So America.

Oh, hey there beautiful ballpark that outlooks that Potomac Riva...

 

So here we have update numero uno.  Yes, once again I have not been a good blogger girl. :]

Oh well...here goes!

 

 

My first baseball game of life was at this lovely Nationals game! I will say that I was a little bit Disneyland excited for this one.  I have been raised in a family where football takes over the season of Fall...so...I never really got that into baseball...AT ALL. Being semi-raised on a football field, I never thought that I would actually like baseball. Well, it turns up I REALLY DO! It was a blast and a half really. There were probably 20 of us kids from the Barlow that bought tickets together and went one night.  I had to buy a Nats baseball hat from one of the guys with a backpack full of them on the street.  Only five dolla my friends! The weather was perfect that night too. It was fun to see a Vegas Native's name on the back of a ton of jerseys too...Bryce Harper! He didn't play this game, but the next game he did!

 

& YUMMMMM...

 

My shoe broke after the game...don't I have the best friends in the world?! They carried me for a little while as we adventured to get milk shakes at the bomb.com GOOD STUFF Eatery. ummmhmmmm. :]

This is from another night...the night we got stuck in a spontaneous rain and lightening storm with balloons! We were running back from CVS at 11pm and BAM. Drenched and tangled balloons galore.  We laughed so hard and had a grrrrrrrrreattt time being semi concerned with making it home alive! This is Chrisianne...one of the best people I have met in my life. She is the greatest.



 

& lastly...

 

MEET MY FAVORITE PEOPLE:

The ones who made/make my day erryday of life this summer.

BARLOW CLASS of SUMMER 2013.

and Elder & Sister Fulkerson, our favorite missionary couple alive.

and Bro. Goodliffe, the man who teaches us all we know.

 

 

ta-ta fooo now.

Gettysburg.

RANDOM THOUGHT....

 

Before I get to Gettysburg I have to tell you about the iPod dance party at the capitol reflecting pool! A group from my ward sent around a playlist and we all downloaded it on our iPods or MP3s.  We met at the reflecting pool around 10 and pushed play on our iPods at the same time.  I am sure people thought we were nuts dancing it what looked like silence. IT was a BLAST.

 

Our last class excursion of the summer was to the beautiful Gettysburg.  It was a day trip where we left early in the morning and came back late in the afternoon.  We were blessed with another beautiful day, a great on bus tour guide, and a questionable small town buffet. WHATA DAY!

This is the view from the top of one of the battle towers. It made me want to live in the country side...

 

My favorite people and I.

 

The cemetery where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address.  I remember memorizing the Gettysburg Address in elementary school.  That is my first memory of having a true love for the United States.  I was really excited to be in the place where Lincoln gave the speech many years ago.  I admire Lincoln a lot.  I often ponder upon the person I would have been during that time of struggle in the United States. Gettysburg was a neat (and tiny) town to visit.  One of the buildings had TONS of bullet holes in the side that were from the battle...so COOL!

Shall we go to Old Town?

Once upon a weekend...

 

...We wanted to do a day trip. Get out of the city a little bit and refresh our heads! Our original plan was to head out to Annapolis...home of the Naval Academy...ummmmmhmmmmmm. :]  We planned to go so spontaneously that we didn't check transportation availability as well as we could have... while standing inside the Metro station we decided to go to Old Town, Alexandria for the day and explore our little hearts out.  It was a much needed and one of the most beautiful days that DC has blessed us with all summer!

 

Our first stoppppppp:

THE MASONIC TEMPLE.

 

 

We spent two hours in this little ditty. When you get to the "King Street" Metro stops this beautiful building is one of the very first things that you see.  There was a guided tour for 8 dollars. YES, we definitely did that.  I felt like a mystery was about to be solved.  I don't know if it is National Treasure's influence in my life, or what, but I have always had this fascination with Masons. We got to see some beautiful architecture, statues, paintings, and even a lock of George Washington's hair that they had retrieved when they had to fix his grave at Mount Vernon.  My favorite thing that we saw all day though was a special little clock that was frozen in time.  The time that the clock read wad the exact moment that George Washington had died.  They snipped the wires at that moment. THAT WAS COOL. Another great moment from this day was when we got to go to the very top of the building and see the view of Alexandria and a great view of DC.  It was beautiful!

 

Well Hello, little MAGNOLIA TREE...

