You guys...Canada is cool!

 I love Vancouver! I know as an American, I'm not supposed to admit that I love Canada, but I really do.  I would live there if I could. Gasp! I know. But seriously, Vancouver is like a cooler Seattle (and I probably shouldn't say that either).

I've been up north a handful of times. In high school, my band director was cool enough to let us go there on a band trip. My friend Alana and I were determined to get a picture with some cute Canadian guys. By the time we had the guts to actually ask, it was our last day, right before we had to board our bus. They were definitely cute, but definitely not Canadian. "We're not Canadian, we're Norwegian," the boys told us. Bummer. But not quite.

Three summers ago I attended the LDS Temple open house for the Vancouver Temple. My friend Joseph, whom I taught with in Taiwan, came out from Spokane and we drove up with my lovely friend Lyndsi. We spent most of our time in China-town, which I definitely did not oppose. It felt like I was back in Taiwan.

A few weekends ago I went up again to BC with some of my friends.My friend Kyle is an amazing artist and put together this gem of a video of our experience.

    

Highlights of the trip included"

•  A super cute and tasty creperie
• Catching an awesome sand volleyball game
• Testing my hands-free metro skills on our way into the city
• Everyone crossing the street and leaving me on the other side.
• Empenadas
• An amazing suspension bridge
• Great gelato (I made sure I had some!)
• And an epic geography game on the road trip home
• A drunk 20-something jumping off his balcony (it was on the 1st level) to evade some cops. He landed in some bushes near where we were staking out our spots for the fireworks show, and he couldn't understand why the police would want to arrest him. He was scratched pretty badly, and was oblivious to his wounds. It was funny and sad at the same time. 
• Visiting the Vancouver singles branch
• Eating poutine (it's actually quite good!)

Oh, and did I mention the fireworks? They were better than the 4th of July!! Way to go Vietnam!

Here's to Vancouver and all it's great goodness!

Once upon a time...

...a very lucky girl living in Washington DC was visited by the best mother in the world (who happens to live in the other Washington). Whilst gallivanting about the delightful town of Philadelphia, art was seen, historical monuments were visited, and delicious food was consumed.

It was an amazing day. I had the day off from work, so we headed up to Philly first thing, and went straight to the Barnes Foundation. Oh my art collection!

(source)

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It is one of the absolute best collection of French Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Early Modern Art. I was in heaven! The collection includes  181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos, 18 Rouseaus, 11 Degas, 7 Van Goghs, 6 by Seurat, 4 by Manet, and 4 by Monet. When I said I was in heave, I truly was! 


The collection is housed in the estate of the late Dr. Albert C. Barnes. In 1922 he founded The Barnes Foundation to  "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts" (source). The unique display of the art contributed to this. I won't go into much more about the Foundation, because it is quite controversial, really. If you are at all interested, I suggest watching a documentary on The Barnes Foundation called The Art of the Steal. 

Not only did we gallivant around Philly, but we also road tripped it to Valley Forge and Lancaster. The wind was so strong in Valley Forge, that the electricity went out at the visitor's center. We opted for the car tour--good thing we did, as there was a humongous Boy Scouts of America camp going on. Luckily we were able to beat most of the crowds, or at least get ahead of the boy scouts.

(The house where Washington stayed and some surrounding buildings)

Lancaster was a bit of a disappointment. We tried to make it to the Amish Market, but it was closing down as we were walking in. The town of Lancaster itself was quite beautiful, but we noticed that there were quite a few men loitering about, looking a bit rough around the edges. Quite the juxtaposition. We did pick up some jam (complete with "Shannon's Strawberry"), and headed to the outlets. 

(The center of town)

(An Amish buggy waiting in traffic)

 On Washington's birthday we headed down to Mount Vernon. It was rainy and wet, but little did we know that Mount Vernon was going to be free! We were pretty excited, and spent some time on the grounds. We also got to see Dean Malissa, aka The Official George Washington (Malissa has done a program or two for our department). Mom thought it was pretty cool. 

Afterwards, we drove through Old Town Alexandria, got caught up in the parade traffic and subsequently left. We lunched in Georgetown, walked around a bit, and then headed home. I was so sad to see my mum, and her little yellow bug go! 

It was a wonderful visit!

 Mom, we should do it again sometime! 

a weekend memorialized.

It all began with text late last Thursday night.

A road trip? To Palmyra and Kirtland? Why not?

I packed up my trusty Deuter, and my friend Nicole and I piled our stuff into her SUV, and off we went--after a pit stop here:

And after a little detour to the freeway.

The road trip was filled with good conversation, good company, and great music--all the makings of an epic road trip. So many amazingly awesome things happened that a list would be the most sufficient way to sum up the trip. So here goes...

Favorites of the weekend

In no particular order mind you.

