H Street Festival!

Last Saturday, a week ago, proved to be one full of music as my roommates and I had a girls day out on the streets

H Street has an annual festival that I believe originally began to revitalize the community with music. It continues to do just that.

This is the first thing we saw on H Street.

Just a bunch of people and a band playing a smooth piece:

We kept walking and on each corner, for 10 blocks, there was something different.

(NOT great film quality, just to illustrate the different types of music.)

There were even people who made music out of everyday things.

And one silver living statue posed handsomely for me on one corner. (It reminded me of New Orleans because there are people dressed in all silver everywhere).

We passed a church with beautiful stained glass windows that I couldn't resist showing everyone.

On our way back to the metro, one of the music theaters had an amazing Chinese dragon dancing to music.

After, we decided to try the Kabob Palace and I ate a lamb kabob. Yummy!

Over all it was a pleasant day! So excited for many more.

Monumental Friday

Well, I finally made it back out to the Jefferson Monument on Friday after not seeing it since I was last here in 2009 with my history class.

 It was beautifully humbling time there. I didn't even want to get a ton of pictures because it felt so sacred, but I was struck by all of the gorgeous angles. 

Being there at night, there weren't too many people and I could have just sat and looked at Jefferson and his beautiful words all night.

It was really cool to look out of the front of the monument across the lake and see that Jefferson looks out at the White House and the Washington Monument all the time. I had to sneak a picture of that too.

One last look at the monument and Jefferson before we left and then we called it a night out.

When we made it back to the apartments, we played Dr. Who Monopoly and ate delicious lemon lemon cupcakes provided for by Charlotte. She really knows how to make good sweets.

Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of the cupcakes before they were eaten. But they were delightful.

Escape to the Woods

Okay, so I did have this entire post ready to publish and then I accidentally deleted it all... so this one will be significantly shorter than the other one.

So, last Friday after work, the 5th, I scrambled to pack everything until Sunday that I might need including sheets and blanket and a pillow. Surprisingly, I managed to do so in a small amount of space. On the way to Greentop in Maryland the car I was in stopped at McDonalds for dinner. The building was so cute, I couldn't resist taking a picture.

After we got there, we got registered and cabin assignments. The campfire that night was Acoustic Night; a fun talent show filled with the sounds of guitar, sweet vibrato of singing, and the curve of laughter melting into the darkness. After a dance party and several rousing games of nertz, I made my way through the woods to my cabin with my roommates and crashed for a few hours until the dawn dragged my eyes open. 

A big pancake, eggs, and bacon breakfast fueled me for the rest of the days games and adventures. For example, when we split up into groups and played trivia. I was pretty thrilled that I knew who played Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies. Then when we played human battleship and I got so soaked that I could ring myself out. (One of my favorite games that we played). After we did a relay race that entailed dragons, crab walking, ice water and marbles, a slack line, and a puzzle. (My other favorite game). Next we did a photo scavenger hunt that made the creative juices flow by taking pictures depicting words like; anxious, hopeful, crazy, impossible, faithful, broken, etc... And lastly we did cake boss and created a summer scene (the topic) with a man reading on the beach imagining that he could see everything in his book (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). 

Road trip to Hershey, PA!

We played at Chocolate World for a couple hours and got a free Kit-Kat (my favorite).

But only after we went on a cool ride that took us on a tour of the "factory" and how chocolate is made. 

It had singing cows.

And we left on a sweet note with a milkshake and a keepsake Hershey's cup.

Saturday wrapped up with Battle of the Sexes. I was laughing so hard that I was almost crying and my sides hurt until I went to bed. 

Sunday was the day we waved goodbye and headed back into the big city and suburbs. I was glad to be out of the wet, bugs, and to be warm again but I miss the beautiful woods.

Temple Wednesday

I am so excited to be able to participate in the Latter Day Saint young single adult ward here: Colonial 1st. It has so far proven to have some amazing people, wonderful activities, and a feeling of being included. I am thrilled to be able to study the Book of Mormon in Institute here. That's what I got signed up for on Tuesday this past week.

On Wednesday, I went straight from work on the Metro and then on a Temple Shuttle (not owned by the church) to the D.C. Temple with one of my co-workers for our ward temple night. We had the lucky opportunity to arrive an hour before we needed to be there and got to walk around the grounds which had a little nature trail attached to it. Perhaps the prettiest grounds I have ever seen around a temple so far.

After a visit to the Visitors Temple and an awesome discussion with some Sisters there (ironically enough, I saw Elder Holtby there again (boy I knew in high school)), we made our way into the temple for our session. 

I was so blessed to have that opportunity to go. I will definitely take advantage of the close proximity and go as often as I can after the temple reopens in a month.

It made for the perfect middle of the week and reminded me to smell the flowers along the way. 

I am so grateful that I went. I have been so blessed in my life and going to temple is one way I can remember those way in a spiritual light. 

Soaking Up Labor Day

September 1, 2014
Labor Day, was a beautiful day where my roommates and I decided to see Arlington National Cemetery. It always humbles me when I see Arlington. This would make the third time I had the opportunity to see it and the rows and rows of tombstones still takes my breath away.

We made our way quickly in the thick humidity to make it to the change of the guard. I remember seeing this once before with my family and thinking how lucky I was to see such a special ceremony. That thought accompanied me while watching it again. What an honor it is to honor those lost in WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. 

During the ceremony, thunder started to rumble above us. Unfamiliar with the crazy weather in D.C., our group decided it wouldn't rain and continued to explore. Anna and I went into the museum about the Tomb of the Unknown to learn a little more while the others made their way to JFK's grave. As we left the museum, we noticed it was raining hard. Anna and I took a picture and began to make our way to find the others anyway.

You can't tell very well here, but it was raining so hard that within just under a minute of being in the rain, we looked as if we had crawled out of a swimming pool.

Soaked, we met up with the others and saw JFK's grave and the eternal flame, and Robert Kennedy's grave as well. 

With the sun shining that bright, we couldn't tell that we had just been caught in a rainstorm.

And that's a wrap on our beautiful trip to Arlington and impromptu vertical swim.