Welcome to D.C.

Welcome to D.C.

Yes, I’m referencing Taylor Swift.
I have no shame.

And yes, I realize that D.C. “lifers” would be quick to inform me that New York and D.C. are extremely different. I get it. But this song has been stuck in my head ever since I moved here and it just seems fitting.

Any who…

I have been here in Arlington/D.C. now, for almost a month.
It is loud, busy, overwhelming and impatient.
And I love it.

I love that there is always something going on. Just yesterday I decided to go into the District with no plan in mind other than to explore, and stumbled across the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival on the National Mall. Don’t get me wrong, I am always missing my Oregon mountains and now the wide open spaces in Kansas, but right now in my life, this energy is what I want to be around.

I love the people it draws here. Everyday I am surrounded by active, passionate, quick-witted people who are here to make things happen. It’s a contagious environment, that is already forcing me to stay on my toes.

I love that I’m living in my history books. American history was always my favorite and I still haven’t quite wrapped my mind around the fact that there is so much to see, do and learn in just a few square miles. I plan on becoming a resident tourist here.

There is so much more to share from just the short time that I have been here so far.
I love my new job and am so glad that I took this risk.
As expected, the learning curve is steep, but I’ve really started to find my place in the office and have so much already on the calendar that it is hard to keep it all straight. Most importantly, I am continuing to do what I love for the industry and people that I believe in.
My second week at work I spent most of my time in the District celebrating National Ag Day.
It was great to see the few familiar faces that I do already know here and catch up with people in know that were in town for the festivities.

Other than that, I am settling in well. There are plenty of little quirks and differences that living in a city is teaching me, and I would say so far I have only drawn minimal embarrassing attention to myself.

Except for when this happened…

Looking forward I am really going to make a good effort at continuing to blog and share some of the fun highlights of my life here. This is a fast-paced, exciting new chapter and I definitely want to document it. I also want to make a quick note again about how thankful I am for all of the support that I had in making this move and life change. Whether it was the grunt work in Kansas on moving day, helping me find a place site unseen here in Arlington or the magnitude of encouragement and kind words, I am eternally grateful. So many people that I never would have expected, showed up in someway.

My grandparents though, are the true rockstars. They cut their anniversary vacation short to fly to Kansas to help me finish packing and make the trek across the country with my Escape and a U-Haul. There was really bad weather, missing keys, pushed buttons and a couch that barely fit in the door. I was stressed, overwhelmed and just plain cranky through a lot of it, and they laughed and loved me through it all.

Here is some quick shots of the move and my time here so far.

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Cheers! Have a wonderful week friends!