DC Numbers

• I really like living here; it has been 28 days.
• I work with 5 women and live with 1.
• Christy walks 17 minutes to school.
• Driving to work on the 66 takes 35 minutes and costs $1.25
• Driving home on the 123 takes 45-120 minutes and costs $1.25.
• Our apartment has 750 square feet.
• It is 1.03 miles from our front door to the "Exorcist" stairs.
• We live 2298 miles from the nearest In-and-out Burger
• We live 211 miles from Ocean City, I think this be the closest beach like location.
• We live 2.9 miles from The White House.

Oops

So the front door to our apartment building locks automatically. A great feature for feeling safe and secure. An annoying feature when you walk out without your keys. Luckily we were just taking this coffee table to the garbage and it was able to help Reza break in.

Pet Peeve

Blogs with music.

I remember

So we moved to D.C. I'll be honest...I expected more talk, more flags, more events to commemorate and remember this day. I work at a school which only goes up to 3rd grade and it was weird to realize only a handful of children were even alive when Sept. 11th happened.

That day shook me to the core, and changed the way I think about my country, religion, family and security. It increased my already present patriotism and gratitude. While it seems many have forgotten. I have not.

Let's continue to defend America and help other countries avoid terrorism as well.

Pelotonia 2009

After the finish with Christy and Farrah.

Lance Armstrong signing autographs after finishing.

A HUGE thank you for everyone support to Pelotonia! It was a huge success! Over 4.5 Million dollars was raised in the first year!

Honestly Peletonia was the best, most well organized, most efficient, best staffed event I have participated in. Everything was great! The volunteers were amazing, the music was great. Seriously everything about this event was fun and worth it. Christy, My Mom, sister and Niece all volunteered down in Athens.

And the ride was as blast. The climb over the Hocking hills was harder than I thought it would be, but more beautiful that I thought it would be.

Frequently Asked Questions

It sounds so cliche, but we have had a busy August, and it's only getting busier. With some life changing things going on, we get asked the same questions frequently. We decided to put together an FAQ for our friends and family:

Q: We didn't know you are moving, can you tell us why?
CG: I graduate next week, and I have found my DREAM job in Washington, D.C.!

Q: Wow! That's exciting what is your dream job?
CG: It is at a private school that specializes in helping hearing impaired kids, read, talk and be integrated. You can check out my new school at www.riverschool.net . I'll be in a Kindergarten classroom.

Q: What is Reza going to do?
RG: I have transferred within the company to our Dulles, VA office.

Q: Do you have a place to live already?
RG: Yes, we will be sub-leasing a place two blocks from Christy's school. Its in the Palisades neighborhood. Our apartment is across the street from the Georgetown reservoir. And what I am really excited about is living right on the C&O Canal Trail. I am looking forward to riding and running on it.
CG: I'm excited to have a ten minute walk to school!

Q: When are you moving?
RG: September 1st.

Q: Pelotonia is coming up, How is your Pelotonia training and fundraising going?
RG: It's been great, I loved training for this. It has been a great excuse to go do some long rides. As far as the fundraising, we have raised $595! I feel apart of something big, I hear commercials for it on the radio, there are billboards all over town. Lance Armstong has "tweeted" about it. It feels great to be apart of something like this.

Q: How much more do you need?
RG: First of all we would like to thank all those who have donated. We committed to raise $1500, obviously we are short of our goal. I know most of you are like me and are waiting until the last minute to do things, well this is the last week. Pelotonia is this Saturday. It's for a great cause. If half of our regular readers donated $10 we would surpass our goal. That is not counting our friends who follow us on their google reader. I am asking everyone to please give what they can. Like I said if just half our visitors gave $10, we would exceed our goal by the end of the week.

Q: How can your readers donate?
CG: There is a link at the top of our blog, click on it and its self explanatory from there!

1st and 2nd

From Christy: So I did my first triathlon this weekend. It was in a charming town called Granville. The best part was I actually had fun doing it, which was a pleasant surprise. My race was a 400 m swim, 20 K bike, and a short 5k run (or quick walk in my case). My internal motivators included singing Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" in my head over and over again (especially on the big hills on the bike ride), channeling my inner Lance Armstrong via the liveSTRONG bracelet, and not letting Reza catch me on the run. (His triathlon was 2 times as long as mine, and he beat me on the bike.) My mom came to watch us, and it was great to have her there.

Before the swim

Reza's Transition Area (How awesome, a tree!)


Reza coming out of the swim running. (the water was warm, pushing 80 degrees, few swam with wetsuits)


Me coming out of the swim grateful I didn't drown, and grateful the water was warm.


Finishing with a smile.


I got second in my age group!


Focused to the finish!


Rez got 1st in his age group!

From Reza: The Killers "Hot Fuss" was on repeat at the finish Area, great album. It provided for a killer soundtrack for the day (pun intended). As far as races go, this was one of my favorites. It was a low key, "lets just go have fun, and race" feel to it. I loved my swim/bike transition, with the bike racks full, I found a tree to rest my bike on. The bike course winded through corn and soy bean fields, spotted with idyllic farm houses. At one point a farm dog came out and tried to chase me. It had lots of short, steep climbs, which suited me well. I was not passed at all on the bike. The run was on a paved running trail, along a small river/creek. On the run, I was caught by a mature man at least in his 60's. We ran together for a moment. He passed me, and finished before me. I would later talk to him, he said he is too old for Ironmans. That made me feel better about myself. I would definitely come back next year and race this race!