A girl without a State

This morning I had to relinquish my UT residency. To register my car here, I had to become a DC resident. A little part of me died when I watched my UT drivers licence get put through the shredder. I just gave up my right to vote for a Senator, discounted ski passes, and proof that I used to have long hair.

Tool Time with Destiny

A few days ago the knob on out dryer came off, and it was difficult to turn on with only a small plastic piece sticking out to turn. Last night when I got home, Callie told me that the plastic thing fell into the hole on the dryer and in an effort to get it out, another roomie took a bobby pin to try to fish it out. When metal is stuck into an electrical appliance sparks fly. Callie saw this happening, a mini-fireworks display, and said "don't touch it, Destiny will fix it when she gets home." (A moment of laughter)

Well, when I got home, I did fix it. I pulled out my handy allen wrench, unplugged the dryer, took the panel off the dryer, and fixed the knob. If the lobbying world doesn't work out, maybe I could get a job as a fix it person...

Wait a minute! I work at the bike shop tonight. How convenient.

Wait for it, wait for it....

Do you ever think about what would have happened if I had done this instead? I am sure that there are many who think about "what might have been." But I am talking about how different (for good or bad) life would be, if.... Sometimes this ends in fits of laughter, or "wow, I am glad that didn't happen," sometimes you just wonder....

I try not to focus on the past, and I can't think of a decision (for better or worse) I regret. I have learned from most, winced at some, and been very pleased at others. I feel like these most of these decisions have been inspired; the pawn that I am has been moved in places I didn't know existed.


I wonder how many times in life, we have the chance to take a leap, off of some tall cliff, into the vast unknown. Do we do it? Or do we hold back? I mean, the jump could teach us to fly, but the fall could leave us bruised, scraped, battered and broken. Is it a 50/50 chance?


Most of the time these descisions, like so many other things in life, are (unfortunately) not black and white. You worry about the outcome, what will happen. Sometimes I wonder if we are so worried about the potential distress the outcome could have, we make a hasty decision to back away from the ledge and walk away, safely. Other times I wonder if we take the leap not thinking about the potential distress and we are injured more severely than imagined.


Therein lies the predicament we face. How in the world do we make these descisions to ensure the best possible outcome?

I firmly believe in the power of prayer and the power of revelation, but I also believe we were given brains and we have to figure it out, and then patiently wait. The waiting game is generally the hardest. It seems unending. But it will. Everything will be okay.

For all those waiting... It will come, and it will be better than expected.

Philadelphia: the city of Brotherly Love, Bubble Gum and Cheese Steaks

Last weekend Laura and her roomie Ashley paid a little visit to DC. I figured there was no better time to break in the car for its initial road trip and see a new city, so my roomie Callie, Laura, Ashley and I decided to take a road trip to Philly. We met up with Jenny, her sis, Tom and Tom. It was great to be a tourist, getting lost, pulling out the map, and asking for directions. All of the things locals roll their eyes at, we did, and it was great!

We rolled into Philly Saturday morning and hit off our trip with a brunch at this great little cafe. After that, we headed over to see the Libery Bell. For some reason, I have wanted to see the bell for a long time, and it didn't dissappoint. It is large, cracked, inscribed, everything I had hoped for. We also got to brush up on our history of the Bell, which sadly was much needed. Then we walked around Liberty Square. Inside independence hall is where men risked their lives for this country. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed there. Philly also houses the first Supreme court Building.

After that, we made our way over to the "Rocky Steps," but not before picking up a sweet Rocky Shirt to comemmorate the experience. I do find it funny that there is a large statue of a fictional character near the steps, but those Rocky movies were huge....

No trip to Philly would be complete without a Philly Cheese Steak, so we went to Jim's to indulge. Jim's did not disappoint. The Cheese Steak was great all smothered in cheese whiz, yummy. We also learned that Bubble Gum was invented in Philadelphia, random.

The trip was great, and we were also very grateful to Tom for sharing with us his Mariott discount. We stayed downtown which was great and rolled out Sunday morning. While I really enjoyed Philadelphia, I think DC is a better place to live. I have a friend who calls it "Filth-adelphia," which isn't too far off. That place is way dirtier than DC. It was nice to get back to the District.

YAY YAY YAY!!!

This weekend was fabulous! FABULOUS!!

I woke up Saturday morning to the carpet guys waiting outside my house. I hurredly opened the door, showed them my room and they got right to work. They laid the carpet and even vacummed up afterwards in about an hour, leaving beautiful NEW carpet! My room was ready to move into, and that I did. Here are a few photos which don't do it justice, but my room really is beautiful. Two brick walls and two wood walls make for a really unique and fabulous space. My furniture from my old house looks great and I am so happy I bought it, and I adore my queen sized bed! The photos don't do it justice but....

I also picked up my car! A 2003 Toyota Corolla. I really really like it! I feel so good about the purchase! I cannot wait to be able to drive my groceries home from the store, go outside of the metro area, drive to church and not have to take the bus.... It will be beautiful! I think my friends, from whom I have been getting rides from for 9 months, will be equally excited.

An adventure outside the beltway

Last night a friends who has access to an outdoors camp invited me and a few friends to go play there. The camp, Cavella, is fabulous! We started off the evening a little late, so it was getting dark, but that didn't stop us from going zip lining. This was my first experience doing this, and it was so fun. There is such a rush zipping through the trees in the dark wondering when and if you are going to stop. Great fun!!

After this, we were just getting warmed up, so we grabbed a canoe, and paddled the Potomac to a nearby island to float the rapids in life jackets. We canoed to where we thought was a good drop off location, and jumped in. The water was so warm, and floating was an adventure since it was around midnight and the moon was covered by clouds. We felt a little Navy Seal-ish, paddling through swamps. Whilst floating, Dave saw some people camping, it turned out he knew them from the camp, so we sat around their fire and they were kind enough to share some fresh peach cobbler they had just made. We also walked around the island and saw a tree house built by the camp.

The last part of the adventure was when we had to walk back to the canoe through the woods. We couldn't see anything, including the person in front of us or the path we were supposed to be following, but we made our way back to the canoe and paddled back to the car.

That was one of the best nights I have had in DC. I couldn't stop laughing at the guys I was with and the activities were awesome!! I have been longing for Montana lately, since I am rarely one with nature anymore. Last night gave me a little fill of my old outdoor lifestyle. I am now determined to find more adventures outside of the District.

Fed Ex has it Right.

So I moved from my house two and a half weeks ago. RR and CK have been kind enough to let me bunk at their houses while I wait for my room to be ready. My room was supposed to be re-carpeted and ready for me on July 3, at the latest. Well, here I sit, no carpet in sight for about a week. My things are now all at the house, bed on the dining room floor, clothes in my dresser in the storage room, just waiting.... I finally asked the landlord if I could just move in and forsake the new carpet. He said that wouldn't be good, it is on back order and I should just wait it out. Well, here I wait, on the dining room floor.

In other waiting news, I am buying the car. A 2003 Toyota Corolla. I am super excited, and I thought it would all be nailed down by the end of the week. Well, apparently this was wishful thinking. First off, the lady I am buying it from has a lien on the car. This means she has to pay off the car, and then it takes somewhere around 10 days to release the title so I can register it in my name. 10 DAYS! Then, to make matters better, the woman I am buying it from is out of town all next week.

It looks like I will have a bedroom around the same time I have a car. In February.