The Center of DC

Now that I've been in the DC area for about 3 months, I have finally begun going downtown to see some of the sights. Two Saturdays ago I visited the National Museum of American History. It was a great museum and really we only scratched the surface. I went down there with a few friends because Jen Pike had seen an article in the newspaper about a new exhibit there. Well, we came to find out the new exhibit was actually in the American Art Museum. Still, we enjoyed the one we went to even though we didn't get to see the exhibit that day.

This summer there's a guy that I became friends with in the ward who is here for the summer doing an internship on Capitol Hill. Part of his internship is giving tours of the Capitol building, so I told Bryce that I wanted him to give me a tour sometime during the summer! Last Sunday I brought it up and he said he actually was going to do one that Saturday for some friends, so I could join. Bryce gave us a great tour and we got to skip all the lines for waiting to get into the Capitol building. It was so nice to have such a small group of us.

This star markes the very center of DC (originally). Apparently the roads were planned around this point. It made me laugh and I made the comment that I didn't think the road system was based of anything!

Bryce told us about the paintings done on the rotunda as well as the frieze about part way up. They were done by Constantino Brumidi when he was in his 70's. One thing Bryce showed us that was pretty cool was the Brumidi Corridors. They are these hallways of frescos painted by him and they are not part of the typical tour. I thought it was pretty cool because when I think frescos I think Italian Renaissance, not early America.

This was one of my favorite portraits we saw in the Capitol building. It's Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress. I loved the attitude in this picture, so I had to try myself. I don't think I've got it down quite the way she does though. I need a bit more sass and a better outfit!

Title Piece of the Exhibit. Charles Willson Peale's "Artist in His Museum"

Then we headed down to Chinatown and after a great lunch, I went with Jen Pike and Mike Neary to the American Art Museum to see the exhibit we missed last week. I loved it! I got to see quite a few things I'd studied in college. I think it was a lot more interesting for me having the background knowledge that I did about the significance of many of these works and artists. I think the exhibit emphasized the innovation of Americans as well as the early American penchant for learning and progress, and the reverence for nature.

Unphotographed Events

I've not taken too many pictures lately, but that is not to say I have not done some fun things here. A couple weeks ago I went to Bethany Beach with a group of friends. It's in Delaware and is supposed to take about 3 1/2 hours to reach. The car I was in left about 6:15 am and we arrived at 11. The car that left about 7:30 pulled in the same time we did. There was a bad accident on the highway and they were routing everyone off it in the early morning, so we had major delays. Nonetheless, when we finally got there, it was a fabulous day! It was one of the most scorchingly hot weeks of the whole year and I think that Saturday the heat index was at about 112. Miserable, right? But yet, a great day to play in the ocean. I didn't get burned at all this time--perhaps part of that is because it was just too hot to lay out on a towel. I meant to take at least a few pictures, but when I got my camera out I found that the battery was dead. So unfortunately, the day went by enjoyed but undocumented.

To this point my blog mostly contains all the fun things I've done here, but I might as well put in a little about work too, since that's where I spend a lot of time. This may be the only post about my job though. I'm working at a corporate office for a company that does mobile health care, primarily dental. I'm working as the office administrator and fulfilling roles as the HR assistant as well. For the most part, its a good job. I sit at the front desk, answer phones, schedule appointments, keep the office supplies stocked, and assist with a lot of the paperwork involved in HR. Sometimes its a bit slow though, so I try to find productive ways to use my down time. Sometimes I read books or talks online, write in my journal, or update my blog. I really have no complaints about my work except that I've found I really miss teaching my ESL classes. I loved that job because I felt like I could really put my personality into it. Needless to say, while I am grateful for the job I have now, I think I would like to get back into the ESL/literacy/education field at some point.

