Laurie

Washington DC March 09

2009-04-27T01:40:00.000-04:00

My lastest trip to Washington DC in March, was with Leesa, Erica Quissell, and Nicole Stengle. Leesa flew into Charlottesville, VA so I picked her up, and we started on our way to DC. Erica flew into Reagan so she was next to pick up and then Nicole flew into Dulles. Here we are at the only bar before security at Dulles Airport waiting for her to arrive.

On Friday morning we were scheduled for a capitol tour with Senator Thune's office from SD. Here we are right before we started our tour.

They let us sit at his desk since he was not in the office.

The rotunda of the capitol building.

We stopped to take some pictures after the tour inside. Here is Leesa and I outside the capitol.

Our tour guide took a picture of the four of us outside the capitol.

Back in Thune's office with our tour guide Jon Kotilnek, also from Pierre, SD.

We stopped at the white house and posed for a picture. It was so cold that morning.

Since the Washington monument was right there we also snapped a picture there.

Time for some drinks after all that sightseeing. We met up with a couple of other friends. Michael Clegg, also from Pierre, and George Deering, one of Nicole's friends that went to SDSM&T who now lives in the area.

Here we are taking a cab to the next destination. Our legs were just so tired after all the walking we did that morning.

Next day of sightseeing started at the WWII monument and we walked the national mall. I love this background with the Lincoln behind us.

The Lincoln is one of my favorite monuments. We tried to get Abe in the background of the picture. People kept walking right in front of him, but we finally got him.

We went to the Museum of Natural history and we found a 3M sign for Nicole to stand with.

Got to love the big whale. I had to take a picture.

After a lot of sightseeing on day 2 we decided to stop for a drink in Old Town Alexandria at O'Connolls. We were lucky enough to get a booth when we arrived.

Leesa's altered ego, Lymphoma Leesa, came out at the bar. She was having way to much fun with her scarf.

Next day we were up and ready for more touring around the city. On our way to the FDR and Thomas Jefferson monuments we found some cherry blossums so we stopped for a quick picture.

I had to sit and snap a picture with George Washington.

On a nice day, I love to get the reflection of the Washington monument off the water.

We were trying to get a great picture in front of Thomas Jefferson, but there was a guy who wanted to be in everyone else's pictures too, so we opted for the close up with his feet.

Leesa standing with FDR and his dog. Did you know that all the granite in this monument came from South Dakota?

Next stop we headed to Mount Vernon. It was so cold outside, especially in the shade.

This guy was all dressed up and in character. When I took a picture with him, he said "She touches me like she knows me," when I put my arm around him.

The view from the backyard at Mount Vernon, looking out at the Potomac River.

We stopped at Ford's Theatre and got to take a tour.

This is the balcony that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot.

After we dropped Erica off at the airport, Leesa and I went to the Pentagon Memorial.

Next we headed to Arlingon National Cemetary and stopped at JFK's grave site.

We also watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.

We were lucky to stay with Jeff and Cindy Beringer for the last 2 nights of our trip. Cindy's mom Donna was in town so we got to spend time with her too. On our last night we headed to Chadwicks for happy hour.

We snapped pictures with Jeff.

We also snapped with Cindy.

And we found out that Donna's birthday was the next day so the staff brought her out a dessert and we all sang happy birthday to her. It was a great ending to the trip.

A great time was had as always in DC. I'm now living in Stafford, VA, which is only 45 miles south of DC, so I'm hoping to go back and visit soon.

St Pattys Day 09

2009-04-21T08:32:00.000-04:00

St Patty's Day is one of my favorite holidays, and I took the night off from work. Kim also got the night off, and we decided to head to Charlottesville because it's a little more happening than Stuarts Draft or Staunton.

You have to have green beer on St Patty's day.

We met the world's tallest leprechan- he bought us jello shots and hung out for a while at our table.

Kim's friend Pete showed up to help us celebrate after working all day.

As always when we go out, it was a good time. We didn't last too long but had the green beer for the year.

