Cherry Blossoms

Two posts in less than a month might be a new record for 2013!  Actually, I think this is the second post I've done in ALL of 2013... all well, dc cherry blossoms are just too hard to ignore. :)  They've had all of us patiently (or maybe not so patiently) waiting for them to bloom for at least the past 3 weeks, and so you better believe we were going to get our fannies out to see the peak blooms when they hit yesterday.  For examples sake, last year they bloomed in mid March, and we've had three weeks of "cherry blossom" festivities happening all over the city... so these babies are tardy!  The sheer number of people here to see them along the tidal basin is overwhelming, but the site is truly breathtaking, and well worth pushing your way through the crowds.  Apparently, due to the big warm up this week (it's supposed to get up to 90 today?!), we may only have our dear blossoms in all their glory for another couple days, but in my opinion, I think that might have made them all the more magical.  xoxo

Happy Easter!  It's a gorgeous 60 degree weekend here in dc, and we've all been itchin' to get out and enjoy a little warmth and sunshine... I mean, it snowed on Monday.  What?  It's also cherry blossom season, (no pretties yet - hopefully in the next weekend or two!), but that still means we've got tourists a plenty invading the district.  In order to *somewhat* avoid the rush, we decided to get out early for a little stroll around the Lincoln Memorial to enjoy this gorgeous Saturday.  The real camera hasn't been dusted off in ages (blast that iphone...), so apologies in advance for the Emily, Jonathan, and Jude heavy picture post.

Jude loves watching all the pond ducks {they don't love him quite as much}

Jonathan might kill me for including this next one... but I'm sorry, he just looks so stinkin' handsome and it's my blog so.... ;)

WWII Memorial

Washington & Lincoln Memorials + tourists, but still so beautiful.

Happy Easter everyone!

*And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. - 1 John 2:25*

extra, extra: (the new scoop)

{not pregnant people - we're still in law school, slow down} ;)

We have been sitting on some rather big news for the past couple weeks though, and I'm incredibly happy & proud to announce that that smart, hard working, and super sexy husband o' mine has officially landed a job post law school graduation. He has worked so hard and long for this moment and I truly couldn't be more proud! Also, since he never brags about himself.... I'm definitely going to :)

While pretty much all of us who knew the second he was offered the internship at Navy he'd be able to land the job in the end, Jonathan doesn't share that same complete faith in himself - or better - he truly doesn't know how incredibly amazing he is. To prove my point, the office within the Department of the Navy where he interned (the same office he's going to be working in) told him over and over again during the internship that they pretty much never hire first year attorneys, so he really needed to not expect that. Come to find out, in the end, they fought to make sure they got first dibs on him! *GUSH ALERT* I'm just so darn proud. I know I said this already, but he has worked so hard over the past three years, and all the while still being a wonderful husband to me and a true leader for our family. Everyone says that if you're married in law school, you just have to deal with the fact that law school comes before spouse, and that's the only way you'll be able to succeed. I can honestly say Jonathan never made me feel that way and STILL excelled. Love him.

Ok, gushing over (let's be honest, it's probably not, but whatever) - time for the actual details. The job is with the Naval Litigation Office, which doesn't mean he's enlisted in the Navy or anything, it's a civilian-side position within the Navy. The job is here in DC at NavyYard and actually only about 4 blocks from our apartment. Basically that means every day he'll be able to bike to work in under 5 minutes (not commuting in dc = big win)! While we were kinda hoping he'd get a job within the Navy a bit closer to all our friends and family back in GA (there was an office in Charleston, SC as well), we feel so very blessed by the opportunity and excited to see what God has in store for us over the next few years here. It's always so interesting when you really feel that God has been pointing you in one direction all year and preparing your hearts for it, only to realize that He was actually working on something else. ;)

Over the past three years here in DC, we've understood more and more how important family is to both of us and feel very confident that eventually, we're supposed to be back closer where we can be more involved in everyone's lives. Ok, honesty time, we really felt like we were supposed to be headed back closer this next year, but clearly God has other plans :) We both struggled with that a little when we first got the news we would be staying here in DC, but over the past few weeks we've really opened our hearts up to the side that was going to be really sad if we left. We hadn't really allowed ourselves to get too excited about leaving or staying (we stayed in 50/50 land just in case), but now, all the things we really love about our life here are sinking in. For instance, we absolutely LOVE our little Capitol Hill neighborhood.  It's the small town feel while still living in the big city, but with access to the arts, walking everywhere including our neighborhood coffee shops, restaurants & the fresh market, driving across town and getting to see the beautiful monuments, and most importantly of course - the sweet relationships we've built here as well. Plus, it's one of the best places for Jonathan to start his career with the federal government (obvi). There's a lot of good in this city, and it's been awesome to really get to embrace it over the past few weeks. We don't know what the rest of our lives are going to look like, but we sure are excited to start the next phase, here at caphill.

xoxo

a thanksgiving throwback

Although we are already in full Christmas mode here at the casa de Mayo, I'm going to take a minute to step back and post a few photos from our Thanksgiving trip back to Georgia. To sum it up: we ate, hugged, caught up on life, bonfire-d, and then ate some more. This post is practically all photos of family, but after all - what's more important than that anyways? 

 

mikey is clearly unimpressed by his food-stealing mother...

mmm... Thanksgiving cheerios :) 

we are blessed with the *most* beautiful little kiddos in our fam

my other weim.love - rose, and her stuffed "baby". oh so dignified in her old age

(and now for a few from the iphones, too)

casseroles are my family's Thanksgiving go to, and I couldn't be more happy about it

because who isn't mesmerized by Gaston and that he can eat 12 dozen eggs? 

 

see if you can spot the puppy rump in the next set ;)

when it's too windy for bonfire smores, a fireplace does the trick. 

love you all, dearly. 

xoxo

Hey, It's Christmas! - Vol. 3

Because if this hasn't been a part of your Christmas Playlist for the past few years... it's time. 

*merry christmas y'all

p.s. I'm particularly enjoying 12, 14, & 15 this year

Thankful

November is here and it has really gotten me thinking about the things I'm thankful for (well, that and because of everyone on fb's daily Thanksgiving thankfulness lists...).  Truly though, we have been so blessed by our friends this Fall that our hearts can hardly stand it.  We don't deserve the lot of you and we can't even begin to express how much each of your visits truly blessed our family over the past couple months.  Here are just a few haphazard iphone photos to remember it by. :)

xoxo - love you all dearly!

hugs & loves

*just a room

It's kind of embarrassing how long it's been since I've posted anything.... 

alright, moving on! 

We did (quite literally) move recently (not that recently), and while I truly meant to be more diligent about posting photos, etc., it just didn't happen this time. I decided to remedy that today and only got to one room (wellwhadyado?). Not surprisingly, I started with the room I've been dreaming about ever since I began working from home... the office. Well, office/guestroom which makes it all the better as it's not only a room in which I can separate work from well, life - but it houses all of our dearest friends too! I'd say that alone gives it the merit of its own post. Here are a few photos of this wonderful little room that I'm just so thankful for. Happy weekend everyone!

Promise I'll do better and there will be more to come soon(ish) :)