Holly's story

!!!!! I had a quiz today, too, before I left! So I was BUSY, so I even made sure to eat right before I left ;D

I left my dorm just after two, and I got to the shuttle stop JUST as the 2:10 shuttle came. The actual rally didn't start until 5, so I knew if I caught the 2:40 shuttle instead, I'd be fine time wise, but I was super happy to have that extra time cushion :).

The picture of me was when I was leaving lmao, I was kind of like, "holy cow wtf am i doing" but I was kind of excited, too!

I got off the metro at McPherson Square at about 3:15-ish. I had already mapped out where I could go chill to kill time if needed, so I walked two blocks to Starbucks :D, where I recharged my phone, drank coffee, and sat for thirty mins until 4.

I walked back to the General Lafayette Statue to be there in time to get a good spot to stand :) Also!!!!!!!!!!!! This was my first time seeing the white house :O

In the pictures, you'll gradually see the crowd get a LOT bigger, looooool.

I stood right in front of the camera line during the whole thing :)

There were easily three times as many people behind the cameras, so I got a REALLY awesome spot. There's a huge corporate media blackout on this thing, it really seems . . . except for independent media outlets, who have been reporting on the pipeline a lot.

There were 9 speakers. I knew who most of them were, most of them were either well known Native activists or well known general social justice activists. In the pictures I'm showing you is Tara Houska, who was Bernie's Native American adviser during his campaign, two of tribal leaders from the Kiowa Nation who performed a drum song in Kiowa about what's happening which was really cool, and Jasilyn Charger, who's a girl from the Standing Rock Reservation (where this is all happening), who was an AMAZING speaker, and then ofc Bernie.

And after the last speaker finished, we all walked like 30 feet to in front of the white house!!!

Look at allllllllllll the people :O

 

More pictures from in front of the white house. And then at about 6:30ish, I ducked out to get back home cuz I didn't know how bad rush-ish hour metro would be! But it wasn't bad and I got back on my shuttle before dark :)

I really like the last few pictures I took when I started to leave because you can really see how big the crowd was.

Spent the day with . . .

these two!  And they let me get a picture!!!!!!!  :::swoon:::

September restart

I'll never catch up, but if I'm ever to post again, I'll need to start somewhere!

Trevor and I have long wanted to make these Green Goddess sandwiches and did so tonight. I so enjoy cooking with him. The food was good, but the company was even better!

Rainbow

Most amazing rainbow I've ever seen. As I pulled off of the highway, the end of the rainbow was in front of my car, as in it seemed as if I were driving over it. 

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. Gen 9:16

Pork Bulgogi

Korean barbeque. Different than beef bulgogi, different ingredients, different sauce. With Trevor's help, I played around with two different recipes and came up with this. I've made this twice, after refining the first effort.

PORK BULGOGI

3 lb. pork loin, thinly sliced (I freeze for bit first to make this easy)
3/4 c. soy sauce
6 cloves of garlic
6 green onions, sliced
3 yellow onions, chopped
6 T. sesame seeds
black pepper
3 T. sugar
9 T. red pepper paste (gochujang)

6 t. sesame oil
6 t. chopped fresh ginger
6 t. white wine

Mix all ingredients together and marinate. Overnight is optimum; one hour is minimum. Cook meat in batches, over medium hot pan, until browned, one layer at a time. Serve with white rice.


Original recipes:
http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-pork-bulgogi-29690 
http://crazykoreancooking.com/recipe/spicy-pork-bulgogi-spicy-marinated-pork

Pictures!

Found a few old pictures.

c. 1972, Lori and me in Bethlehem with grandparents Mike and Mary Motko.

c. 1973, John, Barb, Robert, Mike, Jean.

Marching on . . .

Holly returned to school, and we were able to take a trip into the city to visit the National Gallery of Art.

We've been here several times; it never gets old!

 

A blurry photo, but our epic elevator ride -- that took us up about five steps -- has to be commemorated!! 

 

It was poring when we left, and of course I'd left the umbrella in the car. Museum maps make decent rain protection, at least for a few block!

Back at work, there are often stunning views from the parking lot, especially when seen through the fog.

A week after retuning from spring break, Holly's apartment at school flooded. Majorly. This was early on, and the water continued to run for another 40 minutes.  Her apartment seemed to get the worst of it (including a hole in her roommates' ceiling where water poured in), although half of her wing (including several floors) was evacated due to water damage.

I'm not sure if there was ever an official comment, but a main pipe broke in the ceiling above her floor, which had caused water literally to pour in from the windows, and down the wide staircase adjacent to their apartment, damaging several floors.

It was a week or so of craziness, with Robert going up that night, getting a hotel, and spending the weekend to help restore and move things temporarily into another dorm room. Holly got herself a single room in Eastern Shore (no one sharing her room, and in her freshman building). Despite it being midterm week and being without easy access to a lot of her stuff or to her apartment kitchen, Holly sailed through the week like nothing had happened.

Back to crochet, watching the moon rise.

Back at Holly's, repair work included extended construction hours, industrial fans drying out the carpets, removal of 12 inches of sheetrock, and repainting.

The following weekend was Easter, and we were back to move her back into her room.  I was surprised that it was fixed that quickly!  After moving her back in, we went to Eden Center for Vietnamese food.

As much as I love the bustle of the city, the restaurants, and the shopping, I wonder if I'd love it as much if I lived here. ;)

Trevor, growing out his hair, and our sweet little Kota.

Memorializing this for Trevor. I texted it to him to wish him luck for one of his midterms, then continued to send it several times over the next few months. Torture by technology, lol.

Bits of February and into March

Had my eyes off my blog for a while and posting sporadically.

I'm going back to February/March/April to post pics and reminders from what I posted on FB.

Spent time that I didn't have on genealogy. With popcorn. It was glorious!

More snow and cold. Gorgeous ice!

 More missed and late days for work, pretty much a nice treat!

 The next night, it rained, which formed a sheet of ice over the snow. I've never seen anything like this. The ice starts in my front yard and goes clear across the street to the neighbors' driveway where the blue arrows are pointing.

On that cold note, our fan broke on our furnace. It was coooold outside, and we were without regular heat for several days. Thankful for the fireplace though!

One minute in the sunrise.

Next minute in the sunrise. Amazing reminder of the Creator whose mercies are new EVERY morning.

Holly was home early in March. She's back there, under all the covers. Pumpkin is practically hanging on to the side of the bed.

Holly is wonderfully generous at treating us to Starbucks, a wonderful treat!

Getting back to the Cherry Blossom Trail!

And parking next to a car with a matching MOM-George Mason University bumper sticker!

Robert found great deals on ice cream. And butter. Haha!

Them: "You cut up chicken, and we didn't get any?"

Me: "No, you little rats never get chicken."

(That's not really true. They were sooooo sad though!)

Sun and snow

I went up to see Holly yesterday.  We loaded up the food, since I'm not planning to go back for three weeks.  She also had some books come in, and contacts, and a few things that she didn't take back after break.

There was a LOT of snow on the ground!  They got everything that we were supposed to get.  We unpacked the car and then drove to the area where she's planning to live next year (on campus, different location that she wasn't familiar with).  She chose Subway for lunch, and we did a Walmart run. 

 I promised Trevor that I'd grab a few things for him at H-Mart, and Holly stopped at Chipotle to get a burrito to take home for dinner.  Back at school, she treated me to Starbucks.  It was a lovely afternoon.

I got a later start back home, but it was gorgeous driving into the sunset, which I did for over an hour(!), a beautiful night.