Saturday, May 22, 2010


Nationals vs. Orioles. I decided that going to a baseball game once every decade or so is more than enough for me. The "this is so american" novelty of it all wore off after a not so good hot dog and 3 innings. Good experience though... until I took the wrong metro home.


Love her.


Zoo. Friends. Sunny day. Yay!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Divine Beckoning

Some days, unexpectedly
the temple calls to me,
as if pulling me up
from my dim, gray routine
to a place of radiating light
where higher views and renewed hope
speak peace to my trembling heart.

At first beckon, I struggle
to block out the clamor
of a busy, shifting world
whose vanity has pulled me
much too close.

Finally finding moments
still enough to be
enveloped in anticipation--
anxious to make the ascent
to my mountain top;

Slowly peeling off layers
of uncertainty and weakness
that have smothered my faith;
leaving me gasping for air,
and thirsting at false fountains.

Once dressed in white,
surrounded by purity
that quietly penetrates
even the tightly-guarded
corners of my heart
and cleanses my mind;
allowing glimpses of eternity
that bring me closer
to God, who is Master
of this Holy House--
a sanctuary
where for a few hours
I'm defined only by
my identity
as a daughter of God,

I leave strengthened, lighter,
more certain
that whatever price I pay
to be worthy of admittance
through celestial doors
is more than compensated
in the tender mercy
that called me here
and leads me home.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Feeling Touristy


Eastern Market. The picture is almost not worth posting, because it doesn't really show much of what was going on at all. The pictures I should have taken: the beautiful purple lilacs which are my favorite smelling flowers, the cheese with the blue stripe that my friend said was the best, the yummy cakes, the meat vendors with pigs feet and cow tongues that brought back unpleasant memories, the cool black guy selling dresses.

We also hit up the National Archives, in which we had to fit off crowds to get a glimpse of he Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, and were sorely disappointed by the rest of museum (boooorrring). Then we ended our windy, sunny afternoon in DC with a rushed tour of the Holocaust Museum. Pretty sobering, depressing museum. Last night as I laid in bed, I felt pretty spoiled, because of that glimpse of the torture other people had to endure.

Other plans for summer sight seeing: Harper's Ferry (next week), Kitty Hawk, Gettysburg, NYC, Palmyra, hiking in the Shenandoah mountains... and hopefully much more!

Sunny afternoons

Took a lot of tries to get a picture this cute.

Sam's new favorite "say cheese" pose

Isabella in pirate training. She and Sam and I took a tour of a cool "pirate" ship in Old Town one sunny afternoon this week.


Rustic Mount Vernon Scenery + Isabella in cute white dress = country cutie.

Monday, May 3, 2010

7 miles and random afterthoughts

It feels good to run farther than you ever have before. Sure there's people who up and run 26.2 miles every few months, but for me, 7 miles is pretty dang good. I hope to make it up to 10 by the end of June.

Why do the avocados at the store have a ripe sticker on them, if they are anything but? I've never bought an avocado before today and apparently have no idea how to tell which ones are ready to eat.

I woke up sweltering in my un-air-conditioned room this morning and thought, did I really survive two summers of this in Taiwan...the heat, humidity, and never really feeling dry? We did have an air conditioner in the bedroom, but we rode around on bikes in 100 degree weather. Not sure how I did that. At least in missionary life I was so exhausted that I didn't have any problem sleeping at night, unlike recently.

Isabella loves the sun almost as much as I do. She was so disappointed to wake up this morning and find that it wasn't sunny.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

sunday morning

Since church starts at 3, I decided to actually plan something to do with my sunday mornings. I can't, for the life of me, enjoy sleeping in much later than 9. So this morning I headed down to the water.
There's a turnabout in DC that's destined to be the death of me. Actually, I didn't even need go on the turnabout, I was supposed to keep to the right on the parkway... finding Teddy Roosevelt island took about 45 minutes longer than it should have. My car is now running on empty :(
I have to say though, if someone ever wants to make a monument to me, they should make it like Teddy Roosevelt's. I mean the man gets a whole island, hiking trail, statue, bridge and all. It's pretty sweet.
I spent the last half of the morning reading at the park and thinking how much I would love to be out on one of the sail boats. Such a perfect day for sailin. But not too bad for lying in the shade of a tree under a blue sky and reading Alma 32 either.