So below is a picture of one of my very favorite things about DC. Magnolia trees are EVERYWHERE and really make the place special.  They smell kind of like lemon heaven. When they have white blooms open all over them, their beauty competes with that of the cherry blossoms I think. New favorite thing.

 

 

THE MALE VERSION OF SANDRA BULLOCK-IN REAL LIFE.

That's right folks...you guessed it- an amazing older gentleman who plays "glass" in Old town. He gave our good friend Sandra a run for her money.  I wish that I would have recorded a bit of him playing.  He plays the most amazing songs. The glasses are all different shapes and sizes, each filled with different amounts of water.

 

Once you go all the way to the bottom of King Street you reach the beautiful water front.  It just makes you want to hop on a sail boat and ride away! This was the group that we went with and had a blast-and-a-half. Old town is one of my new favorites.  There is even a complementary trolley (how magical is that?!?) that drives you from the metro station all the way down King Street to the water front.  I am so team Old town! I love the quaintness and fun.

Weekend adven-Cha.

Class Excursion took us to...

 

VALLEY FORGE

 

 

PHILADELPHIA

 

Gorgeous flowers in the park....

 

 

Famous Phili-cheesesteaks. YES. Geno's vs. PAT's

 



Reading Terminal Market

It was the most ideal indoor market. Sweet treats galore, French linens, homemade soaps, every type of food you can imagine, tribal jewelery, THE WORKS! It was a blast and a half.  

 



 

 

The new temple in Philadelphia is underway! We made a special visit by the site while we were there. It is in the middle of the city and will be BEAUTIFUL.  Our next step in life was the Rocky steps and statue. I was actually super giddy about this moment in time. My dad raised us to love football and Rocky. It was in honor of him!

 



 

GOOD TIMES IN PHILADELPHIA.

 

To come...

Nationals Game, National Zoo, Bird poop stories, & more adventure time.

:]

Dreams.

Dreams & cool things come true people. 

 

 

I am currently living in a torrential rainstorm/hurricane/tropical rainstorm/tornado land. Ya know?

 

This past week has been just wet. There was one day last week that as I was walking to get a free Krispy Kreme and there was so much moisture in the air that I felt more like I was swimming. But bring it on I say. The wet-er the air the bigger my hair. Seriously, the inner lioness/Shirley temple has been unleashed with this humidity.

 

One of my favorite things here that I get to do is my calling as FHE Co-Chair. We have had the opportunity to organize some really fun activities and talk a lot about missionary work. This weeks activity I think was one of my favorites... The MAC&CHEESE Cook-Off that changed my life. We broke up into four groups and had 30 minutes to make the most creative and innovative mac. I expected it to be tragic but, that was not the case. The only thing it was tragic for was my thighs and my waist line. I ate my share for sure. There was a Mexican mac, a mac with pretzels crushed on top, salsa, and mozzarella mac. I was super impressed. Also, speaking of things tragic for my waist line.... The word "treat" has become a much too prominent word among my fellow Barlow-ites and I. We have the innate capability to find something to celebrate everyday. Besides the fact the we are living in the capital! :) Not to mention "treats" are made three nights a week for institute and FHE. But hey, no complaints.

This week I got the email no one ever wants to get...the title says it all...worst and most hilarious email you could find hanging out in your inbox. I actually died of laughter from this email. Elder Fulkerson ( who is our building manager and the missionary assigned to the Barlow Center) sent this email out after our disappointing cleaning inspections one morning.  We have been warned about cockroaches over and over again...we have apparently failed at our attempt to keep them out. :]
My favorite lines from the email are kind of gross...but I chuckled:

"The garbage can in the 1st Floor Lobby was being used by a group of live cockroaches as a breakfast buffet as they consumed the wet garbage left overnight.

REMINDER:  THE GROUND FLOOR AND THE BASEMENT ARE THE AREAS THAT ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO ROACHES AND RATS AND OTHER PESTS.  DO NOT HAVE PITY ON "BEN" AND HIS ASSOCIATES BY FEEDING THEM.  PLEASE CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELVES."

 

It cracked me up that Elder Fulkerson named the pests "Ben." Another one of my favorite things about this past week was when Elder Fulkerson taught me how to turn off the fire alarm.  He was concerned with our macaroni cook off that someone would set off the alarm and so he made sure I was prepped for that little adventure.  He then took me down to our great room.  This room is known for being freezing and inconsistent.  He told me he finally found the trick to the room and taught me how to regulate the temperature in the room.  After he finished teaching me he said, "Now you can add all that to your resume." I immediately thought of my papa. That is totally something he would say to me.
 

