So...What's Next?!?

Vacation Pictures

Story-Telling

Yesterday we spent the day in Washington D.C. First stop was the Washington Monument followed by the WW2 Memorial.

The WW2 memorial is absolutely beautiful. As you walk through it, it takes you on a journey of celebration, of brotherhood among nations and of hope and courage.

As I walked around the memorial I took in many lessons - but the greatest lesson I walked away with was the importance of celebrating your successes. WW2 was a hard-fought war with many defeats and mistakes. But at this memorial the only feeling expressed is the greatness of the victory. I wonder if in my life I do enough to celebrate the greatness.

From the WW2 memorial we walked along the pool  to the Lincoln Memorial. This was something my husband had been wanting to see for a long time. It is majestic. We know he was just a man, a man with all kinds of human demons and faults, and yet we have created a monument in his honor that is reminiscent of how a Greek god would be honored.  He was a man that led this country during it's darkest hours and through harsh decisions that would personally tear most people apart he kept the country together. I stood in awe of his accomplishments and the realizations  of what his choices in life meant to the future of the entire world.

The next stop was the Vietnam Memorial. In high school I studied a lot about the Vietnam war. My interest in the war was sparked by the fact that it was not taught in any of my history classes. I had barely heard of it by the time I was in High School with the exception of a commercial paid for by the Vietnam Veterans. From there I asked my older brother what Vietnam was about and he explained some of the controversies. That hooked me and for a few years I read many books and watched many movies on the subject. I even connected with a friend in High School who shared my interest in Vietnam and we began trying to learn the language.

As we walked toward the memorial all I saw was a black shiny wall which I knew had many names on it. However before we reached the path we encountered a volunteer, whom I suspect was also a veteran, telling the story of the memorial.

As controversial as the Vietnam war was the supporters for the war memorial did everything they could to avoid controversy in creating the memorial. They did not take ANY tax money for it, all funds were raised by private donations. They did not hire an architect or designer to create it, they launched a design contest that anyone could enter. The contest had only 4 rules including it had to be designed for the select location, it had to contain all of the names of men and women who died or was MIA, the names of the designers could not be on the design, but placed in an envelop to be opened after the winning design was picked.

Over 1,000 designs were submitted. It took the judges just one week to choose the winning design. The designer was a 21 year old WOMAN whose parents were from CHINA. Well, so much for avoiding controversy.

Maya Lin had to defend her design over and over. Again, it looked like a black shiny wall to me as I stood there listening to the volunteer recount the story.

However when he began to explain Maya Lin's design concept the wall transformed into a living memorial. The war divided this country and so the wall's design represents a tear or cut into the earth. As you walk along the wall you will see the names of the dead and MIAs, no titles, ranks or branch of service, just those who fought and died together. The names are arranged by the date of their death, not in alphabetical order. The volunteer explained that sometimes veteran will come to the wall and only remember one or two names of the group of guys that he lost in a battle, when they find those names they find the whole group - still together.

The reflection from the polished granite shows us that as we look at the soldiers we see they were just like each one of us. My husband found a familiar name on the wall. It was a soldier who shared the exact same name as my brother, who was moments away from going to Iraq in 1991. It was definitely a moment when I could step ever so slightly in the shoes of the survivors.

He told us that the date of the beginning of war starts in the center and then list the names moving along the right and continuing at the start of the left side of wall. This was so the first names and last names are together, representing the beginning and the end. He talked about the items that are left at the wall. Last week there was a box containing love letters from a soldier who died 40 years ago. Not long ago a bike club left a custom made Harley at the wall, when asked why they said that if any of their brothers wanted to go for a ride with them, they should have a bike. All of these items are kept in storage.

Had I not had the  great fortune to hear this volunteer tell the story of the wall, I would not have had the appreciation for the genius behind the Maya Lin's design and for a greater  (divine) designer  who led Maya to submit her design. As my husband and I discussed, it was perfect that a woman from Chinese decent designed the memorial. It was the part of the entire concept of design that even when events tears us apart, we can come back together and perhaps create an even greater bond and level of understanding.

Day 1 of Vacation

Alright, I have new appreciation for my little Nissan Sentra. We are on a week long family vacation in VA. That is a lot of packing. After everything was packed I looked around the living room and realized that I have to put all of the stuff, plus the family.

It took me three tries but I did it! Although it would be nice to have a mini van or SUV - I did gain new respect for my little Nissan.

We drove 8 hours to VA. We are staying at a timeshare in Williamsburg that my mom is part of. It is very, very nice.

Tomorrow we are going to visit D.C. I am looking forward to seeing an old highschool friend, who was also my senior prom date.

Other plans include Busch Gardens, the beach and tours of some historic sites.

Beyond that I have decided to work on my life plan. I realized I have never really written out a life plan. If I have a life plan I can compare what is going on in my world, what opportunities I am presented with and decide if what is in my world matches my life plan.

Yes I will be working a little here and there throughout the week. I have a video script to write and a project plan to create plus some additions to the overall business plan - but there will be no meetings and little interruption to the vacation.

well - off to have another glass of wine and to write my life plan.

I'll keep you posted.

A Weekend of Firsts

I went to New York this weekend! I had the opportunity to go to the Nappy Roots show - we have been promoting them through social media channels the past month and I wanted to see a live show. The NY show was the perfect opportunity because I promised to take my older son to NY - so we packed up the car and drove north.

Why did we drive? Because I love road trips, I actually crave them. And if you have the time to drive as opposed to fly, you get to see and experience so much.

For example I drove through my first tunnel, and in Manhattan, I had my car towed for the first time!

Yes, that sucked, but we had a good attitude about it saying that we were getting the full NY experience.

It was my first time going to any state in the Northeast. I loved every bit of it. 

The Nappy Roots show was the first hip hop show I have ever been to.

We left Saturday night and drove to DC and spent that night so that we could cut the ride home shorter as well as take in some sights in DC. It was the first time I have been in DC. We did not spend much time there or see much, we were anxious to get home.

Overall the trip was great. It was more expensive than what I budgeted for, especially with the $185 is costs to get my car out of the pound, but I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do the next time I travel there, which I do plan on returning in the near future.

Fun at the beach

Count Down to Sitting on the Beach

In about 24 hours I should be driving down to St George Island. It has been 11 years since we have been there. It was our favorite place to go to when my husband and I attended FSU. We rented a house and will be hanging out with my best friend from high school and her two daughters.

My idea of a perfect beach trip is just lounging around, which is why I love St George Island. It is an untainted beach. However my oldest son had the opportunity to join a friend at Panama City for a week this summer and of course they had an action packed time, which I know my plans will not even begin to compare to. But I think there is value to lounging around, something that I feel is important for me to pass along to him.

For example creativity. We need to stop long enough to allow creativity. With all of the projects in front of me right now, I am really needing this beach trip so that I can get my mind clear. The boys start school on Monday, so for them it is an opportunity to just reset their priorities and plan how they would like to see this year progress. My husband...well he just needs to get away from work for awhile...period.

Fun and activities have their place, but sometimes I think we all forget that sitting around and draining our minds a little has its place as well.

Spring Break 2008

The Beach

The Lighthouse

The Fort

The Tour of our old stomping grounds

The House I grew up in (it was NOT this color!)

Matt's childhood home

Where we met almost 18 years ago (they are still in business!)

Interesting Car we saw at the gas station!