'MERICA

Happy 50th post to me! As a celebration....I will tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was an awkward girl trying to make friends. Luckily, she met some really cool European guys, and became very happy. A little while later, after weeks of underlying envy, some girls decided to cozy up to said girl to get in with the European guys. To this day that awkward little girl is still friends with everyone, :) So maybe that's not 100% accurate....but I think we've joked about it enough that I don't remember how it really happened. (I apologizing for posting this about a month after it happened, but here it goes)

So a few months ago Marijn whatsapp-ed me and said he was going to be in NYC this year. Now I've been wanting to go back to NYC for a while and realized this would be a perfect opportunity. Sadly, Marijn didn't want me to meet him in NYC. Instead, he wanted to meet up in the Capital of America, Washington, D. C.! Turns out Becca wanted to come along too. #win Marijn tried to get two other girls to come along too....personally, I think he wanted a weekend surrounded by girls. Nevertheless, I'm grateful it was just the three of us who met up.

Normally, I am pretty good at making an epic list of to-do/see things when travelling. This time, I have been so overloaded with work for the past months, I hadn't really had time to look at anything in DC. I put together a few ideas and whatsapp-ed them the Marijn and Becca probably a day before I got there. It was a crazy work week. I'm going to be honest, the day I was leaving to DC, I was pretty unproductive with work. I couldn't concentrate well, because I was going to see Marijn and Becca in a few hours. I love those kids!!!

I got caught my flight after trying the EcoPark parking lot at the airport. There was no one at the entrance and a sign listing hourly parking options. I was super confused, as I was pretty sure that it was supposed to be a long-term parking area. I paused but decided to go with it. I parked, and normally there is a a shuttle that finds you or place to wait for the shuttle to pick you up. I did not see any thing, and so I started walking around and flagged down a shuttle. It was sketch. I got on my flight and was super excited the entire time. Pretty stoked. The plane right was pretty good. I was trying to read a book about gypsies, but it was terribly boring, which is never a good thing to discover at the beginning of a flight. I persevered, but it was mentally exhausting. When I landed, I went out to search for Becca, because we were flying in around the same time. We decided to meet at the metro stop outside of the DCA airport. It took me a few minutes of staring at the metro card machine to figure out how to get from one place to another, how much I needed to pay, and where to pay. Nevertheless, I succeed. I then went up to check how much time we had before the train before searching out Becca. We found each other easy peasy, and hopped on the metro to the hotel. Marijn had checked in earlier in the day, and was waiting outside the hotel on a bench for us! It was a happy reunion. When we got up to the room, we found salt and vinegar chips (i said i was going to be hungry after landing) and drinks (orange fanta for me, because that's my wild 'n crazy drink) We stayed up super late talking and catching up. After staying up super late....we decided to wake up super early the next morning, because we had lots to see!

We hopped on the metro in the morning and headed into town. We stopped at a cute looking retro-feeling diner for breakfast to get our energy up. We hit up the World War II memorial, which is always beautiful. I got my picture next to the Texas part. #beststate Then we headed to the Lincoln Memorial. it was still early in the morning and quickly getting ridiculously hot. Seriously hot. Like sweating profusely and becoming gross kind of hot. Then we walked to the Vietnam Memorial. On our way to the White House, I was realizing what a terrible shoe choice I made for this trip. There were blisters already forming on my feet and I could feel them. I should have brought my travel-approved Tevas, which I normally always bring with me. However, I thought my cute black sandals were comfortable. #worstdecisionever We stopped off at CVS so Marijn and Becca could get some sunglasses, since it was so sunny, and I bought some shoe inserts, another tried-and-true female life necessity.

After the White House, we went to cool down and have drinks on the rooftop terrace at Hotel Washington. I felt pretty glamorous, relaxing on a couch, and escaping the sun. After that short break, we headed out to our tour of the Capitol. It was pretty cool looking. We got a tour and had to wear headsets so we could hear the tour guide. One of Texas' monuments in the Capitol is a statue of Sam Houston. #obvi  The art was pretty cool in the rotunda. My biggest issue is with all of America's history that could be chosen to display, one of the nine ginormous paintings is of The Baptism of Pocahontas. Why is this such a terrible painting to display along side of art depicting, Washington going to battle and the signing of the Declaration of Independence? Because it's one of the most depressing parts of American history! They could have shown art of "Pocahontas Greeting John Smith" or "Pocahontas becomes Friends with Settlers", but instead they show her in Europe after leaving her homeland and life she knew only to become white-washed and die from some disease. I'm pretty sure she's a perfect example of Stockholm Syndrome, as she was captured as a prisoner during war, and at the end of the war, she decided to stay with the Europeans. So yeah, I was not a happy camper by this display.  We had lunch in the Capitol, and it was pretty good. Then we took the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress. #ilovelibraries