 

The dreams & cool things of this week:

• I got to do baptisms and go to the DC Temple. Beautiful & Necessary
• I SAW MY FIRST FIREFLY. THEY ARE PURE MAGIC. Seeing fireflies was at the very top of my list of things to see and it made my heart so happy.
• I made an amazing grilled cheese sandwich that may or may not have involved garlic and cream cheese...
• You know that moment in the  movies when the actor is walking along the street in the big city and gets splashed by a bus on the street corner...well, that is a real thing. And that real thing happened to me this week! It was kind of awesome...
• Good News Moment Work Edition: my boss invited me to be his guest at a fundraising networking event and I met some great contacts.
• More mail from grandma and momma. :]
• I ran to the Lincoln at night twice this week. One of my favorite places in the world.

 

TOMMOROW= PHILADELPHIA & VALLEY FORGE

ADVEN-CHA.

My favorite day[s]. Yesss.

Questio-mation of the day:

I have lived here for a month?!

 

 

This week I got letters in the mail from my angel grandmother & my momma, from my Rachel on a mission and thriving, and from a Chase (a guy friend from home) who is also serving a mission right now. What more could I ask for?! Seriously. It has been so great.  There is something special about good old snail mail. So much more personal even though it is not the most convenient.  Getting mail feels like Christmas morning for me...twelve times better than newspaper ads everyday! 

 

I have also had some great discoveries at work this week.  I started to feel the definite love of what I am doing. We got to visit the trade show floor again and I find it so interesting.  The work of associations is becoming more clear to me.  I also go to go to a lunch this week with my supervisor and a very important sponsor to our events.  I was really intimidated at first when I observed where we were eating and the people we were eating with.  It ended up being an amazing opportunity that I am grateful it  was allotted to me. I was able to pick the sponsor's brain on his knowledge of the hospitality industry.  I learned so much from him and from simply participating in the experience. Also, I am starting a project, "The Interview Project," where I am going to interview professionals in my office and get their best advice on life, events, and careers. Trying to make it the most. :] Stay Tuned!!

 

 I explored DuPont Circle with Daryn tonight and she found a really cool vintage store.  There were some skirts in there that inspired me to sew replicas! Also, on the metro on my way home I witnessed something I have wanted to the whole time I have been here...breakdancing in the metro! I recorded it. FOR SURE. Thursday serve as the Barlow kids pseudo-Friday.  We are a little stir crazy and ready to go out by Thursday and have class and briefings on Friday morns. Tonight we discussed the men with the greatest hair in the world over ice cream and a stroll through Georgetown. Mitt Romney and George Clooney were the clear winners of the competition. We talked about how men have an easier time looking classy as they get older.  It was a rainy and cool night tonight and so the walk was more than a bueno thing.  To top it all off, we practiced headstands in the commons. With that I called it a night.

 

TOMORROW IS MY FIRST MLB GAME.

I can feel the excitement in my bones already.

:]

 

Last weekend was one of my all time favorites. We went paddle-boating at the Tidal Basin which is right next to the Jefferson Monument. It totally felt like a mini lake day.  We were out it the hot sun just paddling around. It was like a mini heaven for me that day. It was cheap, we got to wear sweet life jackets, and laughed our guts out. What a dream. Pictures of the dream to follow....

 

 

One of the most hilarious humans alive.

This is the man that leads the runs we go on every week.  We always end up running through some dark, wet, hidden, scary, forest-y trail- and all of us still go every time! I should know by now that I am not just signing up for a run but for a full on adventure every night.  Two nights ago we ended up at Roosevelt Island, which is just on the Potomac. You cross a small bridge to get to it.  It was so dark in there but we made it to a really cool look out point. We ended by running through the Georgetown canal.  The next night we ran through another random trail and ended up on Georgetown Campus...which is BEAUTIFUL. It is a fun and interesting way to see the city. There is a whole herd of us that goes now and I love it. 

 

Below are pictures from our night out in Old Town, Alexandria on the pier.  There were all kinds of street acts going on the night we were there- a magician, caricature artists, people playing all kinds of instruments, the works.