Our group shot for the night. :)

The end of the night- I warned Pete that I couldn't hang out with people who didn't smile at the camera so he was practicing I think. :)

Austin March 09

2009-04-20T16:41:00.001-04:00

Leesa is again on assignment in Austin, Texas so I decided that I would go and visit. Thomas just happened to have spring break at the same time, so he came with me so I could show him one of my favorite cities that I've worked in. He got in on Friday afternoon and we headed over to Pete & Shari's for dinner and catching up with the family. Jenna came up from San Antonio, so it was just like when I lived there last year. In the picture: Jenna, Leesa, Laurie, Danielle, Shari, & Sarah.

After relaxing and eating, we decided to head to the Detour: Neighborhood bar close to Pete & Shari's house. The bear got some panties since the last time I was there.

Thomas and I at the Detour. It reminds me of a SD bar and he agreed.

Family bonding at the Detour. In this picture: Laurie, Logan, Shari, Leesa, & Jenna.

The whole group in our favorite spot with the bear.

Logan's girlfriend Danielle. I really miss her and love hanging out with her.

Leesa, Laurie, & Jenna hanging out at the Detour.

Shari and her nieces- Laurie, Leesa, & Jenna.

Saturday night we decided to go out on the town. We started at Malaga for some tapas and drinks. Leesa and Thomas posing for the camera.

The night of photos begin...

My friend Chris came down from Dallas and we had a great time. We hadn't seen each other since St Patty's day last year.

Leesa and I standing pretty close together.

We went to west 6th and hit up quite a few of the bars-J Blacks, Union Park, etc.

It was Acalia's last weekend in Austin so we met her out at Union Park.

Kylie's birthday was on Sunday. It was a strawberry shortcake theme, and Shari made the cake.

Thomas being a good sport with the hats. :)

My favorite dog- Layla... She's so sweet.

Paris playing in the pool with the ball.

The birthday girl- Kylie Jane Estep, 4 years old.

We went to the Oasis for dinner, but it was cloudy so we didn't get a good sunset.

Dinner at Oasis- Acalia, Leesa, Christina, Thomas, & Laurie

We walked around the UT campus. Here is the football stadium.

Here is there campanile and a fountain on campus.

We went to the Salt Lick so Thomas could experience real Texas bbq. It's a dry county, so you can take your own alcohol to drink.

Leesa and Chris were drinking Uncle Billy's Hefewizen.

Yummm, ribs at the Salt Lick

They let me walk behind the pit to take a picture.

Posing for a snapshot at the Salt Lick- Leesa, Laurie, Thomas, & Chris

Last stop of the trip- The Hula Hut for some drinks.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back and visit soon!

Exploring Virginia- Natural Bridge & A Winery

2009-04-20T16:15:00.000-04:00

On one of my days off in Virginia, my friend Kim and I decided to go check out "The Natural Bridge", one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

This bear was in the gift shop. Had to take a picture next to it. :)

We did just a little bit of hiking before actually getting to the bridge.

Here I am standing in front of the Natural Bridge. Thomas Jefferson owned it at one time.

I climbed up on a rock to take a picture.

I just thought this was beautiful scenery and I had to take a picture.

We had to try out Kim's gorilla pod to take pictures of the two of us.

Here's a picture of the creek that we walked over.

There were waterfalls at the end of the walking trail that we had to take a picture with.

On the way home, we came across Foamhenge. Stonehenge made of foam. Someone had way too much time with some foam. :)

We happen to come across a vineyard on the way home. Decided that we might as well stop and see what they had to offer.

I ended up buying a bottle of iced wine. It was really good.

Out in Virginia with the travelers at AMC

2009-02-26T01:16:00.000-05:00

This is my new hospital, Augusta Medical Center, in Fishersville, Virginia for 13 weeks. I started work on January 5th and will be done April 5. I started with 3 other travelers.

We all met for dinner after about a month to discuss how the assignment is going and what the plan is for after April. Lynn is from SC, Wanda is from KY, and Kim is from FL.

A week later, 3 of us- Lynn, Kim, & myself decided to drive to Charlottesville and check it out. We stopped along the interstate on a scenic overpass to snap a picture.

Dinner started at the South Street Brewery in Charlottesville. The food was not great, but the beer was good.