The library was beautiful. They have the horoscope signs on the ground. Becca and I are Pisces. Marijin didn't know what he was, so we had to look it up. There was a Gutenberg Bible. #wow and an exhibit of Thomas Jefferson's personal library collection. There was also a great exhibit on the Civil War, which was perfect, because Marijn was asking about the Civil War earlier. It turns out, in Dutch history classes, they don't really go into much detail about the Civil War. We took the exhibit nice and slow, expounding on the details of the Civil War. I'm kinda impressed by how much I remember from High School. It was also another reminder of why Becca is so cool; she's super clever. Friends with brains are great! After the Library, we went and laid down in the grass of the Capitol building....and fell asleep. We were all snoozing in the beautiful green grass, and it reminded me of how wonderful it is to just pause for a moment or two in the day and just *be*.

Now this below picture has a little bit of a story to it. I have a co-worker, who whenever I do something outside of work that sounds pretty fun he says something along the lines of "have fun with your boyfriend" or "are you going with your boyfriend". He knows full well that I do not have a boyfriend, and do not date because my work and I are having a very intense, co-dependent, and dysfunctional love affair. When he told me to "have fun with my boyfriend" this time, I said "Thanks. I will tell him you say that." and laughed. So this was the couple photo I took with Marijn. As we were walking, (I dont remember who brought it up, but I think it was Becca) Becca joked that if we really wanted to sell it, we could get a pic of us kissing in front of the Capitol. I laughed and said to Marijn "So how committed are you to this?" He responded, "I'm European. It doesn't really matter to me" lol. He's too funny.

We headed to the Old Ebbitt Grill for dinner. On the walk over, I saw someone with the Deathly Hollows symbol tattooed on their calf. It was epic.I stalked the guy to get a good photo while he was walking in front of me. Back to the restaurant...the food was great. We had to wait for a bit at the bar, where I got a sugar boost with my yummy Shirley Temple. (why don't I drink this more???) Our waiter gave me the heebie jeebies, but we survived. We then headed to the other side of the White House, where I saw the anti-war protester lady, who I read about a few months ago. It was pretty cool, since I felt like I knew her whole life story. We took a walk to get some ice cream, because ice cream is joy. Marijn doesn't like ice cream...or joy. :P haha.

We hit up the store for drinks on the way back to the hotel. I had to take a cold shower immediately. I felt super gross after being so hot and sweaty all day. bleh. I told Marijn and Becca how happy I was knowing that no matter how gross I became, they would still be my friend. lol. We stayed up late again, talking about everything...especially, since Marijn is a guy, and forgets to share important details of his life with us, so we have to dig into his life until we know everything.  I did discover the truth about an incident that happened years ago. When I first met Marjin and the guys, we were in the library, i think we were planning a trip. Marijn was sitting across from me, and his foot hit mine. I wasn't thinking much of it, until it happened again, and he gave me a huge wink. I freaked out, because that's what I do when I think someone likes me. lol. I was really nervous, so I texted him later. It turns out....it was Jarno who texted me back, not Marijn. So Jarno made me believe that Marijn was into me. #sneakydutchman (the end of that story is that Marijn started dating my friend shortly after I had about a week of panicking)

The next day started off nicely. I woke up Marijn by jumping on his bed. lol. We headed down to the Arlington Cemetery to see JFK's grave, the grave of the unknown soldier. We went to the Pentagon 9/11 memorial, which was nice to just sit and enjoy the serenity of the memorial. After this, we went and checked out the Capital Bike share across DC. Can I tell you, I'm super out of shape, and I love leggings. I biked around in a skirt all day because of leggings. woohoo! We went biking after getting some yummy pizza for lunch. We biked to the holocaust museum. Biking on the road in a city with traffic is something I've never done. I biked around Tempe my last year of uni, but even then, I stayed on the sidewalk always. It was a little nerve-wracking, even with a Dutch bike leader. The Holocaust Museum was amazing. I highly recommend it. It's really cool, because they give you a little "passport" when you go in, where they tell you the story of a real Jewish person's life during WWII, and at each level (each level is a different time period of the war) you read about their life during that part of the war. I am a firm believer in learning from history, and although the Holocaust is one of the most horrific events that happened in modern history, it is something we must remember with a spirit of reverence and reflection in order to never let happen again. Another thing I learned is: when you are about to do something depressing, bring someone to give you hugs when you are feeling sad. It was a wonderful museum, especially since we went on the day that WWII started.

