to open because this is to honor the amount of gifts Jesus received when we was born. That is automatically 33 gifts!! Not to mention every Christmas Eve we have a tradition that all the kids receive matching PJs to open and wear home from their Nana's house, then politely hop into bed to await Christmas morning. That's another 11 gifts. ( a total of 44 to wrap so far) All that have being said, that's a lot of shopping, not to mention what I might need to pick up to help Santa out!!! Whew.

Needless to say, we shopped a little each day til we dropped. God gave us a little present by presenting the 5th largest shopping mall in America across from our hotel. Now, I did not choose this hotel, it chose me, you see, it was the closet hotel to Big T where I could receive 5 free nights from reward points. The mall just happened to be right THERE across the street. It boasted 4 flagship stores, including 3 levels of 200 other stores, restaurants, movie theatre, and even a spa. What else does a girl need on a week off? We had a blast and luckily there was a shipping store right across from the mall, so everything should return to me this week. ( all to the tune of $75 in shipping costs) I figured up with all the things I usually order online, I am saving in the long run if not spending the same.

We also spent the day with some friends from our town whose son happened to be attending the same conference as Big T. We enjoyed a trek down to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home. I will post about it another day. I still have too many emotions about all I saw there.

J is very protective of our newly purchased $800 camera, so I am sad to say I have no photos to show you of my adventures, rather just use your imagination and imagine my mom and I standing on the mall looking up at the Washington Monument. I will never forget this special trip. ( and of course the one man that made it possible here at home!!)