Wow It's Almost Been a Month!

I finally have stuff to write about other than mosquito bites! Actually quite a bit so here I go:

• The Taylor's Visit
• Two weeks ago our friends from Tacoma, the Taylors (Brett, Pami, Madison and Elliott), surprised me with a visit. The story starts out months ago when I said that Madonna was going to be performing in NYC and that I didn't think that there would be many other concerts that could be better than that, Madonna in NYC. Pami was one of a few friends who I tried to talk into flying over and going to the concert with me, she told me that she looked up tickets but they were all sold out. So the hope of a Madonna concert ended there for me. Little did I know that she, Brett and Patrick were scheming up a plan. It all came to fruition on October 9th. Patrick called me and asked me to go to FedEx Kinkos so that I could sign some paper work the insurance lady was sending over for his bike that was stolen. I was a bit frustrated bc I thought that it would be better if we did it together bc the parking in that area is horrific, but I went anyway knowing how stoked he was to get his bike ASAP. So I get there and I asked for the paper. I was given on that said, "Happy Birthday for the other Washington! Love the Taylors." I was kind of mad bc I thought it was so dumb for them to fax that over when they could have just emailed it. So (with out paying, I didn't realize this until later) I turned around to walk out the door but I heard someone say "Hi Kim" and when I turned around the whole Taylor family was there. Then before dinner that night they gave me a little envelope and inside was a tickets for me and Taylors up to NYC on the train and tickets for me and Pami to Madonna! It was such a great surprise.

Brett and Elliot hiding and waiting for me at FedEx

Me and the Taylors at FedEx

• So they stayed with us in DC for two nights and about a day and a half. We saw some of DC's main attractions. One thing Patrick and I hadn't done yet was visit the Georgetown area and walk up and down M Street, so we took the Taylors there. It was amazing, all kinds of cute shops and fun restaurants. We also visited the oldest house in DC cleverly named, "The Old Stone House." There wasn't much to see other than the amazing back yard. We had a great dinner down there and the next afternoon took the train into NYC.
  
• Oh, upon Julianne's request I also feel compelled to tell you that Patrick and Brett hung out one night with Paul and Christian Werner, Julianne's dad and uncle. But really, they had a great time and it was great for Patrick to see Paul while he was here and meet Christian, who is studding at Johns Hopkins.
  

Taylors and Connallys outside the Capitol

Natural History Museum's new Ocean Exhibit

Us and the kids


The boys smoking their cigars and having a beer on the porch

• Now about Madonna. No matter what you think of her or her music you can not say that she is not an amazing entertainer. It is like not liking Alex Rodriguez or baseball but appreciating seeing him turn an amazing double play or hitting a grand slam, it's still really fascinating. Or like if you think history is really boring but being amazed at the monuments around here and being intrigued to learn more. That's how the concert was for me. I was not a huge Madonna fan, I have great memories of listening to her and Micheal Jackson with my parents when I was little and hearing album after album of hers while growing up. So I was stoked to see her and knowing that she is one of the best at her job just increased the excitement. I was just so impressed with her musical and physical talent (she was dancing and running around stage all night and played the guitar). The way that she mixed all her old music into her new music was really cool. The production was amazing. I have been to musicals in London, on Broadway and several in Seattle and I have been to several concerts but I've seen anything as elaborated and as well choreographed as this concert was. The dancers and musicians that she brought in were fabulous. Here is all the types of music she played: pop, old school rap, Romanian Folk (with amazing Romanian musicians), Latin, disco, and tecno. Crazy, right? They had hip hop dancing, break dancing, tap dancing, and Latin dancing. It was so good and fun! Thanks Taylors!

Me and Pami at Madison Square Garden just after seeing Madonna

• October Days
• Besides the Taylors coming we've had a few other excursions this month. We went for a walk along the C&O Canal which runs right along the Potomac River. There was a path that cut through to the Potomac and we explored that as well. It was a fun day.

C&O Canal

Potomac River

• We bought our first pumpkins for our house. There is a cute little pumpkin stand near our house that we visited and now we have pumpkins.

