Ansel Then & Now

New Mexico is beautiful. The landscapes are really really gorgeous and I've loved getting to go the Georgia O'Keefe museum and to also learn about Ansel Adams history with the state through some of his art. When we were there last, we got to see a few of his sites of inspiration. You can our stop to see St. Francis church near Taos here.

A little bit later on our drive the boyfriend says "The photo that is over our bed, was taken somewhere out there", as he gestures in a direction. Quickly looking it up he finds out that it really isn't far, and we decide to take a detour to see if we can find the location.

via wikipedia

It took us awhile to track down exactly how to get on the side road that leads the the church but we finally found it and were able to get a few quick pictures. The area has certainly changed over the years with a ton of trailers and industrial buildings crowding around the church and cemetery now. Here is what we got to see:

From the road you can't even get a clear view similar to what Adams saw, so it hard to see the resemblance, but the mountains in the background help you to envision what it was back in the day.

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The Only Drive Through Car Wash in Virginia

We've been out of town many of the weekends since returning from the Best Coast for the holidays. Fine with me, as my distaste for DC has grown even more as I prepare for this to be my last year in DC. I guess knowing that you don't have to "make it work" since the days dwindle and the months pass, makes me try less when it comes to tolerating many of the aspects of living here. A perfect illustration of the frustrations (comically- I may add) and typical irritants that drive me up the wall was perfectly summed up last weekend. 

Since we have been out of town so much, I had a super long list of items I needed to take care of. Some hunting for storage boxes for my office (if any one has some ideas, let me know as I've totally struck out), a lamp for my desk, a new pair of jeans, and some random items from Target. A typical errand run, nothing to make me think the day would cause me to rip my hair out. Oh how wrong I was. 

We ended up going out to a mall further out in Virginia so we could return a Christmas gift the BF got. After having a VERY pleasant return experience, we headed out of the mall. Being unfamiliar with the area it was a bit outline our plan of attack, but we quickly found The Container Store where I proceeded to find NOTHING that had a lid, was the right size AND in a color I liked. So we left empty handed.

From all the snow in DC, Delores (the car) was filthy and I could barely see out the windows. We found a gas station were we scrubbed down the windows and filled up. It was also one of those stations where you could go through a drive through automatic car wash, so without hesitation I purchased a car wash. 

We finished filling up the car and went to go get in line. It was a line of like 26 cars! Lined up through the parking lot and even into the street! Just sitting there! We waited and timed a few cars and found that it was about 5-7 minutes for EACH car. 

Thinking we could beat the system we decided to push on with errands and come back later when the line would be shorted later in the day. We head off looking for Old Navy. Only to find that it was in the same mall we had just left after the exchange mission. Fail. 

Next option. Find a Target. New Targets are always hard. Especially if they have a foreign layout. It ruins the enjoyable Target experience for me. I find everything I need, and then realize I've lost the BF. So I marathon walk through the store, peeking down each isle, and no sight of him! I do another lap. Nothing. Thinking he got bored waiting for me while I lamented over lampshades, I decided to just check out. I then realize I left my phone in the car. Which has my cartwheel app on it. Which means I am going to miss out on all those coupons I saved in regards to my shopping list. Total frustration. With no choice, since I still can't find the BF. I just suck it up. Two seconds later. There he is. 

After the less than relaxing Target experience, we try the car wash again. We come around the corner and I kid you not...the line was LONGER!! I mean...is there only ONE automatic car wash in ALL of Virginia?!?

The BF has started getting hungry, so we decide to try one more detour to see if the line goes down. So we head back to the mall (oh yes, the mall that we are at for the return, that we then learned had the Old Navy in) and attempted to go Maggianos. It was like geriatric early and the restaurant didn't even look that busy, but we were told it would be a NINETY minute wait. HA! No. Nope. No way. Not for suburban chain Italian food. We end up at Legal Seafoods (as my sister pointed out "why is it called LEGAL Seafoods, as opposed to ILLEGAL?"), and luckily got some food, but my patience for the day was chaffed to the bare bones. We finish dinner and decide to give the car wash one more time.

We swing around the corner, and as I am sure you are predicting...the line was JUST AS LONG! I screamed, certainly threw in a swear word or two and decided we were just aborting the mission and driving back into the city. 

Needless to say, I am looking forward to NEVER having to deal with shit like this anymore. The day when I can drive to a car wash, and drive out in a sparkly car without a line of a million people will be much appreciated. 

Also, can I hear an amen for being able to have a driveway to wash your car in? Another luxury I can't wait to have. A driveway, any outdoor space to do any of the million things that outdoor space allows you to do. Sigh. The dream lives on. 

Please Pardon Our Apperance

I've wanted to re-do this little blog for awhile. Thinking a new simple, clean background would really jazz it up. However, I had a crutch- my old background, that was 5 years familiar (eek!), and as long as it was there, I was not inclined to make any major changes. So we did away with it. Starting from scratch. 

I am hoping to pull together my own template, but may end up using a pre-designed template from a store on Etsy. Haven't totally decided. 

Any recommendations on resources to self-teach blogging design 101?!? 

Thanks for your patience and hopefully the white won't burn your retinas out! 

Office Inspiration

Awhile back I mentioned how I was a bit stuck when it came to decorating my "office". It has been a slow progression to come up with something that is "speaking" to me from a color standpoint, but I recently purchased this lamp and shade from Target, and it finally made some things come together in my head. Keeping teals in mind, but not straying from my love of a neutral grey, I am looking at the following bits on inspiration to see what I can come up with.

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Three Me Things

With work being in my apartment, and my apartment in my work, I don't ever really escape "the office". It is easy to work really long hours since the commute is about 30 seconds, but I also find myself not exactly carving out that "life" part of work/life like I would prefer. I try to keep it manageable so I don't feel like I am creating an additional to-do list for my evenings. I am trying to focus on doing "Three Me Things" each day. Preferably things that are productive but aren't related to work. It helps me go to bed feeling accomplished (since I can usually tackle three things) and I feel better than if I just would have parked myself on the couch to watch 3 hours of TV before going to bed. 

Some of my "Three Me Things"

Tonight:
1)Drinks and dinner with a co-worker who was in town (kind of work related but when you work from home, it is a luxury to see the co-workers you really enjoy)
2) Got to talk with my parents
3) Writing this post

Last Night:
1) Laundry (boring but has to be done!)
2) Taco Dinner
3) Talked with my sister

See? Pretty simple, but helps me stay connected, get things done, and feel like I did something outside of just working a long day. Don't get me wrong...I still love my nights to flop on the couch, but I want to carve out some space and energy that is dedicated to the things I need and want to do. 

Well I am battling a cold, so this isn't terribly inspired and I need to get to bed so I can get well!

What do you do to maintain work/life balance? How do you make sure you take care of all those little items that are important to making our lives function?