Saying Goodbye

  Change has always been something I could embrace. Not to say that changes aren't hard for me but in most cases I am able to see the good in every big life change I have been faced with. Our lives are about to change again. As we leave Washington DC we look forward to new adventures in store for us back home in Utah, and we reflect on all of the opportunists and experiences we've had while living in DC. We've had our high and low points. Coping with the woe's of public transportation (running to the bus) would be an example of a low point. Adam being able to work with the judiciary staff in Senator Lee's office would be a high, baby Hannah, Founding Farmers, etc all high points. We have loved living here, we've met amazing people, learned even more about each other and our marriage, and grown a lot as individuals. We go home with excitement for the next stage in our lives and know that Washington DC will always have a special place in our hearts.

Our bags are packed, our cleaning check passed all that's left now is 2,000 miles in the car and we're home.  

Lately

A "two scoop" kind of day, saying goodbye, last meal at my favorite place, broke out the spring polish colors, bought a trendy new accessory, German pancakes when there's nothing else to eat, the most perfect purple tulip, and the happiest blue pansies

My Favorite People

Last week momma came to visit me and Adam. It was so nice having her here and I miss her already. We did so much while she was in town and had a blast. We visited Adam at work. I embarrassed him and made him smile for a couple photos! (Sorry honey) He was so official in his office, it was fun to watch him in action. Can I just brag for a minute? He is so talented and so wonderful and I am so proud of him. That's all. Quick and painless. I love him.

Adam has had the chance to give lots of Capitol Tours to Utahns that come into Senator Lee's office.  My mom and I took advantage of his responsibilities and asked for a tour. It was awesome. I think my favorite part was riding on the underground trolly to the Capitol. 

 These photos were taken while we were on the tour. The statue in the top left photo is the Statue of Freedom, the the same statue that is on to of the Capitol, it's 19 feet tall! It was huge. The middle photo is of me standing in the very center point in Washington DC in the Crypt of the Capitol. And the last photo is of the Capitol dome. Adam told us that the Statue of Liberty could fit inside this room - it's 180 feet from the ceiling to the floor. 

 This is Adam tour-guiding it up. He was so cute. Obviously, just look at my face. 

The next day we hit Eastern Market, hard. While waiting in line for crepes I bought a bag of fresh doughnuts, my mom bought a pretzel, Adam contemplated buying a pickle and my mom found some fresh apple chips. All while we were waiting to get more food. We ate a lot. I feel good about it. 

 I loved all of the fresh produce that is sold at the market, I was especially loving the seasonal bright green asparagus and yummy strawberries. They were so sweet you could smell them a booth away. 

After the market, we tried the much raved-about "We the Pizza" restaurant (as if we hadn't eaten enough already). I got one slice and shared with mom and Adam. We tried the Buffalo Mozzarella Roasted Tomato pizza. I totally get all of the raving reviews, it was fabulous.

 Once we were realllly stuffed full my mom and I took a walk around the Capitol and snapped some cute photos. She's so beautiful, I'm so glad to call her mine.

We visited the botanical garden to see the Orchid festival. It was so amazing. I have never seen so many different types of orchid. They were lovely.   

 

We did so much eating and walking and site seeing. I loved every moment of it. Adam and my mom are truly two of my favorite people in the whole world they bring out every good quality in me. That's how you know a person is really good, when they make you better by just spending time together. Thanks for coming to visit mom, it was so fun sharing everything we have learned and experienced here in Washington. 

Kite Festival

On Saturday Adam and I experienced the joy that is the annual DC Kite Festival, in conjunction with the Cherry Blossom Festival.  Ever since I was a little girl I had an obsession interest in kite flying. Growing up my dad took my sisters and I across the street to the field behind our elementary school on Sunday afternoons and we would fly a kite. Something about the frustration of not being able to get the kite to take flight, running back and forth throwing the kite into the sky with hopes that it would stay there. Thinking that the dumb kite will never get higher than as far as your arm can reach, almost losing hope, when suddenly a gust of wind catches the wings and off it goes into the sky with the birds, your kite. It's sort of magical. I loved the Kite Festival.

There were so many people out flying kites, kids, adults, professionals, student clubs. All types. There was actually several competitions going on throughout the day followed by a Japanese style kite battle. It was all pretty intense.  

 

I wanted to end with this photo of our favorite kite of the day: the whale. It was something like 20 feet long and weighs a ton - it was so cool. It was swimming through the air. Pretty amazing. 

Mount Vernon

This weekend we decided to visit Mount Vernon. And boy am I glad we did, it is probably one of my favorite things we've done since moving to DC. First of all, the weather was spectacular which made being outdoors in a beautiful place even better.  I love historic buildings and this is one of the best kept-up restored homes in America. Mount Vernon is where George and Martha Washington lived. There is a quote on one of the walls of the orientation building written by George Washington about Mount Vernon: "No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated than this." He loved Mount Vernon, and I can understand why. I think what I thought was most amazing about Mount Vernon was that nothing about the house has changed since Washington's death in 1799. Of course things have been restored as needed but no furniture has been moved around, the paint colors haven't changed, the art on the walls is still the same, etc. The mansion is on top of a hill right on the Potomac river. It is so beautiful.

