I had such an amazing week this week. I have amazing coworkers, friends, and family. I have officially completed my cross training in the Fairfax office! Work was busy at the start of the week because I was trying to complete all of my jobs to the best of my ability so they wouldn't get reassigned to my friend in the office. But as the week came towards the end, well, I just sorta enjoyed the moment and didn't work too much ;) My supervisor took my out to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays on Wednesday (on Dominion's dime!!) and a coworker took me out to lunch on Thursday to the Cheesecake factory. At lunch on Thursday, I thought it was just going to be me and my coworker. We arrived at the restaurant, and the entire design group was there - it was such a surprise!! They all got me a card and each wrote a personalized message inside. I was truly touched - my last day was surprisingly bittersweet. Although the Fairfax office is insanely quiet, there are so amazing people there that I will never forget and hope to bump into again.
On Tuesday evening, I met with my small group girls - unfortunately, the leader couldn't make it so it was only me and two other girls. We decided to just meet at a local Starbucks and hang out. It actually worked out great that the group was small because I got to know these girls on a more personal level. I have definitely been struggling with my group the past couple of weeks. I feel like I am very different from the girls, which is fine with me; however, I'm not sure how they feel about it. I am a Christian - I know what I believe in, but I still like to go out, grab drinks, dance, etc. One of the girls in my group is very devout and only listens to Christian rock (oxymoron?), doesn't approve of dancing, etc. I almost felt like I had to defend myself -- and I don't want to be in a group if that is the way they make me feel. I'm getting discouraged and don't know what to do about it. I've been sharing this with my friends and family, and I know that I just need to pray about it. I want to meet people like me - Christians that still like to go out. I know they are there, but where are they???
On Wednesday night, I met up with my cousin B at Hopps in Alexandria. It was so good to see him - I hadn't seen him in so long! He is leaving at the end of the month to play basketball in Europe, so I knew we had to a lot to talk about and catch up on in a short amount of time. Brian used to work for McLean, so I really wanted his advice on my small group issue. Brian assured me that there are Christians like me out there, I just need to find them. He admitted that it's not easy meeting people, but that I need to get involved and put myself out there. He encouraged me to go to the Fall Retreat in September and told me that it will be a great opportunity to meet new people - there will be so many different people at the retreat, I am bound to make one new friend! Brian also told me that since he knows tons of people at McLean, he could switch me into a different small group. I'm going to stick with my current small group, but sure I will switch within the next year. It was really great talking with B - I signed up for the retreat, and am looking forward to it. :)
Thursday after work, I went to Tysons to try on bridesmaid dresses with Maribeth's bridesmaids. Two of the girls couldn't make it, so it was just me, Katie, and Kristina (Maribeth's sisters). We all had a lot of good laughs trying on hideous dresses... I'm glad the three choices Maribeth narrowed it down to are all half way decent. Her wedding is in January, so she is definitely thinking she wants us to wear the color to be blue or purple. I'm really looking forward to this wedding because a lot of JMU kids will be there that I haven't seen in a while.
Friday I went to Springfield after work to have "dinner" with Gran'pa and Mom. I love driving into the compound. What's with the gates? Are people stealing old people? Are old people escaping? Anywho, Mom and Gran'pa are flying to Indiana for the week which means.... guess who got to wake up at 5.45 am on Saturday to take them to Reagan? That's right, me. And I wouldn't have done it for anyone else!! After dinner, I hurried home for Amanda Palooza. For those of you that don't know, my roommate Amanda turned 26!! She had t-shirts made that said, "Amanda Palooza 2009 Come early, Come awesome". There were easily 10 people in t-shirts!!! We went to Friday Night Live! in Herndon to see Gonzo's Nose, an amazing cover band. We had a nice area with blankets and chairs - of course we were all standing and dancing anyways, but it was a lot of fun! Once they stopped selling beer at FNL at 9.30, we walked over to Jimmys. Amanda had told me that they "set the ceiling on fire at Jimmy's". Now, being on the Safety Sub Committee at Dominion, this had me a little concerned. It was actually pretty crowded when we got there. We ordered drinks, and slowly but surely made our way to the dance floor. At one point, the dance floor was only with people wearing Amanda Palooza t-shirts --- we ran that place! As the night went on, and more people consumed drinks, the dance floor got VERY crowded. Everyone was having a blast - even the Jac and the Jer (Amanda's parents) came to Jimmys! It was cool to have everyone there celebrating Amanda. I know she had an amazing time! And the cool thing... we stayed late of enough to watch them set the ceiling on fire = totally awesome. They hung a wet rag (I believe it was wet from liquor) on the ceiling. And four bartenders stood in opposite corners, drank some booze while holding a bottle with a flame, and blew the booze they drank so it shot fire out (much like a dragon) onto the rag on the ceiling and BAM was it HOTTTT!! It was very cool to witness. Amanda Palooza 2009, what a great day!
Danny (Courtney's fiance) and I at FNL
Courtney and Amanda, the birthday girl!
Amanda and Courtney holdin down the dance floor!
Me, Amanda, and Maribeth at Jimmy's
So as you know, I woke up early this morning to drive my mom and Gran'pa to the airport in DC. It was actually really nice in the morning, and didn't mind doing it at all. It was good to see them off, and I'll get to see them in a week. Me and Amanda layed out at the pool today to get some sun at her neighbors pool. It was 90 degrees and sunny - B-E-A-UTIFUL day out! It was very relaxing. It was a lazy day - I loved it. We went to Sweet Water Tavern for dinner for the best chicken fingers. After dinner, we hung out with my friend Tyler who recently moved back to the NoVa area. I hit the sack early, the sun must have worn me out! The plan for Sunday is pretty standard... clean around the apartment, church in the evening. Looking forward to going back to my original office tomorrow morning!! :) Hope everyone had an awesome week!
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