• Patrick and I decided to head into town last Saturday to see the American History Museum that we hadn't seen yet. Turns out it was closed for remodel until the end of November. So we went to the Old Post Office Tower. There is a great view from the top. We also visited Potbelly for the first time. It is the best sandwich place ever! yum. Then on our walk back to the car Patrick fed a squirrel. Cute. These are the kind of stories you get when I write, sorry.
  

View from the Old Post Office

Patrick feeding the squirrel : )

• Today we had the 4th rainfall since we've been here. Boy, does it know how to rain here. It is coming down like a hurricane right now. It's pretty cool too bc it's really warm out.

• Jack
• Times with Jack get better and better each week. We are two good buddies now. I love hanging out with him. We made tye-dye pumpkin t-shirts last week and planed flowers and beans this week. We've also explored various parks and the river as well. The kid is fantastic and fun. I have another amazing job.

Hanging out on the Potomac watching the planes fly right over us to land

Our Pumpkin Tye-Dye T-shirt

Quick Hits

Here are today's quick updates:

1. The bike saga is winding its way to a good conclusion. My stolen bike will be covered under renters insurance so my friend Jon found me a sweet new mountain bike. I'll probably have it in a couple weeks and when I do, rest assured, you will see pictures. I also got an old road bike to take to school which is really important. I ride 40+ miles a week just getting to class and back and save quite a bit of money by not taking the metro.
2. Kim is covered with mosquito bites. They drive her crazy and I never seem to get them. (my life is pretty boring if all we can find to talk about are my mosquitoes... - Kim)
   
3. My parents came to visit for six days this week. It was great to have them give the guest bedroom a test run. We went to some Smithsonians and Mt. Vernon. and did some general city exploring. They did a lot on their own also. We had a sweet BBQ on Sunday with our friends the Tifts also. It was a really good week.
4. Seattle is undoubtedly the worst place in the USA for a sports fan. The Sonics left, the Mariners are the worst team in baseball, the Seahawks are 1-2 and have everyone injured and just called me to come in for tryouts (but I took a page out of my brother-in-law's playbook and turned down a sure-fire football career), the Huskies are worse than I've ever seen them and the Cougars look like they just might be worse than the Huskies. Just to add insult to injury we also have a WNBA team. At least that's the rumor.
5. Kim's nanny work is still going well and she's working with 2 1/2 year old Jack on his reading.
6. Get your reservations in soon for staying at the Connally hotel. October is wide open but will fill up quickly, for sure.
   

That's about it.



Lunch with the Connallys and the Tifts.
Patrick's new bike.
Cute Jack at the Natural History Museum
Mt. Vernon


Roosevelt Island. Kathryn, here is the dragonfly we saved for you, then it got eaten on our front porch. Sorry.

Classes

Some of you have asked about my classes and while I've tried to give a reasonable description of each class I thought I'd give the official class explanation here. If you have any remaining questions, you are too interested in my classes.

History of Eastern Europe:
This class covers Austria-Hungary, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire (and touching on Russian and Prussia) from 1740 or so until the beginning of the first World War. The professor is great, and really knows this history well. The only problem is that he turns about 1/4 of the class time over to us who do not know this history well. He's stoked to have us present on articles and discuss them. It's fine, but he gives us a ton of time. Pretty soon I start to feel like I would rather hear from the guy who knows what he's talking about. I think I'm just not much of a discussion guy. Most of the time students don't have a lot to contribute and the professors feel like they're really facilitating a great learning experience when they're actually facilitating an ignorance exchange. That said, I am learning a lot in this class and I like the readings.

Colloquium on Europe and Eurasia:
This is my background class required for everyone in my program. Right now we're doing an intro to Europe and in the coming weeks we'll do an intro to Russia. The class is interesting and I like the other students. The notable thing about this class is the teacher. She's a visiting professor from Italy and she's a crack up. Here are a couple of her gems of wisdom:
-Never trust a Greek as they will agree to anything and then do nothing
-Belgians are ugly and have bad coffee
-Norwegians are bad dressers
-Being married to one person your whole life is boring
I'll keep you updated if there's anything I just don't think you can live without.
The class is pretty good and I feel like I'm getting more confident in class and learning what I should be learning. When we switch to other subjects we'll have different teachers which should be cool.