Around the mansion there are several gardens, a larger one for flowers and hedge design and a smaller one for fruit trees, herbs and other lovely things. We loved the gardens. There was fresh lavender growing, and I may or may not have plucked off a blossom and sniffed it all afternoon.

We were bummed when we found out that there was no photography allowed inside the mansion but we did snap a quick photo of the slave quarters. (see below) Adam found Washington's carriage, I swear anything with wheels and he's interested. He tried to explained to me how cool he thought the suspension system was on the carriage but he lost me at "suspension system". Unfortunately my love for "things that move" aren't as extreme as his. 

The cherry on top of an awesome day at Mount Vernon was the baby animals. A momma pig had her babies an hour before we got there. They were bran-stinkin new babies. I swooned. They were the cutest little guys. There were also a bunch of baby goats running around, that also stole my heart. 

 

All in all Mount Vernon was a success! We loved it!  

Spring

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:  when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."  Charles Dickens

Adam and I took a little stroll last weekend and took a couple of photos of the beautiful cherry blossoms. Then we got in a debate about whether or not the actual fruit grows on the trees. I told him that these aren't the type of trees that produce cherries. No fruit actually grows on them.
 What a mistake that was. It was as if I had told a 4 year old that Santa Clause doesn't exist. He was so disappointed. I think he imagined himself along with all the other Capitol hill employees cherry picking on their lunch breaks. In other news I think I mastered the "sock bun". The number of days that I can go without washing my hair has significantly increased. This is a beautiful thing.

Friday

 It rained all. day. long. today.
But around 5:45 this evening, the most beautiful thing happened. The sun peaked out between grey clouds and colored all of Capitol Hill's ivory buildings pink.

 

PS: I saw cherry blossoms today, it made me want to wear white jeans. Spring is almost here. 

Hooray!

Birthday

Yesterday I turned 23 and I decided until I turn 25 the number really doesn't matter anymore. And even then, when I do turn 25 will the number feel any different? I say, probably not. Regardless of the number and whether or not it matters I had a really great February 1st birthday. I've realized birthdays are becoming less about me and more about the people I love. Good friends, a loving family, a great husband, all went in to making yesterday an overwhelmingly good day. It's so nice to feel loved. Thank you all for your kind words and birthday wishes. Whether it was on Facebook or over the phone or otherwise. Thank you.

 February 1st 2012:

In the morning Adam woke up up with a "Barlow Bed and Breakfast" menu and then proceeded to make me breakfast in bed. I loved the 6th option on the menu "More bed less breakfast".  After breakfast in bed I headed to work where I went on a long walk with my little buddy. We walked past the national cathedral so that I could ooh and ahh over it for the billionth time. After work I got a manicure and pedicure at the Four Season's Hotel thanks to my wonderful boss.

When Adam got home he took me to Founding Farmers  a restaurant down the street from our apartment. And holy crap. All those yelp reviews...they're not kidding, the food was fantastic. The restaurant was super busy, but the ambiance was so cozy and welcoming. It was the perfect place to spend a birthday.

We started off our meal with the "Popcorn of the Day" which happened to be spicy BBQ flavor. You can sort of see it in the bottom right picture. It was super good and so fresh it was still warm from being popped. We also tried the much buzzed about ginger ale. It's made in house with fresh ginger and finished with a cucumber. It was really good, and so refreshing. The restaurant was started by a whole bunch of local farmers. They're really into fresh farm to table type food preparation. And after tasting the food it's obvious that that makes a difference. The food is not processed and is fresh out of the ground, local meats, veggies and fruits. I loved it. I really can't wait to go back. I got the lemon rotisserie chicken and Adam got the shaved pork sandwich. If you're ever in DC you must, must visit this restaurant. It's so worth it. You'll thank me.

That's me with the most delicious apple concoction to grace the planet. It's called an apple pie but its more like an apple pouch. Diced apple and caramel and cinnamon and butter are all chillin inside this dough pouch thing sprinkled with sea salt. It's served with vanilla ice cream and caramel and ohmygosh, holymolycanoli it was fabulous. So simple, yet so delicious. They even got festive and gave me a candle to blow out! We loved it.

After dinner we headed back to our apartment so that I could FINALLY open the birthday box my family sent me. We skyped and it was so nice to be able to see family. I didn't realized how much I missed home until I saw it. My mom was so sweet and got me the most adorable yellow dress ever, along with many other awesome gifts. I got super spoiled! She's so good at making birthday's special.

Yay for birthdays 

Eastern Market

I'm not sure that there is a more perfect place to be on a warm weekend morning than at the Eastern Market. It's an outdoor/indoor market that takes place here in DC. Vendors set up their booths and sell all types of things from produce to artwork, to vintage clothes to mini doughnuts. I saw more types of apple than I ever even knew existed.We sampled a local orchard's apple cider and I cried a little. It was so good. Maybe I'm sipping some right now as I type. Maybe I had a mug full at at midnight last night. Mmmm apple cider. 