• 
  
  The Sacred Grove
  
  

• 
  
  Seeing Nicole eat the Garbage Plate at the Chill N' Grill:

• 
  
  Avoiding toll roads and seeing Amish country

• 
  
  Rock-skipping, sight-seeing, and hanging out with Ashlee and Smitty in Erie, PA. Not to mention the eating and staying with these two incredible individuals. We sat down and thought about it long and hard--it had been two years since Ashlee and I last saw each other.

At my graduation party in Provo, UT, to be exact.

That's two years far too long for friends that have known each other since preschool!

{Me and Ash at Lake Erie}

• 
  
  Niagra Falls (but my not favorite part about that is that we couldn't go to the Canadian side because we didn't think to bring out passports).

• 
  
  Going to Kirtland for the first time and getting caught in one of the worst thunder storms I've ever seen (think torrential rains of the typhoon sort).

• 
  
  Being hissed at by Ashlee's cat, Ambush (she really is a princess).

• 
  
  Nicole's friend Caren, from just outside Syracuse, NY. She was soooo hospitable, and freakin' hilarious! She is one of my new favorite people.

It was a glorious respite from the tumultuous work schedules we had the previous week.

Here's to long weekends, in all of their forms!

Humidity makes quite a difference...

So here I am in the great state of Utah. I got in last night, finishing my 3 day road trip from DC. Long, yes. Fun, absolutely! I was a bit worried about this road trip because I was comatose most of the time when I made the trip out to DC with my mom in January. I'm so proud of myself because I did all the driving. Through the severe weather of Maryland (it was pretty intense) to the not so severe weather of the middle states.

Did you know that America is BEAUTIFUL? I think I take it for granted. But I'm so glad that I had this chance to see part of the country that I'd never had before.

But I definitely have to say that I prefer the dryness of the west to the humidity of the east. Why are you moving to Taiwan? you may ask. Well, let's just say it's not for the weather.

New Place, new neighbors...

Almost three months ago I made the decision to pack up my bags, load up my car and drive the long distance from Seattle to Washington, DC. It's amazing how much has transpired over the last couple of months, and I must admit that I've grown a lot. There was obviously some lessons that I needed to learn, and I'm still going through some of the "refiners fire."

But I had the wonderful opportunity to room again with one of my most favorite roommates from BYU again. And that is what really prompted my move to the other coast. Miss Kellyn, however, married Mr. John Morris two whole weeks ago.

Dropping Miss Kellyn and John Morris at Dulles airport.

I needed to find a new place to live, and fast. And I did. And it's in Virginia. And it's great. It's pictured below:

It's cute, huh? And it was a steel. But, my first morning there, I had a little visitor as I woke up. A new neighbor if you will:
A big ol' nasty bug. This picture doesn't even begin to give it justice. I was over an inch long, and had some cool design on the back. When I turned on my table lamp, it froze. But when I turned it off, it booked it across the blinds, and almost reached my head. I freaked out. For the record, I absolutely HATE bugs. Don't ask me why. I was never bit by some horrific insect, but I do have a fear of them jumping on me and injecting me with some lethal poison. Anyways, I built up my courage and trapped my new neighbor in water bottle, ran down stairs, and deposited him on our front porch. I quickly ran inside, in case he had wings (I've been chased by killer cockroaches with wings before, and boy is it scary).
Despite the unwelcome insect, the place is pretty sweet. It's right next to some biking trails, and is in a real neighborhood. Hooray!
Here's to new places, and to new neighbors (not the insect kind).

Connecting the Dots

So as you probably have noticed, I'm not in Taiwan anymore. Many are surprised that I made it out to DC so quickly. So where in the States have I been in the last month? Let's connect the dots...

This was our first stop. Can you guess where we were?

I said "Hi" to my good friend Jessica in her hometown...













Drank some Lithia water (so refreshing!)...

















Encountered some sunnier, warmer weather while visiting my grandpa. I was even able to break out my Chacos--my feet were happy to be in sandals again!













We saw some amazing cloud formations....


















Saw a gorgeous church...













Visited Bill Clinton's hometown (by accident. That's the house he lived in!)...













Fortunately it was in Bill Clinton's hometown (or was it birth place?) that I had my first encounter with a Waffle House. And it was swell!













We sped by Talledega Speedway...













Saw CNN....


















And some other interesting things in the South...















Fireworks were everywhere!



Finally, Mom and I made it to our nation's capital! The National Mall still bore the marks of the inauguration that occurred a week before. So did you connect the dots? How many states did I drive through? Ok, I'll go ahead and tell you: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. Fourteen states in a week and half. And let me tell you, we could definitely feel it by the time we finished. I don't think I want to do a road trip that long for quite a while. But I'm grateful for my mom who so willingly made the trek out with me. I don't think I could have done it without her, despite what she says. :)

Here's to the greatest mom in the world: mine!