Arrested in the Reflecting Pool

It has been a few days and I had my next post all planned out. I was going to share lessons learned from this past semester of baby catching, but as luck would have it, that was sabotaged. But for god reason.

Mark and I went to DC on Monday. I love DC. There is something about it that stirs my inner patriot. The patriot that fights against the system, changes what needs to be changed, and storms against injustice. It reminds me what I value, choice, freedom, and equality. DC invigorates my deep desire to change the world around me and makes me thankful for all the people that fought for those who had no voice. I love DC.

Mark knows this. He always laughs a little when I stand on my soap box and proclaim the power that DC has over me. My ever present optimism makes him giggle.

We have been planning this trip for a while. I am off for a week from school and Mark has Monday's off. The intention of out trip was to go and photograph the new WWII memorial that is on the Mall. His great grandfather landed on D-Day, and so Mark wanted to put together an album to give to him for his 90th birthday in November. So, we dragged ourselves out of bed at the crack of dawn and headed out. When we got there, we headed straight for the Mall, working our way from the Capitol Building, to the Washington Memorial, then on the the WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and finally the Lincoln Memorial. As we headed back down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Mark mentioned that he wanted to get a picture in front of the reflecting pool. When his grandmother was in the military she was arrested for swimming in the reflecting pool...how awesome! I hate pictures. I always resist when it comes to taking photos. I suggested that I could just take Mark's picture, but he played the "you always say we have no pictures of the two of us" card. I gave up. He found a couple to take the picture and I unwillingly took my spot at the end of the reflecting pool. After on picture, Mark asked the guy to take one more, and that is when he got on his knee! And asked me to marry him! Who knew?! Apparently everyone but me.

The past few days have been a blur of excitement and planning. We wanted to get married next fall, and like the anal retentive person I am, I knew we had to get a place asap. After looking at only two places we found the perfect place for our ceremony and reception! It called the Phoenixville Foundry. It is a refurbished steel foundry, that is the perfect mix of industrial meets modern/elegant. To add to the space, both my grandfather and Mark's great grandfather were both steel mill workers. So, the date is final October 23, 2010. 10-23-10!!

I now have much more to blog about, weddings, babies, India, oh my!

As promised, my next post will be all about babies!