I love DC

You can take Susanne out of Virginia, but you can’t take Virginia out of Susanne.  I do love traveling, discovering different areas, but it’s nice to go home sometimes too.  Time and time again, I’ve left for various reasons and returned to the DC area for various reasons.

Grew up in northern Virginia from 1972-1986.

Lived in Roanoke and Lexington my first two years of college, 1986-1988. Lived in Virginia Beach summer 1987.  Worked for Greenpeace in DC summer and fall 1988.

Moved to Wyoming to complete Spring Semester in the Rockies (WY, CO, UT) 1989.  Click here to read about it.

Moved away to Colorado in 1989 (Boulder, Telluride, Durango).  Click here to read more about life in beautiful places.

Finished college in Prescott, Arizona 1993.

Moved back to Virginia with my oldest daughter and went through a divorce 1994.

Worked for Greenpeace in DC 1994-1996.

Got my master’s degree 1998.

Moved away to Nevada 1998-2001. Taught sixth grade.  Remarried 1999. Had another daughter 2000 and son 2004.

Moved back 2001-2004 so my husband could attend law school while I taught sixth grade gifted/talented.  Click here to read more about that.

Moved away to Texas in 2006, visited Virginia in 2008 for a high school anniversary reunion, for a short weekend wedding this summer, and again last week to help my mom through a single mastectomy.

Cancer brought me home this time.  It changes everything and puts everything into perspective.  Cancer runs in my family.  My father had kidney cancer and then liver cancer. He died from bleeding complications during surgery.  It was a surprise to all of us because we knew about the previous kidney cancer but did not know that it had spread to his liver.  Knowing my mom was facing it alone, I did what I could to help.

When I go back to visit, it feels like home. The city, the suburbs, the culture and history are all a part of who I’ve become. Landing and taking off over the monuments and seeing Washington, DC by air reminds me of so many parts of my past there. It’s where I grew up, and it’s still intertwined with my life in Texas. Back home in Texas where I am comfortable with my family and it’s another beautiful sunny day, I appreciate both places for what they offer and know that Virginia/DC will always be my home. Texas is my second home, a place where we can spread out and my kids can grow up and call home. This is where I’m growing roots after transplanting from the east coast.

This is a picture of the house where I grew up in Northern Virginia. My mom bought it and we moved in during 1972. She is still there today. There used to be a big pine tree in front of the left side of the house. I used to climb it as a child and sit high up in the branches, sticky with sap, looking over the neighborhood at roof tops and trees. Those moments were times I would steal away, sit back, and observe life around me. I remember doing roundoff-backhandsprings all over the front and back yards and wonder today how I did it when I see how sloped the front yard was. There were birthdays, homecomings, proms, Halloweens and Christmases in this house. Years upon years of memories, both good and bad reside here. What a trip to go back as an adult and re-experience it from another perspective.

This is truly the “house that built me.”

This is where I went to take a walk while my mom saw her lawyer to get her will in place. It’s a familiar park near my house where I used to go all the time when I lived there. It was a heavy day emotionally, writing her advanced medical directive and discussing her wishes just in case anything went wrong in surgery. I lost my dad to complications from his surgery for liver cancer and didn’t know he was having surgery or that he had liver cancer, so this experience with my mom was the exact opposite. I did get to contemplate in advance what would happen if she didn’t come out of surgery ok.

Driving into Lake Accotink Park in Virginia, the road meanders through a secluded forest in the middle of suburbia. Tall trees line the road, and the speed limit slows to a pace where it’s impossible not to appreciate the surroundings. During any season, this is a beautiful drive into a pretty piece of nature where you’d least expect it. It’s a man-made reservoir, but it is a beautiful lake with trails around it. It’s a perfect park for picnics, bike rides, runs along the trail, boating, and parties at the facilities. As a kid, I used to ride my bike all around the park and had fun rope-swinging into the muddy water with friends. I loved getting out in nature. As an adult, I ran the dirt trail around the lake and rode single track mountain bike trails off the beaten path.  One of my favorite mountain biking memories is from riding single track at Accotink in the rain.  The trail was really muddy, and I got soaking wet but it was a fantastic time!

I took a long walk and did some yoga in a secluded flat spot by the lake. Afterwards, I laid down on a bench for a while to let the sun’s rays caress my skin while my body relaxed. Lying in the sun is one of my favorite things to do; plus vitamin d is good for us (the sun is the only natural source of vitamin d).  The fall air was crisp, and the sun was warm, warmer than I expected and warmer that day than the rest of the week. I opened my eyes, looked up and saw this beautiful view of a tree with spectacular fall colors. The striking orange against the clear blue sky reflected a calm yet vibrant spirit within. I truly loved taking in my surroundings at that moment. Pale tree trunks reflected the loveliness of the place with initials inscribed surrounded in hearts with arrows. It was obviously a place where many others sat to enjoy the moment.

