Nationals Opening Day

Chris, Sam, Nick and I went to the Nationals first game in their new stadium. We went a bit early because President Bush was scheduled to throw out the first pitch. So we wandered around to try some of the local food options like Ben's Chili Bowl, Five Guys Burgers and Red, Hot and Blue.

The lines for food were LONG the ENTIRE GAME. But, I must say the food was GOOD. I sampled a brisket sandwich, potato salad, Mayorga coffee, Giffords Hot Chocolate, Chocolate Caramels, Hard Times Chili Wings, Honest Tea and Cracker Jacks. The list is long, but trust me I was still hungry and my pockets were empty.

The game ended with some excitement with the Nats losing their 1 point lead by the catcher losing the ball allowing the Braves to score. With two outs, DC born Ryan Zimmerman had a lot of pressure, but he handled it beautifully by hitting the winning HOME RUN.

You can see our exciting day here on our flickr page.

Our first non-Ikea piece of furniture

Saturday was a big milestone in the Bigelow household. We finally got our new couch, our first real piece of furniture that wasn't from Ikea, that we ordered on December 26th, 2007.

Our new Crate and Barrel sectional proudly screams adulthood-- which marriage hasn't yet completely finalized. The couch seems to overwhelm our cozy apartment, but after some new items I hope that it will soon fit in.

I believe a key to a successful marriage is for both spouses to be able to lay down while watching tv. I am quite sure we'll make it through our golden years now.

We should thank many of our blog readers who contributed to this couch via our wedding. By no means would we have been able to afford the couch without the many gift cards that we turned in that day. I hope like a proper investor on Wall Street, you'll soon get to enjoy the spoils of your investment and have a seat on our new couch.

Another sad farewell

Today we made the tough choice to switch to...ugh...cable. It sounds ridiculous but I am heartbroken. We loved Directv at our old place when we had our own satellite, but in our new building it has been a big headache.

We originally got Directv to get the Sunday Ticket so that I wouldn't have to go to a smoky bar with Chris to watch Chiefs games. It turned out to be a great social investment. Friends would come every weekend to watch the games that you couldn't get on regular tv and I got to experiment with lots of recipes. (uhh...I hope we still have these friends.)

I'll admit it. I also like being different and it is a personal pride issue to have cable like everyone else. In addition, satellite has been a superior source for digital quality over cable. Considering we spent $$ on a HDTV I think you want the best quality picture.

Another irksome part about cable is their use of DVRs---not TiVO (I understand why Coke wants to make sure people say soda.) For those unfamiliar with TiVO it is a vastly superior product to just plain D-V-R. The manner with how you record shows and series is much more user friendly, you could search for listing under actor, director or keyword, it has movie downloads, and it suggests programming for you!

This is going to be a hard transition. But the one silver lining out of the whole thing is I get VH1 Soul. It is the one thing I like to hear in the morning. CNN, The Today Show, Mike and Mike better watch their ratings plummet when Team Purple House is waking up to New Edition's "If it isn't love".

up here in my tree

Today is a very big day for Chris. Huge. Like Christmas in March. Pearl Jam is going on a short east coast tour in June! I purchased my fan club tickets today for a show at the phone booth and can't wait! This will be my eleventh show, and it will be just shy of ten years since my first (7/3/98). Yes, I am a dork.

Donkeys still win, but...

I just had to share the lovely picture of elephants walking around DC yesterday. Ringling Brothers is coming to town and the elephants are transported via train and then must walk a few miles to the Verizon Center.

I also love the "I heart DC."

Oregon

I was able to go to Oregon for a few days this week with the Coast Guard. I had never been before, and was pretty excited. We spent time in Portland and Astoria. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get many pictures - none in Portland and only a few in Astoria - but the area was very nice, albeit a bit rainy. I met up with old friends Troy and Jamie, who now live in Portland. Lelaine and I are hoping to go next year, and maybe include a ski trip on Mt. Hood.

The picture at the top of the post is from a light house up on a cliff at Station Cape Disappointment, where the Columbia meets the Pacific. These are from the top of the hill on which Astoria sits.

stuff Chris's people like

It is pretty popular now, so this may be old news, but I love the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com. Although several describe me pretty well (#23, 40, and 41) my favorite part is that Lelaine, who often makes fun of my whiteness, loves about ten times more of the things that appear on the list than me.

a sad day for charm city

Tonight was the last episode of The Wire. If you have never seen it, put season one at the top of your Netflix queue right now. If you have seen it, I'm sure you are just as sad as we are to say goodbye to McNulty, Omar, Bunk, Daniels, Pearlman, Kima, Lester, Omar, Carver, Herc, Sydnor, Omar, Rawls, Beadie, Slim Charles, Avon, Omar, Gus, Carcetti, Norman, Clay Davis (shhheeeeeeeeet), Namond, Michael, Randy, Prez, Dukie, and most of all, Omar.

I won't say anything substantive about the last episode - I liked it but Lelaine didn't - because I want you to start watching them all. Season four may have been the best season of any TV show. Ever.

A nice Sunday drive

By the by, here is a map of Lelaine's favorite portion of the return from Snowshoe.  It was a beautiful section of US33 crossing the Appalachians on the WV-VA border.  Chris and Sarah enjoyed the views from the switchbacks, but Lelaine...not so much, and she didn't even open her eyes.

West Virginia, Mountain Momma

Over the weekend we had quite an adventure. We went on a ski trip to Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia with a few friends.

The adventure started out quite nice with not much traffic leaving the city late afternoon on Friday. Things started getting ugly the last few hours when it started to snow and we were going up the long and winding roads up the mountain. Slipping and sliding up the mountain at 20 mph made our 5.5 hour drive a nice 8 hour drive. Another important note for future Snowshoe bound trips: get gas before it gets dark. We found out that 8pm is mighty late 'round those parts.

Bright and early on Saturday we were greeted with blizzard (IMHO) style winds. I am the lone snowboarder in the group and was pleasantly surprised with the Burton equipment. We all had some equipment hiccups in the morning, but eventually found Snowshoe to be a great place for the Mid-Atlantic.

The biggest news is that despite my fear of heights I even got on a baby ski lift and exited without falling flat on my face. Chris enjoyed several hours of skiing on Saturday and Sunday renewing his passion for this outdoor activity. He even talked about going to Liberty the next weekend.

Other highlights include seeing a beautiful sunset off the condo balcony as well as a herd of deer. We also had the Wii in the condo and played Guitar Hero and Super Mario Brothers. It's amazing after many years how you remember where the mushrooms and stars are in the game.

The drive back from Snowshoe proved to be worse for me. I am a wuss when it comes to car rides sometimes and the winding road on the way back beat my equilibrium to a pulp. Our poor caravan had to stop several times so that I pave the road with my lunch.

More pictures on our flickr page.