Update on our housing search: we're still at square one. We can't agree on houses. Joe really liked a house in Hillcrest, but I hated the yard (it was on a steep hill and didn't have a lot of usable space)... and I loved a house in Bowie but Joe didn't like the location being so far away from everything, and not having a direct exit from Rt 50. In his defense, I wasn't thrilled that the nearest grocery store (and ANY other store/restaurant, etc) was 15 min away, and that it took 30 min with NO traffic just to get back to the Hill where our friends are... but the property was awesome. We even saw a deer in the woods jump away as we pulled up! Not to mention the house was in great shape, lots of room, and the street was a cul-de-sac, so the traffic was minimal.

But we decided our first house needs to be one we are both excited about, so we're letting both go. :( I feel like we'll never find a place we can both agree on, but it has to be out there! Good thing we're not in any rush to move. We don't have any future plans to go out again, but maybe next weekend we can find a few more properties. Joe wants to stick to DC for a while, and leave out the Maryland houses until we're sure we can't find anything we like in the District. I'm hesitant to do that because I feel like we might miss out on something great... *sigh* I'm glad we have a patient realtor ;) In the meantime I'm gathering all our paperwork, we got our pre-approval letter, and I'm making a list of lenders so that when we DO find the property, we can jump on it. I'm hoping the spring market picks up early this year, and hopefully we find something sooner than later!

I haven't made any progress on practicing my photography skills. I have a 12 week lesson from "two peas in a bucket", but haven't been able to even get through the first lesson and it's already week 3. There's no time limit though, so I'll just get to it when I can!

Ben is doing better at his daycare. He still has a rough morning, and dropping him off is torture because he's a big freak out teary mess. But he settles down and is all smiles when I pick him up, so I know it will just take a few more weeks until he feels better about drop offs. Poor little guy... the tears are heartbreaking.

We hopefully will have some visitors soon... our friends from New York may come down for President's Day weekend. If they decide not to, my parents have expressed their interest in visiting Ben again, so *someone* will be here that weekend :) Should be a fun time!

So for now, we're still scouting out houses, and keeping our fingers crossed we can find something we BOTH like!

posted at 3:53 PM ~ comments (2)

Let the house hunt in 2010 begin!! We are picking up where we left off (just before the big blizzard!) in our housing search and touring houses this weekend. We're still not focused on a specific neighborhood, so we'll be out in the Bowie/Mitchelville area, the Brookland/Michigan Park area, and the Hillcrest/SW area all day tomorrow. We have quite a few houses that look promising, so here's hoping we have some good luck! Our biggest problem with our decision is that we hate giving up our current location because we just can't afford the $600k+ houses in our neighborhood. When we try to compromise by staying in the city, we give up yard/house space with houses in our price range... but when we find beautiful houses with big yards we can afford, we're out in the boonies and away from all our friends. *sigh* Such is life near a major (expensive) city. But I have faith we will find something... 2010 is our year to be homeowners, I know it! :)

This weekend is also a holiday weekend, as the federal government is closed for Martin Luther King, Jr Day. I'm going to try and get our house in order (still haven't put away the suitcase from our holiday travels) and also practice some more with the camera! I hope to get some cute shots for a "Valentine's Day" theme with Ben. I found a new site for photography tips, at www.thebump.com. It's a pregnancy site by the same people who bring you www.theknot.com, and their message boards are great, and the photography sub-forum is fantastic. We mostly talk about shoots with kids/babies and people, but there are some pro photographers on there that can give advice on almost any subject. I've learned a few new tips and I'm anxious to put them to practice! It's about time I started really getting my photos to shine!

I've also been trying to make a concerted effort to get back into my weight loss routine since returning from vacation. I was down 14 lbs from Sept to Dec and on a roll... but then over the holidays gained back 3 lbs, and I've been holding steady for the past two weeks. So it's time to check back in and start the ball rolling again. I'm only 10 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight, but I'm still 27 lbs away from my goal weight. So I've got a WAYS to go, and ideally I'd like to be there by summer! I've got 6 months, so that should be PLENTY of time to do it right! My work is planning a weight loss pool, where you figure out your BMI, and the person who after 90 days has the biggest percentage of loss wins. My goal is 12 weeks, 12 lbs... totally doable :)

So lots of things on my "to-do" list... cleaning, organizing, photos, website, and fitness... let's see how much I can get done in a weekend! ;)

posted at 12:20 PM ~ comments (0)