As you can probably see from all the glasses in front of us- Kim tried the sampler of all the beers so we could try them all. Some were a little too strong to drink, but most were good.

We decided we better check out some of the other bars. This bar was called Miller's and we stopped in for a little while since it was cold outside. The waitress told us to make funny faces. :)

We stopped into the wine bar to use the restroom and decided that a glass of wine might help us warm up before going back into the cold.

It was a fun night out on the town. It's nice to know that civilization is only 30 miles away if I need it.

Wine Tasting In NC- November 2008

2009-02-26T00:57:00.000-05:00

Amie and I decided that we wanted to check out the vineyards close to where we lived. We brought Thomas along with us to take pictures and drive since he was on medication and couldn't enjoy the wine with us. We went to 5 vineyards, including the Glen Marie vineyard. This man was super sweet and he even named one of the wines after his wife, "Sweet Marie".

We asked if we could take a picture with him and he loved it. He told us he was thinking about selling the vineyard, and maybe we should come back and buy it.

At the Iron Gate vineyards we got a tour and got to see where they keep there wine. Then we had a 30 minute tasting session with 12 different wines.

At the end of the day, Thomas ended up driving us home because we tried and bought several different Carolina wines. My mom, sister, and Thomas' mom got to enjoy several bottles of the wine.

30th Birthday in Vegas- November 2008

2009-02-26T00:23:00.000-05:00

I decided that for my 30th birthday I wanted to go to Vegas. I thought that it would be a great place to go to get away and forget that I was getting old. Originally some of my friends were supposed to come along, but there were a lot of circumstances that didn't allow anyone but my sister Leesa, and my cousin Blaine, and 2 of Leesa's friends came. This is our first night in Vegas. We ate at the MGM to start the night. In this picture are Leesa, Blaine, me, Nikki, and Acalia.

Blaine left us to go play poker and we hit the clubs at the Wynn. We started at Blush and drank champagne.

Next we moved on to Tryst at the Wynn. I'm not usually a club person, but Leesa really wanted to club it up for at least one night, so I made the best of it.

The first night went late into the morning and it took a long time to recover the next day. We needed to take it a little bit easier so we headed to the piano bar, The bar at Times Square, which is one of my favorites in Vegas. I have never had a bad time there.

We were all pretty tired, and we only made it till about 12:30, so I could say that I was out for my birthday at midnite, and then turned in for the night. I can tell I'm getting old.

The next morning we got up and did some sightseeing. Blaine has not seen a lot of Vegas so we took him to some of our favorite hotel and casinos.

Blaine had to leave to go back to Seattle, so Leesa and I had dinner at NYNY in an Italian restaurant. We had a great meal with a bottle of wine, and the waiter brought me dessert with a candle in it. Thank goodness they didn't sing to me again. :)

It was a good start to the night. We had to go up to the room and take a little break after a bottle of wine, but then we were determined to go out for our last night on the town.

A trip to Vegas wouldn't be complete without the Carnaval court. When I lived in Vegas and people came to visit we always made it here. The bartenders stand on the bar and pour shots into your mouth. I made Leesa do one after I had to take several.

She got the good flavored ones and I got the crappy ones of course. But since it was still my birthday I said what the heck and let them pour it down.

After the Carnaval court we headed upstairs to the Toby Keith "I Love this bar" in Harrahs. It's nice to listen to some music and not have to be on your feet- especially after wearing heels around town for 3 days.

The next morning we left Vegas and stopped at the Hoover Dam so Leesa could see it on the way back to Phoenix.

It was a beautiful day and it was nice not to have to rush back to Phoenix. We took our time and wandered around the dam.

It makes for some great pictures.

Before leaving Phoenix, we had lunch with Erica Quissell. Erica is one of Leesa's friends in Phoenix who was also supposed to go to Vegas with us.

