Can't Get Enough of Fall

It has been the perfect fall weekend. The weather was just crisp enough for a chill but then the sun was out making it perfect. Definitely scarf and boot weather which is always my favorite combo! We spent as much time as we could outside. Friday we had class at the Capitol where my fabulous boss Congressman Matheson spoke to us. He rocked it. Then we went to the Tax Court and had a mock trial where I totally won my case for an appeal.

(Pictures curtesy of Sean Mearns)

Saturday I took a group on a tour of the Capitol and then we headed to Good Stuff for lunch, one of my favorites! We met up with some others and walked towards the Botanical Gardens where we explored the jungle, desert, Hawaii, and medicine plants. The night was spent on a roommate date walking the streets of Georgetown.

Daylight Savings was heaven sent on Sunday morning. That extra hour really helped me out. Sunday's can get really long sometimes and by 9:00 I was having serious cabin fever. Morgan and I went for a nice Sunday stroll.

Overall I would have to say it was a pretty great weekend. Now there is another busy work week ahead of me and a half marathon to run!

Ronald Reagan started the tradition of President's returning the salute to US Soldiers.

Top of the World

The other intern Tara and I had the chance to go to the top of the Capitol dome this week. It is very special tour and only people that are with a member of congress are allowed to go. Luckily another office had a couple of spots open and we were able to go with them. We climbed 300 steps and ended up outside right underneath Lady Freedom. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. Here are some of the many pictures I got...

What a beautiful city I am able to live in! 

The Capitol dome was completed during the Civil War as a sign that America would stay one country and not divide.

Witches, Ghosts, and Ghouls...Oh My!

I love Halloween. I always feel like I am revisiting my childhood getting all dressed up except now instead of Trick or Treating we have to find other fun things to celebrate. Our stake had a Halloween Dance on Friday night to kick off the weekend. I felt like I was back in high school when I first entered the dance but as always it turned out to be one of the funnest things. We had some great costumes going on. Tron girls, Occupy Wall Streeters, Fantastic Mr. Fox, James Bond, and I was the Morton Salt Girl. We danced the night away and by the end we were exhausted!

We were waiting in the cold for a half hour before the shuttle came for the dance!

Saturday was a little break from the Halloween festivities. I slept in long and hard. Friday had been the longest day so I thought I deserved it. And then I went to the Holocaust museum. I now been to the London Holocaust museum, Dachau Concentration Camp, and the DC Holocaust museum. But I still get emotional walking through these exhibits. DC has a great museum and I am glad that I went alone so I could really absorb and take it all in. I definitely needed a pick me up after that which ended up being me watching football with the guys. It was way to cold to venture outside so I was just fine cozying up and watching sports.

It was snowing.

Halloween finally came on Monday and we still had no plans. I had to cook dinner for my dinner group and I decided to make it a little Halloweenish. We decided to dress up and head over to Georgetown. It was crazy how many people were there and all of the costumes. I felt like I was back in Waikiki for Halloween. A huge group dressed up as farmer's because there was some deal at Chipotle so while they went to get food Sean and I walked the streets. People watching is one of my favorite things and I never stopped being entertained by the people that walk these streets. After our walk we all headed back home and watched the best Halloween movie ever...Hocus Pocus! Such a classic.

I hope everyone had a great Hallows Eve!

 November 1st was made "All Hallow's Day" by Irish Immigrants making October 31st "Hallow's Eve"

Weekend Wrap-Up

Though it was not the most exciting weekend that doesn't mean we didn't make it a blast. Friday we had class from 9:30-4:00 (miserable right?) this made for a very very long day. That night a couple from our professor's ward that had attended Washington Seminar invited us over for swimming and BBQ. They had a beautiful house in the woods, gave us delicious food, and provided us with much entertainment. It was nice to spend that night in a home and not at our stake center house. On our way there our professor locked her keys in her house so we had to all cram into two cars. This led to Sean and I being stuck in the trunk of a mini van. We felt like we were in a scary movie where they stuff you in a trunk and drive you around till you end up in the woods.

Saturday morning was great because I actually got to sleep in a little which has become a rarity for me lately. We are required to do a service project for our class. Two of the kids in our group arranged for us to help out at an elementary school book fair. It wasn't quite the service we were expecting. We went in shifts and my group went from 11-2. Well, they didn't have many costumers and there were way more of us then there were of them so we ended up sitting in chairs talking and playing games for a good 3 hours.

Disclaimer: We did not actually sleep 

When it was finally time for us to leave we grabbed some lunch and watched a little football. Then I set off for a 10 mile run to train for my half marathon. Luckily, it was a beautiful day and it wasn't as hard as the first 10 miler so that was great news!

