West Wing Tour

One of the church members named Mike (who served on Bush's administration) gave Ryan and I, along with a couple of other interns, the opportunity to tour the West Wing last week. We were excited that we were able to do it while Bush was still in office.

Unfortunately, pictures were only allowed to be taken outside and in the press room.


It was really neat to see these rooms where so many important decisions are made. We were also able to see the Oval Office, which was neat. President Bush's Bible was sitting out on his desk, and Mike, our tour guide, said it was sitting in a different place than it was earlier. It is just comforting to know that our President is seeking to follow God's will, not his own.






Mike provided lots of great information to make the experience much more meaningful. One of our favorite parts was the pictures they had up all over of Bush. Mike said they change most of them out regularly to reflect the things Bush has been doing. Some of my favorite pictures included:

•President Bush dancing with Laura at the Inaugural Ball, giving someone in the background a thumbs up
•President Bush standing on the rubble at Ground Zero calling out that the whole world would soon here from us
•Bush addressing the nation from the Oval Office after 9-11
•Bush loving on some of the people in Africa
•Bush cycling with Lance Armstrong (apparently he is really big into riding his bike and is in really, really good shape--the Secret Service guys have a hard time keeping up)
•Bush apparently will cut down trees at his Crawford ranch to create new bike trails, so his staff gave him a chainsaw with the Presidential seal on it
•Bush with his puppies
•Bush sitting at his desk in the Oval Office with his dad looking on proudly

There were lots more great pictures, but Ryan and I both walked away from that tour with a much greater appreciation for what our President has done for us over the last eight years, as well as for the man that he seems to be.

Happy Birthday, My Love!

My sweet husband turned 31 one week ago today. Unfortunately, because of our very hectic schedules, we have yet to really celebrate his big day, and I'm also just now writing this post.

I finally baked Ryan a cake last night, but when I went to make the frosting, I realized I didn't have nearly enough powdered sugar. This is pretty consistent with how unsmoothly the last week and a half have gone. (Lots of forgetting stuff that we need at stores, arriving at stores only to realize we left our wallet at home, leaving for work without an address to enter into our GPS, etc.)

Ryan, as most of you know, is incredible! He is this perfect package of so many wonderful, wonderful things. Anyway, I just wanted to take a few minutes to dote on him.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Ryan:

•He is a strong man of God, who continually seeks to sharpen himself and those around him. He has been granted so much wisdom, especially in the last few years. It has been amazing to watch God grow him in preparation for our life in ministry.

•He can always make me laugh. I often think about how blessed I am to have been given a marriage that is full of laughter. Our home is such a happy place when he's here.


•He is extremely handsome. Sometimes I just stop in the middle of a conversation with Ryan because it hits me that God has allowed this man to be my husband!


•He cares so deeply for others and often gives so unselfishly to bless them.

•He has a deep desire to really get to know people--where they've come from, their testimony, their hearts. I think this is a trait that is unique to Ryan.

•He is a model husband, and I believe God has used Ryan in this area to help many Christian men to understand how to better care for their wives. Ryan loves and cares for me so well!

•He's brilliant and is always SO GOOD at everything he does! Whether at school, games, writing, etc., Ryan always excels.


I could certainly go on and on about how great my husband is, but I'll leave it at this. Ryan, I want you to know that I adore you and am so thankful for the gift God has given me in you. Happy birthday, my Love!

Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

Ryan and I were blessed to be able to celebrate his graduation and birthday in Nuevo Vallarta for a week, which is about 15 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta. If you read our previous post, you'll know that December was absolutely insane, so we were so thankful for an opportunity to relax.



















We spent the vast majority of the week resting by the pool or on the beach. Our hotel has one of the largest pools in Latin America, so there was lots to do. They even had a Lazy River, two Wave Pools and a waterslide. Our favorite, though, was just laying in a cabana and reading.


We went to Puerto Vallarta one afternoon to see the Boardwalk. While we were walking around, we came across this large sand-sculpture Nativity scene. It was so neat! I can't imagine how long it took to make it. We had dinner that night with a wonderful view of the sun setting over the ocean.

December through February is whale watching season at that part of Mexico. Humpback whales return to this area every year to mate and give birth. It was amazing to catch glimpses of these enormous creatures.




Our time was great and very relaxing, and we praise the Lord for allowing us to see another part of His beautiful creation!

Our Last Month in Review

This last month was exceptionally busy for us, and I want to apologize for not doing a good job of keeping up with people, replying to emails, etc. I hope to be better at this as we get settled into life here in DC.

A summary of the last month's events:

•Ryan's finals
•Hosted a Pampered Chef party
•Sunday school Christmas party
•Ryan's graduation!
•Ryan's graduation party
•Ladies' Christmas gift exchange
•College graduation party (for a girl I worked with)
•Busiest time of year at work
•Bought a car
•Packing
•Christmas
•Ryan reading books and writing papers to prepare for internship
•Sold our car
•More packing
•The Graigs moved into our house
•Last day of work (on New Year's Eve)
•We loaded up our car and a rented mini-van to move out of our house
•Wonderful dinner with the Hamiltons
•Drove to DC (on New Year's Day)
•Unloaded our car and van
•Went to bed
•Left first thing the next morning for Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
•Ryan's graduation/birthday trip
•Returned to life in DC
•Began internship and work
•Ryan's birthday

Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind of a month, and our time in DC thus far has been the same. We've been here a week now. Last Friday I unpacked while Ryan worked on a paper. Saturday was spent running errands. Almost all day Sunday was spent at church. Monday through Thursday I worked while Ryan was at his internship, and we haven't gotten home before 10:00pm this week. There's been lots going on, but we're really enjoying it. We even got to tour the West Wing Wednesday night, which I'll write more about later.