Road Trip Week One

WOO-HOOOOO! ROAD TRIP!!!

So Brian and I are planning to move back to California over the next month or so if all goes according to plan, and phase one of the move is a cross-country road trip! We left DC last Monday and have been driving through America's heartland on our way back to the valley!

Here are some of the highlights from week one...

First stop = Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia (Tuesday)

We stopped off in Roanoke VA (Tuesday night) and Nashville TN (Wednesday night) to sleep and then went on to...

Memphis, Tennessee (Thursday/Friday)
...by far my favorite city east of the Mississippi! (other than DC)

First stop = Graceland!!

Then we ate dinner at Texas de Brazil, which is THE coolest restaurant I have EVER been to. It's an authentic Brazilian steakhouse, with full-on gauchos in gaucho pants serving you as much meat as you can possibly eat, but they bring it to you on these huge SWORDS and slice you off pieces of filet mignon, chicken, lamb, steak, ribs, pretty much anything you can imagine until you can't possibly eat any more. It was amazing!

After dinner we walked around Memphis... Beale Street was awesome (birthplace of the Blues), they close down the street and all the bars and restaurants open up their doors to the street and have great music playing.

Along the banks of the Mississippi River...

Next morning in Memphis... anyone seen "The Firm?" (Tom Cruise rode this monorail to the Mud Island museum when he was on the run)

Driving through the heartland--four states in a day! (Friday)
(Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas)

Random Hallburton guy in McD's...

After spending the night in Wichita, Kansas (Friday), we drove to Denver, Colorado for the weekend and stayed with Brian's brother and sister-in-law!

We had a BLAST! We went to a LaCrosse game (which is my new favorite sport!) at the Pepsi Center, ate great steak, enjoyed the amazing view from their house on the top of a mountain overlooking Denver, and then headed out through the SNOW on Monday morning to head down to Colorado Springs!!

So that brings us to yesterday, and I'll post again as soon as I get a chance to upload the pictures, but Colorado is definitely my new favorite state (after California). I'm totally inspired to take up mountain climbing and/or spelunking!

Tonight we're in Albuquerque, and tomorrow we're headed to a Spa resort in Sedona, Arizona... I'm SO ready for a massage. Then it's on to the Grand Canyon, Vegas and then... FRESNO!! Wow, that is SO anti-climactic. Oh well, be there on Friday!

Joie de Vivre

All in all, it's been a great couple weeks... our last days in Washington for a long time. Our goal was to do as many things as possible that we hadn't done yet before we leave, and it has been a blast!

Last week was cherry blossom picnics and the zoo! The weather here was gorgeous, and all I wanted to do was be outside all day every day!

My brother Robbie came into town on Wednesday night, and Heather and Matt flew in Thursday morning to visit. It was so fun to have everyone here and get to be tourists together!

Thursday we got to go to the White House to watch a presidential departure on Marine One, and Bush 41 and the first lady were there too. It was definitely one of the coolest things I've gotten to do in this city. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and all the tulips were blooming. Then we got to hang out in the press briefing room for a while and take the obligatory souvenir picture behind the podium. Afterward we went to Old Town Alexandria and took a walk on the pier, ate dinner at our favorite little Italian restaurant, then came back to our house and played a great game of hold'em and went to bed.

On Friday we did the tourist thing all day... Holocaust museum, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean War memorials, Washington Monument, lunch at Potbelly's, FDR memorial, and lots of walking! Great pics and good memories...

Friday night was my last concert with my choir. We performed Mozart's Requiem at the Strathmore Music Center, and it was very emotional for me. Singing with the choir has been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life so far, and it's definitely one of the things I will miss the most about living here.

Today we all hung out and went to the mall and ate lunch, then drove Matt and Heather to the airport to see them off. Tomorrow we'll be packing the car and getting ready to head to California via the whole country! ROAD TRIP!!! I'm SO excited! I'm going to try to keep a blog of our trip, so check back for updates along the way. Once we make it all the way to Fresno, I'll be starting my new job, which I am also very excited about.

So all in all, life is good. We're still waiting on our house to sell, which has been a significant source of stress, but also a tremendous experience in trusting God. We have both come to a place where we are absolutely able to accept anything and anywhere the Lord directs us to do or go. It is a wonderful and frightening place to be, but I am confident that we will look back on this time as a turning point in our relationship with Him and with each other. I can't wait to see what God does!

See you on the other side...

I Wish I Spoke French

I think I'm going to learn.

*sigh*

Life never ceases to amaze me. People are even more spectacular. Friendship is such a fascinating thing. How is it that, even after years of neglect, a friendship can come back to life with a single, soul-illuminating conversation? And how is it that another takes even more years to ressurect it than it took for it to die?

