Groceries

Cost of living here in the DC area is a lot higher than in little Joplin MO. So one of the things we are going to try to do to stay with in budget is not eat out as much, which in turn makes grocery shopping much more important.
Having the right ingredients on hand, and getting them at the best price is the goal.
When we first got here we visited Whole Foods. Lovely shop. The problem is that its very expensive for very small portions. The few things we got where very yummy, but didn't last long at all. Needless to say we have not been back to do grocery shopping there.
The next place we tried out was Giant. Its nice and close so I can ride my bike there and pick up anything. But I did notice that food was still more expensive than I was used to paying. I got a rewards card, that enables you to get many in-store coupons, it automatically applies the coupon at the register. This is still my go to grocery store in case Im missing some ingredient or ran out of bread.
I finally gave in this week and made the drive to Walmart. Its a 30 minute drive from our house to the store. So I will not be making this trip often. But, I will be making it, probably once every other week. The reason is, that I can buy the bulk of our food, and not spend a small fortune.

50th Anniversary March on Washington

That's happening tomorrow folks. Mike has been able to get off class (the professors will provide a recording of the class for the students who choose to go to The March). So we will both venture to The Mall tomorrow morning to see President Obama, and I believe Clinton, and Carter as well.
Events like these are what make living in DC very interesting and exciting. It also brings important issues very close to home.
So, I look forward to posting tomorrow evening on how the event goes from my perspective.

Spoiler Alert!

I love reading, and with Mike doing a LOT of reading for school, I have also been reading a lot more. I started reading this book:

I enjoy reading about history, there is only one small problem. Spoilers! Since its history, people already know how its going to end. So I was reading along, and I decided to look up who had been presidents before Andrew Jackson. And that's when this happened: 

Thanks Wikipedia! Now I know that he does win the re-election!, and that he tosses out Calhoun and runs with Van Buren as vice-president!

I told Mike about my run in with this spoiler, and he told me it was my own fault. Which might be correct. 

Farmer's Market at Clarendon

Wednesday afternoon is the Clarendon's farmer's market. I took Mike lunch and on the way home I passed by the sign that said it started at 3.

We had lunch at the GW yard. Behind us is the library. 

I decided to go by and pick up some veggies. I really do notice a difference between store bought and home grown, especially after having our garden.
I didn't over do it, no use in buying a bunch and then having it go bad before we can eat it. So I got: 1 tomato, 4 zucchinis, and about a pound (which if I didn't know spanish the abbreviation for pound would make no sense, how do you get lb from pound. In spanish it libra so lb isn't completely wacko) of green beans.

Once I saw the green beans I decided to make a yummy family recipe of green beans, potatoes and ham. Mom didn't make it super often growing up, but when she did, it was very yummy. Its so easy to make, and only takes up one pot (with no dish washer, thats a score!)
Just peel the potatoes, and cut them into half or quarters. Then take the ham and cut it into the same sized pieces and add the green beans. No spices or extras. The ham flavors it all. Cover with water and boil till the potatoes and green beans are done.

I didn't get a picture of my plate at the beginning of the meal, so here it is half way eaten. 

Then pull out all your ingredients (I keep some of the water to add to the left overs, all the ham flavoring is in the water)
Mash the potatoes which are not dry and only really need a little salt.
I usually make a big pot (and the first time I made it, I had to use two big pots and we had lefts overs for ever)
I only used about half of the ham I bought. So i froze the rest. Thinking on it now, I wish I would have cut it into chunks before I froze it. Ill have to remember that next time.
Total cost is not much:
$1.50 for greens beans
$2.00 for about half a bag of potatoes
$11.00 for the ham (only used half of it, so $5.50)
$9.00 for the meal. ($4.50 per person!)

And I still have left overs for tomorrow!

With the cost of living being higher here in Washington DC, I am trying to do more meals like this, were I can really save. One big save is not eating out!

Free Chicken!

The other day, Mike was craving some sugar, so he went to the store, while he was there, he decided he wanted some chicken and rice for dinner. So he called home to see what ingredients would be missing, and I told him chicken.
He came home with free chicken!

It was free, because it didn't have a price label on it. Score!

This weekend we had a couple of adventures. One of them was riding our bikes a couple of miles to get to the river. It took us along this wilderness near the river that was not bicycle friendly, we ended up carrying our bikes to cross creeks and very rocky areas. We made it to the river, and then on the way back realized that our house sits on the top of a hill. So we had to bike up hill pretty much the whole way home.

