A trip downtown

Greetings everyone! This is Morgan. I want to share a little bit about my new job and commute. I really love the FTC! The people I work with are awesome, and I feel like I fit in very well.
The commute is not quite as great as the job, but it still isn't bad. I commute 50 minutes each way every day... I get on a bus, which takes me to the metro in about 2 minutes, and then I spend the rest of the time sitting on the metro listening to books on tape. Really it is quite nice. Some days the metro is pretty full and I sit next to strange people, other days it is empty and I can sit back and relax. Still haven't figured out why it varies. The best part of the commute is when I arrive at the Archives metro station. I come up out of the ground in front of the National Archives building, which is beautiful! After I come out of the metro station I walk across Pennsylvania Avenue, where I can't help but look to my left and see the sun rising directly behind the capitol building just a few hundred yards down the street. Just across the street from the National Archives, right along the National Mall, is the main Federal Trade Commission building. I either stop there, or take a 5 minute shuttle ride to our other building on the other side of the capitol. Every morning I decide all over again that I love DC!
In addition to the awesome buildings, I see a lot of other great things. I saw this ad today on the metro and decided it was the funniest thing I had seen all day. Remember - the President is the "commander in chief"

maybe you have to be in DC for this to be funny? I thought it was hilarious, the other thing I saw today was a guy playing buckets and a trash can. You might wonder how this can possibly be cool - let me show you:

Yes, he is playing 3 buckets and a trash can. Here is what is sounded like:

Absolutely amazing. The sound quality is pretty low in this recording, but in real life I was so impressed I gave the guy a dollar. Anyone who knows how cheap I am will understand how impressive that is. Some people are amazing!

National Archives Museum

This past weekend we went to the National Archives Museum in DC. The only image of the place has come from the movie "National Treasure." To be honest, the museum didn't look alot like what the movie depicts. The place where the Declaration of Independence is displayed is a fairly dark room, I guess for preservation purposes. I was really surprised at how faded the Declaration really is; you can barely tell that there is writing on it at all.


It was great to see all of the original documents in which our country was founded on. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, were all there. I just wish that their impact on my life would sink in a little more for me than I think I would be able to appreciate the history around me alot more. More adventures to come....

Tests of Faith!

Things are quite different out here...

-it's very culturally diverse, and to be honest that takes some getting used to.

-rush hour is pretty much all day long and a nightmare (it takes you 20 minutes to go 6 miles)

-beef comes in packages like this.. (are these worms)??

-my faith & values are challenged more than they ever have been before.


I have been applying to jobs like crazy! To those of you who know me well, my dream job is to work at a bank as a teller! A little crazy because I have a bachelor's degree, but I have always wanted to do it. I love working with money, and I love talking to lots of people. My favorite job thus far in life has been working at a grocery store! So I have applied to about 30 teller jobs in the Alexandria area. Yesterday, I had two interviews and I was really excited. Both have benefits and tuition assistance!


TD bank is 1/4 mile from where I live (perfect location) and has great people. The only problem is they are open 7 days a week. Everyone at the branch is supposed to work at least 2 Sat. & Sundays a month. Well, I went through the recruiter and got a second interview the same day with the branch manager. They offered me the job right there and told me to let them know the next day. Well, during this whole process I had a small uneasy feeling. The feeling grew to panic on whether I should accept the job or not. Suddenly, I knew exactly what to do; I had known all along but had become caught up in the thrill of the job. The recruiter called me today and officially offered me the job and what I did, I have never done before, I turned the job down.


I am sure they were thinking this girl is CRAZY! But I have felt at peace with the decision since saying No. I have no regrets and no worry about finding another job because the Lord blesses those who obey Him. Now, Sunday has more meaning to me than it has ever had in the past. My faith was tried on this principle and it was boosted because of my decision. How grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for a merciful and loving Heavenly Father who knows me personally, what I need and what I can handle. Life would be so hopeless without knowing that there is a God who loves us individually, who is pleading for us to come to Him so He can bless us.


Though this test was stressful and hard, I am grateful to be here in Virgina so that my faith can be tested and strengthened!

Murder of the Digital Clock part 2

So we found a nice solution to this little problem. Morgan got one of his black socks and put it over the clock. You can still see the numbers perfectly but the light goes WAY down! I love it. I am going to have to fix the sock a bit to make it look better. I am proud of my brilliant husband who decided to try a black sock! :) The time is 1:23 can you see it!?

Murder of the Digital Clock

Being it near Halloween, I thought I would spice the title up a bit, but to tell you the truth it really isn't far from the truth. Here is the story....

