My head is spinning!

It is so great to be back in Utah! I didn't feel like I needed to leave DC, but now that we are home I am so happy. I am loving the cooler weather, seeing family, and having a car again.

Since our plane landed my head has just been spinning. My house is out of control and I hate chaos. I need to get organized, so I am using my blog to write down my thoughts and tasks. We have a lot of family obligations this week. Nic's brother is leaving on his mission so we have jammed the week full of family pictures, dinners, etc. Not to mention we are finally celebrating Sam's 1st Birthday this weekend.

I need to:

• Finish unpacking
• CLEAN (everything in the apartment is dusty and gross from us being gone all summer)
• Laundry, Laundry, Laundry
• Buy replacement stroller (Delta broke ours on the flight home)
• Shop for Sam's Party (gift, food & paper products)
• Make desserts for Benj's farewell
• Oil Change/Car repairs
• Get my pictures ready to enter in the Davis County Fair
• Get Nic suits for upcoming interviews
• Get the yard ready for Sam's party

Once those things are completed, I desperately need a girls night with my sisters! I missed them so bad.

Poor Nic has started on his other internship and has to complete 150 hours before school starts at the end of August. Not to mention the huge "honey do" list I have for him. He works from sun up till sun down, I admire him so much.

I feel sad that the summer is pretty much over. I feel like I missed the whole thing because I was gone. I can't complain though, it was such a neat opportunity we had for the summer. Hope to see all of you soon and catch up on everything I have been missing! Have a great weekend!

Coming to a close

It's hard to believe that July is almost over and we will be moving home soon. I am so grateful for the opportunity that Nic and I have had this summer. What a roller coaster of emotions I have felt since we found out that Nic was given this internship! Needless to say, I am so glad that we did it.

I wanted to write down some of my thoughts about the summer and some things that I feel like I have learned through being here...

• I LOVE Washington DC and was so glad that this is where we had a chance to live for awhile.
• I feel a much stronger, deeper love and pride in my country after seeing so many historic sites.
• I miss my family most at holidays.
• I am a lot stronger than I thought I was.
• I feel like a more independent and confident person.
• I really love diversity.
• I never want to go without a car again :)
• I hope I get a chance to live outside of Utah again
• I love Pennsylvania even more then I did before.
• I really love my husband and I am so proud of all of the hard work he does, he makes me so proud.
• I have a really great family who I missed A LOT!

Now that it's time to leave I feel sad. I have enjoyed walking around downtown and seeing that iconic Washington Monument from everywhere in the city. We have seen SO many amazing things, I feel so lucky. I will really miss taking walks to the White House, visiting the Smithsonian's several times a week, and walking along the National Mall seeing all of the monuments in a row. We will look back on this summer with such fond memories.

August is almost here....See you soon Utah!

Other side of DC!

Last week we moved to the other side of DC. Yes, we have less than a month left here, but the move was totally worth it. Nic got hooked up with a pretty sweet apartment through his work and so we gladly traded our disgusting hole in the ground for this great new place.

We are actually living in Virginia, right by the Pentagon. We live next door to the Pentagon City Mall (a huge 4 story shopping complex, yeah it's awesome!) While we had a rental car for the weekend we went driving through Alexandria, VA. It is the prettiest city I have ever seen. Here are some pictures...

Sam updates...13 months old!

Sam continues to keep me on my toes everyday. She is the neatest thing ever. She has recently gotten into climbing. She likes to climb up her high chair or anything that gets her higher. Her words are getting more recognizable. She is saying daddy, doggy, duck, bye, and ball. She really loves monkeys right now, so we are watching a lot of Curious George movies from the library.

Has anyone used these Sesame Street Fizzy Tub Colors? I got them for Sam and she gets a real kick out of them.

I guess the bath was too much fun...she fell asleep right in the middle of playing! I am glad that Nic was in there with her :)

Ford's Theatre (where Lincoln was shot)

Ford's Theatre is something I was really interested in seeing while we were here. The museum was so neat, they had the actual gun that John Wilkes Booth used, Lincolns clothes that he was wearing the night of his murder, the ticket stubs for the play, everything! It was SO neat. They give a presentation about everything that happened that night and I was fascinated learning about it.

My sister Wendy went home today. It was so neat spending time with some family when it has been so long since we have seen anyone. I am sad to see her go, but I am looking forward to the visit from my in-laws in less than 2 weeks!

4th of July weekend in Washington DC

First of all, my sister Wendy is here and we are so excited! It is so nice to see someone in my family. Saturday we had some family come up from PA to see her and it is always so nice to spend time with them. We went to the PA Dutch Market in Annapolis and I can't even describe to you how good the food is. They home make EVERYTHING right in front of you. We bought rolls, whoopie pies, fruit, sandwiches and everything was amazing!

Then Sunday on the National Mall was out of control. Because the Obama's were hosting a party for the troops on the White House lawn, the security was so intense on every street. If Wendy wouldn't have been in town we would have never gone down to battle the crowd of 400,000 BUT it was so worth it. I am so glad that we went.

Aunt Wendy & Sam

Nic and Sam waiting for the fireworks to start.

Wendy and I in front of the Washington Monument

It was a really long day for Sam, we were laughing when she fell asleep because as you can see she is still holding onto her flag!

This was my favorite picture of the whole day...

Sam watching fireworks for the first time!

Nations Capitol, Supreme Court & Marine Band

Happy early 4th of July. We had fun this week visiting the Capitol building, the US Supreme Court and listening to the Marine Band on the steps of the Capitol.