Current Issues in the European Union:
This is the best class ever. I'm learning so much my brain is exploding. The teacher is a Romanian professor who knows the EU ridiculously well. She seems to know the different treaties by heart and assigns a ton of reading. Her lectures are great and she doesn't let anyone get away with a wrong answer. Here's a sample in class exchange:
Professor: Who can tell me why Britain would agree to French agricultural demands?
Student: (confidently) Because they are a powerful country and they thought they could manipulate... (trails off as professor looks at him disapprovingly)
Professor: No. That is wrong. Anyone else?
I love this class because she lectures non-stop for two hours and I just try to keep up. She assigns a ton of reading but I am learning a lot. She keeps asking if she's making it too hard but I appreciate her assuming we can take a lot and learn it. We finished going through the EU structures and now we're learning about different policy areas. Good times.

French Classes:
I'm also taking two French classes at the Alliance Francaise, a local place where they do all kinds of French language promotion. I have one grammar and conversation class and one class on the EU, but given in French and from a French perspective. What I've learned so far is that I am super rusty at French, my accent is worse than it's ever been (not like it was great to start with), but I can still understand almost everything.

Anyway, that's it for classes. Thanks for asking.

General Life Update

Here's the blow by blow update of everything going on:

1. Our first visitor! Ken Rowan, of BCRA fame, became our first visitor from Washington (sorry Anna) when he came over on Tuesday for dinner. He's over for some meetings because BCRA is so sweet it's taking over the whole country. There is no escape.
2. School. Thanks for everyone for asking, school is going well. I have three classes (Intro to Europe and Eurasia, EU issues, History of Eastern Europe) and all of them seem super interesting. My professors are real experts and are also approachable and interesting. In my EU issues class the professor is from Romania and is super hard core. She lectures super fast and knows a baffling amount about EU treaties. I have a ton of reading to do, but it's all relevant and I really feel like I'm learning a lot. If you need to know something about the EU, feel free to email your question. I will then spend too much time making up an answer that sounds smart but may or may not be correct. I promise to use phrases like 'supranational government' and 'pooling of sovereignty'.
3. Nannying. Kim is doing a great job with little Jack. He's super cute and fun and says really funny stuff, we will one day write a long email of just Jack quotes. We've posted a picture of him here. If you want to know more just send Kim an email with a subject line of "Nigerian Prince seeking someone to help with bail." She always opens those ones first.
4. Unpacking: This is the biggest news that we have yet released so prepare yourself mentally: We are basically done setting up our house. Everything is hung on the walls, set up, put away (kinda), etc. If this seems less than breathtaking to you, you are forgiven, but trust us, it is a big deal. Kim did a great job organizing stuff and thanks to her tireless work, the house is now not a stress causing headache.
Here are some pictures of the place. You can see that it's not finished, but compare the 'before' picture featuring the iron to the others and you can see why we're celebrating. Kim again, for the record, the room is a disaster because I couldn't find my dress for Kev's wedding...so naturally I just threw everything that was in boxes all over the room.

