New York, New York

This past weekend we took a trip to NYC. We hopped on a China bus early Friday morning and 5+ hours later we stepped off in China town in NYC with a great adventure to follow with highlights such as losing my phone (and then luckily finding it again), walking through SoHo, checking out Times Square at midnight, strolling all around Central Park, examining the buildings at the Financial District, surviving stifling heat, ferrying to Staten Island, walking across the Brooklyn bridge with fantastic homemade ice cream, lunching in Little Italy, buying a Rolex (and another $10 watch), posing on a dump truck with my name sake, getting my favorite perfume for cheap (love those street vendors), surviving the dirty, complicated, sauna of a metro, eating a Melona bar, cutting my toe open, taking a million pictures, visiting Ground Zero, seeing the UN and the blue hats, exploring Grand Central Station, out witting the tricky China bus lady, surviving a bus driver who thought he was driving a taxi, and walking till we dropped. It was a great trip - Thanks to Moms and Dads (and Jansen) who helped make it happen!

Sometimes DoD comes with perks...(even for the interns)

Last week was pretty eventful for me at work - well really only two days last week...

On Monday I rode in a black hawk helicopter to a secure location. The helicopter ride was awesome. As we were taking off I got a birds eye view of downtown DC, the National Mall, the National Cathedral (which we went to a couple weeks ago and it's gorgeous), Arlington (which as incredible) and the beautiful country and green between the Pentagon and near Gettysburg. Our secret ride was to Raven Rock, a location used in case there are any big problems at the Pentagon, i.e. chemical/biological weapons, nuclear weapons, or some other extreme form of danger. While Raven Rock is a secure facility it's not exactly secret - given it has its own Wikipedia page found here. Regardless it was awesome - the whole place is inside a mountain. When we got there they gave us all a big tour of the facility which was neat because typically only high ups go on this tour so they just assumed that I was important (ha, little did they know I'm pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole, or not even on the totem pole at all). It was an incredible experience and I'm really excited that I got to go. It feels pretty dang cool to say that I was in a black hawk helicopter and went to a secret/secure location inside a mountain.

Wednesday I got to have a chat with my friend Mr. Bob Gates (Secretary of Defense). He had a Q&A session with all the interns in the building and it was pretty neat. It's incredible to see all these really powerful people and realize that they're still just normal/regular people. He was very nice and had good responses to the questions he was asked. He's had quite an impressive career and it was interesting to hear his insights to problems/issues that Defense, the government, and soldiers are facing. He seemed like such a nice person, I really enjoyed it.

So that's my excitement for last week - riding in a helicopter, going to a secure location, and chatting with the Secretary of Defense. What was your week like? Hope you had a great one.

My Mom is My Best Friend

My dad is my hero and my mom is my best friend - who could honestly ask for better parents? I know that even if I asked it would be an impossible task to find anyone different that the ones I got. I'm really lucky and really blessed.

My mom is amazing. She can do anything - she can sew cute little zoo print jumpers, she can paint fingernails, she can teach primary songs/young women's themes/books of the old testament while driving in the car, she can cook amazing dinners for 30 some people, she can beautifully decorate a trailer home, she can make incredible professional wedding cakes, she can make any flower arrangement or wreath imaginable, she can tile back splashes with tiny one inch tiles and they'll end up in perfectly straight lines, she's the Queen of Caulk, she can fix a sprinkler system, she can cut hair, and she can make you feel loved and like you can talk to her all day about anything.

My mom is fun. When you get her going in a dressing room with me and my sister she'll have us cracking up like crazy - she always says super cute things that aren't necessarily intended to be funny but end up being hilarious. My mom is thoughtful. She can always look around (whether the house, neighborhood, ward, etc) and see what needs to be done and just do it - she visits whoever and does whatever anyone needs even if she already has a million things on her plate. My mom can read my mind. All through high school she knew what was up - even if she couldn't necessarily read my mind, she could definitely tell something was going on and then get it out of me someway. I don't know how she does it. She's just so easy to talk to.

She's a really amazing person who always puts other people above herself. I'm so lucky to have such a great best friend - and I'm lucky I get to be with her for forever. I just hope that someday I can be as good of a wife and mother as she is.

My Daddy is My Hero

I'm sure that every daughter thinks her daddy is the best one ever, but I'm sure that mine actually is. Ever since I was little my dad has been my hero. He's been the one to save my barbie doll from behind the couch when I thought she was lost forever. He's been the one to help me pull out that one baby tooth that was just a little too scary to touch. He's been the one to guide me through getting up on skis and then guide me through dropping a ski when everyone else thought I was too little to try. He's been the one to give me hugs every night and tell me how special I am and that I'm loved. He's the greatest dad and greatest example of hard work and selfless giving.

