Squid-Fried Rice and Baby Octopus

Some friends and I recently started a dinner group. It's been really fun so far and we've eaten some great meals. Last night's dinner was the most interesting of all. My friend Jake made us some squid-fried rice. I am not a big seafood fan and this dish included squid, clams and even little baby octopus's. Jake informed us all at the beginning that everything in the dish was edible-who wants to hear that pre-cursor before eating dinner? Maybe it's the fact that I didn't serve a mission, but I seemed to be the only one who was a little weirded out by the meal. I was determined to be adventurous and not too afraid to try something new, so I fixed up a small plate. If I had to choose I would say that the texture was a little worse than the taste (which wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be). The baby octopus was especially unique. I ate it whole and at first it was a little chewy and the little 'suction cups' felt a kind of weird, then it turned crunchy as I continued to eat it. My roommate Jenny got it on video. I don't know how to rotate it so you'll have to view it sideways if you want to see it! :)

White House Tour

I got to go on a White House tour today. I didn't have to work so one of the intern's in my ward got me set up on the tour. It was at 7:30 am -which is earlier than I have to be to work- but it was so worth it! My fabulous roommate Jenny was kind enough to drive me to the White House, which saved me a lot of time. As I got in line for the tour I saw my friend Melissa Shelton from Logan, she was in DC for a teacher's conference. I was so surprised to see her and it was nice to hang out with her for a little while. We weren't allowed to bring anything into the White House but our ID's and cell phones-which had to be off! I was bummed that I couldn't take any pictures to prove that I was there but I did get a cell phone shot once the tour was done. It is cool to think that I was in THE White House! I got to see the Green, Blue and Red rooms, the dining room and assembly hall. I learned a lot of great things on the tour and it was awesome to see so many historical items from past presidents, some of which are centuries old! It was like going to a museum!

National Aquarium in Baltimore

On Monday, since it was a holiday, I went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore with a bunch of friends. We got to see lots of different fish, jelly fish, sharks, reptiles and even birds. We also caught a dophin show and a 4-D movie about penguins, polar bears and...elephants(huh?) Here are some pics of my trip.

The George Washington Masonic Memorial

The George Washington Masonic Memorial was built in the 1920s by the more than two million American Freemasons who wished to "express in durability and beauty the undying esteem of the Freemasons of the United States for him in whose memory it shall stand throughout the coming years." It is a beautiful temple that included architecture from several places and periods. It was interesting to note some of the similarities among our own temples. It is a 10-story building and as you can see it gets narrower at the top so the elevators actually go up sideways. We got to go outside at the top and while the three of us were out taking pictures the rest of the group piled into the elevator and went back down. We came inside and noticed that everyone had left and we were stuck up there. You need a key to use the elevator because you are only allowed up there with an employee. We waited for about 10 minutes to see if they would come for us, but they didn't. Luckily Ashley had their phone number and so she called the front desk to let them know we were up there. Our tour-guide then came to save us and we didn't have to spend the night there-thankfully!

Since we were in Alexandria we decided to walk (in the cold) around Old Town a bit and get something to eat. We went to the 'Hard Times Cafe' for their world-famous chili. I got the 'Chili Bubba' which was two kinds of chili served over two pieces of cornbread with onions, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream...delicious! You just can't beat a day spent with good friends, seeing cool stuff and eating good food!!!