Saturday night we headed to the national mall to take a look at the monuments. There is not a prettier sight then seeing these monuments at night. It is one of my favorite things about living here in DC. We had a great time walking around and taking pictures. By the end I was absolutely freezing! Fall is here and winter is definitely coming!

The weekend ended with a nice home cooked dinner by our institute missionary couple. Every week they invite people over for dinner and this week I was one of the lucky ones!

Every Vice-President has a bust statue in the Capitol, most reside in the Senate chamber.

Words for the Weekend

Aren't Parents the Best?

I had a very special treat this weekend. My parents came into town for a visit. My mom arrived Wednesday night, we went to the Cheesecake Factory and I spent the night at the hotel with her. (such a good nights sleep). I had to go to work on Thursday so she spent the day touring the Smithsonian and Supreme Court but met up with me for lunch. My dad came from business meeting in Philadelphia on Thursday. We went to a delicious dinner Thursday night at a great restaurant called The Founding Famers. We would definitely recommend it.

Friday morning we were up early for a tour of the Capital. I was giving the tour which made it a little different than most tours I take around and of my parents wanted to make sure I had all my facts straight. After the Capital we went to Good Stuff Eatery for lunch and then headed to the Library of Congress for a tour. This was by far my favorite thing. I was amazed at the building and of course all the things they have inside. From books to music to video games they have just about everything ever published.

It was a rainy day and we wanted to stay dry. It was a good thing we had run into my friend Nefi the night before and he told us he would give us a tour of CNN, where he works. I hurried and called him up, luckily he was free. We headed over and got a behind the scenes tour and actually got to see a live show happening. After our CNN tour we headed to a movie in Georgetown. We saw Footloose and absolutely loved it and then went for a Japanese dinner.

On Saturday we headed for the Smithsonian Space and Air museum where we learned about the Apollo missions to the moon and then saw a movie narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio about the Hubble space telescope. It was finally a beautiful day so we headed towards the National Mall to take a look at the monuments. After seeing the Washington, World War II, Korean, and Lincoln memorials we headed back to Georgetown for some shopping.

We had heard about an I Love Lucy concert happening that night at the Library of Congress. If you know my mom at all, you know that she LOVES Lucy. A lady told us a way to get tickets and get tickets we did. 3 tickets on the front row! It was a concert honoring Desi Arnaz and his music. It was one of the most fun concerts I have ever been too.

Sunday was another big day. We headed to the White House garden tours first thing in the morning. It was pretty cool to see the White House from the backyard. Then we headed towards Arlington Cemetery where we were able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was another perfect fall day so we enjoyed being outside. We headed to Georgetown for a little more last minute shopping and then sent them off to the airport!

We were going, going, going, all weekend and I am definitely tired but I wouldn't change a second of their trip. I loved having my parents here and being able to show them around. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!

The Library of Congress has the first ever map that labels America.

Virginia is for Lovers

Sunday morning 6 of us woke up early and hit the road. We rented a car and headed to Charlottesville, Virginia for the long weekend. A girl in our group, Anne, has friends in Charlottesville that kindly opened their house to us for the night. It took us about 3 hours to get there in our rockin mini van. We headed to church first where they had a fabulous munch and mingle complete with a full spaghetti meal. After church we went to the University of Virginia campus. This campus was designed, built, employed, and founded by Thomas Jefferson. It was gorgeous.

Thomas Jefferson at University of Virginia

Family for a weekend

Campus

After campus we headed to Anne's friends for dinner. The girls stayed at a neighbor's house so we went up there and met the sweet Waite family that opened their home to us. The boys went to watch football while the girls watched 27 Dresses. It was probably one of the best nights sleep I have had since being in DC.

Monticello

Couple's Vacay...JK

We woke up bright and early the next morning and headed to Monticello. This is Thomas Jefferson's home. Many times through his presidency he said he would rather be in Monticello and I can understand why. It is a secluded home in the middle of the country surrounded by mountains and trees everywhere. He designed the house full of 21 rooms and 3 levels plus his own vegetable garden. I quickly fell in love with this beautiful home.

Thomas Jefferson's Grave

After Monticello we headed to lunch at Panera Bread a restaurant that they seem to have everywhere but Utah. It was quite delicious it was like Paradise Bakery. The boys and Anne had met up with some people in the ward about attending a class at the Law school. This was definitely not how the rest of us wanted to spend the afternoon so we headed to downtown Charlottesville for shopping. It is such a great town. If I marry someone that wants to attend Law school I would move to Charlottesville in a second.

The boys went to class and the girls did this...

We jumped back in our van and headed for the city. The drive was great with all the countryside and fall leaves. I am so happy I saw so much scenery this weekend. I finally know what everyone is talking about when they say back east is the best in the fall. I am in love.

Thomas Jefferson died July 4th 1826, 2 hours later John Adams died.