Thursday Thirteen

1. I took a quick trip to Washington DC last week for work.  When I say quick, I mean really quick... flew out early Tuesday morning and came back Wednesday night.  I've never been to DC before so it was pretty neat, but since it was such a quick trip and I was there for work, I wasn't able to see near as much as I wanted to.  I did get to spend a couple of hours on Tuesday walking around there.  The Capitol was an awesome sight to see.

2. The United States Botanical Garden is right across the street from the Capitol so I ducked in there for a little bit and snapped this picture for Monkey, I know she would've loved the bright colors!

3. I was also very fortunate that spring came early, because the cherry blossoms were in full bloom!  These trees were all over DC and it was gorgeous.

4. It's nice seeing things like this... where a concealed weapons permit holder stops a shooting rampage.  Too bad major media doesn't report on it. 

5.  It's been many years since I was in school, and we don't have any school-aged children in our house, yet I still call weeknights "school nights"... anyone else do this?

6. The weather was so nice last weekend, we were able to get a start on Monkey's birthday present... she's beyond excited to have her own clubhouse!

7. I've decided I'm going to cut back on the 5k's I do this year... we are just so busy all the time, I need all the free time I can get.  I did however, run my first race of the year on St. Patrick's Day.  In all fairness, it was only 1.8 miles, but we did have a lot of fun!

8. Our Oklahoma friends, Scott and Annie (and little baby Cort!) came up for a visit last week.  We were sad to see them leave, but enjoyed the time they were here.  Monkey is obsessed with Cort and did not want them to go home. 

9. I mean really, who wouldn't be in love with this little handsome man!

10. Speaking of obsessions... I've been addicted to Cuties recently...  I can eat 5 or 6 at a time.  I love how easy to peel they are.  That is the number one reason I don't eat oranges very often.    

11. I bought a loaf of french bread at my last trip to the grocery store.  I've found that if we don't eat it right away it gets moldy pretty fast.  So I've been making all sorts of grilled cheese sandwiches.  I made a mozzarella, pepperoni and pesto that was really good and last night I tried out one I found on Pinterest, jalepeno popper grilled cheese (I skipped out on the tortilla chips).  Oooooh so goooood. 

12. Tonight, I'm thinking maybe mushroom and brie sandwiches.  What combinations do you like?

13. I'm looking forward to the NRA Annual Meeting that is quickly approaching.  It's been a few years since I've been able to go, and I've missed it.  They always have so much to see and do.  We plan to take Monkey with us this year too, so maybe we'll get some time to explore St. Louis while we are at it.