What's in a Name?

"Juliet: What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet"

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Okay, so my situation is a little bit different. I'm not a star crossed lover entangled in a family feud, but I am trying to change my name and this quote came to mind. Yesterday morning, Jonathan and I decided to head over to the Social Security office to legally change my last name to my married name. So, we woke up early and drove to the other side of Arlington to get it done.

However, when we got there I realized that I forgot my passport, which I needed to prove my residency and that I was Alison R Baird. So, we left our fully paid 2hr meter (to whoever took over that meter: you are welcome) and drove back home to get my passport.

Thirty minutes later, we returned and got back in line. This time I actually got to speak with someone and she started the paperwork for me. However, towards the end of the paperwork I heard a faint "Uh oh," and the woman politely excused herself to talk with her manager. I stood there for a couple minutes thinking through the worst case scenarios. She returned to tell me that my marriage license would change my last name and possibly my middle name, but it cannot change my first name. I looked at her curiously and said that I was not trying to change my first name. At this point in time she pointed out that my social security card has my name printed as "Allison R Baird" and that all my other documents spell my name as "Alison R Baird."

WHAAAAT?!?! It took a closer look at my social security card and she was absolutely correct. How have I gone almost 24 years without realizing this mistake? How have I used this card to get a driver's license, apply for a passport, and open bank accounts without (A) noticing this myself and (B) no one else noticing and telling me?

The woman informed me that this was not uncommon (another whole issue that we won't delve into today...) and that I would need my birth certificate to correct the spelling of my first name. I, of coarse, did not have it with me as it was at my parents house. (Oh, don't you love the transition from college into adulthood??) I tried in vain to get them to use my passport and my driver's license because I obviously had to use my birth certificate to get them, but they refused and told me that they couldn't use documents from other agencies. I was getting a little frustrated at this point so I torted back: "Well then, why can you use the documents from other agencies to prove my identity?" They told me that that would seem logical that I could use them for both situations, but it doesn't work that way.

Anyways, Jonathan and I had to decide if I would put this off and take a half-day off of school to get my birth certificate and finish the paperwork or if we would drive 45 minutes to my parents house to get it and return that day? We were feeling productive, so we went with option B. We drove out, said a quick hello to my mom, picked up my birth certificate, and headed back.

By yesterday afternoon, we returned to SSA and my name has now been changed. It was another lovely government agency experience to log into the books. Oh well, it is a new year and I have a new name.... I am now Alison Rose Hansen. Happy New Year!!

Jonathan giving a salute to the one "L" that we were trying to delete from my first name. I know he was showing it backwards, but he was driving on 495, so we're just going to ignore that...

Christmas Vacation

"Christmas" Morning

Thanks to the snow last weekend, my Christmas break started a couple days early (Snow Day!!). Waking up to the snow on Saturday was absolutely beautiful, and witnessing the hustle and bustle of Crystal City at a stand still seemed magical. This mood of the morning inspired Jonathan and I to celebrate our first Christmas together a few days early. We grabbed some coffee and our Christmas plant (getting a tree just didn't happen this year) and traded gifts.

A few days later, we headed out to Sterling to celebrate Christmas with our families. We spent New Years Eve with my family. We hung out, watched movies and played games with my brothers and my older brother's girlfriend, Cassandra. That night, we enjoyed a nice dinner together, traded gifts, and went to a gorgeous midnight mass at my parent's church. As usual, we weren't the best about capturing our adventures on film.

The next morning we headed over to the Hansen's abode. Jon's mom made an amazing breakfast consisting of spicy sausage egg stroganoff, praline french toast, fresh fruit and bacon (YUM!). We traded gifts and spent the day hanging out with Jon's parents and brothers. That night we had an awesome standing rib-roast for dinner with twice baked potatoes and other sides. We tried to convince Jon's mom to make this a Christmas dinner tradition... we'll let you know if this happens in a year.

It has been so nice to celebrate this holiday season together with Jonathan. For whatever reason, we never celebrated holidays together as a couple before we got married. We would stop in to visit each others families, but we always celebrated everything separately. It has been so special to join in on each others family traditions and to create our own.

Hansen Family Christmas Photo

Well, Now We Know That the Fire Alarm Works

Over the last week or so, our apartment building has been testing our fire alarm system. It has been quite annoying, especially to Jonathan who has been at home working on finals.

Last night at two-thirty in the morning, I awoke to a familiar annoying sound. I nudged Jonathan awake and asked him why the fire alarm was going off. Laying there, not wanting to get out from under the warm covers, we debated whether or not this was just a glitch as a result of the testing this week.

