(Written 11-28-2004, so this REALLY needs to be updated...)
My name is Jennifer (Jenny) Crawford, married, no kids, age 24. (blood type?)  I'm currently a resident of the state of Virginia, but don't be fooled by this, my true home is the grand old state of TEXAS!  I graduated from Texas A&M University in May of 2003 with a degree in Architecture and a minor of Architectural History.   I am currently working as an Intern Architect at a great Architecture firm in Fairfax , but the commute is a nightmare!

My maiden name is Jennifer Reddick, my husband's name is Matt.  Now that I've changed my own last name it's nearly impossible for us to have names more common, ugh....  I get calls and mail for people with the same name all the time now.   Matt is currently working for one of the many obscure branches of the government here in the DC metroplex and is the reason we originally moved out here.  However, OMG, I cannot WAIT to get out of this state!  I don't see it happening for another couple of years at least, but Virginia sucks in so many ways...

Matt and I like to garden quite a bit, our balcony and house are full of all kinds of plants.  We're currently growing tomatoes, roses, strawberries, and jalapeno and tabasco peppers, as well as other herbs and plants like basil, thyme, mint, rosemary, chives, onions, lemon verbena, and oregano.  My favorite plants of all?  The ubiquitous pothos ivy 

I also love pets, however living in an apartment has forced me to limit myself to having our little dog only.  This is Ivy (not named after the plant)




Virginia Sucks...
1)State income tax!  Barbarism I tell you.  Its not as if we don't pay absurdly high tax rates for about any other thing you can name, like...
2)Car taxes!  you'd think they're hitting us right up front with income taxes, they could damn well spare the car taxes, it's not as though they use it for the friggin roads around here!  Every road here that anyone with half a brain in Texas would make a freeway, no, it's a 4-lane, stoplighted, traffic-jammed nightmare.  Not that any NEW freeways have been built in the last twenty years that aren't forever-more-to-be toll roads.
3)Ever rising sales tax!  Yah, the legislature here likes to have their cake and eat it too, they go for BOTH the progressive and regressive taxes.
4)Housing prices!!!  Matt and I are both absolutely the home owner type, yet we're stuck renting an apartment for what would buy us a 4000sqft house in Texas!  And it's not like the houses around here are that nice either!  Most of them have little to no brick exterior at all, it's all cheap, crappy, UGLY siding.  That's if you actaully find a house however, mostly you're stuck contemplating three story townhouses that are 800sqft total (which is a grand total of about 250sqft per floor, about 16'x16', excluding the stairwell), with beginning prices of $350,000!
5)Property taxes!  Property values in this area have skyrocketed out of all reason, yet even though every governing body that taxes personal property has basically gotten free tax increases for years they STILL raise the rate at which property is taxed AND complain they don't have enough money!  Disgusting.

The rest of my nitpicks about this horrid state are nothing compared to the above five.  The only thing this place might have going for it is that the weather is *somewhat* nicer than Texas, except when you decide to step outside your front door