Shenandoah

So my roommate Jenny has been trying to organize a camping trip to the Shenandoah's for a few weeks now, but as luck would have it, it rains every weekend. Since fall is in it's peak time right now we really wanted to go to the Shenandoah's and see the beautiful fall colors, so we decided to take a nice Sunday drive after church. It was so worth it! The colors were so vibrant and beautiful and they just went on and on over the rolling hills. There were four of us girls that went and we had a blast walking through the leaves and taking memorable photos. The pictures don't

quite do it justice, but you can get an idea of how amazing it truly is.

It's Saturday Night!

So Saturday I got to go to a 'Saturday Night Live' party. It was fabulous! I was so impressed with all of the people who dressed up like a character from 'SNL'. I went as Penelope (a girl who always has to one-up everyone else). I will admit that I had only seen a few clips of SNL before this party so I didn't know too many of the characters, but I got to know them and I laughed all night long! These are some pics from the party.

My Day Off

I didn't have to go to work today because the Dr was gone to a conference. I had a great day off. The first thing I did was go on a bike ride. I haven't riden my bike since I left Utah. There is a nice bike trail behind my house that I have been wanting to go on it since I moved in. I ended up riding 14 miles! That is the longest ride I have ever been on, and now I am so sore! It was so worth it though, I loved it!! I rode through a park, down past the airport, and along the outskirts of DC. Here are some pictures of the things I saw on my ride.

After my bike ride I came home and got ready for the day and then I went to the temple. It isn't too far from where I live, it should only take about 25 minutes, but with traffic it took me an hour and even longer on the way home (I got done during rush hour, poor planning on my part).

To top off my day, I went to Einstein Bagels and got pumpkin bagels with pumpkin cream cheese (one of my favorite fall time foods). I love everything pumpkin! It was a fabulous day off!!

Eastern Market

My roommate Jenny and I were supposed to go camping this weekend but Mother Nature decided it would be better to create a cold rain that would last the entire weekend and then some. We weren't going to let that get us down so we opted for another adventure. We went to the ever so popular Eastern Market in the District. It's like a year round farmer's market that is held indoors. It was really great. They are well known for their breakfast and so that is what we went for. We stood in a line long enough to make you change your mind about what you were going to order several times. I went for the blueberry buckwheat pancakes with homemade hashbrowns and orange juice. They have quite the system down. They have one big long table for you to sit at and you hope that by the time you get your food there will be a place for you to sit down. What a fun experience! After eating our fantastic breakfast we walked around the rest of the market. They had really great (and expensive) breads, desserts and produce, along with all kinds of fresh seafood and any part of a farm animal that you could want. Eek!

They also had apples that were half the size of my head! We had so much fun!!

My Little Nephew, Caleb

Yes, I am a very proud aunt!!

This is his Halloween costume from Grandma, isn't he SO cute!!

Time-Out For Women

My sister Julie and I went to Time-Out for Women in Richmond and had a wonderful time. They had fantastic presenters, we were uplifted with spiritual messages and music. They even brought a mini Deseret Book with them. I wanted to buy everything there, but I showed some self control and only bought a CD.

My House

This is the place where I live. My room is at the top.

My Neighborhood

This is a small view of the neighborhood that I live in. Cute huh? Several of these rowhouses have members of my ward in them.

My Work

This is the building that I work in downtown, our office is on the 4th floor.

Apple Picking

My roommate Jenny and I went to an orchard in Purcerville, VA to go apple picking. We had a great time and we got lots of delicious apples to eat and bake with!

A Whole New World

Where to begin...

Long story short, (since most everyone knows the story anyway), I moved out to Richmond, VA with Julie and Austin at the end of July and I am now in Washington DC! I never, in my wildest dreams, would have thought I would end up working in our nations capital. It was a rough go at first; I wasn't quite sure what I had gotten myself into. That only lasted about a week though. I got a job here but I still didn't have a place to live. Thank goodness for the Church! How else could you find someone to stay with when you didn't know a soul? I roamed from couch to couch for about a month before I finally landed a place to live-which was SO worth waiting for! I just moved into a cute rowhouse in Arlington, VA. I share the HUGE third floor bedroom (it is the whole floor) with another girl. We each have our own walk-in closet that has a ton of space and we share a very large bathroom which has two separate vanities with lots of drawer and cupboard space, what more could a girl ask for?

I am working for an opthamologist in the District. I actually have a pretty easy commute: I leave the house at 7:05 to catch the bus across the street, that takes me to the Pentagon where I hop onto the metro. I get off at 'Foggy Bottom' (I really like that name) and walk several blocks to where I work. I am the administrative assistant for the office and I do a lot filing, scheduling appointments, and conducting the visual field exams (along with a bunch of other office related duties). I work with two other LDS single girls, who are actually in the ward I moved into. I feel so blessed to work with such great people!

I love this area more and more everyday! I love coming around the corner and seeing the Washington Monument with the sun rising behind it. I love driving through DC at night and seeing everything all lit up. I love all of the wonderful history here and all of the free museums and memorials. I also love that the interstates are lined with big tall trees and there are NO billboards! It is so beautiful!! I can't wait to see the leaves change colors this fall!!

I belong to a great ward out here. It is much bigger than the ones I am used to (300+). Everyone has been super nice to me and I have made some great friends out here. People are really involved in the ward and there is always something going on. I am so very blessed to be out here and living this dream!! I truly love it here!!

Mt Vernon

I had a day off of work a couple of weeks ago and I took the opportunity to go to Mt Vernon that day. Mt Vernon is George Washinton's huge estate. I went with a friend from my new ward and we were there for over 4 hours and we still didn't get to see everything. We took a garden tour, a tour of the house and we also walked through the orchard, to his tomb and down to the Potomac River. It is a very beautiful place; they even decorate it for each season and I can't wait to go and see it around Christmas time!!