I really wish I had more time to play around with my digital camera, and to take a class or two. I have a few books, but free time is sacred around my house, and I usually use it to just RELAX and breathe for a second :) Anyway, as I figure out the best settings on the "manual" mode, I still have yet to perfect the settings for different lighting. If I remember to set the aperature right, I forget about ISO and my photos end up grainy. Or blurry. I think if I had a better lens it would help *slightly*... that and a good flash other than the one that is built into the camera. But I think it's more about me just making sure I've remembered everything, and I know they'd be turning out so much better. Case in point, my photos from Christmas of Ben... I completely forgot I had turned up the ISO to get the low light shots at my in-laws, so when I went to take outdoor shots of the snow, they came out super grainy. But I didn't notice until AFTER I downloaded them onto the computer and blew them up... there was no way I'd see that on the little preview display on the camera. Doh! They still came out ok, but could have been SO much better.


(My in-law's backyard, in upstate NY)

But regardless of the photo, I have to say, Joe's parents live on some beautiful property :) The snow scenes were timeless, even if it was frigid and scary to drive on. I just wish I could have caputured it better!

New York Snow Day

So I'm working on it... if anyone has some tips that they use to make sure they've remembered everything when they are shooting, send 'em along! :) Or if you have tips on some nicer lenses (for portraits, low lights, or action) let me know!!

posted at 9:51 AM ~ comments (1)

And since we're in the new year, new decade, some reflections on the past...

This past October marked the 12 year anniversary of this domain, www.carrie.cc. TWELVE YEARS I've had this address... and oh how it's changed. From simple html "about me" site, to webcam (which I started to enter and win a contest at Michigan State) to photo album to full fledged blog and family site, it's had its ups and downs. This year will actually mark the 10 year anniversary of the "blog". Before I hosted it at the new "Blogger" service, I was manually updating the text, and wasn't saving any archives. But since its beginning, I've used this site as a way to practice new development and enhance my programming skills. I'm no graphic designer, but I can hack my way around a CSS template :) I'm still working on the redesign right now, since I want to drop the "first baby" site now that Ben reached his first birthday, and incorporate a more "family" feel. This site has been and will remain the main source of news and history of myself and my family, and (from the emails I get) my far-flung family across the nation appreciates it :) Especially those who are not tech saavy enough to embrace the facebook/twitter world, but can easily find my website and check back every now and then. Hello, family :)

Aside from the site, this decade will bring a lot of new changes to my little family. On the social message board I participate in, someone posted a fun poll about where you were in 2000, where you are now in 2010, and where you hope to be in 2020.

In 2000, I had finished the majority of my classes for my degree at Michigan State, but accepted a full time position working for an internet start-up, and did not end up graduating for another 3 semesters while I finished part-time. I LOVED my job working for Control Room Technologies in Lansing, building web applications in Cold Fusion. My coworkers always inspired me, and I still keep in contact with most of them. I gained so much knowledge and skills, I could not be where I am today if it were not for my experiences there. I had planned on finishing school and continuing my full time employment with the company for many years to come. I was single, but dating, and had no plans on leaving Michigan for any reason. Late that year, I brought home my first pet, a cat named Bailey.

In 2010, from Michigan to Illinois, I'm now working for the federal goverment in Washington, DC. Still doing application development, but my skills have shifted from web apps to Windows Forms development, in a senior role, supporting volunteers overseas for the Peace Corps. I'm celebrating my 3rd wedding anniversary, and enjoying my 13 month old son :) We have a 6yr old yellow lab Lily, and two cats, 10yr old Bailey and 9yr old Poof. I'm absolutely loving my job, my family, and our life on Capitol Hill.

In 2020, I hope to still be in the DC area, but possibly off the Hill, with a home of our own (with at least 3 bedrooms and a yard). I'll be celebrating 13 years of marriage, hopefully with another kid and definitely with animals of some sort :) My career will stay in the technology field... I love this too much to stray. I hope to continue to watch this site grow and develop, and can't wait to see what's in store.

Happy New Year everyone! Can't wait to see what happens!!

posted at 1:28 PM ~ comments (0)

What a vacation. We had a wonderful time with friends and family... but I'm seriously done with snow for at least 10 years. If I never see snow again, I can't say I'd cry. We had clear roads and blue skies when we left DC, and our travels to Michigan were dry and easy. But our trip on Monday night from Michigan to NY was absolutely, hands down, the worst. drive. ever.