In the final moments before my flight back to Texas, this was my view outside the airplane window. It was a beautiful morning at the end of a special week. My mom survived breast cancer surgery and was in good hands with friends, family, and a home health nurse. I was able to support her through a difficult experience. We mended fences and forgave each other for the past, and I focused on a zen mindset of being calm.

Dream Board 2013

I also got a chance to reconnect with old friends and family members I haven’t seen in years. I appreciated my time there despite the circumstances. I felt reconnected with the place I’ve left so many times.

US Capitol Building as we began our ascent out of Reagan National Airport.

Washington Monument, Tidal Basin, and Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument, National Mall, and US Capitol Building

Lincoln Memorial

Thanks for reading this entry. Peace out!

Inauguration Day 2013

Watching the presidential inauguration beings back memories of my time living in and near Washington DC.  I grew up in a Virginia suburb just about ten miles south of the district as the crow flies. I remember going downtown for Fourth of July celebrations year after year as a child and teenager.   In particular, I remember the bicentennial celebration in 1976. I was only eight years old, and I’m pretty sure that’s the time I started being claustrophic.  I tried to hold my mom’s hand and stay with her in the massive crowds, but it was suffocating being caught at waist level between adults all around.  There were massive crowds on the national mall and in every metro station.   As a young adult, I worked for Greenpeace at the national office in DC, and I used to drive those streets all the time.  As a teacher, I helped students to study the design and architecture or many of the iconic buildings so they could make scale models for a class project.  They wired them to light with bulbs and batteries and we created a “city of lights.”

     Although I met my husband in Reno, NV we returned to the DC area for him to go to law school at Catholic University in 2001.  Here is a picture of him in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

     The first inauguration I remember was Ronald Reagan’s.  I’m not sure if it was his first or second time in office.  My mom took me and my brother so we could remember that part of history.  I was young and not plugged into politics at all.  But I do remember all the pomp and circumstance, the cold air outside, and watching as he and the First Lady passed us by on the parade route.

I met President Carter but didn’t go to his inauguration.  I played Suzuki violin with his daughter Amy, and I was fortunate enough to meet the President and First Lady after one of our concerts at the Kennedy Center.

     When President Clinton was re-elected, I was temping for a democratic advertising agency in DC.  My job at Greenpeace was moved to the international office in Amsterdam, and since I was a single mom at the time, it didn’t work out for me to go.  So, I worked as a temp for about six months before going back to school to get my master’s degree.  We celebrated at a bar in DC, but a few days earlier, I was able to sneak into MTV’s pre-inaugural ball at the Corcoran Art Museum with a friend.  My girlfriend and I saw Joan Osborne at DAR Constitution Hall.  Remember this song? After the show, we were walking to the car and saw people lined up on a red carpet with a white tent above the entry way into the museum.  We wondered what was going on inside.  It was obviously some kind of VIP event.  After seeing people going back and forth to and from a van parked by a nearby door, we dared ourselves to go in somehow, just for the fun of it.  We watched for a few minutes as people were getting gift bags from the van and taking them into the door.  We walked up to the van, and they handed us some gift bags unwittingly.  We went along with it, and we walked nonchalantly into the door, put the bags down on the table with the rest of them, and instead of going back outside to the van for more bags, we slipped in between people and mingled with the crowd.  All of the sudden, we realized we were inside the party and began to act accordingly, getting drinks and snacks and socializing.  Several reporters thought I was Jewel, the singer/songwriter, and I laughed as I turned them away from interviewing me.  We met several celebrities that night including Kevin Spacey, Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Smits, and Chelsea Clinton.    What a fun night that was!

     When George W. Bush had his second inauguration, my husband was a new associate at a law firm in DC right on Pennsylvania Avenue.  There was a big party that day, and we got to see the parade from the office windows (several stories up) after a catered lunch with an open bar.  There were snipers on the rooves of the neighboring buildings.  I remember drinking gin and tonics that day and had such a good view of the President as he walked by on the street, I made a wise-crack about him and realized I should probably have kept my mouth shut!

