Like a Boss

I trimmed my own hair for the first time ever yesterday! I have always thought I could but have been too nervous to try. With all the rain and humidity here this week, it was really apparent my ends needed some attention. I thought a trim would help, but I don't really trust just anyone with my hair. So...time for an experiment? Yes. It didn't take long, and it looks great! Not gonna lie, I'm SO relieved it turned out well :D
Today was my first big job on-site. I went and helped with the Office of Refugee Resettlement National Conference today. It was a really fun change of pace, and I LOVE it. There's so much energy...and so much not staring at a computer screen. The team asked me to come back and help with their project again tomorrow. A project manager from the Head Start office was also helping today, and she really likes working with me on-site. She said if Head Start has any projects on-site coming up, she wants to request me to come work with them. I'm so excited!
The best part about work today was that I got off at 3pm :D The downside was that I had to be to the hotel at 6:30am to get ready for registration which started at 7:30am. It's nice to feel like I actually have some downtime. How am I using it? I'm watching "Go On" (Really funny show. I recommend it for a good laugh.) and "The Voice" online. This is the first time I've watched "tv" since I've been here in DC. I was a dedicated weekly viewer of the Voice last season. They're on episode 9 this season, and I haven't even seen any of them yet. The Premiere was good. I caught that today.
I'm going to a show at an underground theater tonight. Haha! Calling it "underground" makes it sound so sketch. It's not though, lol! There is an underground shopping center connected to the metro and my apartment, and the Synetic Theater has an entrance in the shops. We're going to see Jekyll + Hyde.

H Street Festival

 

Like I said in my last post, Claire, Alexa, Emily, Dani and I all went to the H Street Festival yesterday. It was fun! We way underestimated that walking distance from the metro, but that's okay. We actually met a couple of different people along the way that were headed there too that walked with us. We all sort of split up and did our own thing once we got there. Dani and I just walked the street. I went and watched some dancing for a while. We met back up and saw a thrift store we went into for a bit. We all split up again and Dani and I never saw the other girls again...EVER. Not really. lol! They went home. We stayed and listened to a local jazz band play and watched some live muraling. It was awesome! We bought a funnel cake just before 7pm when the event ended, but we had to wait a half hour, among other customers before it was ready. My gosh! I couldn't believe how long they were taking. We met some friends though. When we were leaving, this guy, Chris walked with us. We were going further downtown and out of all the roadblocks to catch a cab back to Arlington to our friends' where we were watching the game. We were running a little late :S Anyway...so many friendly people here. I love the diversity of people, activities, sites...so AWESOME!

                                                         BANANA SPLIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Random parade.

You can't see it in this picture, but just to the left of the stage, they had a person standing there signing everything. Surprisingly, there were a lot of ASL people there. I saw at least 4 people signing throughout the day.

Delicious fried oreos!!!

A Week in the Life...

Wow,
I don't even have to make plans, they just happen. There is always SO much going on. Typically in the week, I have work Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm, FHE Monday night at the church, Institute Tuesday night at the church (there are only 3 classes to choose from all at the same time--SO different from Utah), and of course lots of FUN...and then there's eating and sleeping in between. ;D This week I met Dani in Georgetown after work Tuesday and we went to a cupcake place called Baked and Wired. It reminded me of Cafe Villebella in Ogden. I miss that place!
Other big events of this week:
-Thursday was laundry day. My first time since I got here. Not bad, but $1.85 to wash and $1.85+ to dry? Really? EVERYTHING here is more expensive than home. lol!
 -Ben's Chili Bowl on Friday night. I got more than enough of it. I went right after work and waited there over an hour for my friend to get there! haha. It was good though. The history is better than the food in my opinion, but it was a cool experience. Check it out http://www.benschilibowl.com/ordereze/Content/2/Summary.aspx
-We went shopping in Pentagon City and for groceries Friday night. Whoo! haha :D Food :D
-Saturday was great! We slept in. Dani, Claire, Emily, Alexa (all girls in the USU housing), and I all went to the H Street festival.
-Saturday night= USU v. Wisconson watch party! We went to some boys' house in the ward to watch the game with a bunch of USU and BYU alumni. Of course, all the cougs left about 10:00pm when their game started. Btw, Aggies lost. It was a great fight for the finish though. Big play ;D
-Today, Julia Laufiso came to church with me. Who's that? She was in student government with me at WSU. We're just acquaintances really, but she saw on facebook that I'm living in Arlington, and she's in D.C. this week for work so she got in touch with me. It was great to get to know her better and have someone to reminisce old times with.

We have movies at our place on a regular basis. I like all the people in our apartments. We do a lot together and have fun. We cook, go places, walk around, etc.

Preview:I'm excited for this week. Tawny's mom is going to be in town and we're going to dinner. I'm going to a US-Asia Institute event (free chinese food!). I'll keep busy at work; we have a couple of conferences this week that I'm helping with.  I'm planning to meet up with a friend from Baltimore with her kids on Saturday. Haven't seen her in years. SO excited. Dani and I are going to a Depeche Mode dance party on Saturday night. Should be fun.

