Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland

I'm am soooo far behind on blogging, I just don't even know where to start. Scott and I just got back from a trip (for me) and ICMA conference (for Scott). I thought I could just blog each night when I got in but I didn't take into account that I would be too tired to do anything but fall into bed each night.

This is the time Scott and I try and get away just the two of us each year. It's great to be together but a little hard for me to leave the girls. The night we were taking the girls to my brother and sister-in-law's house was a little teary for me which in turn ended up being teary for Aubree as well. She tried not to cry but she was a little sad.

It was absolutely wonderful of Michael and Stacie to watch our girls for an entire week. That is a long time to watch someone else's kids but they were kind enough to do it. Eventually we'll take our turn and watch their girls for a week.

The trip out was pretty non-eventful. Scott was pumped they had individual screens for each

seat and satellite tv you could get while in the air. He watched football while I read my book. We flew into Washington D.C. and then rented a car to get to Richmond, Virginia. It was about and hour and a half drive from the airport.

Over the past year we have gotten to know some of the other local city manager's wife's so there were a few people I knew that I could hang out with while Scott was in meetings. We had 7 of us for Monday and 6 for Tuesday's events.

These are the other girls that I hang out with: Annette Hanson, Aimee Davis, Julie Hillman, Kathy Davis, Jennifer Trainer, Jen Dixon (I'm not there because I'm taking the picture.)

We rented a car and they gave us a 7 passenger SUV so it worked out perfectly during the day to get around. We started Monday morning with Mount Vernon. It was beautiful and so historical. I learned a lot about George Washington and was reminded of how the Lord was so aware of the needs of our new country as well as the preparation of the leaders.

I took my old camera for several reasons. Most of the time I was happy I just had a small camera but I can see such a difference in the quality. What can ya do?

Here I am standing in front of Mt. Vernon waiting for our tour.

Both of these views are taken from the back of the plantation. When the house was first built this was the front. The view of the Potomac River was amazing.

We had a few extra minutes and decided to drive into D.C. to see a few things. I was a little nervous because I was the driver but things went pretty well. We didn't have any accidents and only made a few wrong turns. I was proud of myself for doing fairly well.

Here's a couple shots of the Jefferson Memorial. Believe it or not I learned more about Thomas Jefferson a few years ago while teaching 2nd grade in Afton, Wyoming. I taught a little unit on him and learned more than in any history class I ever took.

I am standing on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial and this is the view. You can see the Washington Monument and the White house is to the left.

On Tuesday we went to Colonial Williamsburg. It was fun but to me it seemed more commercialized than Mt. Vernon or anything else we did. It seemed like they were just trying to make a buck. I guess I fell for it.

Here I am being punished for swiping the credit card one too many times.

We had dinner in Williamsburg that we suppose to be in the time period. This is Scott and I waiting to be seated in the tavern. There was a group of 20 of us so it was fun to be with a big group of people we knew. (That's about the biggest smile Scott has in any of the pictures. You'll notice as the trip goes on the smiles look more like he's fired-up instead of having a great time.)

After dinner we took a ghost tour of Williamsburg where they tell you stories in some of the homes. It's dark and a little spooky but I think I was the only person to actually physically jump during a couple part of one of the stories. It was a little embarrassing but I can't help it if I'm a little jumpy.


On Wednesday, I got up and went to the final meeting with Scott and then we had to return our rental car and get to Scott's sister, Stephanie's house in Odenton, Maryland. It was a beautiful drive back to D.C. The trees and foliage were amazing. I often forget I live in a desert.


After returning the car we rode the Metro to the final stop and Stephanie came and picked us up. She only lives about 20 minutes from the last stop. I had no idea she lived so close. We got to see her house for the first time and spend some fun time with them. She was an amazing host and fed us really well.


On Thursday, we went back to D.C. and walked and looked and walked and looked and walked and looked. We were exhausted by the end of the day but it just amazed me at the amount of things to do and see.


We started with the Washington Monument. As I got home and looked at the pictures I took it is in about half of them. It was just so big and just seemed like a symbol or our freedom and country. I was really enthralled with it.

The weather was really cloudy and a bit drizzly to begin with. By the end of the day it was raining and we were quite a sight to look at.

Earlier in the week I remember I had a room-mate at BYU that had moved to Virginia and was working in Washington D.C. I emailed her, hoping I had a current email, wanting to get together for lunch or something. Wednesday night she called and said we was still there and she could meet us for lunch on Thursday.

