Orchids & Other Things

Another weekend in the books and already it's almost to the mid-point of another hectic week. I'm not sure what the deal is with these crazy weeks - March arrived like a lion and has continued to pace and snarl for the past two weeks - and I don't just mean the weather!

It does never cease to amaze me that right about the time that Spring is meant to be coming around the corner, Winter always threatens to make her presence known for just a bit longer... Friday was no exception. Halfway through the afternoon, snow came out of nowhere and fluttered around, covering the ground in a soft blanket. It didn't last long though, the sun came out and within mere minutes the whisper of white was gone again.

 

Friday night my Mom and I went to see A Wrinkle in Time - based on the young adult book by Madeline L'Engle - that I somehow missed as I consumed books growing up. The movie was good and the food was yummy, but the real kicker was the tie-in to the Bible study my Mom and I have been doing with the ladies of the neighborhood... The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp.

The study is ... so intense, and that's putting it lightly. The theme is about being broken (because we all are in some way) and a theme that keeps repeating is that the broken places in your life are where love will come in. About halfway through the movie, one of the characters tells Meg Murry (the main character) that "the wounds are where the light comes in"...and my Mom and I just looked at one another like - no way?!? Little cosmic reminders; winks from God if you will, all over the place - in places you least expect them.

The rest of the night was uneventful - I tried to take a selfie with my dog and it didn't really turn out, ha-ha! I started reading a new book (The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah) and the rest of my Friday night passed with me quietly turning pages...

Saturday dawned absolutely gorgeous and I woke up...before 7:00 AM! Not intentionally, mind you - it just happened. I showered and had my coffee and breakfast before we set out for Fairfax and the Metro! And y'all - would you believe it, we managed to snag one of the new 7000 Series Metro Trains (and I only know they are called that from the video on the train...) for our ride in!

The US Botanic Garden has an exhibit that runs until April 8th called Orchid Spectrum. The exhibit features some of the 30,000 species of orchids that exist on every continent except Antarctica; the orchids are suspended from the ceiling, wrapped around arches, climbing trellises, potted here and there and everywhere, there are orchids on absolutely every surface.

I took a few pictures y'all - although in this case, "a few" means something like 70+ pictures of flowers. Everything was so beautiful, especially with the gorgeous blue skies and sunshine pouring through the top of the greenhouse!

It was hard to capture the orchids suspended from the ceiling - I feel like the picture above was the best shot of the overall display that I managed to take. The rest of the pictures, well they are orchids of every shape, size and color imaginable...

  

  

  

  

 

A quick break in all the pictures to tell you - there are still more pictures! Ha!

 

 

  

 

And of course, just in case all of the above pictures weren't enough - there are still just a few more...

 

  

 

  

There were also plenty of plants throughout the Botanic Garden that weren't orchids and they were perfectly lovely too. In the hall devoted to medicinal plants, there were the most gorgeous flowers called Angel's Trumpet - and it's easy to see why. They also had a huge cacao tree in the main entrance and multiple different landscapes filled with flowers and plants. The US Botanic Garden is always the most lovely place...and it's right in the center of the busy city, but as soon as you step inside the city dissolves away.

Given that the weather on Saturday was so lovely, my Mom and made our way slowly down the Mall and took in the gorgeous day. We were certainly not the only people doing that; there were people everywhere and the food trucks were out by the dozens! My Mom got herself an ice cream cone to snack on as we walked along the Mall toward the Smithsonian Metro station and I snapped pictures as we went. I love our nation's capital and I hope that no matter how long I live in the NoVa area, I'll never lose my "tourist" mindset of taking it all in!

Wouldn't you know - when the time came to hop back on the Metro, somehow we were lucky enough to get yet another of those fancy 7000 Series trains! If there were ever an occasion for #blessed - I feel like getting not one but two shiny Metro trains is one of those occasions.

We cruised through Fairfax and to our very favorite Mexican restaurant of all time - Chuy's! They seriously have some of the best food and when I suggested eating a late lunch there last week, my Mom immediately agreed! Our server was not 100% on his game but the manager came to our aid, our food was delicious and we even got two coupons for free queso the next time(s) we visit! Talk about a precious gift.

We grabbed some muffins from a shop called My Favorite Muffin; breakfast for Sunday morning, and then we headed back into the mountains and home. If you've never gotten muffins from My Favorite Muffin - I'd recommend them. All ours were delicious!

Saturday night was a rather slow night ... I ended up watching 3/4 of Dr. Strange before going to bed much earlier than I'd planned to. Crappy sleep on Friday night and Daylight Savings Time probably both played a part in that but I slept like a log and amazingly I didn't feel like I was dying when I woke up on Sunday morning!

Sunday morning my parents joined me for church at Abundant Life (check them out here) and the guest speaker was phenomenal. We met up with some friends...and they introduced us to their friends and we all ended up talking well past the end of the service. We ended up grabbing lunch at Roma's (Italian) and stopping in at the Spring Open House at one of our favorite stores - The Miller House.

Sunday was another gorgeous day and I actually spent a portion of the afternoon laying on the back deck in the sunshine...after watching baseball, of course. Granted, the breeze made it a little cool but with my black windbreaker on and soaking up the heat from the sun, it was really quite pleasant.

I passed the rest of the evening chatting with my younger sister, reading, hanging up my newly framed panoramic shot of Nationals Park and just preparing for the work week. It was a good weekend and I am so looking forward to more weekends filled with new adventures...and happily, it will only be a few more weekends and I'll be back at Nationals Park. And with that joyful thought, I'll end this post!