Touring D.C. with No and D!

On the Tourmobile with the Fab No and her man D. Since I am way too much of a weenie to drive in D.C. I have figured out a way to grab the Tourmobile Bus at Arlington Cemetery so that we can all enjoy the sites of the city!
The first stop is always Lincoln. I can never resist collecting another shot from the steps.
I think that this is the first time that I've captured the wall of the memorial where the faces really give you that eery feeling.
Another Ode to Shan shot! I just loved the color of these bricks by the White House. I could see these on my patio giving you a feeling of great relaxation.

My visit with No and D was great. Hopefully we got them to everything that they wanted to see. Their trip also included Olde Town Alexandria and catching a movie at the old theatre in town as well. Hope you enjoyed your stay here No and D. See you again soon and don't forget the Lattes!

Have I mentioned I LOVE Orchids?

My cousin the fabulous No and her boyfriend D came to visit me for a whole week and while she was her we made a short stop over at the Botanical Gardens in D.C. I just love going there and seeing the orchids. They are my all time favorite. I just love looking at them as I contemplate how nature can create such variety in size shape and color.
The way the so elegantly bend in lovely shapes and lines of art.
The light that filters through them reminds me of Nevada where everything seemed exptic and new to me.
I always seem to crave Thai food after visiting the orchids. What is your favorite flower?

Rainy Mount Vernon Trip with a Good Friend!

Even on a rainy day you can find things to do. Sometimes it turns out not to be so wet after all. I had been to Mount Vernon before but didn't realize till this second trip that I had actually only seen half of the property. Yeah I know, how crasy is that? We (my fabulous friend Leah and I) toured the house this time and it was amazing, even though there was no photography allowed, poo poo.
We walked around in our raincoats among the intermitant drizzle. Can you belive some tourists arrived with no coat or umbrella? The property is beautiful with fruit orchards, gardens, and even some animals including these cows which are called Milking Derns. They are a beautiful rusty red color. They just look so majestic out in that pature.
George is laid to rest on the property, located on the side of the hill in the woods. It's very peaceful but I am thankful that I am not a famous person so that when I am finally laid to rest I can lay in peace and not have people stopping by to visit at all hours every day of the year. A woman needs her beauty rest!
The flower gardens are lovely even in the drizzle. The colors always amaze me. Being a person that can not seem to grow even the simplest of herbs, which The Bear calls my weeds, I really appreciate a good flower garden. I look on with envy knowing my wonderfully green thumbed gal E would be secretly snapping off clipping to add to her thriving collection of plants!
I wish the sun had come out for just a moment so that this shot would really have sung for you but this was as good as it was going to get that day. I just love this view. Hopefully someday I will have a little english garden area out my back patio to sit and sip tea among the flowers that I will obviously have to enlist a professional to grow for me! Cheers. Hope you enjoyed this little tour of Mount Vernon. If you ever have the chance you must go!

8 Lovely Married Years!

Today the Bear and I are celebrating 8 years of marriage. For those of you who may not know us that well, we have been together a lot longer than that. It all started when I was beginning first grade and we moved next door to this wonderful man and his family. Over the years I fell in love with his quiet manner, sexy saunter, and the way he always had cow manure on his boots! Finally when I was 17 we began dating and haven't looked back. So actually 8 years of marriage are nothing compared to the lifetime of friendship that we've had. He's the greatest! Here's to a life time of more over the moon happy years!

Happy anniversary my Cowboy!

UPDATE!

The Bear and I went out for dinner to celebrate and we chose The Peking Duck Inn. We enjoyed a lovely meal of Peking duck and Mai Tais! Neither one of us had ever had peking duck and it was lovely. They carve it at your table! What a wonderful meal.

Greatest Morning Ever!!

This little beauty was waiting for me when I woke up this morning! Don't you just love it when you wake up to something so wonderful and unexpected? You walk into the bathroom all groggy and through sleepy eyes as you mindlessly grab for the toothbrush you notice you can't see your face in the mirror. What's this? Aw, a little love note from the Bear. Doesn't matter what happens the rest of the day, after such a wonderful note nothing can go wrong. It's sunny and cool out today and all is right with the world. I have the world's greatest hubby.

I've got a Library of Congress library card do you?