It was so fun to see Yan. She is just the same as she was 9 years ago. She works about half a block from the White House and spent an enjoyable lunch together remembering the 'good ol' days.' We laughed about her taunting Earl as we played Rook because her and Scott were beating Earl and I. Those were good times.

Anyway, here's a couple pictures of us with Yan.

We walked Yan back to work and then walked down to the White House. We didn't take a tour of it...I don't even know if they still do that but this is about as close as we got. They kept having different motorcades all day because of the big meeting with the President and Presidential Nominees discussing the economy.....I think.

After this we went back and finished the Holocaust Museum. That was an amazing experience and very hard to see. It continues to amaze me that this happened in such recent history.

We then hopped on the metro and went to the Arlington Cemetery. We were able to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier and see JFK's place of burial. The weather of the day really suited most of the things we did.

After Arlington we walked back to the Lincoln Memorial. I really wanted to see this at night with the lights. I would definitely recommend seeing in at night. It was amazing. It may have been even better without the rain.

I just have to laugh at something. I guess this is how I'll find out if Scott actually reads this or just skims over it. I realized why I am the one to take pictures in our house. My dear Scott couldn't quite figure out how to zoom in and out. Every time he took a picture of me he had to scoot waaaay back to get everything in the photo. You'll notice this in the above picture.

I thought this picture turned out pretty cool of the Lincoln Memorial. Like I said earlier, it was amazing at night.

As we walked back to catch the metro we walked past the World War II Memorial with, or course, the Washington Monument in the background.

This was my favorite photo of the trip. This was when I wanted my nicer camera but it still turned out pretty cool. If you look down in the left hand corner of the picture there is a guy all fired up leaning against a little wall. That is Scott trying to be patient but not doing a very good job at it. I tried to get him to take a picture of me in the foreground of this setting but it didn't turn out....

We were so busy we didn't take time for dinner. When we got back to Travis and Stephanie's house she had homemade chicken noodle soup and bread for us. It was heavenly after walking in the rain and cold for a couple of hours. No Marriott gives that kind of service.

On Friday we went the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. We were able to see them printing a whole ton of money. Then we saw the National Archives. That was interesting to see many documents that our government is based on today. We ended with the spy museum.

We got back to Travis and Stephanie's by 6 pm because she had invited over a few cousins that live in the area and we had a little party. It was fun to see Nathan and Alisa as well as Brady and Christy. Once again the food was wonderful and it felt really good to be able to sit down and relax for a few hours. Stephanie was an amazing hostess. I can't wait to visit again sometime.

We got up early Saturday morning and flew stand-by all the way home to get there a little earlier. We got lucky and got home by mid-afternoon but our luggage didn't make it until 3 am Sunday morning. I was a little concerned about what my appearance might have been without my make-up, flat iron and blow dryer. Luckily it arrived so I was able to get ready for church without too many kinks.

Preschool

A few moms and I have decided to do an at-home preschool for our kids. Aubree is soooo excited to start school. She was a little disappointed when she didn't get to ride the bus but quickly got over that.

I was the first teacher this week and it was.....interesting. Sometimes you forget little kids don't even know how to make a line and stand in it. It's going to be a great learning experience for all of us.

I am excited to have Aubree doing something productive for a couple of hours each week and the price is definitely right. Hopefully I can use that time to clean house....

Aubree has been very proud of her apple tree project and has carried it around all day, in fact I think it may be taped on the front window for all to see. I can't believe she's getting old enough for this stuff.

The things I admit to.....

So.....This may be a "you had to be there moment" but I'll share my embarrassment with anyone looking for a small laugh.

Scott and I have recently joined Crossroads Fitness Center. In the beginning they do a program with you where they set you up with a personal trainer, get all your beginning benchmarks (weight, measurements, % body fat etc...), and they set you up with a program.

I had my first appointment today. It just happened to be with a guy which isn't my first choice but I just want to get a program and get going with this whole thing. After the dreaded scale we went back to his office....a closed off little room in one of the corners of the gym.

This trainer told me we needed to get my measurements and we'd start with my waist. I was thinking...Oh great, if getting weighed isn't bad enough now he's measuring me. He then said he needed to find my belly button (not the easiest thing to find these days). Well, I wasn't sure what exactly he meant by he needed my belly button so I asked if I needed to take my shirt off? Yes, I know, what was I thinking that was a really dumb question. He proceeded to tell me I could just point at it through my shirt. A few minutes later he said, "By the way, we keep all our clothes on in here." I was a little embarrassed by the whole thing but tried to keep it really low key and cool. So now that's it's over I can be embarrassed that I suggested taking my shirt off in this guy's little office.