As I've gotten older I've started to realize even more how great my dad really is. Some of those realizations have occurred just since being out in DC. The other day when I had extra time at work I randomly decided to search for the award my dad received in Vietnam. I guess DoD has rubbed off on me and being around all those military people made me curious about this award that I've never really known that much about. My dad was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He saved people's lives when he wasn't asked to. He told me recently that "that's just what you do," I think I replied "yeah, but you didn't have to and that's what makes you so special." The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded based on this criteria: "The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the Armed Forces of the United States, distinguishes himself or herself by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. The performance of the act of heroism must be evidenced by voluntary action above and beyond the call of duty. The extraordinary achievement must have resulted in an accomplishment so exceptional and outstanding as to clearly set the individual apart from his/her comrades or from other persons in similar circumstances. Awards will be made only to recognize single acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement and will not be made in recognition of sustained operational activities against an armed enemy." It's the 6th highest award that anyone can get in the armed forces and the highest award for flying. Here's the military website that talks about the awards, and has them in order of precedence. My dad is a real hero - not just to me but to people who's lives he's saved.

This past week my mom and dad came to the Pentagon for a tour. I loved walking from the Pentagon City Mall through the tunnel over to the Pentagon with both my mom and dad in tow. I love how every serviceman we passed nodded and smiled at my dad in his Vietnam Vet Vest. I'm so proud to have such an amazing father who was so willing to serve his country. He's a hero.

My dad has saved my barbies, been awarded because of his valor, and been an amazing example. He's shown me an example of hard work, giving, and love. I've heard the quote that "when Joe has money, everyone has money." (I'm sure that I completely misquoted it but that's the jist). What an amazing compliment to the character of giving a person can have. He's always been generous with his time and money. He's also shown me how important it is to let people know they're loved. When he was in the bishopric he was always the member that gave out the hugs. I think he has a real gift for making people feel at ease, feel special, and feel loved. I know he's always done it for me.

I'm so grateful for my dad. He taught me in junior high or middle school to always say "my daddy is the only one for me" and even though I have a new "one for me," he'll always be my hero. I love you daddy.

A little update

Things we've been up to lately...

1. A couple weekends ago we went to the capitol and had a chat with Congressman Jim Matheson. .He was a nice enough fella - he was rockin cowboy boots so that alone would win my vote (also he's a dem in utah - which takes some guts). But he dodged both of Ryan's questions, even though Ryan's follow-ups nailed him to the wall.

2. That same weekend we went to Mary's Center - it's a clinic which focuses on women's health especially during/after pregnancy but has gradually grown to encompass other facets of health/education and healthy relationships. It mainly services Latin American women. It was neat. But we did a big service project there with the whole group of us from BYU. Ryan successfully organized the cleaning out of an attic while I helped make business cards (just cutting them out). Then afterwards we painted a fence.

3. Last weekend we went to NDU (National Defense University) for an all day role playing scenario thingy. Everyone was assigned different positions within the American or Mexican government. I was assigned to the Mexican Ministry of Defense and Ryan was in the US State Dept. Then we were presented with an issue - ours happened to be drug trafficking and border security. I guess it was somewhat educational but there wasn't much of an argument between the two sides since there was a common interest in solving the problem.

4. We also went to the Air and Space Museum - which was super neat because they have a TON of life size models of the planes and stuff.

5. In addition to becoming expert tourists, we're also picking up some other skills like protesting. Last Saturday we hopped on the band wagon and followed an Iranian protest down to the White House. There we wandered around (me looking very out of place with red hair and light skin mixed in with all these dark beautiful Persian women) and filmed different things. There was also a protest going on about Burma's human rights violations. When we were walking away we passed several Secret Security guys decked out and sneaking around different corners of the White House grounds. At least Obama's protected right? It was pretty cool - we had originally joined because we heard them walking down the street outside our window.

6. This past week I got to go to a couple neat conferences. The first on was at NDU which was focused on how the US can better support peacekeeping efforts. There were some really big whigs from the UN and DoD in the room that I got to meet which was super cool. There was the head of peacekeeping for the UN Alaine Le Roy - Frenchman, Ian Sinclair, Susanna Malcorra, US 4 Star General in charge of AFRICOM Combatant Command William "Kip" Ward, Dr. Ester Brimmer, and lots of other cool people.All people very Google worthy. The next day I went to a conference at CSIS which centered on the impact of HIV/AIDS on state's security - very interesting. It was a fun week.

7. Ryan also had a super busy week. He's been creating a briefing book for his bosses' trip to Chile to meet with the Inter-American Development Bank. It's a pretty big deal and a really big book. He's pretty amazing for doing most the grunt work.