Camp Greentop

My second weekend here, our ward had a big campout. It was a blast! I rode out there with a few friends that live in the USU housing (we are all in the same apartment building). We stopped at Cafe Rio/Chic-Fil-A (next door to each other) on the way there, so we got there late...plus, don't tell the boys I said this, but we got a little lost! The open-mic night was almost over by the time we settled into our cabins and walked over to the fire, but we caught a few acts. There was a dance party afterward that just happened, but I was so tired that I didn't stay out long.
Saturday we had field games all morning. There were 15 teams of around 9 people. We all went to different stations and competed for over-all wins through rotations. We played trivia, relays, guess the mystery flavor, pass the orange without your hands, and minute-to-win-it games to name a few. After lunch, it was free time. I went with a group to Gettysburg. That was cool! I've never been. My car bought the audio tour, and that really brought the sites to life. That night after dinner, we had a battle of the sexes game. It was all just a drawing at-random to see who went. It was causing some, myself included, some major anxieties for some of the things we had to do: act out, trivia, perform, challenge, etc. Luckily, I was not called up. It was a blast to watch.
Sunday, we had sacrament meeting and then packed up camp. We packed sack lunches before heading out. I left thinking our ward is SO great. It's HUGE! Always an opportunity to meet new people because of the size and turnover rate.

P.S. I recommend that if you go camping this time of year in Pennsylvania to bring a few extra blankets. The first night was great, but the second night I froze. All I had was a thin blanket, sweats, and a jacket. Brrr!!!

Work

Pal-tech, inc. It's a government contracting company that I'm interning for here. My first day (Tuesday) was nothing short of exhiliarating! It was wierd to take the metro, and the corporate office wasn't exactly a welcoming site as I walked into the 29-story building complete with security key-in doors. I really love my boss though! He's definitely liberal, but he's very open-minded and encouraging. He's assured me that this is not a job; he wants it to be an experience. He has me reading the N.Y. Times and Washington Post daily in addition to several other materials so I can expand my vocabulary, be informed, and enhance my intellectual capacity as I think critically and question the stories I read: the purpose, truthfulness, etc. Omar Kader, my boss, is willing to plug me into any projects that interest me. This is definitely going to be an amazing experience.

This week, I worked on research to write an article to be submitted to a professional journal. I'm helping Kristin, who is contracted with the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN), write about a mobile app the office developed and debuted this last spring at the National Conference for Child Abuse and Neglect.

D.C. Temple

Last Monday I got to go on a Stake Temple trip. We have two singles wards in our stake, and they're both huge (about 350 active members each), but there were only about 30 of us that went to the Temple. The Temple is usually closed on Mondays but was open for the first half of the day last week. Since it was Labor Day, government offices were closed, and it's a great day for the members here to have the opportunity to attend the Temple.

All the friends I made weren't in my ward...so much for that! Just kidding ;D They were all wonderful. I got there numbers, and I'll probably have them over some time. I met a girl who is out here nannying from Lindon, Utah, preparing to serve her mission in OKC, OK. I also met a boy from Georgia who is here working for the military (go army!). Another girl I met grew up in this area and now teaches history at a local high school. The girl that we all rode with to the Temple has lived here for a couple of years working. She claims no place in particular because she's from a military family that moved every 6 months growing up.

Settling In

Yesterday was the big flight and travel day. It started at 4:15am MST. My flight left St. George around 6:30am, and I had a two hour layover in SLC. I met a couple while I was there. They were on there way to Hawaii. We visited for quite a while. They got there shortly after I did and had a 4 hour layover. Hawaii was their second-to-last state to check off for meeting their goal of visiting every state in the U.S. I asked about their favorite, and they both said it was North Carolina. I've never been, but I just moved it up a little higher on my places I'd like to visit list.
All throught the day I kept thinking, "Am I really doing this!? I'm really doing this?" I think a part of me was in shock. I felt calm, but excited and even nervous all at once. There's no adjective to describe it. The flight here was a long 4 hours, but I slept on and off through it, so it wasn't so bad. After struggling with my luggage and bags out of the baggage claim, I realized I would not be taking the metro to my apartment as planned. A taxi was definitely in order, and luckily I don't live too far from the airport. The cab driver was from Sudan. We visited along the way, and it turns out he doesn't live far from where I am. He said he really likes the area...then there was this whole series of conversation about "my boyfriend" (he brought it up), and I just went along with it because I felt like that was the safest thing to do if this was his round-about way of hitting on me. lol!
Two of my roomies were at the apartment when I got here. One is MIA (she met a boy last Thursday) and the other, Dani (who I share a room with), is visiting her brother somewhere here in Virginia where he's stationed. They seem nice, all LDS girls. Valerie went with me to the store last night. That was nice to have her show me around the underground tunnels from our apartment to the metro so we don't even have to go outside.
Today, I went to the singles ward. Colonial 1st. It's just a 10-minute walk from our apartment, and we all went over together. The ward is nice, and everyone is so friendly. They basically have the new member thing down to a science. When it came time to leave, I couldn't find my roommates. Turns out they left me! Haha, they think they're so much cooler. But, it worked out great because I ran into the boys living in one of the other USU apartments in our building, and they walked back with me. It was nice to get to know them better since yesterday, I only saw them for a few minutes.
This will be a great week. Tomorrow is our ward Temple trip. I'm excited for that. I start work Tuesday. Tuesday night is institute, just down the street in our chapel (which is an old 4-story office building--looks nothing like any chapel I've seen except the plack that says "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" near the front door). And, On Friday, our ward has its annual retreat which is out in some cabins near Gettysburg. It will be Friday-Sunday, and we'll be having church out there. I'm excited!