I can't even begin to name all the emotions that have been flooding through me the past two weeks. I feel like there is so much more I want to do in Washington, and I am getting sadder about leaving every day. I wish there was a way for us to stay until the end of the year, or even just the summer. I feel like my time there is not complete yet, and I don't know what that means, but as we were lying in the grass staring up at the blue sky and beautiful pink and white blossoms, watching the sun reflect off of the monuments, I could hardly keep from crying. There is such a deep unsettledness in the pit of my stomach that won't go away; even though I felt so much peace about all of this before, now I just feel like I'm mourning the loss of an old friend that I wish I had more time with.

The hard part is, I am thrilled about my new job. I met with them on Friday, and the people and the work are so amazing, I cannot imagine a more perfect position to be in. It's exactly what I want to do. I just wish I could do it in DC.

So now I must simply wait for all the pieces to fall into the right places, and trust that the direction we're supposed to take is made clear. I hate this feeling. I hate not knowing. I'm ready for a vacation from the stress of life.

Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.... "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them".... They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.... When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

Breathe. Just breathe...

So... yeah.

Celebrated St Patty's Day by eating a bowl of Lucky Charms.

Wanted to go out and get "shmoffold" as my bro calls it, but married an "older" man so spent the evening watching Deal or No Deal... how exciting. (I love you honey!)

Got back from 3 weeks in Cali on Tuesday and can't wait to go back... got to go to the Crash Oscar party, saw some famous people... pretty cool. Other than the rediculous traffic and fake people everywhere, I think SoCal is pretty much my favorite place ever [insert Napoleon Dynamite accent here].

Was offered an awesome job in Fresno... we'll probably be moving back as soon as our house sells... glad to go, sad to leave.

Things I miss about California: Tri-tip, In-N-Out, Full-o-Bull sandwiches, Me 'N Eds Pizza, Mexican food, sunsets on the Pacific, driving down PCH, palm trees, people who know how to merge, the central coast, people who pull out hats and gloves when the temp drops below 60, and the fact that I could wear flip-flops every day I was there.

Today... went to Home Depot, planted some flowers in pots, caulked around our shower, talked to my friend Nancy who had a baby yesterday(!).

Currently watching the Patriot in HD while Brian cooks dinner... smells really good... I love marriage.

:)

James Blunt Sucks

So I usually don't do the bitter diatribe thing, but I had to say it. I do not understand how this guy can be the top download on iTunes. I mean, seriously, that "beautiful" song that is always on the radio is about him getting high, somehow ending up in a subway station (or probably a "tube stop"...since he's british or whatever), seeing a girl who is with another guy, wanting her body, she sees him sitting there totally stoned, he realizes he will never be with her, and continues in his high-ness. Wow. Every guy who gets high and loiters in subway/metro/tube stations leering at women should take notes from this guy and start writing music--they could all be rich and wasted instead of broke and wasted.

I was forced to listen to the CD on a road trip to SoCal w/ my little bro, whom I love terribly but who has poor taste in music... like the rest of the nation apparently. It made me want to start cutting myself and lie in a bathtub of warm water. I told my brother this, halfway joking. But really, the "music" was incredibly depressing, mediocre and unimaginative. Then I started snooping around the internet, and happened upon the music video for the song. And oh my goodness, the entire video is watching him commit suicide!! HE can't even stand his own music! All I can say is, if you think James Blunt is the next Bono, you should expand your musical horizons.

Thunderstorms

I love thunderstorms. There's something about the soft, steady patter of the rain on the window punctuated by the howling wind and a deep explosion of thunder. I can never get enough. It makes me wish I had a cozy library full of old dusty books and rich mahagony, and a deep red velvet chair to sink into with a hot cup of tea. Yes, tea and a fire in the fireplace... how lovely.

I guess for now my little green Bombay Company chair, purple chenile blanket, and fuzzy leopard print slippers will have to do. I should go make some tea, though... tea would be nice. And maybe I'll light the candles, just in case the power goes out. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

I relish these moments of solitude. My husband is amazing, and I could spend every waking moment with him and still want more, but every time I do have a moment to myself, I remember how much I love "me time."

Especially recently, some of the most incredible moments with my Savior have been in those unexpected times of quiet and reflection. God has been so faithful to us. I have never seen such obvious and timely answers to prayer as I have seen in the past week. It never ceases to amaze me how, even though He doesn't have to, God chooses to allow us to be a part of what He does. I loved how our pastor put it the other week: if He wanted to, God could do the whole Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus thing when He wants to tell us something or when we go astray or lose perspective, but most of the time He doesn't. He teaches us to be sensitive to His still, small voice... through others, through His Word, through nature, through circumstances... how incredibly gracious He is to even allow us to know His heart, and even more to be used by Him to show others the love of Christ and meet their needs. How deep and wide and sufficient is His amazing grace!