As mentioned before, I do some reading while at work, but also during my lunch break. I love to go sit outside in this little park across the street and eat my lunch and read. Occasionally its been too hot to go out, but they keep this office so cold sometimes that I've usually got to warm up for at least a little while! As a Humanities major I think I was always reading something, but it has been really fun this summer to choose the things I read for myself and have time to read for pleasure. I'm even part of a small bookclub of some friends here. I've also joined Goodreads.com to help me keep track of the books I've read and the ones I want to read, but here's an overview of what I've read lately.

Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens: I hadn't read this since I was a sophmore in high school so there was a lot I didn't remember. It was a great read taking place during the middle of the French revolution. The end was one of the most exciting I've ever read in classic literature. Well done, Dickens! I originally checked this out from the library on CD because I have a fairly long commute to work each day (abt. 40 minutes) and I got so tired of listening to the same mindless music all the time. But I ended up actually reading it towards the end because I wanted to finish and not wait until I was in my car! I also started carpooling to work, so listening to a book on CD didn't work quite as well.

History of Love, by Nicole Krauss: This was a really interesting book. It's probably not something I would have picked up on my own, but it was chosen for book club this time. I enjoyed it, but I have a bit of a hard time saying what exactly it's about. Basically, there are three main characters and they all have ties to a book called The History of Love. Though separate and distinct, they all connect in a way too. I think some of the prevailing themes of the book are identity, lonliness, fulfillment, friendship and of course, love.

Over the last few weeks I've also read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Atonement by Ian McEwan, The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I've enjoyed each of them, each for different reasons.

Sorry, no pictures for this post. I know it will probably get skipped in reading. It's like a cookbook with no pictures. If you can't see how good something looks, you probably won't take the time to even look at the recipe.

A Virginia 4th of July

Happy 235th birthday USA!! Being in the DC region, perhaps I should have gone downtown into the nation's capitol to celebrate Independence Day, but there was plenty to do without even getting close to downtown. It was great to relax a bit and spend the day with good friends.

In the morning a girl in the ward invited everyone over to her place for a waffle breakfast. People brought food to share and it was a great morning activity. I had kind of wanted to go to the national parade downtown, but I was enjoying myself too much at the breakfast and didn't make it. In retropect, I heard that the parade was good, but that I didn't miss too much.

After the breakfast I went back with Dan and Steve to their apartment and we went swimming. It actually wasn't as hot as I had anticipated, but still plenty warm to make swimming an excellent idea. After swimming for a while, I went back to my house and made a blueberry pie. I used the blueberries that we picked on Saturday. I'd never done a blueberry pie, but this one turned out really well. The crust was especially good on this delicious pie.


My friend Jen Pike hosted a barbeque at her house that evening. I brought the pie and we all had a great time eating, playing croquet, and just enjoying each others company. A couple of people brought sparklers to play with and we all agreed they don't make them like they used to. As it got dark, we walked over to a school parking lot where Fall Church was putting on a fireworks show. It was actually really well done and pretty long! It was a fun holiday with many of the good friends I have found here in Virginia.

Banana Bread, Blueberries and Baseball

I've been watching the Harry Potter movies with some friends in preparation for the last one coming out on July 15th and last week after watching one my friend Emma mentioned that she needed to make banana bread and I had the brilliant idea that banana bread french toast would be a good twist to the standard. We decided to make that for our next Harry Potter viewing. I found a tasty recipe online and we put together quite a delicious meal. It was Emeril's recipe online, and a bit fancy. It had an incredible carmelized banana glaze that was divine.

On another note, but still involving food, I've never eaten as many blueberries in my life as I have this year. It has been a whole new discovery for me in my life! On Saturday I went with Dan and Steve to a blueberry farm in Poolesville, Maryland.

Dan's manager at work lives on this farm, which is why we chose to go there. It was a beautiful drive up there. Maryland is such a pretty state and it was so nice to get away from the city feel. There were a lot of people out biking on the roads and it looked like such a great way to spend the day. I didn't quite know what a blueberry bush looked like, and I found they are actually pretty small, but these things sure were loaded! And some of them had HUGE berries! We didn't pick for too long, but all of us took home over 2 lbs. of blueberries each. I plan on making a blueberry pie for the 4th.