After the museum, we biked around the Tidal Basin, hitting up the Thomas Jefferson memorial, the FRD memorial (we did it backwards), and the MLK memorial, which was pretty cool. After the super long bike ride, we went to find food. We went to switch out bikes, and walk a little. We went to the next bike place only to see that there were no bikes. I was hangry, so we caught a taxi to this awesome dinner place....only to realize everyone else is eating there too. We then went to another place around the corner that Saryah recommended, but it was closed. We then went to another place only to see that it was ridiculously expensive. We then went to the 4th option next door for SUSHI!!!! Omg. It was delectable. I demolished my food, with a fruit smoothie. Food is great! We then went biking around DC to find the house that Marijn's sister used to live in. Then we decided to bike all the way back to the hotel. OMG. i am the gross fat kid. I was DYING on the bike ride back. My legs were jelly. We got back to the hotel miraculously. Marijn and I decided to take a swim. He then told me a secret that as soon as we got back to the room I told Becca and we both ranted at Marijn for a while about how we could have been together for two days and him not tell us. We stayed up super late talking about everything under the sun; there were confessions, future plans made, dreams shared, and lots of laughter. The best part is when I told Becca I wanted to go to Guatemala over Christmas, and Becca saying she would love to come along. #futuretrip We also decided that next year, we'll go to the German Christmas Markets and spend Christmas with Lukas and his family. (we did tell Lukas about these plans, no worries)

I'm touching a moon rock. #win

Monday morning, we had a yummy breakfast overlooking the city from our hotel. Our waiter, who served us the previous morning was talking to us and was asking us where we were from. Becca said "Wisconsin"; I said "Texas"; Marijn said "The Netherlands". He laughed and said "now you are meeting in Washington DC! haha. How did you meet?" We replied, "In Spain". We really have seen bits of the world together. It's funny how it took us travelling to foreign countries for our paths cross and become intertwined. We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. We did the group tour, and left after about an hour, because it was taking forever. It was interesting, but we handle ourselves pretty well on our own.  We then biked over to the Union Station. It was evacuated when we got there. Something was going on, and when they finally let us back in, the sirens were still going off very loudly. It was pretty crazy. We got some Subway, and can I just say, the guy making my sandwich skimped on my pickles. It was a very sad moment. He refused to give me more pickles on my sandwich. Anyone who knows how I like my sandwiches and has heard my anti-Jimmy John's rant, knows how I feel about pickles on sandwiches. We then had to say goodbye to Marijn, who went on his way onto the bus back to NYC. Parting is such sweet sorrow. We invited him to come to Guatemala with us, but I think he's just going to wait for us to head to Germany next  year.

After we dropped Marijn off, we took a taxi up the street and saw some lovely embassy houses, or at least we think they were embassy houses, because there were random country flags and gates around buildings. We went up to the National Cathedral. Kinda weird, there was so much historical stuff there that it felt more like a American Museum than a church. Weird. There were also state flags hanging around the place. Weird. But cool to see a Texas flag.

We went back to the hotel to get our luggage and take the metro to the airport. We had time, and decided to spend some time chatting over some yummy Starbucks, with Becca's Starbucks gift card #win It was great. Becca is AWESOME. I really have some of the most amazing friends in the world. Literally, the *world*.

I was so grateful for that trip and time to get away from the stressful times at work. I'm grateful that Marijn was travelling over Labor Day weekend, so I could get away for three days. I am grateful for the time where I can relax and be myself around people I love. I can't wait to see where our next adventures take us.

One Year Anniversary: Philly Style

For our one year mark with the company, they flew us all out to HQ in Philadelphia.

Jon and I flew in at the same time (6/12), so we could drive together. Are you noticing a pattern? I hate driving on business trips. We got in, and Jon and I headed for lunch at Tony Luke's. (The week before that was Jarrett's food recommendation for me) Oh my word, it was a really good sandwich. I wish I could have eaten it all. Jon and I went to check into our rooms before going to Target. I forgot to pack my toothbrush and he wanted a new shirt. His shirt below is newly purchased from Target, and it looks good. #targetfan We had to be at HQ by 4pm, because Michael wanted to interview us for a recruitment video. I know, right? The last thing I want is to be in a recruitment video. #ilikeprivacy

When we all got there, we were put in a conference room. I still had tons of work to do, I had to get on my computer and do work while everyone was socializing. I had to make some calls, and Jarrett was all like "oh look, natasha's got phone swag" lol. All I wanted to do was sit and chat, but I had a lot to do with never enough time to do it. I did my interview where they taped me. I was so nervous. I tried to portray confidence and intelligence while mentally trying to keep still, not to twist my chair from side to side, and keep my hands from fidgeting. It was a difficult task. Then we went downstairs to the outside area. They had us sit around a table and just talk. It was pretty entertaining, because Jon, as usual, asked deep questions that no normal person would think of right off the bat. The worst was when they were off camera and we joked how we came into the program as 5 strangers but left as team or family or something equally cheesy. When the cameras started rolling again, Jon worked it into the conversation. We all started laughing. It was too cheesy to react seriously. We all got a picture, and we got one with Michael for our thank-you gift we had been planning.