We have never had an alarm clock. We have just used our cell phones to wake us up. Well Morgan insisted we get an alarm clock to make sure we always got up on time. This decision, I might add, was against my liking, but we bought an alarm clock nevertheless. As most of your know, I am super blind without contacts or glasses and can't see an alarm clock anyway (so why not use the cell phones to HEAR the alarm) anyway...I told Morgan that if we were going to get an alarm clock the numbers had to be REALLY big. We found a cute digital alarm clock with really big numbers and brought it home. Morgan was so excited about this alarm clock and that we finally had one that he threw the box away.

So we are getting ready for bed the 1st night excited to see our alarm clock in action and we turn out the lights....the lights went out but did it get dark??? NO the little digital clock was the light; a nasty blue light that made it seem like it was noon outside.

The next half hour was spent trying every possible thing to dim the darn clock. We put socks over it, paper, anything that you could kind of see through so we could actually tell what time it was. To no avail I finally relented to putting a pillow over my face and tried to sleep.

We are at night 3 and I hate the thing more than yesterday... and guess what those 2 inch numbers are just a big blue light to me I can't even see what time it is... So moral of the story, if you are blind just use your cell phone because big numbers equal day at night!

We Made It!!

We have arrived in Alexandria, VA our new home and we really like it! Our new address is 6188 Edsall Rd. #163 Alexandria, VA 22304 for anyone that would like to know. We also have new phone numbers: Katie - (703) 347-2906 Morgan- (703) 347-2905. This is our cute apartment; it was fun to set things up again!

Well Morgan's first day of work was today: Doesn't he look so handsome! For who ever doesn't know, Morgan got a job with the Federal Trade Commission in Washington DC. He works one block from the capital building and he thinks that is really neat.

You can see the capital right behind Morgan if you look close (the lighting was bad). I couldn't believe how big the capital was! It was really neat to see up close. This was our "work test run" so we didn't really stop and see anything. Morgan gets to ride the metro to and from work everyday and it is about an hour commute each way. Luckily he just got a new iphone and doesn't mind the commute at all :)

One thing that I forgot to post about our trip across the country is Marengo Cave. This is in Indiana and we saw a billboard for it and decided to go (guess billboards can be an effective marketing tool eh?) It was so huge and I found my adventurous self imagining what it would be like to find a cave...

Last but not least is the beautiful Washington DC temple located in Kinsington, MD. Some people told us that they enjoy listening to the radio early in the morning or late at night because there is usually a traffic jam on highway 95 ride in front of the temple. You are just driving along and suddenly it just rises out of the trees! Pretty cool. Even google maps has acknowledged it as Maryland Mormon Temple :)

We are enjoying it out here and are grateful for everyone's help and support. Vistors are very welcome (that is a begging plea...hehe) we have a 2 bedroom apartment and we would LOVE for anyone to stop by. Please give us a call if you are ever in the area!!

Cross Country Drive!

Wow! What a drive...this is the absolute farthest I have ever driven in my life and let me tell you...its not too bad! :) However, if we didn't have good ol' books on tape we would NEVER make it!

We are taking highway 70 across and have enjoyed the ride except for eastern Colorado and Kansas both of which are pretty flat and "ugly". However, this sunset near Topeka, Kansas was awesome! I totally understand why there are so many tornado in Kansas; not really even a little hill in sight.

We stayed in Topeka, KS the second night and then headed for Adam-ondi-ahman. It was beautiful and so peaceful. No one was there (probably at conference) and the church just keeps everything looking so great!! I am glad we were able to go and see it!

Overlooking the valley of Adam-ondi-ahman. The place where Adam blessed his posterity.

Next we went to Liberty Jail but I didn't get any pictures because I wasn't sure cameras were aloud. But it was great to go and see and the spirit was strong as we learned of what Joseph and others endured there.

After Liberty Jail, we went to Independence, MO where ultimately the city of Zion will be. The cool spiral building is the temple of the Church of Christ and was really quite impressive. We went to the LDS visitor's center and there is an interesting story about this Christus. Most Christus' have a navy blue background representing the creation of the world. This one however, is the only one that represents the second coming! I just thought it was interesting and put a little more power in the fact that the Savior will once again come to earth and dwell in Independence, MO.

The last picture is the St. Louis arch. I thought it was really cool at night with the light! The arch symbolizes the "Gateway to the West".

We are staying tonight in Mt. Vernon, IL and are headed to Princeton, WV tomorrow! We will
post again when we get there!