In the afternoon, I went downtown and met a couple of friends for the Washington Nationals baseball game. Some call baseball games slow, but I just love the relaxed atmosphere. We had great seats and were grateful that we were on the shaded side of the stadium since it was a pretty warm day. We had a bit of a BYU 35th ward reunion there because it was me, David Bennett, and Sara Dunbabin, plus Sara brought her current roommate. It was fun to get the three of us together that had been in the same ward at BYU.


The game was actually a double header vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I ended up staying for both games! After the second game they had fireworks, so I didn't get home until after 11, but it was a fun day.

Beach Camping with Wild Ponies

Well, that title pretty much sums up my last weekend. I know it sounds a little bizarre, but that's exactly what I did. It wasn't exactly something I'd ever thought of when moving to the DC area! Friday after work I drove up with my brother and some friends and we met at Assateague State park in Maryland. We had a little bit of trouble getting there due to some faulty directions, but we made it there just after midnight. Some of our group had left earlier in the day, so it was nice that camp was all set up when we got there. Although, that didn't mean we went to bed right away. The campground was just off the beach, so we walked down there in the moonlight and waded a bit. Assateague is an island famous for its wild ponies and we saw plenty of them that evening. Then we all stayed up talking until around 3. It made for a short night since the sun was up by 6 and I couldn't sleep much after that.


Saturday we spent the whole day at the beach from about 10 to 4. I LOVE the beach! I'd never really been to the beach until last year when I took a trip to Florida, but I discovered a love for it then and had a blast here too. I love getting out into the surf and riding the swells as they come in or swimming into the breakers. We didn't see many ponies in the morning (except for the one that walked into our campsite), but sticking with the pony theme, we buried Dan and made him into a sand centaur.

Rachel Atwood, Ryan Thomas, Ryan Nokes, Curtis Seare, & Marin Arnell with Dan as a centaur--I know its a bit difficult to see at this angle.)

Marin brought a boogie board that was a lot of fun. I'd never done one of those before but it was not too difficult to get the hang of and sometimes I could ride a wave all the way into the shore.

Later in the day some of the ponies walked right down onto the beach among all the people. Everyone was snapping pictures and they actually ended up staying down on the beach for quite a while. So apparently these wild ponies have been living on the island for quite a long time. They are pretty mangy actually because their diet on the island is very poor in nutrients, but since the ponies are wild, the park service doesn't really take care of them; they merely monitor them and make sure they are protected and that people don't disturb them.

Ryan Thomas, Marin Arnell, John Arnell, me, Dan, & Rachel Atwood

Although, I'm trying to figure out what exactly the "Pony Patrol" does.

(As a side note, all I was intending in this picture was to get a picture of the "pony patrol" vest because I thought it was funny. It was only after I took the picture I realized I also captured the "horseplay.")

We finished off the day building sandcastles...


...or rather, John and Dan built Egypt.

Sailing Trip

The Langley Ward Relief Society has an annual sailing trip and that took place this past weekend. Can I just say, it was awesome! I'm so glad that I was able to go, for multiple reasons. Not only were the activities great, but I also got to know some of the other sisters in the ward better. It is great to start feeling like I have friends here who are really MY friends, and not that people are just nice to me because they are friends with my brother.