We all then headed to a restaurant for dinner with Michael and the VP of HR. It was pretty fun. A little weird because we're all so close and the VP doesn't really know any of us personally, so it took a while for all of us to find a good rhythm. It also didn't help that someone kept bringing up the fact that they went to China; a sore subject for Lindsay and me, who wished to have had the opportunity to go to China. We said our goodbyes, and once the adults left we made plans to meet up again after changing our hotels.

We met up at a sports bar and grill. Everyone got some beer, but it turns out they wouldn't accept Jon's paper replacement lisence that they give you in Texas as a temp when you are getting a new license after you've lost yours. They guy wouldn't accept it, and it made Jon pretty mad. Jon made a little bit of a fuss, but we eventually convinced him to just go back to the hotel and grab his passport (because TSA also doesn't accept a paper form of ID) since we were planning on being there for a while. We all got some dessert to top off the night and it was amazing! Jon eventually came back and ordered two beers. The guy told him he was only allowed to order one at a time. Jon was mad. To help out, I ordered my first beer ever. When the guy carded me, he asked rudely "do you have your driver's license or do you need to go get a passport too?" I wanted to slap him. As soon as he brought out the beers, I moved mine directly in front on Jon. As a thank you, Jon paid for my pink lemonades for the rest of the night. Towards the end of the night, the hockey game was almost over and Jarrett didn't want to leave, which meant Lindsay had to stay behind. Luckily, Jon is much nicer and was like, "i'm ready when you're ready". We all stayed to see a little more of the game and then took off.

Thursday morning started off quite well. I went out for breakfast only to find Jon had been up a while and already eaten. Of course he has. We got to the office, and everyone when to the training except for me. I had a meeting for my freight project, that we scheduled because all my team was already going to be in Philly, so it was easier to just meet then. It was a good meeting with a lot of information, but I was excited to get back to everyone. We watched a video about personal responsibility which was highly amusing. The CEO came in to talk to us for a bit. Then we had time to do our own work, which was perfect because I had calls to make for one thing and a Friday 9am deadline on a different project.

By the time it was lunch, all the C-level execs were available, and I was able to introduce Lindsay to a lot of the people I'd already met where she hadn't had the opportunity. I saw my boss from Germany, Besty. She gave me a big hug and said "had I known you got in yesterday, I would of invited you both (me and lindsay) over for dinner at my house!" She is soooo sweet. So Lindsay and I sat with Besty, Addy, and my mentor, Vik. It was a good table, and we had a fun time chatting it up over some really good food. Honestly I wanted more, but I wanted to talk more than overeat. As lunch came to a close they had us stand up and introduce ourselves so everyone could get to know who we were. Jarrett started, and he gave so much detail  about himself, Susan had to ask we shorten it a little. Lindsay went before me, and she explained how we worked together the first 2 rotations, so when it was my turn, I had barely anything to say. Add that to me hating tons of people staring at me, I made a joke "I've been working with Addy the past 6 months, and he liked me so much he decided to keep me around longer and put me on his team" There was laughter. I think it was the good kind, not the she's-crazy-so-we-need-to-laugh-so-she-doesn't-crack kind. After lunch it was time for our "team building" aka, site seeing. We peaced out of there.

First stop: Liberty Bell.

We all headed out expecting it was going to rain all afternoon. Instead it was a beautiful day the entire time. We did a walking tour and saw a lot of sights. Liberty Bell. Liberty Hall. Second Bank of the United States. Betsy Ross House. Elfreth's Alley. Christ's Church. The Library and other things. Then we went to the spy exhibit they had there. It was legit. Spies are cool. However, I'm pretty sure I would be a terrible spy. I get too antsy.

twinkies

After walking around all afternoon, and the lack of proper walking shoes for Lindsay and I, we were hungry and our feet were hurting. We managed to get to dinner, and I was getting hangry. I was so hangry, I couldn't even act nice.

