Day Eight Hundred Seventy Five

I've been cleaning and purging things like a crazy person these last couple days. New year, clean(er) apartment! I already feel good about it, and I'll probably continue to work throughout the week on cleaning and getting rid of things I really don't need. I also got my photo situation all figured out with the updated operating system on my laptop! Huzzah! So without further ado...Richmond photos!

This is the plane I flew on from DC to Richmond. It is by far the smallest plane I've ever been on. Um, hello exposed propellors, can't say I've flown on a plane with you before. I think the guy sitting next to me described the ride the best - "It's very loud, and very shaky." It was definitely an experience.

Whenever I'm home visiting my parents, my dad and I always go on evening walks. On one night in particular, we met this cute barn owl who let us get within about 8 feet of him. It was so cool, and he was so pretty with such big feet.

And another evening walk along the James River.

My mom and I spent a morning learning how to make croissants and it was waaaaay more complex than either of us expected. It was a 3 hour class, and we barely got three each to take home. You guys, I knew there was a lot of butter in croissants, but oh my god...there's so much butter. I have no words. Regardless, they were delicious...probably because of all the butter.

Then I discovered that Richmond has a zoo, so we had to go. We fed parakeets (what this photo doesn't show is the eight that originally landed on my arm trying to get to the food, or the one that decided to land on my head for a couple minutes) and I spent some quality time with this gorgeous snow leopard. I love him.

Here are the obligatory sibling/family photos. As you can see from the family photos, my dad and I were perfectly behaved while my mom and brother caused all kinds of havoc in the background. They clearly cannot be trusted to be in the back of photos.

We finally got a normal one.

And last but not least, the historic Capitol building. The first photo is of the current House of Representatives room. The second photo is an original sculpture of George Washington that he posed for, with the face being sculpted from a mask made on his actual face. And then there's me and Thomas Jefferson, because who doesn't love Thomas Jefferson?