Birthday Bash

My roommate turned 20 yesterday! Happy Birthday Jordan! To celebrate, we slept in way too late, went on  an adventure to Claridon to get cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. (Her Mom loves her enough to get her a piece). After grocery shopping and toning our arms with the bags we brought back, we made delicious cake to share with the boys after dinner.

The only picture I got all day was of Jordan and Cassidy breaking up Heath bars to crumble on the cake.
We don't own anything like a hammer or meat tenderizer, so they resorted to the ends of forks.

Dinner was delicious, we went to an Indian place called Kohinoor Dhaba. They had a delicious buffet for $10 dollars that all eight of us got. I have no idea what I ate but it was absolutely delicious. A lot of chicken, some red stuff, some green cilantro stuff, and rice. Definitely worth it.

After eating our cake and ice cream and singing obnoxiously to Jordan, we watched Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring, extended version. Very good. I can't wait to see the next two.

Night Life

After eating an amazing burger at Good Stuff Eatery Friday night, two of my roommates and I decided to ditch the boys and  go check out the National Mall.

We didn't know we were in for such a treat. 

First, on our way to the White House, we walked past a beautiful hotel that made me wish I could be an architect. 

Then on the way to the National Mall, we decided to walk past the White House. It was beautiful to see it glow in the dark. My picture doesn't quite do it justice. Seeing it reminded me of the time when my family and I got to go to the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. So many fun memories.

Of course our next stop had to be the Washington Monument. And what a sight it was. The sky started to turn red from the city lights and the monument shone bright against it. 

We finally made it to the base of the monument and then had a blast hugging it.

From left to right: Me, Jordan, Cassidy.

We turned around and started walking towards the National Mall. and this is what we saw, once we crossed the street.

We were all so excited to see the Lincoln and WWII Memorials. We walked around the different  states and found Utah. What a beautiful memorial. It was very quiet just sitting on the edge of the pool of fountains just listening and watching. There were still quite a bit of people at the memorials despite the growing lateness of the hour. 

Right before leaving, I decided to get a panoramic picture of the WWII with the Washington Monument in the background...

and the Lincoln Memorial.

(It's just hiding behind the fountain).

I had seen pictures of the monuments and memorials at night and thought they were absolutely gorgeous but I don't think I had ever seen them at night. Or if I had I didn't remember it amid the hustle and bustle of everything else I was doing the last two times I had the opportunity of being in Washington D.C.

We continued to make our way to the Lincoln Memorial. About halfway down the reflection pool on the Mall, I decided that flip flops were probably the worst decision in shoes I could have made. But I wasn't going to complain with this view at my back,

and this one in front of me.

Again, the amount of people milling around the memorials at 11pm surprised me, but I guess big city's never really sleep. 

We saw Abe and and marveled at the beautiful architecture. 

I don't know about Jordan and Cassidy, but I felt humbled being there seeing the monuments to these great people, remembering what amazing things went on. We saw the piece of stone marking the place where Martin Luther King Jr. stood while making his "I Have a Dream" speech. (I believe that Friday marked the 51st anniversary of that day). It was powerful being there and standing on that spot 51 years later.

Finally, heading home with aching feet and tired eyes we said goodnight to the monuments and walked slowly away feeling like this never slowing city is home.

Pool Parties and Thai Food

Crystal Plaza (where I am living in D.C.) had a luau last night with fantastic free food (being a college kid and intern, it's a big deal), Hawaiian dancers and great music. Me and some of the other interns decided that we would go swimming. Because that is what you do at luaus right? After being chased into the pool and being grateful I was forever prepared for cold water because of swimming in the river at Mack's Inn, we went upstairs and watched an intense movie. Lots of laughs and shrieks later it was bedtime. Nothing too crazy last night for living in D.C., but definitely a good bonding night. 

(Sorry, didn't get a picture of those activities). :(

But, I definitely had a bit of an hilariously embarrassing moment coming home from the Hart Building today. 

I got off the metro at the Crystal City station, walked up the stairs and pulled my plastic metro card out so I could exit. (In order to exit the metro you must pay in order to open the turnstile. If you haven't seen them, the turnstiles are big silver rectangles you walk through after tapping your metro card on a card reader to retract the block into the sides. 

Well, I started to walk through after someone else. I tapped my card to the reader and continued to walk, when BAM!!!! I hit something. Turns out the machine hadn't read my card and so the turnstile closed. I never knew what hit me, literally! It was a good laugh.

Then some of the interns decided to go try Thai food on 23rd street. I was able to try a bunch of different Thai food, calamari, red, green, and massaman curry. It really was delicious and the dinner conversations was appetizing as well. I look forward to continuing to try new foods while out there. 

I am ready for my first week to have been almost over. It means I will have survived! 

First Day a Success!

I am so excited that I really do get to spend the next few months in this beautiful building! (I don't remember if I mentioned it in my first post, but I am here in D.C. on an internship with Senator Mike Lee from Utah). It feels more like reality now that I have a couple days under my belt.

Thankfully, yesterday, the first day was not as intense as I thought it was going to be. The people are all wonderful and they know how to laugh. (A trait I think that will come in handy when things start speeding up). Between answering phone calls, filling out paperwork, and going on tours we were kept busy as interns on our first day. 

Then, that night three of us walked a mile to the nearest movie theater and watched the special premier of Doctor Who! Needless to say, all three of us were fangirling impressively by the end of the episode. I am thrilled Capaldi has joined the team and look forward to seeing him develop as the doctor. 

To top it all off, the sunsets here look like they are painted in the sky. I have quite enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the cars speed by honking while occasionally a fire truck and an ambulance race by sending chills to the bone. I can't wait for more! 

Settling In

Okay, I have been on a lot of adventures in my 20 years of life, but none quite like this one. So I decided to start a blog to keep everyone updated. 
I spent a summer in Alaska and played with reindeer, fished, and watched glaciers calve. I worked in Grand Teton National Park and woke up every morning to the Tetons piercing the brilliant blue sky. Most recently I just left a little slice of heaven I called Island Park, Idaho. I spent the summer watching shows at Playmill, swimming in rivers and seeing bears in Yellowstone National Park. But that was all child's play compared to the adventure I started on August 22nd. 

I loaded up on a plane and landed at Regan National Airport near Washington D.C. and got in a taxi to my new apartments for the next four months. It was better than what I could have expected and the view is quite breathtaking. 

For the next two days, I started to get to know my roommates and get to see a little bit of D.C. 

Today I got to go to church for the whole three hours! It was really wonderful to get to know some people and I am so excited to be apart of such a dynamic ward. Besides, seeing a familiar face from Riverton (where I graduated high school) was great. Elder Tyler Holtby, a boy who I knew in high school, is on a mission here and I ran into him at church today. Such a fun surprise! Everyone is so pleasant and I am super excited to attend a ward retreat on September 5!

I look forward to continuing my blog and letting those curious know and see my adventures unfold.