I've entered the blogging world...finally!

Hi friends! So after debating the pros and cons of blogging, considering what I'd write on here, thinking of a name, etc., etc., I've takent he plunge and finally started a blog. I moved to Washington DC about 5 months ago and have had non stop adventures and fun and figure some of you may want to hear about them. Here's been some of the highlights since I moved here:

1. Driving accross the country with my best friend in all the world, Laney Zundel. We packed her little Honda Civic to the BRIM...literally, turned on the GPS and put in our address in Arlington, and headed out. We knew we packed too much stuff when the car struggled up Parley's Canyon on the 1-80 right outside of Salt Lake...which isn't even that much of a climb. Luckily Nebraska is the flattest state in the entire world so we were okay then. We stopped in Chicago to visit my brother Doug and his family, at the Amish colonies in Intercourse, PA, and the church history sites in Kirtland, Ohio so it was a lot of fun.






2. Moving into a beautiful house with amazing roommates. I feel SO lucky to live where I do with the gals that I do. Nevermind that the rent is twice as much as I ever payed in Provo, but it's all part of living in a metropolitan area, right? "It's all part of the experience." We even have a back yard and fish pond, so I guess what more could you ask for?

3. Finding a job! I searched hard for a few weeks and found a job doing worksite health promotion with the US Marshals service. I'll admit...I had no idea what the US Marshals did when I first got hired here, I just recall Tommy Lee Jones and his US Marshal team chasing after Harrison Ford in the movie "The Fugitive," so its been fun learning about how the US Department of Justice works. I'm the health and fitness program manager here, so basically I keep these US Marshal deputies in shape so they can catch fugitives and keep our nation safe. Cool job huh!? The best part is that I work about 1.2 miles from my house, so I can ride my bike which makes my commute about 5 minutes.

4. Experiencing East Coast beaches. Laney and I took a weekend trip to Rehobeth Beach, Delaware before we got jobs and let me tell you, West Coast beaches and just downright better. No offense to east coasters, but California beaches are where its at...and I'll just leave it at that. We were too poor to get a hotel so we slept in the car!! Talk about beach bums...haha...but it was a lot of fun. Here's some photos...ps, don't you love the metal detector guy in the background...whats a good beach without people with metal detectors trying to find stuff...I guess they look for rings or money or whatever...I guess that's a universal trait of beaches!

5. Visiting Lindsay Lansing's lake house in North Carolina. It was gorgeous and so much fun. The water was SO freezing but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go boating, even if it was 50 degrees outside! Luckily afterwards we got in her parent's sauna shower...quite possibly one of the most amazing experiences ever. I want one of those in my house. We got to know Tim Whiting on this trip and I think he is one of the funnest people I know.
6. Experiencing an East Coast fall. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The leaves were gorgeous! I was literally in heaven for the few weeks that the leaves were changing. Someone at church in a prayer thanked God for "nature's fireworks"...we think he was refering to the leaves and I would have to second that, they are one of the most beautiful creations.

















7. Going to Chicago for Thanksgiving to see Doug, Heather, Evan, and Audrey. It was a ton of fun, we just packed it in: the Turkey Trot, Chicago History Museum, chicago style pizza, laser hair removal (my bro is a dermatologist, love it!) shopping, Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin's house (Brent and Melissa Callister), and the highlight...winning $25 front row tickets to Wicked. I loved every minute of this trip! and I'm in love with Chicago.




8. Christmas in DC! Laney and I packed almost every night and weekend with fun Christmas stuff like the tree lighting at the whitehouse, the tree at the capitol, a Scottish christmas festival, the botanical gardens, etc. We hosted a Christmas sugar cookie party and lots more. It was great.

9. New York City! I went there the weekend before Christmas with some friends to experience NYC at Christmas time and just about froze. I don't know how people can live there, its ridiculously cold. Nonetheless, had a lot of fun seeing Rockefeller Plaza, Phantom of the Opera, Macys, Times Square, etc. I also revisited the place where my family and I slept on the sidewalk during the blackout of 2003. We were picking Dan up from his mission when that blackout happened so we had to sleep on the sidewalk in Times Square...hilarious.

10. The Inauguration! It was absolutely nuts out here, but really fun. I went to the swearing in ceremony, didn't have tickets, but watched it on a big screen by the Washington Monument. Everyone was really excited and it was fun to experience this piece of history. The highlight that night was going to the Michigan Ball with some friends, and a really cute boy! The food was amazing, the dancing was so fun, it was definitely a night to remember!




11. Going to Portland, Oregon last week for my friend Ceci's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and she was glowing, it was great. It was also fun to see my parents who are serving as the medical directors for the missions in Oregon, Washington, Parts of Canada, and Alaska. They're doing such a good job and I'm so proud of their missionary efforts. I have the best parents in the world!


Ok well thats the end of this marathon post! Life is great. Sorry for the amateurishness of this post...I'll hopefully get more blogging-savy.