Congratulations to Wills and Kate!

What a fabulous wedding! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge looked beautiful, in love, and delightfully blissful! :)

Gorgeous Catherine!

perfect length! glorious dress!

Fabulous dress on the Maid-of-honor....I want this dress!

Married Royals!!

Sweet Queen in yellow!

Carriage ride!

I LOVE the pageantry of it all!!! FABULOUS!!!

And, you gotta kiss the bride!

Boy, what a great way to wake up. I've got to make sure that my offspring marry royals!

Cherry Blossom Weekend

This post is quite correct except the cherry blossoms had already blossomed. A few weekends ago, Adam, Oliver, and I traveled to Columbia, MD to spend some time with my Aunt Carol (who flew in for the weekend) and family friends Dave & Denise. Dave & Denise has a beautiful house and two young(ish) Irish Wolfhound pups. Their pups are Fearghus (13 months, 150+ lbs) and Carrock (14 weeks, 60+ lbs). They are super-sweet, but we didn't let Oliver and the pups play without supervision. They were okay on walks together, but otherwise, it's too much energy and testosterone.

Here's a beautiful clip comparing my 30-lb Oliver to the 150+(?)-lb Fearghus.

On Saturday, Adam, I, Aunt Carol, and Dave went to DC to see some monuments. We parked, walked to the Lincoln Memorial, and noticed a huge crowd gathered at the base of the monument. As we approached, we noticed people running up to it. Suddenly, through whispers and then glimpses, we saw the reason: President Barack Obama was paying a surprise visit to the Lincoln Memorial!

Obama was just coming down the stairs and leaving, so I darted through the crowd trying to get a picture.

This (secret service?) dude blocked my shot of the President,
and had to tell me to "Step back there, now." Total bummer.

But I kept trying...
In the center you see a large group; move to the right, and there are two figures in black.
The one on the right is Obama! Hail to the Chief!

After Obama left, they let everybody up to the Lincoln Memorial. It was quite the rush.

Adam, Aunt Carol, and Dave in the Lincoln Memorial

Adam, myself, and Mr. Lincoln

Adam and I on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, facing the Mall.

They're re-structuring the Reflecting Pool, so that's what looks so bare.

Then we walked around, visiting the Vietnam, Korean, and WWII memorials, plus the White House. It was a historical day!

Some gorgeous tulips near a French memorial

Aunt Carol, myself, and Adam in front of the White House.
(We were practically following Obama around all morning!)

Vietnam Memorial statue

Korean memorial

The crab apple blossoms were just budding.

After our exciting day, we relaxed at a British-style pub in MD.

Delicious food and bloody good company!

It was a wonderful weekend...sorry it took me so long to post about it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SHAKESPEARE!

William Shakespeare:
Born April 23, 1564. Died April 23, 1616.
Best writer EVER.

I'm an American. Born and bred in the Midwest. But, jiminy crickets, I adore Mr. William Shakespeare. I wish I was British....sometimes, despite the lack of penicillin, internet, etc, I wish I lived in Renaissance England. Oh well, at least I can read his fabulous works!

I love reading his works, and I feel like I learn things (about love, supernatural creatures, hatred, adoration, jealousy, education, wine, laughter, faith, family, friends, and everything) everytime I pick up a Shakespearean work. I miss talking about Shakespeare with fellow scholars....and I often cry just thinking that I don't have the chance to study Shakespeare anymore. However, I try to raise my chin, and just appreciate the fact that I can read his works (and no idiotic professors can take that from me!) and that I know a-freaking-lot about the man, the works, and the passions within his plays. Shakespeare helps me be a better person, and I'm forever grateful that he graced the world with his talent. I'm trying to figure out how I can also impact the world. Thanks to Shakespeare, I have a great role model. Sure, some people might think I'm a bit crazy for looking up to someone who lived 400 years ago, but I don't really care. Go Shakespeare...you simply rock!

So, today, I celebrate his 447th birthday (and 395th deathday--in HP fashion)! We're having a relaxing, happy day. :)

Long live the Bard!