     I’ve lived in Texas for the last two inaugurations.  Four years ago, President Obama‘s speech was inspiring, and it was amazing to watch history take place as our first black president was sworn into office.  Four years later, I am equally as inspired to hear him speak today and was happy to hear him outline specifically some of the important issues we face as a country including equality and opportunity for all, safety from gun violence, education, energy, and climate change.   Watching all the coverage makes me miss my hometown, and seeing all the buildings and familiar landmarks and streets makes me nostalgic about growing up and living so close to the nation’s capitol.  The inauguration is a time to celebrate the peaceful transfer of power in our democratic society.  I’m proud to be an American.  I’m grateful we all have a say in electing our leaders. We face many challenges ahead, but I hope in the next four years our leaders in congress will find ways to work together to solve our problems.

Related articles

• Watch: Presidential Inaugurations: Past and Present (abcnews.go.com)
• Live video: Obama inauguration speech, ceremony, parade (nj.com)
• DC Celebrates Obama’s Second Inauguration (voicerussia.com)
• Beyonce Sings National Anthem At Obama Inauguration (VIDEO) (fox2now.com)
• Kelly Clarkson’s Inauguration Performance – Watch Now! (justjared.com)

Feel The Emotion In The President

Feel The Emotion In The President

 

Fired up and ready to go!

Today is election day in America.  It’s the day we celebrate democracy by using our votes to select the candidate we believe is best for the job. Let’s finish what we started and keep moving forward.

 I support President Obama.

Growing up in a Washington DC suburb, I remember hearing about presidential politics from a young age.  I met President Carter when I played Suzuki violin with his daughter, Amy.  I went to President Reagan‘s inauguration.  I went to a pre-inaugural ball for President Clinton‘s reelection.  I’ve toured the white house and the capitol building (and many other monuments and museums downtown).  I voted in every election since I turned eighteen.  I’m interested in news and politics, and I’m excited about the election.  I hope we know the results tonight.

My nineteen year old daughter doesn’t want to vote because she doesn’t know enough about the issues to decide.  She says she doesn’t want to vote for President Obama just because her parents vote for him, and she doesn’t want to vote for Governer Romney just because her friends vote for him.  This is the first presidential election she’s been old enough to vote, so I can understand that, but I encouraged her to get informed on the issues so she can pick one.  I sent her a link to a quiz to help her.  I took it too.  We live in Texas, and while Dallas County will go to the President Obama, overall it’s a republican state.  So, I can see why it’s hard for her to decide.  But, I hope she does decide, and I hope uses her vote today.

The same goes for my twenty year old stepson.  He said he registered to vote, but last time we talked about it, he said he was still undecided also.

Just remember a few reasons why it’s important to get out and VOTE…

• Someone is going to win the election and be president for the next four years.
• People fought for the rights of black and female voters.
• Some countries do not live in a democracy.
• Each voice has an opportunity to be heard.
• Voting is a civic duty.

30 Days of Truth: A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)

Dear Jewel,
You and your music have gotten me through some tough ass days.  When I think about a band or artist who has helped me get through tough times, I think about when my toughest times were. I hit rock bottom when my first husband and I separated, and subesquently, I lived as a single mom for four years in my mom’s house (1994-1998).  I had a baby girl (same birthday as you!), and I lived in my mom’s basement in Springfield, Virginia (a DC suburb) while I put my life back together..  A long time fan of the DC music scene, I remember when you first played at the 9:30 Club.  Pieces of You was released in 1995, and Who Will Save Your Soul was always on the radio. People told me I looked like you in that video with the girl with a guitar singing in the bathroom.

Jewel in the video for Who Will Save Your Soul

me in 1997

Your voice caught my attention, and your story intrigued me.  Like you, I had lived in my car before. I knew what it was like to be broke.  I knew what it was like to struggle.  I listened to your first album over and over and sang along to every track. I knew all the words by heart.  Who Will Save Your Soul made me think about how we choose to live our daily lives.  Pieces of You pointed out interesting parts of human nature.  You Were Meant For Me was simple yet expressed the pain of heartbreak.

Previously a granola-type person who didn’t shave or wear makeup, I started getting my hair highlighted, wearing makeup, and shopping for a professional wardrobe as I struggled to make ends meet as a single mother.  As I learned to enhance my natural beauty, people kept telling me I looked so much like you.  Being compared to you is a high compliment!  I remember crashing the 1996 MTV Pre-Inaugural Ball in Washington, DC with a girlfriend, and reporters kept asking me if I was Jewel.