After actually turning 30, I realized that it wasn't so bad. The 6months leading up to the actual day were horrible, but somehow I survived. Thank goodness I have a great sister that didn't let me down by making me go by myself. :)

Christmas at home 2008

2009-02-25T08:10:00.001-05:00

This year for Christmas was a little bit different at the Johnson house. Leesa had to work in Phoenix so she wasn't home and I brought Thomas with me to South Dakota for 2 weeks in the cold. These are just a bunch of random pictures from the 2 weeks at home. Here we are in the limo heading to the airport in Raleigh, NC at 5:00am to catch our flight.

1st stop in SD- Midland for Jenna's welcome home party from Korea. Thomas got to meet a lot of the family his first full night in South Dakota.

I think that he was a little bit overwhelmed but he did ok.

Of course we had to take in a "teacher party" while we were home. So, Thomas got to meet some of the teachers that mom and dad hang out with on a regular basis.

Christmas Eve we had to make several stops to see people. Both of the Joy boys, Josh & Jaremy were both home so we went out to see them for a little while.

Next stop- the Allison house. I hadn't seen their house yet, so we got the tour from Rob and I loved seeing some of my favorite kids, Avery, Alex, & Andie. Chad had to be in the picture with me too.

Final stop before getting ready to head to Midland for Christmas eve- had to stop to see the Christmas trees at the capitol. They are always so beautiful.

Thomas & I at the capital, posing in front of the trees.

Christmas day morning at home before we opened presents, after a late night in Midland As you can see, Thomas is not a morning person. It was only 8:30 so it wasn't too early.

After having a quick breakfast at home, we headed for Watertown for Christmas day at Grandma & Grandpa Johnsons. Here is a picture of me and Judy just sitting around relaxing.

Grandma Johnson, along with Thomas, me, & Chad on Christmas day.

Back in Pierre, I had to take Thomas to my favorite restaurant-The Cattleman's Club. I don't usually miss a trip there for a great prime rib when I'm home. Leesa and I usually call each other and rub it in that we're there and the other one isn't. We're so mean to each other about it.

A trip home to South Dakota wouldn't be a trip if I wasn't traveling all over the state to see everyone and everything. I took Thomas to Mt Rushmore so he could see one of the things that SD is famous for.

I hadn't been to see "the faces" for a long time. It was a nice day-about 50degrees in December so it was a great day to take pictures.

We drove through Keystone but unfortunately almost everything was closed for the season.

We spent the night in Deadwood. We ended up giving the town a little bit of our money but it was fun to show him around. We also got to meet up with my friends Lyndsey & John, as they were home visiting her parents, but I didn't get a picture taken. I don't know how I forgot. Probably because we met them for breakfast and I'm not a morning person. :(

After we got home from the hills, stayed in Pierre one night and then headed to Sioux Falls to see my girlfriends from high school & college. We stayed with my friends Mollie & Paul and their girls, Ellie & Emory. It was my first trip home since Emory was born in October. She is already getting so big!

That night we went out for dinner to catch up with the crew at Champps. I love coming home and seeing my friends. It was so cold out though-brrr. Almost everyone was there. Paul was home with the girls, and Anne was 3 weeks from having Jack so her & John were at home in Dells. In this picture are Mollie Lems, Troy & Desiree Hokeness, Ambuer & Bret Jaacks, Erin & Nathan Fossell, and Thomas & I.

We always take a picture of all of us girls to keep me happy and going until the next time that I'm home. (Mollie, Laurie, Desiree, Erin, & Ambuer)

The Lems girls- Mollie, Ellie, & Emory

Before heading back to Pierre, we had coffee with Anne in Sioux Falls over her break. She is such a cute pregnant lady. :)

You know that you're getting old when you spend New Years Eve with your parents and their friends. Our last night in Pierre was at a teacher NYE party before heading back to Omaha to fly out on new years day. We made it to 12:05 and then headed home to bed so we could make the 5 1/2 hour trip. Mom & dad were nice enough to come and get us and take us back to Omaha.

It was a great trip home. Thomas went ice fishing with my dad, brother, uncles, and cousins the day after Christmas in Watertown. He didn't really know what to think about it, but it makes a good story to take back to NC where they do not do that. Not sure when I'll be home next, hopefully sometime when it is warmer!