We had a fantastic Christmas with my family, spent some time with my sister and a few friends, and said a tearful goodbye to my childhood home. Since my parents were leaving bright and early Wednesday morning for Tennessee (they were packing up the last of the boxes as we left Monday night), I knew it was the last time I'd ever see the inside. I couldn't believe how many memories I was leaving behind... but gave it one last farewell, and we were on our way.

We left at 7pm, and headed to Jamestown, NY (half way) to spend the night. We took I-90, got around Ohio, into Pennsylvania, and the snow started. Joe and I chatted about what exactly "lake effect snow" really was, but really it was no worse than any other weather I've driven in before. A little windy, but the roads were still clear. Joe even mentioned that if I was tired, we could stop earlier, but we were less than an hour away from our hotel, and I was confident we'd be fine. Until we hit Erie, PA. All of a sudden, it wasn't just the wind... but it was the SNOW. And we hit it hard. We stumbled into an area that had already been hit by snowfall, and the plows had not been able to clear the roads yet. It went from ok, to "oh my god where's the road" in about 5 minutes. We were in 0% visibility, on a road that we've never travelled before. It was so bad that I literally could not tell the road from the shoulder. We crawled to the nearest exit which showed a "Gas" sign... only to find zero gas stations. Or hotels. Or ANYTHING. We were in the middle of rural Pennsylvania, south of I-86, east of I-90. Nowhere to stop, two lane roads that had not been plowed, it was a nightmare. I was terrified we were going to wind up in a ditch and stranded... so Joe took over driving and I desperately tried to navigate to anything that might still be open at midnight on a Monday night, in a snow storm. I used our GPS which also shows "points of interest"... only it didn't have ANYTHING within a 20 mile radius. So I turned to my trusty iPhone, searched for "gas" and "hotel" and even "food"... again, nada. We out of sheer luck stumbled across a BP station in the middle of nowhere (and it was NOT on the maps we had!), and even though it was closed, it was at least off the road.

We started to weigh our options. We had a quarter tank of gas, and while we WERE only about 30 miles away from our hotel, it was 30 miles of unplowed roads in 45 mph winds and lake effect snow. So Joe pointed out that the gas station probably would open early, and since it was already 12:30am, it was only a few hours away. So we decided that we'd stay put, with plenty of food, water, and blankets to keep us safe. Ben was sound asleep, and didn't budge the entire time (thank god for comfy carseats!), and while Lily wasn't too happy about laying in the back of the car all night, she was safe and warm on blankets and pillows.

So we spent the night in the car, alternating turning the car on and off to keep warm. The temperatures were also frigid, in the single digits, dropping negative double digits with the windchill. The coldest I have been in a long, long time. But we were still fine, bundled up and running the heat every so often. And Ben was nice and toasty and still sleeping like the angel he is :)

By 5am, the gas station still had not opened, but we noticed plows going by, the snow had subsided, and cars were starting to go by more regularly. So we decided to backtrack to I-90, and find the nearest gas station there. We made it, and decided to take the long way around Buffalo, NY, through Syracuse and south, hoping those roads would be better managed. The roads were better, but we were still fighting bands of snowfall with 1-mile visibility. And while 1-mile is better than 0 and daylight better than darkness, it was still really tough. We got to Syracuse and took a mini-break by going to Target :) Ben needed to get out of his carseat, and we needed a break from the stressful driving. So we recharged ourselves, and then headed back to the car to continue the drive. We FINALLY made it at about 1pm, and I've never been so happy to see my in-laws ;)

And it snowed the entire stay in NY. Santa was smart and brought Ben some snow pants, so on the day where the temperatures warmed to about 40 degrees, we gave Ben a first taste of snow, and he loved being pulled around on the sled :) The other days, the temperatures dropped again and the wind picked up, so we spent most of our time inside, watching Ben play with all his new toys.

Our way home was uneventful... once we got past the NY border, the snow lightened, and then we hit clear roads all the way to DC. All in all, we had a great time, but it will be a while before I'm ready for anymore road trips :) I was glad to see that the snow from our "snowpocalypse" storm in DC had almost all melted away... like I said, I'm done with snow for a LONG time ;)

So now it's back to work, and unpacking. I was able to get through a lot of our photos while we stayed buckled down inside over vacation, so I'll find time to upload those tonight. Here's hoping everyone else had a great holiday! :)

posted at 9:17 AM ~ comments (0)