Trail of Tears

Unless you're prepared to join me in my sadness, please stop reading now and go back to minesweeper. That said, my bike got stolen this week. As soon as I realized what had happened, I got angry, got angry with myself, and sat down not knowing what to do but feeling completely defeated. A little history:
During the summer of 2003 I was away for the summer and Jon Frederick, who had lent me his bikes a hundred times over the years, found me a Cannondale Super V at a great price. Since then I've had too many good times on that bike to remember. Riding at Glabraith, Whistler, places around Tacoma, and always with friends like Jon. Some of my best memories are on trails. Some of my best scars are from trails. In Tacoma I rode the bike to work whenever I could.
Here in DC, I rode it to school for the first week and a half. I would park it outside the building along with 20-30 other bikes everyday. My friend Hunter told me it might not be the best idea to take it in everyday but I felt ok about the bike being there with so many others. I had a good lock and many of the bikes there were nicer than mine and no better protected.
When I realized the bike was gone a wave of guilt rushed over me as I thought of someone throwing it in the back of a truck and getting $300 for it online or wherever. In general I hold my possessions with an open hand and consider myself unattached to what I own. But as I've been thinking about the bike situation I'm realizing that I do value what I own but almost more than that, I value the power I have to dispose of my possessions as I wish. If I had given the bike away, it would feel fine. If the bike had been run over or broke, I would be frustrated but as I would have the choice to fix the bike or not, I would be ok with that as well. But having that taken out of my hands is hard. It feels so invasive that someone can have that kind of power.
It also made me realize that the things we own mean so much more than just what they can do for us. The Cannondale was a downhill bike, meant to be used to bomb down steep trails and over different obstacles. But there's nothing like that within a three hour drive here. So I wouldn't really be able to use the bike for what it was meant for. It was ok for getting me to school but I was already looking for cheap commuter bike to ride instead. So losing the bike won't really affect me too badly here. I'll still get a cheap bike to ride back and forth and I won't do any down hill riding- exactly what would have happened if I still had the Cannondale. But it kills me to lose that bike because of all the memories tied up in it. I've been out riding with almost every good friend I have and Jon went out of his way to get me the bike in the first place. The bike really opened up a ton of cool outdoor stuff that I would never have gotten to see.
Kim and I are checking craigslist, ebay, pawnshops, etc. to see if the bike shows up, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope for that. I'll keep you up to date.

Unpacking

So our stuff finally arrived on Wed. We worked all day Thur. and left for Kev's wedding on Friday (which was great!). So today is our first real day of unpacking. It is going well, things are everywhere and we are very happy to see our stuff. I took some pictures and once I find the adapter to apple I will show you guys the mess... : )

Things with Jack are going really well. Patrick's having a great time at school, learning all about EU policies and Eastern Europe history. Lots of reading but he is loving it.

Here is a plug for JetBlue, they are a great airline to fly with. I really liked all the leg room, and the directTV, it kept us busy. They fly daily directly from Seattle to Reagan...hint...hint.

Patrick here with a couple thoughts. Kev and Melody's wedding was great and it was cool to see so many of you. Pretty soon here I'll do a post about school so you can look forward to that and check back 4-5 times per day for it.

We love you guys.

Our Cute House

Our house is awesome! Fully ready (when the moving company comes with our stuff) for plenty of people to come visit and hang out. We have 2 bedrooms, a study for Patrick, a nice backyard and patio for grilling, a new bathroom and kitchen, living room and dinning room and our own laundry room. So here are some pictures of our place for you to check out. We'll post more when our stuff is here and it looks more lived in and not camped in.








To Patrick's below post I will add that by the time you guys come to visit we will know most everything there is to know about how to get you to the places you want to be so you don't have to work through the African village man thing.

I would also like to say that we have met the family that I will be working with and they have been great! They loaned us a TV (can't miss the upcoming football season) and a folding table with chairs and have just been really helpful. I'm stoked to start hanging out with Jack, he is just too cute!

Also, our friends Randy and Vesna have been a huge help with letting us use their internet and some pots and pans and just being around to hang out with. They have two kids who are super fun too.

I'm not sure how this could get much more difficult...

