Valley Forge

Last weekend (May 8-9) we traveled with the rest of the students here and went to Valley Forge and Philadelphia. The drive was beautiful. It's amazing how everything is green and growing when you're not in the desert. We passed multiple big cities but wouldn't have known it because a thick border of lush green and trees stood between the highway and the suburbs. We first went to Valley Forge where we stayed at the Freedoms Foundation, an non-profit organization with a mission to produce good citizens. The facilities were very pretty set on a few hundred acres of trees with statues of the founding fathers near the various buildings. Here are just a few - one of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin praying and one of Washington praying nearby.


The only caveat to our stay was the room...I'm very grateful that it was clean and we only saw a couple bugs/spiders but the two twin beds were pretty funny. We made some new friends who handled the situation quite a bit differently than we did - the wife of the newly wed couple (2 weeks fresh) demanded that her husband share her twin bed. I originally tried this approach, but Ryan made it clear that he'd rather get some sleep (at least I can still convince him to share our sweet Murphy bed back in DC with me).

While at Valley Forge we took a bus tour throughout the 3,000 acre park. Our tour guide was feisty little old lady donning traditional 1700s dress who bossed around our bus driver and gave us the business if we got too rowdy. While touring around we saw statues of Washington and Prussian Baron von Steuben, as well as a beautiful church with amazing stained glass which housed the Justice Bell - a bell for women's suffrage.




Also while touring we saw the dogwoods in bloom. I had heard all about traveling around while the dogwoods are in bloom and it lived up to the hype (I've included a picture of a tree with pink blossoms). I'm sure my mom would've loved it (I wish she was here to tell me what all these new flowers and plants I keep seeing are, and of course for other reasons too).


After our tour and dinner, we were visited by a special guest. You might have mistakenly thought that Thomas Jefferson was no longer with us, but I can verify that I did meet this founding father. The Foundation puts together live visits from men like Jefferson, Franklin, and other important figures. Ours was incredible. He answered tricky questions that we came up with in an effort to stump the impersonator but he was on the ball citing dates, events, important letters and anything else you could think of. I think we were all pleasantly surprised with how it was done. (Jefferson is the fella in the middle of the big group wearing the blueish green jacket).



After our visit we hung out with some of our new married friends. It's funny, but apparently married people and single people aren't allowed to talk to each other in Washington DC - if it isn't that way you could've fooled me by the way we've been ostracized by the single crowd. It's actually kind of funny. We all ate together in a cafeteria on the trip and one lunch Ryan and I arrived early and sat down at a table. People started filtering in and filling up tables all around us but no one sat down by us. This continued until at one point some singles actually took a few chairs from our table and crammed them into a nearby already over packed singles filled table. Luckily later some married people arrived and joined us. This scene repeated itself, varying slightly, throughout the trip. Pretty funny, but at least we met some fun married people that will talk to us (probably because they don't really have any other options since the singles don't acknowledge them either).

After hanging out with our new friends we retired to our cozy twin beds to get some rest before our 8am departure to Philadelphia the next day. Valley Forge is a great place to visit. It’s beautiful but kinda hard to imagine that the men camped there were facing biting winds, freezing temperatures, and near starvation, when while we were there the weather was delightful, the scenery was breathtaking, and we were fed very well (and there were no red coats).

Cupcakes and Tutoring

I've just begun blogging and I'm already behind. I now have a little more understanding for my sister's tri-monthly posts (sorry Lori for the comments telling you to get back on the wagon). Week 2 was very fun and eventful. During the week we did several fun things. We ventured down Georgetown to visit the famous Georgetown Cupcake. The store was started by a couple of sisters who apparently love cupcakes. I forgot my camera so couldn't take pictures of the cute little treats but not worries I'm sure I'll be back soon to try some of the different flavors like key lime, chocolate cubed, or lava fudge.


We did our tutoring again on Thursday 5/7. I got to work with Chidinma again, she's a riot. We learned all about space travel, President Obama's new dog Bo, cells, and glanced over French vocabulary. I had her take a picture with me and due to height differences I lifted her up (hence the funny look on both of our faces). Ryan filled in by reading a book with an 18 year old girl from eastern Africa. The program is really diverse. It's so interesting to hear everyone's story and how they got where they are now. We're really enjoying this calling. It's been a great experience so far.

Our First Week...

Despite loud objections (by other halves which I won't mention) to joining the blogging world post marriage, I've decided to start a blog so others can track our time in dc via stories and pictures. While my creative writing skills are nothing compared to my talented sister-in-law and sister, I hope you'll stay tuned for an occasional post from my hilarious husband.

We arrived in DC last Saturday after finishing up finals and packing till 2am the night before. Our first taste of DC was traveling on the shuttle to the apartment complex with a couple of guys who were in DC to protest. The city is full of passionate people fighting for various causes - and of course for the hope, change, and our moment all thanks to the new president. Sunday we headed off to church via the metro. Shortly upon walking into the door we were given a calling (surprisingly not even in primary/nursery) - we're helping with a tutoring program for the inner-city kids in the ward (this ward tutoring program was in the Ensign last year, click here). We get to go every Thursday - the little girl I worked with this week decided that she was going to change her first name (Chidinma) to her middle name (Hope) and then take my middle name (Elizabeth) as hers (she was also very upset that my hair part was not in the middle of my head and informed me that it was pretty plain). Apparently I've already made my mark in DC.

Other than our Thursday activities this week we've gone to our internships and played after on some nights - given our feet weren't hurting too bad. Ryan is interning with the Treasury in the Office of International Affairs where he does analysis of economies in Latin America and writes briefs to be used in meetings between foreign officials and the US Treasury. Lucky for him this week he got to go to a meeting between the Treasury and the ambassador and trade minister of Colombia (he wrote what the head person said - pretty impressive). I intern for the DoD in the Office of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs. So far I try not to get lost in the Pentagon, write papers analyzing issues, and summarize papers. Although mine doesn't sound near as cool as Ryan's, I do get to rub shoulders with some pretty high up generals in the hallways and I'm determined to meet Gates (Robert, not Bill).

It's a super fun place and we're in an amazing location - downtown Georgetown. We're able to get pretty much everywhere via the metro and foot. However, sometimes that walking stuff leaves our dogs pretty tired --luckily I just bought a reflexology book so we'll have everything working in top condition asap. This way we can keep posting pictures of the great places we go. Here's a few that we have so far...

The first is of us in front of the White House. Then the Hope diamond which we saw in the Smithsonian (which as incredible). Followed by my brand new shirt (which is sold everywhere here). Our new friend Abe and Ryan in front of the IMF. Stay tuned...