8. This weekend was a lot of fun. Friday our first briefing was at the Supreme Court where we got a tour followed by a meeting with one of the Justice's clerks. It's a really pretty building and I fully plan on incorporating this amazing chair into my future house -

I really like the colors a lot.

9. After the briefings we went to the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden where they have a Friday night live Jazz performance. It was really fun. There's a big reflection pool in the middle where everyone dips their feet in to cool off. I had very wrinkly feet by the time we left. After the Jazz we went to a great restaurant with some friends. It was a good thing we left when we did because shortly after arriving at the restaurant a monsoon started outside (if it wasn't really a monsoon you could've fooled me by the sheets of rain that were coming down).

10. Saturday we headed down to the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery. I really enjoyed it. I miss doing/seeing all the artsy stuff that I did in high school. This was a fun refresher.

Now we have just a few more days until my family comes (expect Chris, Emmy and the boys - which will all be missed a ton). I'm really excited to spend the 4th with them and can't wait till Thursday.

That's about it for us. We're not that exciting but we're still having a great time here enjoying easy classes, lots of free time, a beautiful city, museums galore, nice weather (on the days it's not too hot and humid or rainy and cold), and each other.

One of my Favorite Things...

These are amazing...

I strongly suggest that everyone try them many times. I'm still figuring out details of how I'm either going to get a Trader Joe's to set up shop in Provo or how I'm going to get them shipped to me every week or so. Fantastic fat free investment.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was great. Friday, after the briefings with the MCC and some political fella, we went with a group of friends to Wisey's (Wisemiller's if you want the original name) for their famous chicken sandwich. It used to be one of Bill Clinton's old stomping grounds. It's fantastic and we highly recommend it if you're looking for some good sandwiches etc.

Saturday I dragged Ryan to Eastern Market where they have a flea/farmers market every Saturday and Sunday morning. It was really fun and there were tons of vendors. While we were there we stopped by a used book store. It was a two story house with a basement that was seriously floor to ceiling books two to three rows deep in every crack and cranny imaginable. It was insane. The owner also editorialized on various subjects which made the whole experience extra entertaining - for example in a Harry Potter book he had a sticky note that said "Ron Dies". He was a funny guy.

Ryan in the "Nixon" section - what else would you really expect?

After the flea market, we walked around all over Eastern Market (it's a region - like Georgetown, Pentagon City, Capital Heights etc). We also stopped in Popeyes for a Louisiana lunch experience. It was a fun relaxing day. After exploring Eastern Market we headed back home for a quick nap before going to the Rolling Thunder candlelight vigil. The vigil was really really neat. A bunch of Vietnam vets and bikers all went to the Wall where there was a processional with bagpipes, colorguard, and a torch. Everyone was pretty much silent while the bagpipes played moving songs like Amazing Grace. It was incredible to see the men around you bonding while reflecting on their experiences as soldiers and fellow friends who didn't make it home. After the processional continued passed the wall, it went to the two statues in the area where they recognized women who served as nurses during the war. The women, who were all dressed in white, stood in a circle and passed around the torch. It was really beautiful. The vigil was incredible.

Sunday we attended an early church ward so we could later go to the Rolling Thunder Rally. We read that there were about 400,000 bikes in town for the event so you can imagine how long and how loud it all was. There was a constant flow of bikers from the Pentagon to the Lincoln Memorial for about 3+ hours. It was crazy. The Rolling Thunder cause is really neat - here's a quote from their website "All are united in the cause to bring full accountability for POWs and MIAs of all wars, reminding the government, the media and the public by our watchwords 'We Will Not Forget' " The name for Rolling Thunder comes from the roaring sound of the motorcycles which mimicks the noise from the constant bombing of North Vietnam in 1965 which was given the name "Operation Rolling Thunder". I loved seeing all the different types of people who were there - there's such diversity. I also loved seeing all the bikes - it was cool. And I think Ryan just loved it all.





Monday we ventured out to the National Aquarium. This was, well, interesting. Despite the official sounding name, and the $7 per person charge, the aquarium was a major let down. Our first clue should have been walking to the basement of the Department of Commerce Building, however, we missed this first clue and continued on. Our second clue should've been the floating fish together a little bit too near the top of the tank. That clue followed by the "little too still" snakes curled up in various places of their cages topped it off. At least we donated to the cause - maybe now they can buy some new fish and snakes. After the aquarium we ventured to the old Post Office building now converted into a shopping center of sorts - it was a really neat looking building. Then we headed outside right in time to watch the Memorial Day Parade. It was all great fun.