So I met up with a few people after work to carpool to the house where we stayed. It was about a two hour drive, so we stopped for dinner at the gas station. Yes, we actually stopped to eat at a gas station. Its a place called WaWa's and apparently it is a Maryland favorite. And actually, it was really good! They have a deli in there and they will make you fresh sandwiches and smoothies. When we got to the house we had a lady from the stake Relief Society presidency come and talk to us. It was a good talk, but I must admit, I was kind of distracted because there was a sliding glass door behind her out to the backyard and there were FIREFLIES everywhere!! I kept thinking about how I wanted to catch one, but after our small fireside, they had mostly all gone to bed. I have to say though, there is just something magical about fireflies that makes me feel like a little kid. Living out here is really my first experience with them and it gets me excited everytime I see them. :)

I walked down to the dock with a few girls and we sat and put our feet in. The moon was big and it was a really nice night. The water was even warmer than the air though, I think. It just made me want to go swimming, so pretty soon we all went and got our swimsuits on and went for a midnight swim. It was beautiful.

Jen Pike, her cousin Katie, and Michelle Martinez

A lot of the girls ended up sleeping outside, me included. Since I was outside, I was up with the sun in the morning. I'm not sure what time it was, but it was pretty early. A neighbor come over every morning to go crabbing off the dock, and I think he had just gotten started when I got up, so I went down and joined him and a couple other girls who were up too. The technique was to tie a chicken neck to a string, throw it in the water and then when it starts to move, you pull it in really slowly. The crab is just holding onto the meat, so when you get it in close enough, you scoop it up with a net.

Practicing the technique...

Gotcha!

Before breakfast I also went kayaking a little bit. Around 9 am we started the sailing excursions. I really didn't realize that a sailboat could be so big! I was on the small one and it held about 10 people, but they had a big one too that had 25 or so on it! As we got started on our trip, the man that took us out let me steer the boat! He taught us a thing or two about sailing, but mostly we just enjoyed relaxing in the sun while sailing around the Chesapeake Bay.

Captaining the sailboat!

April Lyman and I are wishing our feet could touch the water.

When we got back, other people had continued crabbing and there was a good haul of crabs that the neighbor was just crating up to take them and steam them for us. When he brought them back, the crab feast was incredible! Eating fresh Maryland crab, I think it would be hard for anyone to hate seafood!

I burned a little on the trip, but at least I didn't turn as red as this guy!

The feast! A delicious payout on our labors.

Virginia Safari Park

For Memorial Day weekend a lot of the LDS singles head to a place called Duck Beach in North Carolina, but instead of going down there I opted for a camping trip with a smaller group of friends from church. We left Friday afternoon and went to Mallard Duck campground and got settled there. Those in our group thought it turned out to be a clever play on words. It was a nice place and we only had a few other people there in the tent camping area that we had to share it with. We thought we'd probably get rained on the whole week (and we went anyway) but it actually turned out to be perfect camping weather. We had 10 of us there and everyone had a good time. It was a great low-stress way to spend the weekend.

The highlight of the trip was the Virginia Safari Park. Wow. I have never done anything like this before and it was awesome! Its a huge preserve where they have a huge variety of animals and you drive through it in your own car. But that's not all. The exciting part is that you get a bucket of food and roll down the windows and feed the animals directly from the car. Words just can't do this experience justice. Take a look at what we had coming through our car windows!

They have no hesitations.

I know very few people who have been this close to a zebra. You aren't allowed to feed them though because apparently, they bite!

Feeding a bull elk.

This guy had an even bigger rack--it was huge! I pet his antlers, which were in velvet and it was really cool. When I tried to take the food bucket away, he just followed right into the car. He polished off every last bit of feed that I had in my bucket.

Two-hump camel coming straight for my bucket. He didn't go for the food, he went for the bucket and snatched the whole thing away from me and proceeded to chew the entire thing. These guys are hairy and BIG!!

Joe, April, Maggie, Dan, and Joe with a kangaroo.

We left Sunday morning in time to be back for church at 1:30. That evening a group of us went to a free concert by the US Marine band. It was at this place called Wolftrap, a huge outdoor theatre with some covered seating and then a huge lawn to bring blankets and sit. It was a fantastic concert. They played a lot of patriotic songs and then ended the evening with an impressive display of fireworks. It was a great way to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday weekend.