When I heard my aunt wanted to come and see me for a weekend trip I just knew we had to go get library cards for the Library of Congress since after all she works at the library back home! How cool would that be I asked her? Well of course the idea was greeted with smiles. So we did our homework and found anyone over 18 can get a card. So off we went.

Once we found the little office where they dole out these little gems I stepped up to the counter only to be greeted by what at first seemed to be a cranky government worker type who promptly asked me "ARE YOU PLANNING ON DOING RESEARCH AND STARTING SAID RESEARCH TODAY? THESE CARDS ARE NOT FOR SOUVENIRS." Well the look on my face I'm sure was one of shock and suprise. I stated that I lived in Alexandria VA and that I had family in town with me. Well with that news her face loosened and she smiled and said "OH, YOU'RE LOCAL, WELL THAT'S A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR. COME ON IN AND LET'S GET YOU ALL CARDS" From then on she was jolly and oh so friendly. I'm sure her job gets frustrating with all the millions of people coming through everyday and all year round. Needless to say we are now proud owners of Reader Identification Cards for the Library of Congress. I can't wait to get my hands on some of those books!
This is a sneak peak view of the main reading room in the Library of Congress as seen through the window of a door. Since I didn't yet have my reader card I wasn't able to go in and take a pic so this one will have to do! What a beautiful building. And as one lovely and close pal said "It's Nerd heaven".

Visit with the Fam!

Here we are on the Metro on our way back to our apartment in VA after our afternoon in DC. I am collecting pictures of people that ride the metro with me. No, I did not cut off all my hair, it's just up for the day since it was so hot out!


Here are a few other pics from there weekend with us. Sculptures in the Torpedo Factory. For those of you who haven't been there with us, it's one of our favorite places to take people who like art.
Step outside the front doors of Union Station and look to your left and this is what you'll see. I just love the shapes and the light coming in.
A view of the capitol as we walk to the Library of Congress from Union Station. It looks so nice in the spring color and light. Too bad not much work actually gets done in there.

The Bear's Birthday Cabin Weekend!

The other weekend I rented a little cabin in the woods on the bank of the Shanandoah River for the weekend as a birthday present for the Bear. Since we work from home most days he never gets a chance to really relax and get away from work. We both love the quiet and simpler way of life so getting away for the weekend was wonderful. Our days were filled with fishing, canoeing, birdwatching and NO tv!!!

I woke up to a beautiful sunrise while the Bear slept in. I grabbed the fishing pole and tried my best to catch something before he woke up but I guess the fish were sleeping in as well.
Each evening we built a fire in the pit and I even roasted some marshmallows. It was lovely to listen to the crackel of the logs and the splashing of the jumping fish just a few feet away. I just know that there was a whopper living in there that we never did catch.
When we first arrived the Bear took my picture in my huge "Gone With the Wind" hat. I just love that hat. This is the same outfit I wore out on the canoe to go fishing. Just cause you're fishing doesn't mean you can't be fashionable!

Cherry Blossoms, Blue Bells and Easter Eggs, Oh My!

I haven't posted in some time but I have been taking pictures as the season gets underway. The leaves are out and everything is that fresh green that makes you hungry for a salad. The cherry blossoms came and made our world a wonderful pink color for about two full weeks before the storm came and blew them all away. The petals floated on the breeze and gathered along the streets and sidewalks in little pink petal drifts making you want to pick them up by the hand fulls and blow on them like fairy dust.

The bear and I took a stroll some time ago through the Bull Run park in Manassas on a trail called the bluebell trail and they were just starting to bloom. That's the bear in the background with his buffalo plaid jacket. What a beautiful day it was. The floor of the woods was carpeted in green with fresh little flowers everywhere.
I have talked about coloring eggs every year for as long as we have been married (8 years May 16th) but never got around to it. Finally this year I did it and the Bear was eager to help! We spent a lot of time figuring out how and what colors to use. The bear was so pleased with how they came iut that he insisted on me taking a picture before we ate them all! So here is your dose of color for the day, enjoy!

