Here are some photos of the aftermath of snOwMG 2009!


A view from my window.



Someone built an alligator in my front yard!


It was over 17 inches.

This house looked really nice - looks like a postcard!


Stanton Park...



The blizzard was exciting but I'm ready for it to melt. It's hard to walk around in!

Washington, D.C. Blizzard 2009! I decided to go for a walk in the freezing snow. I had fun and snapped some pictures.

Another year, another White House Holiday Tour. After another HUGE fail on the part of the Social Secretary and Secret Service staffs (apparently a whole bunch of us weren't on "the list"), we were finally let in to a huge disappointment. To be brief, Bush did it better. Photos below:


This was a unique idea but it was poorly executed. It wasn't clear if this was a "write your own wish and stick it in the tree" or if it was a "send the Obama's good wishes" or something totally different. It was the first thing you saw when you walked in and it set the tone for the tour.


This pine cone topiary must have been a Sasha and Malia elementary school project. It fit the theme, which I guessed was a "natural" theme because everything was a little too wood-sy for me.


This is the official Christmas tree in the blue room. Same old idea - an ornament representing each state. Snooze.


Snooze. Overall the House was not as opulent or extravagant as the Bush's. If this was done intentionally (because, you know, we are in a recession) then whatever, but I somehow suspect that this was just because of a lack of effort on the Obama's part.


"Gingerbread" house. Bo is at the entrance - can't really see him but he's that little black blob. Cute.

My favorite portrait. The Bush Administration always took this portrait down and put a big tree in its place but I'm glad that the Obamas decided to keep it hanging.

Happy Holidays!

I recently took a trip to West Virginia. It was a great visit - the leaves were just turning colors so it was quite beautiful.


When there was free time, we went on a hike in the local state park.


This is a view from the porch of my room at the guest house. The sunset every night was gorgeous.


This is another view of the guesthouse but in the daytime.


This is another shot from our hike.

I had a great trip!

I was on the metro today when two older gentlemen walked in - one white and one Indian (from India). They were both probably late 60s, maybe 70s. All of the seats were taken so they stood. One white gentleman who was sitting down in a disability seat stood and pointed at the older white gentleman and asked if he wanted to sit down. The older white gentleman said, "no thanks" so the younger white gentleman sat back down. The younger white gentleman didn't bother asking the Indian man if he wanted to sit.

Why?

I love my job. I've had the opportunity to do some pretty amazing things. I just returned from a trip to an aircraft carrier while it was at sea. I was flown to and off an aircraft carrier and witnessed carrier operations for several hours. Photos below:

The folks on the USS Harry Truman (CVN-75) hosted us. This is a shot of the tower while we were watching landings on the flight deck.


This is an F-18 waiting for take off.


And there it goes!


We also watched plans land. I forgot what kind of a plane this was - maybe a Hawkeye? It's about to land.


And there it goes! If you look closely you can see that it caught the first arresting gear wire.


This is a shot of the back of the carrier from the Captain's chair.

Overall it was a worthwhile trip. I learned a lot about aircraft carrier operations, especially it's power system. If you ever have a chance to do something like this - DO IT!

Alright! I'm back! Photos from Paris:












My camera died on day 6 of 9 so I don't have pictures of Place de Voges or Versailles but we basically hit up every major tourist destination. Luckily my sister had her camera so the final days in Paris were documented.

Had a great time - thanks to my family for housing us!