Winter weather in Virginia

2009-02-25T07:36:00.000-05:00

As most of you probably know, I'm not a fan of cold weather. This is in fact the first year since I left South Dakota in 2002 that I've lived where it has snowed. In January one night, I had no idea that it was supposed to snow. This was the scene when I walked out of my apartment to go to work. I was not very excited at all.

After walking across a large parking lot, this is what I had to look forward to after working all night. It took me 1/2 hour to unbury my car with the ice and snow that had accumulated over night. I'm glad that I finally bought a scraper after I arrived in Virginia. Scraping your windows with a credit card is not very fun...

If the weather would have been a little bit warmer it would have been a beautiful morning. This is a picture of the hospital, Augusta Medical Center, that I work at in Fishersville, Virginia.

When I got home to my apartment I had to admit that the snow and frost on the trees was gorgeous so I took the time to snap a couple of pictures of the snow. People at my apartment complex probably thought I was crazy out snapping pictures at 8:00am, but I knew it would be melted before I woke up that afternoon.

This is where I live in in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. I have a 2 bedroom townhouse in the Brittany Knoll apartment complex. I have an end unit so it's not too loud, which is a major upgrade from the first apartment they put me in here.

Chapel Hill- weekend after Valentines Day

2009-02-25T07:21:00.000-05:00

I made a trip down to Chapel hill to hang out with my friend Allison Ginn. It's been a while since I've seen her after I ended my contract in NC. We started out the night at Zog's, off Franklin, celebrating Mardi Gras with our beads a couple of days early.

We ended up at the East End Martini bar and spent the night there meeting all kinds of fun people. It was a little chilly there this weekend, but it was great to see Allison again.

On Sunday night we decided to take it down a notch and went to Charlie Goodnites comedy club in Raleigh. We saw some funny comedians, including Jim Florentine, who is one of the people who performs in the tv show Crank Yankers on Comedy central. After a crazy night on Friday, we went out in our glasses and I even put my hair up, to have a couple of drinks at Goodfellows.

My next couple of weekends are going to be busy. I work every other weekend and then Thomas and I are headed to Austin, TX to visit my sister the first weekend in March. Two weeks later Leesa is flying into Charlottesville and we are headed to DC with Nicole Stengle and Erica Quissell to visit Jeff & Cindy, and to see all of the sights.

Valentines Day 2009

2009-02-25T07:10:00.001-05:00

Valentines Day 2009 fell on a Saturday which meant that everyone and their dog was going out to dinner in Chapel Hill. So, instead of eating at 2:00pm, we decided to do Valentines on Friday night instead. Thomas and I ate dinner at the Mint restaurant in downtown Raleigh. The food was excellent and the wine was even better.

As kind of a cheesy addition to the night, we took a "romantic" rickshaw ride around downtown Raleigh. Our driver wore a top hat and gave us a great riding tour of the city. They did give us a blanket to keep us warm, a rose, and a box of chocolates with the ride along with romantic music playing in the background.

Overall it was a great night filled with good food, drinks and conversation. It's always nice to get dressed up to go out every once in a while. :)

Washington DC February 2009

2009-02-25T06:46:00.000-05:00

I love having "family" around where I am traveling to. My parents best friends Jeff & Cindy Beringer live In Alexandria, VA and I made my way back to visit for the 3rd time. A new friend Kim Larson, another traveler that I met in VA, came with me on the trip. We started the trip with happy hour at our family bars in Old Town, Chadwicks and O'Connells. It was a great start for the weekend.

It was Kim's birthday so we got some dessert to help her celebrate her day after drinks. They put candles in the dessert and brought it to our table.

We took in a Georgetown basketball game and did some shopping on Saturday. Our feet were super sore and we were wiped out, but it was a great day. The Hoyas ended up losing the game, but it did go into overtime which was exciting.

Sunday morning we got up and started our sightseeing around DC. We took in the capitol, Lincoln, WWII, Vietnam, and Korean monuments. As many times as I've been there so far, they never get old and I love being there.

It was a great trip and our hosts were awesome as usual. Thank you Jeff & Cindy...I'm stoked because I get to go back next month when Leesa comes to town for the first time. So it will be time to see all the sights again plus more.