Ice Storm and Mail Art

A while back some of you back home in Ohio may have heard me talk about our crazy ice storm here in the beltway of DC. I thought that I would share a couple pictures from outside my apartment that night. Kind of interesting to look at. We have never had stand still bumper to bumper traffic stuck on our road like that before. It was stuck solid from 4:30pm till after 9pm that night. Poor commuters. Good thing I work from home!
They shut down the entire highway system right at rush hour due to the ice. Nice move DC.
Here are a couple pictures that I found pretty. I tend to send out postcards and letters in bunches and I liked the look of all the colors and patterns so before I popped them in the mail I took a few pics. You may see one that was sent to you in this pile!
Nothing says I love you like a hand written letter or postcard. It's not hard. In this day of e-mail it is even more important to reach out with pen and papaer to let a loved one know they are worth a moment of you time plus a stamp. Give it a try, you'll be suprised at the smiles and love that comes back your way.

All Boston Terrier Puppy Party, Yay! Or so I thought.

Most of you who know Beanie, know that she totally and completely thinks that she is human and resents any attempt to make her socialize with those things called "dogs". We have attempted several times to take her to the dog park to make some friends but that just results in tremorous shaking and very very large amounts of shoe-string drool that even Houch would be jealous of. The passed Sunday I took Beanie to a group of all Boston Terriers hoping that by being surrounded by all dogs that looked like her and who are all in her size range she would atleast make one friend. No such luck.
As you can see in the picture above there is not little 10 pound runt with a sweater any where near the fun.
She can be spotted in this photo doing what she does best, only being interested in dogs that aren't facing her. She likes them until they turn around to look at her then she runs to my feet and attempts to hide. She did venture away from me a few times only to get scared and run off on her own in a corner of the yard all by herself to sit and shake. Thankfully though it did go much better than the regular dog park with only a small amount of shoe-string drool this time.
After about 45 minutes she hid behind my feet as you can see and snapped at any dog that even came by to sniff noses. That was the sure sign of a tired pup that just wanted to go back home to the safety of her father's arms. I scooped her up and we made the journey home so that she could once again be with her people and not have to deal with what she thinks of as those things that don't speak her language. Hopefully next month she will make one friend. We'll see.

A package only a mother could send!!!!!

My mother despite having a very very busy schedule found time to take a half a day to create the most wonderful, thinking of you/pick me up package. As most of you know, my nickname sice childhood has been "Bean". Needless to say as a child I hated that name since when I was being rotten my mother would call me weanie bean and that really sent me into a tizzy. Well within the last few years I have really grown fond of this name and have embraced it with wild abandon. I sign packages and letters with a Bee shaped stamp and the letter N to create Bean! With that in mind my loving mother created a Bee themed package to brighten my day and it worked so well it brought tears to my eyes.
The package contains many different kinds of NUMI tea which my mother and I had been talking about. The pill bottle contains the most beautiful real bumble bee (no longer living of course) that may show up in a sketch or two later so look for that. The box on the right contains two bee pins that my mother found at an antique mall and instantly thought of me. I love them.
What is not shown here is what was contained on the bottom of the package which were typed pages of information on bees and some lovely drawing of different bees on special handmade paper. I will have to photograph these and post them later. All in all this package was asembled with such love and care right down to the sen envelope holding the tea and the hand stamped labels. What a gift!
I proudly wore one of the bee pins to Sunday Brunch that weekend. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!!

Love, Bean

Our Celebrity Friend! The Colbert Portrait Adventure...

For those of you who join us in the love for The Colbert Report you may be jealous to know that the famous portrait is visiting us in DC!!! If you are a fan then you are aware that the portrait is currently enjoying a limited visit in the National Portrait Gallery. Brian and I decided to take the metro to Chinatown and visit Stephen in his temporary home! When you walk into the museum the gaurd looks inside any bags that you may be carrying and when he was done looking through my suitcase of a purse he looked up at me and asked if I was there to see Stephen and proceeded to point us in the right direction which for those of you who haven't heard is the second floor bathroom! Yep, that's right he's in the bathroom. When you walk down the hall you will encounter a group of people gathered to take a peak of Stephen who is above the drinking fountains outside the doors to the restrooms.

How could we even think of going and not taking a picture? So much fun!
I, Rachel Mohler have art in the National Portrait Gallery in DC!!!! If you go room E251 and view the visitor's log you will find a sketch of mine. How cool is that?
Here is my quick pen sketch of the arrangement on the table behind the visitor's log.
Here's the inspiration for my wonderfully beautiful NPG sketch!