Im amazed at how green the city is, there are so many trees, so much forested area. Its not like Houston or even Kansas City that once you get inside the highway circle its all pretty much concrete. There are several roads that go through forested areas. And all along beside the Potomac there are forested areas as well.

Jogging and Jobbing

This is my life this week. Mike has had orientation to take up his days. So job hunting has been on my to do list.
I have also started jogging again! Its been almost 3 months since I broke my ankle in Alaska, and this week I went for my first runs. The first one was a short one mile in the neighborhood to get to see a little more, found out there is a Cheesecake factory really too close to the house. And my second run was here:

 That is Roosevelt Island. Its not too far from the house, but I did drive there. How long before I don't first think about driving, and walking or biking become the established more of transportation.

I ran about 2 miles this second time. My ankle still hurts, especially at the begging, and I still favor that leg. But its getting better each time I do it.

First week in DC

I cant believe its been a week already. Last sunday we arrived at the house and started unloading boxes from the cars. 

First off, here are some pictures of the apartment before we moved anything in. 

 We live in the basement, these are our stairs down to our apartment, there is also a set inside that leads from the laundry area to the hall way up stairs. 

 Standing at the door at the bottom of the stairs you walk into the living room. Notice the brown walls and ceiling that make the dark basement even darker. 

 From the front door to the left is the kitchen area.

 The door past the fridge goes to our bedroom. 

This picture is taken from our bedroom door. The opposite wall has the fridge on it. The oven is that lovely green that was popular about 60 years ago. 

This picture is looking back to the door and the living room through the kitchen

 This is taken at the end of the kitchen, the door there goes to the bathroom. 

 And this last picture is of our bedroom. 

This week we have put a lot of energy into getting boxed unpacked, building the furniture from IKEA and also getting to know the neighborhood and the city. 

Here are some after pictures of the apartment. 

 This is the same view from walking into the apartment. 

 Looking from the living room to the kitchen again. The counters are a bit messy, but I love the cheerfulness of the blue area rugs. 

 We got a occasional table to put under the cabinets by the fridge, therefore giving use to the wasted space. We also added a bunch of lamps to the different rooms. 

 The view from the bedroom door to the kitchen. The windows are not to the outside on this side of the apartment, the owner has an addition to the upstairs, so if you look out the windows, all you see is the underside of the addition, pipes and brick. Im thinking I will get some nice fabric and make some curtains, just to make it "feel" like they are real windows. 

 This is from the kitchen to the living room. This corner is Mike's desk area. He will be needing a space to study and sit when he's not in class or at the library. 

Next to Mike's desk is the couch, and then the door to the bathroom. Completing the circle to the main area of the apartment.

Our bedroom and bathroom are still a mess, so no pictures yet. But soon, I hope. 

We have also gotten to know our neighborhood, there is a Walgreens no more than a 3 minute bike ride away. We also have a Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Pottery Barn and Apple store with in a 10  minute stroll from the front door at the Market . 

We also took a bike ride on wednesday morning. The plan was to bike to the Jefferson memorial, and as we made our way to it, we realized that there were all the other big memorials along the way. 

The first one we came across was a big tower with bells, given to the US from the people of the Netherlands. It was in the middle of this lovely park right next to the Arlington Cemetery. 

 We couldn't bike through the Arlington Cemetery, so we biked on the path around it. 

 These eagles are at the entrance to the cemetery, at the bridge that crosses from DC to Arlington. 

 Here we are in the middle of the bridge, with Arlington one the left. 

 And DC on the right. 

 These are at DC end of the bridge. A gift from the people of Italy. There are 4 of them. This one is called Valor 

 Then, we kept going and the next thing we saw was the Lincoln memorial. And at a distance at the other end of the reflecting pool the Washington memorial 

 As we biked up the reflecting pool, I decided that walking would take way to long, and was glad we had bicycles.

 At the end of the reflecting pool, before you get to the Washington Memorial, there is the WWII memorial fountain. 

 The Washington Memorial is closed off due to an earthquake that happened in 2011 that caused some structural damage. 

 And there in the distance was our destination, the Jefferson memorial. We just had to bike around the water. 

 Through the cherry trees we took the path right next to the water. 

 So beautiful, with shade and a nice breeze 

 then the path was flooded. 

 So we took the higher up path and made it to the Jefferson Memorial. 

So, if you are planning on visiting, save a couple extra dollars up so you can rent some bicycles and we can bike around town.