After several minutes of the alarm going off, we decided that it might be real. So, Jon called the front desk of our building and was told that there was a fire on the 7th floor... we live on the 6th floor. We quickly got dressed, unsure if we would be forced outside in the accumulating snow, & marched down 6 flights of stairs. Thankfully, everyone was gathering safe (and warm) in the lobby.

It turns out that it was just a small kitchen fire, which was taken care of before the fire department even made it up there (the poor guys had to drag themselves up 7 flights of stairs in their heavy gear for nothing). Within 30 minutes we were allowed back up stairs and we headed back to bed.

It was a very exciting night. But we are thankful to know that the fire alarm system works. =)

Change

So after months of contemplation, which started well before our wedding, I finally did it. I cut off a ton of my hair.

Late Wednesday morning I walked into Salon Cielo in Pentagon City Mall and met a wonderful stylist named Ty. I told him that I needed something completely new and that I was sick of long hair. Eight inches, lots of layers, and several styling tips later I have a drastically new look that I'm still getting used to but that I completely love.

I would put up pictures but Jon and haven't taken any. We are so sentimental that we didn't take a single picture at either of the TWO Thanksgivings we attended. I'll try to get something up soon. :)

Thoughts

Just some thoughts (in no particular order)....

Things I miss about Charlottesville:

- Portico
- our Community Group
- nature
- the mountains
- trains (real trains, not Metro)
- friendly strangers
- Shenandoah Joes
- Lemongrass
- St. Maartens
- Mellow Mushroom
- Dumplings
- the Downtown Mall
- life isn't at a constant 100mi/hr


Things I do not like about DC:
- people say living near the city is convenient... yes, Metro makes it easy to get into the city, but everyday life things (ie. grocery stores, banks, etc.) are not convenient b/c of traffic & bad parking.
- Target is still almost at 15 minute drive... but it is <5 miles down the road.
- it never feels like there is enough space
- traffic / mean drivers / drivers that don't pay attention

Things I am thankful for in DC:
- My husband
- Our apartment
- My job
- My school
- My co-workers
- My commute to school is against traffic (seriously, praise the Lord!)
- Our families are only 45mins away
- I'm close to a lot of good friends

Settling In

Image taken by Laura A.

Image taken by Haley H.

We made it! Jonathan & I survived the wedding planning process & our wedding was beyond spectacular. With all of the amazing help from our family & friends, vendors, and AMAZING wedding coordinator Megan Daubert everything went off without a flaw. We left saying, "that was like a wedding out of a movie!" It was perfect.

Settling into our apartment has been fun! We have enjoyed moving all of our stuff into the same place, opening gifts and deciding where they should go, and making some purchases of our own to pull everything together.

We have been greatly enjoying living so close to Washington, D.C. We have been trying to do little trips into the city to hang out with friends and visit museums. It has also been awesome to live close to good friends in the area and to see them frequently again. We are also looking forward to hosting some friends & family in the near future!

So, just a quick update. My goal is to start posting frequently again. More to come....

I Have Neglected You

I'm sorry blog-o-sphere, I have neglected you. The last 3 weeks have been pretty crazy/not very internet friendly. After a visit to Wisconsin and my friend Jamie's BEAUTIFUL wedding in Minnesota, I came home to all of my stuff moved into our new apartment - Thanks to Jonathan, my dad, my future father-in-law, my brothers, and my future brother-in-laws.... don't I have an amazing family?!?

Jonathan has helped me settle in quite nicely. The kitchen is unpacked, all of our furniture is in place, and most boxes have been unpacked and organized. We still need to hang pictures, but I absolutely LOVE our place - the amount of space that we have is perfect for just the two of us and I don't think we can beat the location! Also, it has been nice to feel like an adult moved into my first grown-up place, but it is quite boring/lonely - especially because our cable and internet have not been installed yet. But I'm sure that this time of boredom and loneliness will help me appreciate when Jonathan moves in with me in October - btw. I can't wait!!

I also started school this week. I had a couple of days of new teacher training and then a three day conference with a ton of amazing speakers (including two of the original Freedom Writers) that were very inspiring. So far, I am loving this school system and I am excited about the direction they want to head. The big downer of the week was that the school building where I am working is still under construction. They are supposed to be done on Monday. It will be really nice to finally get in there and start cleaning and organizing the room (especially since EVERYTHING is in boxes - including our entire chemical stock).

Well, I am currently at Panera and not on my computer with pictures - so I apologize for neglecting you further by not providing images. The next couple of weeks will be pretty busy with my last week of professional development, my bachelorette/bridal shower weekend, and the official start of the school year. But I will try to write a picture update blog soon.

I'm off to wait for Comcast.... for the second time,
<3 Alison