The National Memorial Day Concert

So tonight there was a special concert held on the lawn of the Capitol. It was free and open to the public. It was the National Memorial Day Concert, also broadcasted nationwide on PBS. It featured the National Symphony Orchestra along with special guests: Lionel Richie, Yolanda Adams, the Allstate guy and, my personal fav, Brad Paisley, just to name a few. It was co-hosted by Joe Montegna and Gary Sinise. We got there about two hours early to get a decent spot for our blankets. It was a pretty hoppin' place! The program was phenomenal, and very touching too; they honored all of our armed forces as well as their families and they had a special tribute to widows of fallen soldiers as well. I am proud to be an American!! I am so blessed to have such amazing opportunities to attend great things like this. I have learned so much by living here in our nations capital! I love it so much!!! Everyday holds something new and exciting!!

Monuments by Night

For Amanda and Morgan's last night in the District they wanted to be able to see the monuments all lit up at night. We had a blast going around to all the monuments and memorials, as you can see by the pictures, we got a little crazier the later it got!!

Gettysburg

While my friends were here we decided to head up to Gettysburg, PA-a place I had never been before. That was a great decision because it was an incredible experience! There is SO much to see there, I wish we would have had more time to spend there. I guess I will just have to go back! We started off at the museum at the visitor center. They have a museum there has lots of information and artifacts from the Civil War period, I learned a lot more about the war. They have a great documentary about the Civil War and how awful it was and some of the things that went on during that time at Gettysburg. It is heart wrenching! After you watch the film they take you upstairs to the Cyclorama, which is a painting that goes in a circle and is 43 ft high and 377 ft in circumference. It was beautiful and so realistic, I felt like I could almost reach out and touch one of the people in it. This doesn't do it justice, but here is what a little part looks like.
There is a lot to see outside of the museum as well. They have a big cemetary and lots of statues and monuments to honor states and people who were big contributors to winning the war. We only got to hit a few of them but someday I would like to complete the Auto-Tour and see everything there is to see.

Nationals vs Orioles

I went to my very first major league baseball game on May 21. The Nationals were playing the Orioles and they having an LDS Singles night at stadium. All of the LDS single adults in the area were invited to come and gave us a discount on tickets. It was a blast! I loved watching the game with my good friends! Of course I wanted to have the full baseball experience so I just had to get an overpriced hot dog to eat while I was there!! :) PS: the Nationals lost...but they still had a firework show afterward!!

Great Times, Great Friends!

On May 18 my good friends from Logan, Amanda and Morgan, came out to visit me (and see DC). We had SO much fun! They did some sight-seeing and stuff while I was at work and then we got together afterward and lived it up! I took them down to Old Town Alexandria where we walked to the waterfront along the Potomac River, we also walked up and down King St and around the Washington Masonic Memorial, and of course we stopped by the Lavender Moon Cupcakery! It was actually my first time eating at the cupcakery as well, but it won't be my last! Mmmmmm...the lemon-blackberry one was my favorite! (Sidenote: cupcakes are a big deal out here! People pay between $3-$5 for a single cupcake, I guess I went into the wrong business!) For dinner one night I took them Ray's Hellburger's, one the most popular burger joints out here, their burgers are fantastic! On Saturday they had a White House tour and then I took them to Mt Vernon where we went on a tour of George Washington's home and walked around the HUGE grounds and museum. I just love going there! We also walked around and saw some of the monuments and memorials. One night we walked by the waterfront in Georgetown and watched a crazy girl try to steal a police boat, we just got a picture in front of the pretty fountains! :)

Branching Out

My neighborhood in Arlington just celebrated its 100 year anniversary. For this anniversary they wanted to do something great to celebrate, so they decided to plant 100 trees in a local park.
Our ward wanted to contribute so we made it one of our activities. We had a great turnout and it was so much fun! I had never planted trees before but I loved it! The weather was absolutely perfect! We could not have asked for a more beautiful day! After planting trees for a couple of hours, our elders quorum held a BBQ for everyone that had helped out there. It was a great opportunity to serve and to help make a difference in my community.

An Amazing Guy!

I saw this guy playing playing on a corner down by the waterfront in Alexandria, he is incredible to watch and listen to! He plays a lot of different songs, my favorite was The Star Spangled Banner. I took a video clip of a song just so you could see how talentedly awesome he is!