Figuring out life here reminds me of African villages where the boys must hunt and kill a lion on their own to be considered a man. Here in DC if you can successfully purchase, activate, and use a metro smart pass (subway and bus pass basically) you are deemed worthy of entering society. But they don't make it easy. I will spare you the whole story but we've been trying to purchase the elusive passes for almost a week now. Everyone has one and they're key to the metro running smoothly. So it must be easy to get one? There are pamphlets extolling the virtues of the smart pass that tell you to buy one as soon as possible with no indication as to where or how to do this. There are people in booths at most metro stations with cash registers and credit card machines who are unable to sell passes. I asked one of these attendants how to get a card. Through the crackly speaking box it seemed like she was telling me to exit the station and find a bus. Why? "Go to the commuter bus." It was like a mysterious prophecy. It didn't make sense and she refused to explain it but I figured I should follow it. I went and found a bus and asked the driver about buying a pass. He told me (I'm not making this up) that there is a bus that drives around to different stations. On that bus you can purchase any transit related good you'd ever want. I had only just missed it! Did he know where the bus was now? No. Is there a schedule saying where the bus will be? No. How do I find it? You can't. You just have to stumble across it. Amazing. The driver also told me I could purchase a pass at any metro stop with an official metro parking lot. Which ones have parking lots? He didn't know and I searched a nearby metro map which apparently didn't know either. Someone helpfully informed me that they thought there was a store at a nearby mall that might sell them. They didn't know the name of the store or exactly where the mall was.
Eventually a passerby who heard some of these conversations informed me that you can also purchase them at the main station in the middle of town. We went, we stood in line, and we finally purchased our passes. And here's the killer thing. When I bought our passes, the guy just picked two off a pile and handed them to me. Clearly a super intensive task that can only be done at the most secretive and secure of locations.
So here are my humble suggestions for making the DC transit system easier for the uninitiated.
1. Sell smart passes at each metro booth, on each bus, and at the vending machines that sell other passes. On your literature advertising these passes, tell people how they might actually do what you're trying to get them to do.
2. Put up some maps (in the stations themselves and in the subway cars) for crying out loud and have paper copies of maps that people can carry around.
3. Visit London. The London underground is incredibly large and complicated, yet painfully easy to navigate thanks to the simple payment options, the abundance of easy to read maps, and the ubiquitous signs directing commuters to various destinations. It makes me want to weep, it's just so beautiful. Although I have to say, the NYC system was worse, with maps completely missing from main stations and not even available at the manned booths... "I'm sorry sir, we don't have maps to give out. There should be one on the wall just there... Oh, there's not. There's probably one downstairs... Oh, you already checked? I can just tell you how to get where you need to go..."
Now for the buses here...
Please, I beg you, somewhere, anywhere, put a map of where you're going and make one available to me. It may be that Arlington is trying to improve community relations by making everyone ask several people for help before arriving at a destination, and if this is the case they should post a sign saying so. All we need is one map of the bus system and we'll be fine. They have one at the main station but nowhere else. The bus driver told me I could go online and print out a map of each route individually. What if I'm at home and need to know how to take the bus somewhere? If I don't have the internet or haven't printed off EVERY map, I just won't know. I would pay for that big map of all the routes. But I can't.
Ok, that's all for now but don't get me started on the moving company (our stuff is still in LA, we're camping in our own house) or the cable/internet people.

New York City

After finding out that our stuff would not arrive before Anna left we all decided to head up to NYC for a night. We arrived in the mid afternoon, checked into hotel and ran to get into line for Broadway tickets. We took our place in line and sat and waited for the day-of ticket booth to open. The cool thing about this is that they have what is left over and they sell them for 50-20% off the original price. We sat next to a really nice lady who teaches at a Canadian school in the Middle East...wow. Her name is Heather, that's her in the picture with us. In the end Patrick and I went to Phantom of the Opera (amazing!) and Anna went to Rent (4th row from the front!). After purchasing our tickets for later that evening we took a walk up Broadway, through Time Square and Rockefeller Plaza and then ventured up 5th Ave to Central Park. The city is amazing, the shopping, the food (street carts - amazing!!), the people, the loud noises and lights, we loved it! After walking around all afternoon we ate NYC pizza and headed back to the hotel to change for our shows. The shows were great and it was all that Broadway could have been. The next day we saw the Statue of Liberty (way far away, I always thought it was close), China Town (interesting, we saw everything from dried shrimp for snackers to live frogs for I'm not sure what.), Little Italy (not so interesting), a Free Tibet protest and finally back to Time Square to catch our bus. It was a good, quick weekend. I am excited to visit again.

