CURRENT MISSION

Do-it-yourself home improvement

ABOUT ME

Brandon works in public policy and I teach elementary music. We are both very laid-back and quiet, and we spent much of our free time cooking/baking, reading, playing board games, exploring DC, working on our house (it was a foreclosure and needs a lot of TLC), and going for walks. Cooking is our favorite hobby--we love to try new dishes. Our favorite meals are our Mexican fiesta night and Indian night. We also love cooking Thai curries with the unusual vegetables that we find at our international grocery store. We also love traveling, which probably goes without saying. Brandon only went on short road trips or stayed at resorts with his family while growing up, while my mother and I would take month-long road trips cross country sleeping in the car and staying in hostels. It's been great to expose Brandon to a more "real" form of traveling, and now, he's hooked. We've been on three big road trips and many small ones together and we went mountain climbing in Ecuador.

PHILOSOPHY

"What is success?
To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children,
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends,
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I heard about couch surfing from a friend in Utah and thought I would try it. My husband and I both love to travel, love a good bargain, and love to learn about different ways of life.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We had only wonderful couch surfing experiences so far(Savannah, Tampa, Seattle, Portland, Northern Virginia, and Cape Town). Hopefully, we'll be able to host once the house isn't such a wreck.

Interests

Travel, Music, PBS, NPR, Cooking, Frisbee, Thrift Store Shopping, Working on the house, Going for walks or bike rides, Singing, Playing the piano

• singing
• beauty
• diy
• cooking
• recipes
• baking
• gardening
• shopping
• thrifting
• politics
• board games
• reading
• traveling
• music
• piano
• cycling
• surfing
• rock climbing
• economics
• public policy
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

I know these are lame, but our favorite movies that we like are "The Wedding Singer", "When Harry Met Sally", "Independence Day", and all of the "Lord of the Rings" movies. We could probably quote most of those movies. We really enjoy a wide range of music and love to learn about new music from couchsurfing and NPR. As for books, I like non-fiction home improvement books like "The Virgin Homeowner" and Brandon likes biographies about the presidents and recently read "Freakonomics" and "Superfreakonomics."

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Been to all 50 states

Teach, Learn, Share

I can share lots of good recipes and hundreds of silly kids songs. My husband can hold a conversation about anything concerning politics or economics. We're always eager to learn about new travel destinations.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States