I don't know why I didn't see this coming.

Because when I went to London, the same thing happened. I CREATED this blog just so I could share my adventures abroad with my domestically-based family. So the first weekend I posted some pictures. And after that, had to throw the whole thing out the window like it was a desktop computer from 1995. (Kidding. But we have one like that at work and I've contemplated it many times.)

THE POINT IS: normally, I enjoy blogging. I mean, I enjoy it profusely. I have conversations about Naomi and Natalie like they are actually people I know- and not just people with excessively well-dressed children whom I stalk via the internet. But.

When time is precious.
or at least, more constrained-
And one must choose between documenting the sweet details of life
or really living them-
I will always throw my lot in with the latter.

Smells like Summer

The rain came today in a flash-flood baptism. It was one of those cloudy and broody afternoons where the sky decided it would hold out all day- until you went to the grocery store during your lunch hour. And waited until the perfect moment when you were walking back to let it all out in one swift meltdown. 

I love getting caught in storms. They remind me that life is exciting and unpredictable. Like suddenly I am transported into a dramatic scene from a movie, where at any moment I may be required to run for my life or kiss a stranger. 

Alas, today I did neither of these things.

I just waited under a tree and watched people scurry to their cars, splashing in the torrents of water running down the brick sidewalk. I breathed in that rain-on-asphalt smell that so reminds me of home.

The nights I'd sit out after work and strum my guitar about how the pavement shines like silver. The muggy afternoons when you know practice isn't canceled but at least you have an extra ten minutes to hide under the bleachers and talk before it subsides. The heart-to-hearts in the passenger seat as water obliterates everything further than the windshield. And the comfortable silence on the front porch as you rock back and forth, just watching it come down.

It was that kind of a day.

When I woke up this morning, I looked at my skin [which is usually quite clear] and I looked at my hair [which is normally not quite so frizzy] and let me tell you, my heart was not filled with the unadulterated joy that comes from living in the South. Until the rainstorm, that is.

It feels nice to remember why you love the things that you love.

This photo is not relevant.
But it was taken from the roof of the NEWSEUM!
which is also something I love.

Alexandria

Working for the adoption council, I thought would be okay.
The other girl from BYU going with me, I thought would be okay.
The daily commute out to Virginia, I thought would be okay.

I have never been more pleasantly surprised. This is Alexandria. It is awesome.

And this is where we work.

We own the building. [holler] But guess who we rent out the lower floor to?

 

That's right.

It's an incredibly cute town. [with an incredibly high proportion of our favorite stores.]

 

This is Jessica. She is awesome. 

Look! Can you see anything special over Jessica's head? That Ben & Jerry's has a BUBBLE MACHINE right by their sign. [downtown Franklin, much?] I always knew I liked those guys. 

I am so grateful that the fellow intern I spend all day, every day with is so cool. Our first day visiting we pranced down the brick sidewalks back to the tube metro [old habits die hard]-  and our joy was so overwhelming that Jess burst into an impromptu song called "This is Gonna Be the Best Summer Ever." The lyrics went a little something like, "This is gonna be the best summer ever." We are trying to hit the ground running by pledging to see something new every day.

Also... we have already made a ward directory for the Barlow Center using everyone's least attractive facebook pictures.

Evidence that I am not kidding:

Based on our feedback so far, the boys found it very funny... and the girls significantly less so.

You can tell a lot about a person from the kinds of things they take off the internet. And even more from the things they allow to remain on there.

Stay classy, DC.

A Weekend with Mom and Karen

This is my mom.

she loves taking pictures like this.

This is Karen.

Karen has an Australian accent. Sometimes she has your back and sometimes she does not; it's a complicated relationship. The three of us had so much fun driving 9.5 hours to Washington, D.C.

Mom: "Look at that. West Virginia is all coal. [pause] WE'RE IN DISTRICT TWELVE!!"

We thought the hard part was getting there. wrong! The biggest adventure of all was driving around once we got to the city. We were so lost trying to navigate through the minivan through all the narrow one-way streets. Lots of other drivers made it pretty clear that they did not think it was funny, but they were wrong. It was. We met some friends for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory after another hour in the car in which some un-Christlike things were said to Karen.

We laughed about it over a shared piece of white chocolate blueberry cheesecake.

After dinner we hit up the grocery store right before it closed. There was only one cart left.

Before. (long day)

After. (yay food!)

Saturday we walked the National Mall.

(Until recently, I did not know such a thing existed, but it's true. The stores are huge. And by stores, I mean "monuments.")

We snuck lunch out of the hotel breakfast.

Thanks for a great weekend, Mom! (and to a lesser extent, Karen.)
xoxo