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, beng confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ...And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christto the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11)

I think the other reason I love thunderstorms is that they make me feel so small. When I hear the boom of the thunder and realize how many millions of tiny raindrops are falling every second, I am in awe that God, my God, has orchestrated when and where each one is to fall, and knows exactly where the next one will go. But what is even more amazing, He also knows the path of every storm, every cool breeze and hot wind, every soft shower and torrential downpour... He knows.

Mmmmm. What a wonderful, warm thought on such a cold and windy night.

Wedding and Honeymoon Pictures!

Here they are! We're supposed to get our professional ones in a couple more weeks, but these are the ones we have so far... enjoy!

Rehearsal Dinner...

Wedding!

Honeymoon :)

Grappling

That's the word all the "senior members" (professors) at ASP would use to talk about struggling to get your mind and heart around a difficult concept. I felt it was appropriate to use in this context.

Last night was one of the most fun nights I've had in a very long time. I went out to dinner with a bunch of my old friends from ASP at this great little Thai place on the House side (Capitol Hill for all you non-DCers)... Dave, Becky, Andy, Scott, Melissa, and a few significant others and friends. We shut down the restaurant!

It truly is amazing, though, even after not seeing them for many months, when you've gone through that program together, you instantly fall back into deep, insightful conversations as if you'd never left. I have never had friends like that before, where you don't have to waste your time on the "how are you" and "so what do you do" questions that are obligatory in DC, and can jump straight into conversations about Absolute Truth, how to fix the American health care system, and philosophies of marriage.

The question I have been "grappling" with for a while now is much less existential, but much more difficult. Dave and I had a brief conversation about it and decided to get together tonight to grapple with it further and without everyone around. He is also struggling with the same question:

What now?

We both spent a lot of time back in California with our families and friends... and loved it. His question to me was, "did you think about DC at all when you were there?"

My answer, as well as his, was a surprising "no."

I never thought that would happen. Last year at Christmas, when we had just left ASP and were in the process of moving to DC, it was all we could think about. We couldn't wait to get out of Fresno and get back to our favorite city in the world.

But now, it's almost a "been there, done that" feeling. My question is a little more urgent than his, only becuase I am now looking for a new job after the wedding, and could theoretically move back if Brian and I both found work. Dave probably wouldn't come back until August if he did. But even if we did go back, what would we do? Yet another question to grapple with. After having worked where we have and had the experiences we have, everything else seems like an anticlimactic decision... from the International Relations Committee, and a Presidential Healthcare Commission... to Fresno? Maybe LA, but that would still mean we were hours from many of our friends and family.

Observations

It's amazing how one's perspective on life changes as time goes on.

I feel like I've been in a strange place for a while, both spiritually and emotionally . It's strange, being on the other side of a dream that's been fulfilled. All my life, all I wanted was to live and work here in Washington. Living here has been exciting, stressful, wonderful, difficult, fulfilling and disappointing all at once. I've had this "is this all" feeling ever since I left ASP last year. That was an amazing experience, but even there I feel like I missed out on a lot of great relationships because of the demands of my internship and my relationship with Brian. I was at a different place in my life than most of the other people there, I think. I learned more about myself during that short time than at any other time in my life, but I still feel like I have so much more to learn.

To be continued...

It's Official! (Again)

Happy NEW YEAR!!! Brian and I just got back after being away from home for almost an entire month, and it is nice to be home.

The wedding was SO beautiful... it was truly everything we wanted it to be, I was so happy. My only regret is that we didn't videotape any of it, and I would have loved to have had our ceremony at least on video. When we were saying the vows that we wrote, Brian was in tears, and it was so meaningful. I was crying, he was crying, everyone was crying... it was so special. I never thought that after being married for a year I would be so emotional, but it was even more meaningful because our love for each other has grown so much through this last year. Standing up in front of everyone that we love so much and declaring to the world that even after a year of marriage, we still want to spend the rest of our lives loving each other, I was even more certain that he is and always will be my soulmate, the one the Lord created me for. God is so good. Hold out girls, don't settle for anyone but the absolute best that God has for you... it is SO worth the wait!! I never imagined that I could love someone as much as I love Brian, and I never imagined that we would actually love each other more as time goes on... it truly is incredible!

Then we danced the night away to our AMAZING swing band in the candlelight, and had such a great time seeing eveyone that we haven't seen in so long. It was wonderful. The only other frustrating thing was that we didn't get a single bite to eat the entire time, so we actually ended up driving through In 'N Out on our way to the hotel!! LOL!

I'm going to try to post some pictures soon of the wedding and honeymoon... We love you all so much and it was so great to see all of you that made it the wedding!! Open invitation if you ever want to visit DC!

xoxo
Mrs. Carolyn Wise (officially now!)