This morning I left the house at 6:30 and headed to the Jefferson Memorial. I parked at the Tidal Basin just after sunrise. I set out with an iPhone, a goal of nine miles, and no time limit.
I reached my goal, and added an extra two miles just for the fun of it. It took me three hours, though! I stopped to take lots of photos, and even I took a leisurely stroll through Arlington Cemetery halfway through the run. I suppose in theory I am training for the Army 10-miler next month, but I’m using a pretty loose definition of “training”.
I might already be fit enough to run 10 slow miles in a race, but I’m too ADD to know for sure. Instead of focusing on pace and distance, I find myself focusing on sun beams, flowers, interesting people, and tourist landmarks. Oooh, look at that ray of light hitting that adorable bird on a statue! Must take a picture!
OK, so I’m not a hardcore runner by any definition. But I’m proud of the distance I covered today. And even better, my tourist jogging combines my three favorite hobbies: running, photography, and sightseeing. What’s better than that? I even get to listen to dancey pop music while doing it. Perfect.
My alarm chirped at 5am this morning, and I was out the door before sunrise. I decided that I was going to treat myself to a Saturday morning of tourist jogging. I spent two and a half hours running around DC, taking pictures of all the cool stuff that I encountered. 10 miles and 177 photos later, I came home to my boys with lots of stories to tell.
Today was my first double-digit running day! I stopped to take so many pictures that my pace was a comical 16 min per mile, but who cares. I did in fact run the whole distance; I just stopped a lot to enjoy all the interesting things along the way. I loved every minute. I think my running style is more like moving quickly between photo opps than actual running. I only wish I could run with my real camera instead of my iPhone. But even a camera phone can make me a happy photo runner.
This picture from the White House is my favorite of the day, but I saw lots of things that made me smile today. How did it take me 37 years to figure out that getting up early and doing cool stuff is more fun than sleeping in?
We are moving to the DC area!
We’ll be arriving in Northern Virginia in late October, just a few weeks from now.
As you may have read earlier this summer, we’re having a baby. (If you missed that announcement, you can find it HERE.) Right now I’m 25 weeks along, due right around New Year’s Day, and expecting a healthy little boy. I hope he’ll be just like his dad, because the only thing better than Mike would be two Mikes.
Mike and I have decided that we’d like to be closer to family when the baby arrives, so we’re moving back to the DC area, where my parents and brother lives. Our son will be surrounded by loving grandparents and cousins. DC is also much closer to Mike’s family in England, and a shorter flight each year will be a welcome change when we’re traveling with a baby.
As excited as we are for all the big changes in our lives, we’re so sad to be leaving Colorado. We’re going to miss our friends, the mountains, the open spaces, the laid-back way of life, the skiing, the sunshine. I could go on and on. We’ll miss it all dreadfully. Colorado has been good to us. But we’ve been considering this move for a long time, and we know it’s the right decision for our family.
Please tell your friends in the DC area about me.
I’ll be available for DC-area weddings starting next summer, and I’d love for you to recommend me to your friends who are getting married. I will also be available for portrait sessions after my maternity leave ends in June.
My website is www.charlottegeary.com. Please pass it along to your friends in that area. I really appreciate it!
Springtime in Virginia
Netherlands Carillon
Arlington, Virginia
April, 2009
When we were in Virginia, Mike and I spent an afternoon walking around the Iwo Jima and the tulip gardens at the Netherlands Carillon. Before we moved to Colorado, I lived in Arlington for four years, and this was my favorite spot. I’d come to the Carillon with a book, and look out over the DC monuments while listening to the bell concerts. Because the Carillon was a gift from the Netherlands, each spring there are beautiful Dutch tulips in bloom.
Chris and Catherine, minutes after getting engaged
The White House!
Washington, DC
May, 2007
Last week I had one of my coolest photo shoots yet. Chris proposed to his girlfriend, Catherine, and asked me to photograph it. It was such an honor to witness that moment in their lives. If that weren’t special enough, the proposal took place in the White House Rose Garden!
Chris and Catherine have been together for five years, and they are now planning a wedding for next fall in Catherine’s hometown of Ottawa, Canada. They live in the DC area, and Chris has a friend who works in the White House. The three of us got a private tour of the White House, including the Oval Office, Cabinet room, and Rose Garden. It was thrilling to be standing in such important locations, imagining all the decisions that had made made in those very rooms. I wasn’t allowed to take any photographs inside the White House, but I did have a small area of the Rose Garden and the front of the White House where I was allowed to stand for photos.
When we arrived in the Rose Garden, Chris pulled out a jewelry box and hid it behind his back. He got down on one knee, and asked Catherine to marry him. She said yes!
Katherine, Ben, and Judd
National Arboretum
Washington, DC
April, 2007
I had another fun photo session at the beautiful National Arboretum, this time with Katherine, Judd, and their son Ben. Ben celebrated his first birthday that weekend, so it worked out wonderfully that I was in town for his one-year family portraits. Ben has some of the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, and I was completely enchanted by him. I think he had a lot of fun during the photo shoot, too. What a cutie!
Emily and Rob
National Arboretum
Washington, DC
April, 2007
Emily and Rob are an adorable couple that just light up when they are together. We took some portraits at the National Arboretum in DC, where they have loved to visit ever since their college days. Rob is an architect, so he particularly enjoyed the original columns of the Capitol Building that were on display in the park.
DC in springtime is beautiful. Right now the azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom, the temperatures are perfect, and I’m loving every minute of it. I’ve done many portrait shoots in the last two weeks in these gorgeous conditions!
From the wedding album of Jenny and Mark
Jenny and Mark recently ordered their album from their Washington, DC wedding. Here are some of the layouts from their book. It will be a 40-page, 12″x12″, flush-mount leather album.