Spirit came out on CD, and I moved to Reno, NV in 1998.  Down So Long, What’s Simple is True, Deep Water, and Hands were instant favorites. Again, I loved to sing along with every song.  I’d moved to Reno with a guy, and a few months later, it fell apart (long story).  I met my husband there in 1998 and worked as a teacher for three years supporting my daughter.  We were best friends, and then he stepped up to the plate and asked me to marry him. Shortly thereafter, we got married and had a little girl together in 2000.  Your music inspired me to listen to my heart.  What’s simple is true – those words are very true.

In 2001, we moved back to VA so my husband could attend law school.  9/11 happened, and your song, Hands, became one of the songs being played to inspire people.  This Way was released.  Jesus Loves Me, Break Me, This Way, and Standing Still  were my favorites.

From that point on, things in my life have been on an upward trajectory.  As you and your music continued to evolve, I’ve always been inspired to be “the kind of woman I’d want my daughters to be.”  In 2010, I wrote this blog entry and ended it with lyrics from your song, You Are What You Are. 

I play guitar, and I love playing your songs.  I’ve seen you performing live many times including at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA, S.Lake Tahoe,CA, and Bass Performance Hall in Ft Worth, TX. Your poetry and song lyrics continue to enrich my life and inspire me to be gentle with myself, to find beauty in the world all around me, and to follow my intuition for it will surely lead me in the right direction.  My deepest gratitude for you and your music.  Thank you Jewel!

Sincerely,
Susanne Nelson

Daybook

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY: July 25, 2012

Outside my window… Powder blue sky, a few lonely clouds, green grass, oak trees, manicured lawns and big brick houses.  It’s still hot although it’s 7pm.  I’m nestled in my comfy neighborhood back in Texas after a week in Florida. 

I am thinking…about so many things…the kids..the bills…my schedule…  I’m thinking about Brent at boot camp and wondering how he is handling all the challenges in his training.  We heard from him about a week ago, and he sounded good. He said he is learning a ton.  The Colorado theater shooting happened while we were on vacation, and I’ve been thinking about that a lot too.  The shooter…the victims…guns…going out in public etc..

I am thankful…Sierra made it safely on her first solo drive to Lubbock.  She and I are so different with highway driving.  I learned how to drive in Washington DC and have always been a confident driver.  She is scared of driving on the highways and has never made the trip by herself.  She looked up an alternate route that kept her on major highways without a lot of interchanges.  She went back to school early to get a job before rush starts and found a job waiting table right away! 
     I’m thankful Zoe and Sierra are getting along better now and have come a long way in developing their sisterly relationship.  I’ve always wanted to have a sister.  They are lucky to have each other.  They are seven years apart, so it’s been kind of rough sometimes with both of them in different stages most of the time.  I think this summer they both realized what it’s like to be in the other one’s shoes and are starting to understand how lucky they are to have sisters even though there is a big age gap.
     I’m thankful for getting to spend today with Thomas (since Sierra left for college and Zoe is sleeping over at Joe’s mom’s).  He is such a good sport when I want to drag him around for girl stuff like getting my nails done today and registering Zoe for dance classes.  We had some lunch and went to the pool.  He said, “hey mommy – win/win – you can swim laps and I can go down the waterslides!”  He joined me in the lap lane for a while and then we played in the family swim area too.  He is working on going all the way across the pool and today asked if I thought he might be able to become an Olympic swimmer one day.  I told him he can be anything he wants. It just takes work and practice.  He seems turned onto the idea of exercising today.  That’s awesome. 
     I’m thankful for Joe.  He is my rock, my soft place to land, and my person.  He is the strong husband and father in the family.  He takes care of all of us. He works really hard to support us and the lifestyle we have.  He loves me just they way I am and supports me in whatever I want to do.

I am learning… to develop my blogging habit.  I’ve been working on it off and on over the years and now that I’m home full time again, it’s fun to get back to writing down some of the many thoughts that run through my complicated mind.  It gives me a way to structure my thinking and to share my thoughts with my friends. 
     I’m still learning guitar.  I downloaded the Ultimate Guitar app on my iPhone and I love looking up songs that I hear to play.  I’m getting better, but I still have a long way to go.  I would still love to get better on my electric guitar, just need to carve out more time to practice.
     I’m also learning Trigonometry.  I need to write a blog about my love affair with math to explain my history, but suffice it to say I didn’t know I liked math or was good at it until I became a teacher.  I want to go back and keep taking classes as time allows.  I’ve downloaded the Trignometry class from Khan Academy on my iPhone too, and I watch the online lessons and do the practice problems.

In the kitchen…grass fed beef is thawing.  Thomas wants Hamburger Helper Stroganoff tonight (yuck!), so I will probably stir fry some veggies with the meat separately and then make the stroganoff with the rest of it. 