Can I just say: one of my biggest pet peeves is pretentious people. Those people who act all knowing, like they know you or know better than you, when they do not. Now, if you are smarter, more clever, or wiser than I am, I will readily admit it. I have lots of friends who I acknowledge their better-ness and bow to their advise and words of wisdom. But it is the people who act like they are better and are not, that make me mad. For example, when you are trying to tell *me* about Texas and Texans, and you've only been there a few times, you are out of line. If you've only been to one foreign country ever, and act like you're a world travelling genius with all the wisdom of the world, there is a reason I'm going to want to slap you in the face and tell you what a tool you are. If you keep telling me your opinion on everything, even when I don't care or didn't ask, and act like it is a God-given fact, then I'm going to have to use all my energy trying not to tell you off rather than pretend to be nice.

It was a fun dinner. We ended up playing a drinking game, where Jon had to drink for me if I lost. It turns out, I was pretty good at this game, but nevertheless, Jon was pretty drunk by the time we left dinner. It turns out Jon *really* likes to drink. Lindsay and Jarrett were staying the weekend in Philly and staying at Lindsay's uncle's house downtown. Jon and I decided to go over to their uncle's house to hang out before going out some more. It was our last night together, and we wanted to hang out a bit. Lindsay's Uncle's house is AMAZING! It's downtown, huge spiral staircase, and 4 stories with a basement. There is a 2-story library. I fell in love. We hung out there for a bit. Lindsay and I were laying on the bed upstairs talking while Jarrett was downstairs on the massage chair and Jon played the piano in the entrance area. Eventually Jarrett came in and laid on top of us. We were just chatting. Jarrett said that he was going to miss Lindsay when she left because she was his bestie (oh, we found out that our permanent locations were going to be in Chicago or Houston). Eventually Jon found his way upstairs too, and we all decided to go out again. Lindsay's uncle recommended a jazz bar nearby, so we hopped in the car and took off.

We got to the jazz bar and they made us go through the basement entrance. We all got our first drinks of the night. My shirley temple was on the house and we cheers-ed our drinks together when jon dropped his shot glass; it broke after spilling all over Lindsay. Not a good way to start the night. Jon was already pretty drunk. It turns out Jon is a pretty intense drunk. I dont think he means to be, but you really want him to just calm down a bit because he is unknowingly offending a lot of people. Jarrett on the other hand seems to age backwards and become very affectionate. He kept on asking for kisses on his cheeks all night, and it had to be both otherwise it's uneven. lol. we played Jenga with strangers. It also turned out that there was no jazz that night, but it was a comedy night. Some of them were funny. Some of them weren't. Most of them teased Jon and Jarrett because they were both getting really loud as the night progressed....and we were front row. The most awkward part was when a comedian asked Lindsay and I a question, which implied that we were hooking up with Jon and Jarrett. I dont think I will ever repeat the question for as long as I live, but needless to say I was blushing, and after what felt like a lifetime of awkwardness, i replied "we wouldn't know" Then the comedian started teasing them for being with us but not being with us. It was too much. Eventually, after a long night, the guys were super drunk, I was super tired, and I would be driving Jon and I back to the hotel tonight, all the while knowing I hadn't completed my work assignment for my 9am call in the morning and it was going on 2am.

work hard. play hard.

Lindsay and I eventually got Jon and Jarrett out of the bar. On the drive back to Lindsay's uncle's place, it turns out everyone is hungry. Jarrett was trying to put in the name of a place he wanted to go, but he was too drunk to type coherent words into the GPS. Luckily there is a Wendy's on a corner, so we all piled out. We're eating, and everyone is staring at us because members of our party are pretty loud. We were about to leave when Jarrett looks at me very seriously and says "I have to tell you something very important". I'm chuckling and say "what is it?" He's taken aback my my lighthearted manner and says "no. i can't tell you. you're not ready". It so super dramatic, I tried so hard not to laugh. (I asked Jarrett about it later, and he has no recollection of it. He did say "when you're ready, you'll know" lol. thanks jarrett). Jon and I dropped off Lindsay and Jarrett, and we continued onto our hotel. I was so exhausted.

Friday morning, I woke up feeling terrible. I ended up waking up before my alarm and ended up throwing up in the bathroom. I felt like death. I went back to sleep, praying I would wake up feeling better. I managed to wake up at 8am and finish my assignment right in time for the conference call deadline. After the call I had to shower and go to the airport for my flight. When I got back to Houston, I was feeling mildly better but was unsure if I would be up for going to New Braunfels over the weekend with my girlfriends. Luckily two had to cancel last minute, so we all decided to reschedule. This was good because all I wanted to do the rest of the weekend was sleep because I had maybe 14 hours of sleep over the past 3 nights. It's always a party when we get together.