Real Update to Come

out internet should be up and running this week and we will give you a sweet update with pictures and all stay tuned..we love you and miss you all

Nashville Skyline

In an hour or so we'll leave Nashville and head North. The last few days have been fantastic though. We left Denver on Wednesday morning and drove east through Kansas and Missouri before stopping for the night at a campground outside of St. Louis. We arrived late and the gate was shut but thankfully someone with the gate code arrived and we followed them in. Here's something I learned about life in the south: The cicadas are loud. Like jet-taking-off loud. Hunter and I slept next to each other on the grass and I had to raise my voice so he could hear me. I thought they'd be too loud for me to get to sleep, but no. It was the humidity and the biting bugs that kept me awake.
On Thursday we spent the morning and afternoon at The City Museum in St. Louis. It's one of the sweetest places I've ever been. Someone (I clearly don't know the story too well) salvaged all kinds of things from around St. Louis as buildings were torn down or remodeled. There's everything from sculptures to a huge bank vault, to conveyor belt rollers, to tiny cogs from machines. They then crammed it all into an old warehouse. The cool thing is that instead of looking at the stuff you play on it. You can climb on everything and there are tunnels and ladders and secret passages everywhere. It's like a five story jungle gym for kids and adults. There are slides made from industrial chutes, some planes you can crawl through 4 stories off the ground, and a school bus hanging off the edge of the roof. We stayed there over three hours and left because we were tired, not because we had explored everything. It's a very inspiring example of preserving a city's history and making it something that people want to experience, something that enriches the city in a new and vibrant way.
Thursday evening we arrived in Nashville. On Friday Hunter showed us around and then we had dinner with his family. On Saturday Hunter flew home to Bellingham and Kim and Anna and I spent the day in Downtown Nashville. Today we went to church and now we're heading from Mammoth Caves in Kentucky.
Two thoughts for you:
1. Hunter's family is awesome. If you ever get a chance to stay with them, I highly suggest it. Brandon and Pace and Afton were great hosts for us. They're fun and relaxed and were genuinely stoked we were there. Hunter's mom Jane made an incredible meal for us all on Friday night. Southern hospitality extended itself to Hunter's dad offering to give me a hair cut, which he did.
2. Nashville is genuinely into country music. Maybe that shouldn't have surprised me, but I feel like walking around Seattle, you aren't overwhelmed by coffee and computers. But here there are billboards and signs everywhere for the latest country music artist or concert. And on Broadway the bars all had live honky-tonk bands going full speed. I was laughing because if that music came on the radio I'd pull something trying to change the station so fast but sitting in Robert's listening to the band play and just watching the people in the bar and on the street we was loving every second of it.
We'll be in Kentucky the next two days and then arrive in DC on Tuesday. Thanks for all your phone calls and prayers and thanks for reading.

The Drive Begins

Our time with Kim's parents was great. We relaxed, did a little yard work, saw friends, read a lot, and feel pretty recharged.
After two weeks in Walla Walla, we set out for DC yesterday with our friends Hunter and Anna. We're currently at our first stop in Denver with Jon and Kelly Frederick. Jon and I have been friends since high school, and Jon, Hunter, and I all lived together during college.
The drive from Walla Walla was long. And by long I mean unending. We spent what felt like four days making our way through southern Idaho. When we finally escaped we made our way though southern Wyoming and then down into Colorado to Denver. Hunter and Anna are great road trip companions. We felt lucky to get both of them in the road trip draft. We picked Anna with the #1 overall pick and then traded our 3rd and 4th round picks to some guys from Tallahassee for Hunter. Anna's a road trip rookie so we don't expect a lot out of her this trip- we've got her on the practice squad and we're bringing her up to speed slowly. Hunter's a seasoned veteran who can really kick it into high gear around hour 19 of driving. We don't even give him bathroom breaks. So far it's worked out well but we'll see how they do as the trip progresses. I'll let you know if they break under the pressure.
Tomorrow we're heading east through Kansas then through Kansas City and on to St. Louis. We'll camp there and then head to Nashville the next day where we'll stay with Hunter's family for a couple days.
Kim and I are really ready to get to DC. We found a fantastic house, but more on that when we actually sign the lease.
Thanks for all your prayers. Things are going well on our end.