I am wearing… my bikini (we just got home from the pool), black nike shorts, and a lime green tank top that says LIVE LOVE SURF Pensacola ❤

I am creating… this blog!  Working on writing about my life and my thoughts without fear of who reads it. 

I am going… to PT tomorrow.  Still having lots of back pain, working on core stabilization and spinal strengthening. 

I am reading…can you believe I’m still on Hunger Games? I think I started it months ago. I’m almost at the end, but I hate reading fiction!  HAHA.  I like to read, but I gravitate to non-fiction.  I have to work on my fictional reading habit just like I have to work on my writing habit.  I’m so much more of a math and science person.  I read a ton of news articles and non-fictional stuff every day, but I admit reading fiction is like pulling teeth.  I saw Hunger Games, and I liked it and heard the books are better, so I’m trying.  I’m toward the end where Katniss and Peeta are still in the cave. She has the extra supplies and his leg is healing, but they are still there.  I’ve seen the movie, so I don’t really care to finish the book, but I heard the book is different, so I do still want to finish it sometime.

I am wondering… how to handle a situation with my mom.  We’ve had a long history together, and although I know she loves me, I am not able to have a relationship with her.  We haven’t spoken since Thanksgiving. She came here and got really upset and changed her ticket and left early then blamed everything on me.  It’s very complicated. I hate that we don’t have a relationship but I don’t know how to fix it.

I am hoping… to lose about ten pounds.  I will write a separate post about diet and my allergies.

I am pondering… what makes some people so into facebook and others not.  The other day, Joe and I were talking about facebook like we often do.  I’m a big fan and am an active user.  I have lived in many places and experienced many things, and I know people all over the world whom I communicate with via facebook.  I’ve always been an extrovert, so it makes sense that I love social media.  I connect with people in real life too, but seriously I have many friends who live in facebook land, and without facebook I wouldn’t be able to keep in touch, see pictures of their kids, or hear about their lives.  I frequently tell Joe about things I post and ask him if he has seen them.  His usual answer is no.  If something’s important, I’ll ask him to go and look at it and tell me what he thinks about it.  Since I’ve been blogging again recently, I decided to also create a facebook ‘fan’ page for my blog…not so much to amass fans (although that would be great) but to have one place for all my blog posts instead of having them mixed throughout my timeline obscured by other posts about what I’m doing or what I’m listening to or links to other interesting sites or pictures I’ve posted.  When you create a page, you invite people to ‘like’ it so they will get your posts in their news feeds.  I invited all my facebook friends to like my page, and I noticed my husband, my most important person in the world didn’t like it yet, so I asked him if he got the invitation or if he had read any of my recent posts.  His response was, “I never think to check facebook.”  I was speechless.  The words echoed in my head again as I struggled to understand them.  We don’t live on the same planet.  I have to try NOT to check facebook too much.  How can people never think to check facebook?  My first impulse is to explain it by saying he has both his parents and had his needs met as a child, so that must be why he doesn’t reach out to others as much as I do.  (I didn’t have both parents, I didn’t have my needs met as a child, and I’ve always reached out to friends for connection and validation to compensate).  I’ve always been a “friends” person.  These days many of my friends live in the computer, so I’m always thinking about connecting and learning things and sharing ideas and expressing myself.  If you’re reading this, you are probably like me. You’re online on facebook or have arrived at my blog through twitter or the daybook or what have you.  I truly ponder what makes people so different on a basic level like that.  Why is it so easy for Joe to never think of facebook?  His answer is that he is too busy in the real world to care about the virtual world.  He reached over, poked my leg, and said, “I like you Susanne and I like Susanne’s World.  I just like Susanne’s real world.”  That meant a lot.  It’s real, and it counted way more than getting 100 likes on facebook.  I’m sure there is a happy medium between never checking facebook and checking it all the time.

I am hearing… Alaine, “Sacrifice”  I still remember the first time I heard this song, on the way down the mountain on our last day in St. John, USVI in 2007.  I thought it was Madonna!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ll1VxrFARU

A favorite quote for today…”Be yourself. The world worships the original.”  Ingrid Bergman

One of my favorite things… got a mani/pedi today!  Thomas was happy to come along with me because the ladies let him sit in a massage chair. He loved it!

A few plans for the rest of the week: PT and allergy shots tomorrow, allergy shots for Thomas on Friday, a little shopping to get the kids ready for soccer camp next week. Grocery shopping at Sprouts!

A peek into my day