well, hello!

life has been so good lately. last monday i took my last final. this crazy, busy, somewhat annoying semester has finally come to an end! ryan, ellie, and i are still rejoicing that it is over. yesterday i got my bill for next semester. usually that is fairly upsetting, but look at what the first charge was...

that's right, a graduation fee!!! because i only have one more semester left! hallelujah. 

other than wrapping up the semester, we have been busy with holiday fun. we got to go to the white house christmas tree lighting with friends a few weeks ago. it was a lot of fun and a very "washington, dc" experience, but it was FREEZING. like really, really, bone chilling cold. here's a video of the exciting moment:

i like to call this video "let's go christmas!"

white house christmas tree from Kelsie Brandt on Vimeo.

and, of course, some pictures. which by the way, i was so prepared with my camera and extra batteries, but when i went to take my first picture i realized my memory card was sitting on my desk at home. nice. so, these are all very high-quality iphone pictures.

that's common, the host. 

that could be the president... not sure.

it was a very fun, festive night with some great friends. i'll post more christmas fun soon! hope you're loving this season!

-kelsie.

family.

we had the best time while my parents were visiting. we are so incredibly blessed to have two sets of parents who love us well.

we spent friday night hanging out in georgetown and my mom had to get some dc cupcakes. i was skeptical. i mean, i love a cupcake from safeway about as much as any other. but the cupcake i had was incredible. the frosting was just buttery goodness. 

saturday we headed to pennsylvania to see the gettysburg battlefields. it was fun to drive around and it was quite educational for me. i don't think i ever learned american history... or if i did, i clearly replaced that part of my brain with something else...

 (my dad and honest abe just hanging out. probably discussing some war strategies...)

ellie got to come which made her oh so happy. can you tell??

sunday we went to church and then headed to the newseum to see the Elvis! exhibit. my mom looooves her some elvis so she was super excited.

we then went and did a quick browse through the american history museum. we visited the national cathedral monday, and managed to fit some shopping in before they left.

we had a wonderful weekend and we're so grateful for them! thanks for everything!!!!

-kelsie.

ps- the top photo is an iphone picture, but i edited some of the others with a trial of photoshop elements. have you ever used it??? it seems fairly user-friendly as i have very little experience with editing software, but i would love some input from someone who has used it! any advice??

labor day.

(pictures from our visit to the national cathedral )

we had a great holiday weekend with my parents. us and ellie loved having them out here. more pictures coming tomorrow.

hope you all had a beautiful, restful weekend.

-kelsie.

brandts and maps.

(ryan and lynn at the jefferson memorial)

 ryan's parents got a chance to come visit with us for a few days recently. it was SO much fun for us to show them around this little town we've been living in and to just have some much needed family time. they are such good people and i always leave them feeling refreshed and encouraged. 

we spent some time at our favorite memorial and then walked to our favorite burger place where ryan's dad, hugh, had what he describes as, "the possibly best milkshake he has ever had". which apparently means a lot coming from hugh. i'm so sad we didn't get a picture of him enjoying that milkshake. 

one thing i've learned since becoming a brandt is that brandts LOVE maps. it's always important that they understand where they are and their surroundings, etc. so, i loved when we had to stop on our walk to evaluate our location. here they are:

haha! it was so great! they are so wonderful and we are so grateful for their visit! 

-kelsie.

 ps - i must be a brandt because i'm loving this map right now:

(found via here)

jazz in the garden.

we spent friday night listening to jazz, eating delicious treats and drinking sangria among friends. it was so great. and SO humid. we're working on getting used to it... not sure if that will ever happen.

 how was your weekend?!

-kelsie.

fern friday.

guess what. yesterday i saw the first of the cherry blossoms. 

they were hiding near the lincoln memorial. 

ryan's friend roy is visiting us this weekend. we did some sightseeing yesterday that resulted in blisters and sunburns. it was wonderful. 

-kelsie.

hello.

i've been quite the busy bee this week. i cannot believe thursday is almost over. here is some of my week:

 

(image via here)

on tuesday night we had an all church celebration. the church we go to has several different locations so it was really neat to have this whole community together for one night. i am so beyond grateful for our church and its heart for missions and for this city. ryan and i are really excited about their vision.

church met at the lincoln theater which is in an area of dc we have really grown to like. it was the first neighborhood we have been in that excited both of us. we're hoping to find an apartment there and i just can't wait.

wednesday i had clinicals. things were going great until i got a migraine. i get a migraine like once a year. i threw up in a church parking lot. it was really frustrating. 

today i had clinicals again. they were going great and i did not get a migraine. my patient was alert and able to have a conversation with me (which was a first!). i liked her and i think she liked me. she got to go home today so i think she liked everyone.

one other exciting thing about today - it's above freezing, the sun is shining and the snow is melting! i think spring might actually come. 

-kelsie.

reminiscing.

it's really cold and really gloomy here. i need to go do things but sitting by the fireplace with a blanket and looking through old pictures is way more fun.

i've been looking at pictures of ryan and i moving out here. it was quite the journey. colorado to dc. it takes a long time. especially when you have a uhaul trailer and can only go 50 mph in order to prevent flipping over. that was pretty stressful.

it was a fun trip but it gave me an entirely new respect for moving companies.

here are some fun pictures. we were still tan from jamaica. we also went to prairie dog town. those were the days.

 

-kelsie.

fern friday.

welcome to our first installment of fern friday. fern fridays allow us to track the growth of our fern : )

my dad mentioned my need for a ruler to track its growth. i don't own a ruler so i thought my giraffe would serve as a nice reference point. 

ryan and i are still trying to determine our plans for the weekend. i think we might try to visit some areas of the district we haven't yet been to. we're grateful for this time to have to figure out exactly which neighborhoods would be best for us. one of the blogs i read, we love dc, has a great series called where we live that gives all sorts of great information on the different areas.

besides that, we'll be at church and trying our hand at teaching kids church again. wish us luck.

have the best weekend!

-kelsie.

big blank wall

this is our big blank wall

it intimidates me and i have not found anything worthy of such a huge canvas. however, this post gave me some inspiration. maps! of dc! i'm still not sure i LOVE the city yet, but it's growing on me. it's pretty. it's patriotic. and i know it will forever hold a special place in our hearts as our first home. although we don't technically live in the district currently, we have plans to move as soon as our lease is up, and i mean, we live in the "dc metro area" so i think that gives us some freedom.

here are some neat ones we like:

(photo from here)

this one has all of the dc neighborhoods represented which is not only cool, but quite informative and helpful as we are deciding which neighborhoods might work for us.

(photo from here)

the metro map! another cool and informative decoration!

there are others we have found that would be nice additions, but i think some colorado maps might be necessary as well. i think we might start pursuing our map collection soon, however being in nursing school apparently doesn't pay very well.

-kelsie.