A History Lesson

We went to DC this weekend, but this post is a history lesson of three very important friendships, not the nation. This weekend, I got to see three of my dearest friends.

Back just late last night, I'm happy to report that we had a GREAT weekend in DC. We took the red eye out Friday, arrived very early Saturday morning and never looked back! We toured the city, hung out with three different couples, visited a church on Capitol Hill, went to Mt. Vernon and generally had a wonderful time! The highlight of the trip was definitely time with friends, but we like to say that the trip was made possible by Clare, our Tom Tom (we thought her very plain sounding voice made her seem like a Clare - thanks Mary and Mike for loaning her to us!). Without her, we would have been lost, frustrated, short with each other and probably worse. Having Clare made all the difference in the world.

Small disclaimer - we did only okay with the photos this time. That being said, much of the trip doesn't have documentation (like all of Sunday). But we did what we could!

We arrived at 6AM (in Virginia), picked up our rental car and drove to a very cute breakfast place (thanks for the recommendation Lindsey!) where we ate and I freshened up. Ian insists I spent 30 minutes in their bathroom, but with an overnight flight, I needed to change a few clothing items, wash my face, put on my makeup, fix my hair, all of which I'm sure took less than 20 minutes.

Then, with the help of incredible Clare, we headed into DC. We first went to the Capitol, to have a quick look around.

Then we went to the National Gallery of Art, which was amazing. Of course, we did a few monuments - Washington, Lincoln and the Koren War, all of which are truly beautiful. I had never really looked at the Korean Memorial before and it was very moving (bottom picture).

Having worn ourselves out (mostly due to very little sleep on the red eye), we headed to Lindsey's house in Maryland to take a nap and then enjoy a night out with her and her husband, Josh. Lindsey and I have been friends for 20 years - we met in middle school in Texas and stayed in touch all these years, were in each other's weddings and both just recently bought houses. It was so fun to see their house and get to hang out with them. There is just something about being with someone who has known you since you were 11 (that chose to know you, rather than being family). We ate at a great Tex-Mex place in DC and enjoyed catching up and our husbands getting acquainted.

On Sunday, we met Mel and Luke at their church in DC for service. Mel's was my mentor in late high school and then my RD when I was a second year RA and then my dear friend, before falling in love with my cousin and moving to DC. We really enjoyed our time at their church - it was very evident the Spirit is alive there and we found the pastor's message challenging. Then we enjoyed lunch with them and their three children. It was so great to talk about what God is doing in both our lives and we're SUPER exciting that God is calling them back to CA in the near future!

After lunch, we headed to Sarah and Matt's house (back in Maryland). Sarah is one of those friends that each time I see her, it makes me wish I saw her more. I don't know how we ended up so far away from each other! I blame her, of course, since I'm only 20 miles from where we went to school (we met at Biola) and she's a billion miles away. Anyway, the husbands took her two kids to the park so she and I could catch up and then we all joined up for dinner at their place. They made us delicious homemade spaghetti and meatballs - so yummy! After their kids went down, we enjoyed several more hours, just enjoying good conversation. It was over too soon, as always.

After another night in Lindsey's lovely home, we headed out the next morning to Mt. Vernon, with Lindsey as our faithful tour guide. Thankfully, we remembered to take the camera out of my purse.

Here is me and Lindsey on the back side of Mt. Vernon and Ian and me with a view of the Potomac - Washington picked a winner of a spot for his house!

Here is the house itself - we didn't actually go inside because they were having a huge 297th birthday party for Washington (being that it was President's Day) and the place was mobbed. Due to the holiday, it was also free, so we didn't complain!

We left Mt. Vernon and headed back to the airport, sad our trip was over but so thankful for the time. When we were talking about highlights, we both said time with friends. It still amazes me that these three women, from three totally different stages of my life, who don't know one another, live within 20 minutes of each other. I would want to see each of them as often as possible and to get to see all them in one trip (and in a cool city to boot) is so awesome. Isn't it amazing how God works things out? I am so thankful for these women and who they are in my life - if you girls are reading this (and I know you d0), thanks for making time for us this weekend and loving me and my husband. I love you and can't wait for the next visit!