Just Jack

Ok so to make the lower post more manageable here is some really good news. I was officially offered a job today. I will be the nanny of a 2.5 year old boy, Jack. I am very excited about this opportunity. It is full time, something that I was not so sure about at first but I feel really comfortable with his mom and with the hours, 8:30-4:30 with occasional Fridays paid off. I'm excited to explore the city with Jack and to help him learn and grow this year. Thanks for all of your support and prayers during this job hunt. I'll keep you updated with stories from Jack.

The Purgatory of House Hunting

I don't really vent very often but Kim and I have spent the past couple months looking for housing in DC. Admittedly, we are limiting ourselves by looking for a 2 bedroom place in the city, but it seems that those are reasonable requests. Some of our other 'must-haves' are apparently not not so easy to fulfill. For the past two days we've been talking to the owner of a great row house in an up and coming area of town. It's a beautiful place and within our budget (barely). The only problem? It's not a huge deal, just a drug related homicide last week 30 ft. from the front door. I've always felt that not dying adds a great deal to quality of life and Kim's a real stickler for the whole "let's live in a place where we don't fear for our lives" thing. So the search continues.
Also annoying is the fact that DC is completely devoid of mid range apartments. Everything with a functional ceiling that's within walking distance of running water commands outrageous prices. There are three choices for apartments: 1. Live with 7 other students in a studio apartment with no windows. The upside to this is that it's only $750 per person. 2. Rent an acceptable apartment at an unethical price 3-4 hrs. outside of DC. This option is looking distressingly attractive. 3. Take out 3 loans and promise Don Corleone both kidneys someday to rent a newly remodeled luxury apartment in the city. But aren't there any regular apartments? No. There just aren't. Apparently all of them have been remodeled into luxury apts. in the last year. I don't need granite counter tops, but I will probably have them. I would gladly trade the work out room, business center, bell hop service, presidential suite furniture and community room with huge HD tv, bar, overstuffed furniture and Monet paintings for $100 off my rent each month.
When my dad and I visited last spring we saw one apartment complex that, thanks to rent controls, was only $1500 for a very small, cheaply built 2 bedroom apartment. It was in a high density neighborhood where parking was difficult to find. A parking pass at this apartment costs $250 per month...
So Kim and I continue the search for a place to live where we won't die or be in debt until we're in a nursing home. We'll let you know what we find. We'll also let you know if we find the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, or a running game for the Seahawks.
Kim here, things are not that bleak...well not really. We will have a great life in DC even if it is "3-4 hours outside the city" or leaving us owing our first beautiful child to Don Corleone (our first ugly child can be ours).

Mt. Hood

So for Christmas my parents gave Kim and I (give yourself ten points if you realized it should be 'me and Kim' instead of 'Kim and I') a gift certificate to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. We tried to use it a couple of times during the year but it never worked out due to the apparent policy at the Timberline Lodge of being booked full 4 months out. So instead we used it as a brief rest in between Tacoma and Walla Walla. We spent an afternoon in Portland, and by Portland I mean Powell's book store. Neither of us had ever been to Powell's before but it is overwhelming. It's a 3 story, full city block of new and used books. We spent maybe 3 hours there and barely scratched the surface of what's available. My favorite book (which I didn't buy because I read the whole thing while standing there) was called "What White People Like" It included such entries as 'not owning a tv', 'adopting foreign children', 'Arrested Development', and 'pretending to be Canadian while in Europe'. I didn't find casserole or fondue but maybe I just missed those.
After Powell's we headed up to the lodge and had a great 3 days. We went hiking, read a lot, ate good food, relaxed, and learned the word 'hygrometer' from a dial in the sauna. The mountain looks like it used to have huge glaciers, but like Mt. Adams, now is mostly dirt in late summer. The lodge was built in the 30's by the WPA and is beautiful. Everything is wood and there are huge beams in every room. In many places it looks like whole trees were used. Thanks for the great present M&D!