I think maybe in another life I was a cheese artisan. I have a strange obsession with cheese. On our first date Adam took me to the grocery store to get soft serve ice cream from the deli counter. The specialty cheese section was right next to the deli. I still wonder what Adam thought of me when on our first date I confessed my love for cheese. "My favorite isle in the grocery store is the special cheese isle, it makes me really happy." Who has a favorite isle in the grocery store? Why is the cheese special? And why does it make her happy? I'm sure those were just the first of many questions he had about me and my love for cheese. Anyway that was a really long way of explaining to you my delight when I came upon a cheese only booth. All types of cheese. Everywhere. Again I cried a little. Can we talk about the Smoked Gouda?

 After my moment with cheese. We came across Migue's Magnificent Mini Doughnuts. Mini doughnuts freshly made in front of your face. It's like heaven. Deep fried. All I have to say is that I cried. A lot this time. I reeeeeeallly love doughnuts. So what I'm a fat kid. That little doughnut maker invention that Migue's has it's hands on rocks my world. The dough is dropped into hot oil by this funnel thing and then is cooked while being pushed along by these spatula things and the is taken up a conveyer belt where the excess grease can drip off and then is dumped into a bowl. Can I just say that my birthday is this week and this is me officially asking for this contraption as a gift. Please Adam! Please!

Next to the doughnuts was a crepe stand. Crepes are always a good idea. I had read several articles about the crepes at Eastern Market and was really looking forward to giving them a try. They definitely didn't disappoint. We got the classic strawberry, banana, nutella crepe. I'm still dreaming about it.

Have you ever tried Yoohoo? If you haven't don't. Its like chocolate water. And it's disgusting. Sick. This guy loves the stuff. We took the following array of photos after he discovered the $1.00 per can cooler next to the crepe stand. I guess we all have our vices.

Before we left we walked through the flea market that was next door. It made me wish I had a home to decorate. So many grand things to buy. Can we be done being students yet? Nope, never.

It was a glorious morning. I have a feeling we will be frequent visitors to the Eastern Market while we're here in the District of Columbia.

Monumental

Our apartment is about a 10 minute walk from these lovely things. We feel pretty lucky and decided to take advantage of their proximity on one particularly warm night. A nighttime stroll was in order.
After our stroll I decided that I like the monuments best when the sun is down.
They are pretty amazing at any hour but after dark they are stunning.
   That's all.

Weekend in Images

Top left to right:  Margarita pizza from Homemade Pizza Co.,  the most delicious cup of cake ever from Sprinkles, the White House up close and personal, Sprinkles cupcake display, the White House on a snowy morning, my most favorite picture ever: Adam the nanny. 

Top left to right: My newest best friend in the stroller, canal walk in Georgetown, cozy inside on a snowy night, semisweet chocolate chunk banana bread, our lovely apartment building aka the Barlow Center. 

You should know

1. It's currently snowing on the streets of Georgetown and I kind of, really like it. First snow of the season for us, it's a big deal, I just made cookies to celebrate.

2. I am married to a zombie maniac. He and I have recently (as of tonight) started watching The Walking Dead, a zombie series on amc. 6 episodes in one night, my friends. (We're addicted, it's like I can't pull my eyes away from the gore). I will not be sleeping tonight. I am terrified.

3. I got a JOB! I am nannying part time for a family who lives near me. They have a 3 month old baby girl. And when I am with her my life is bliss. And my baby hunger subsides. So that's good (for Adam).

4. We ate at Panda Express today. At first I was guilty because I didn't want to eat a chain restaurants while we are here in DC (too many other, better options) and then I decided, sometimes a girl (and her guy) just need some Panda.

5. Tomorrow morning we have to be at the White House at 7:45 am. I just realized that it has been 3 weeks since I have seen an hour on the clock before 9am. I don't hate it. (White House tour tomorrow Woop Woop!)

Goodnight DC.

Martin Luther King Day

In honor of MLK we attended a celebration at the Washington DC National Cathedral. Various gospel choirs from around the area coordinated and made the event a success. My favorite part was when the singers preformed the song "Seasons of Love" from the musical RENT. The congregation joined in and the soloists were top notch. It was a great experience. 

After the "King in Our Midst" celebration we chowed down on some pizza at the Pi.We opted for a classic deep dish style pizza. I found it awesome that thin crust pizza and deep dish could exist harmoniously on the same menu. Cheesy, delicious pizza always a good idea. (We both agreed though that it was no where near as good as Papa Del's...ooh Papa Del's we love you.)

Last on the agenda for this Monday holiday was some dessert. Some serious dessert. The deep fried Oreo sundae at Serendipity 3 in Georgetown. Gluttons. That's all we had to say for ourselves after we finished that dessert. It was intense. Mr. King would have been impressed, we know Mr. Lincoln was.

Over all it was a great day, and although we did make resolutions to be a bit more healthy this year, we'll just call those deep fried Oreos a hiccup. Besides, we went to the gym this morning. So that's good right? Don't answer that. 

We hope your Martin Luther King day was relaxing and great.