Foto Friday: May Flowers

Perhaps a bit of a misnomer as most of these pictures were taken in April but what better images to accompany the rebirth of spring and (hopefully) the rebirth of my blogging than these beautiful flowers from the past month. (all photos taken with my iPhone w/o any edits).

The little park by my house:

On a lunch-time walk by work: 

On a hike in Maryland:

The front courtyard of my apartment complex:

The garden at the church across the street from my office:

That's all for now (we're (re)starting slowly, baby steps). Hope to see you soon!

Foto Friday: Hiking into 2015

So to ring in the new year my roommate & I decided to go for a hike/stroll on nearby Teddy Roosevelt Island. Neither of us are too into football & wanted to do something active (but not too active, ha) to start the year off right. Me being me, I couldn't help but take, and later edit, a few pictures with my iPhone along the way.

It was a nice, easy walk and long enough to feel productive but the island is small enough we didn't need to bring any water or worry about having to find our way back off of it. It's definitely pretty in the starkness of winter but we already decided to come back in the lush spring and summertime to see how different it looks.

Oh hey Teddy! Thanks for sharing your island with me!

What did you do in the first day of 2015? Leave a comment below or tell me on twitter @itzbizr

Foto Friday: Wreaths Across America

 soooo, it's been awhile... again. I can't say I've been to busy to post but rather too distracted and a little bit of ennui stuck again, especaially because I planned a rather intricate/long post that just never solidified.  But now I'm back. For how long? who knows!

Today's Foto Friday comes courtesy of Wreaths Across America, a volunteer organization that uses donations and volunteers to place a Christmas wreath at every grave marker (minus the Jewish ones demonimated with a star of David because we want to respect their religion aside: we should get little menorahs for them too) (I don't know if any Muslim graves were marked or how, but they likely got wreaths)) in Arlington Cemetery.  This year was the first year they accomplished this goal, on the 150th anniversary of Arlington Cemetary opening. 

I participated with my sisters and a sister's boyfriend, who is in the Air Force and who plays on a military softball team called NotForgotten honoring those KIA or MIA. There's a lot of cool history about the cemetery but I think the most powerful aspect about the cemetery is the imagery. There are SOOOO many grave markers it is humbling to think of the big picture and then to lay a wreath on an individual marker and think of their sacrifice was awe-inspiring, but what really brought it home was a visit to the most recent grave markers, where family members of the fallen decorating trees, markers and visiting with one another made the whole experience all too real. 

THANK YOU to every soldier who took the oath to defend our nation and constitution and no expression of gratitude can encompass the debt owed to those who lost their lives doing so.