Weekend of the Blizzard

This last weekend was one of record setting snow on the East Coast. It also made for a good story:
Justin came down Friday night from New Jersey and took me to see the Fantastics in DC. By the time we made it to Arlington that night, the snow was starting to come down and the roads weren't that great. But I made it back to my apartment and parked safely in the garage.

By the next morning when I woke up at 10, the snow had covered everything. We had at least a half a foot by then, and by noon, close to a foot. Justin was only six miles away, but with the news telling us how horrible the roads were and the blizzard expected all day, there was no way for Justin to make over to my house. He even thought about braving the roads, but after several valiant efforts, his car was still stuck.

However, by the afternoon, we were so desperate to see each other (after all, we spend so much time apart as it is) we decided to pick a meeting point (my friend Lindy's house) and start walking. I had been walking for about 10 minutes when I got offered a ride about a mile down the road. I still had a mile to go, but found another ride from right there. So 15 minutes after I started out, I had made it t my destination, which to begin with was closer than Justin's "half". When I called Justin to report the great news, he said he hadn't gone very far at all, as he had stopped to try to help some stuck cars. Well... two hours later, Justin finally arrived, cold and exhausted, but having accumulated a nearly infinite amount of brownie points (and making one girl very happy). We spent the next day shoveling and watching movies, while I vowed to hate snow for the rest of my life. The end.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Pictures of Christmas lights just don't cut it, especially the ones we took... but I put them on here anyway.
We had a great sunday evening at the DC temple and enjoyed the First Presidency Devotional too. I think I'm finally starting to enjoy Christmas.

 

Isabella in one of her very cute moments in front of the Christmas trees at Mount Vernon

In my mind this is "our Christmas tree", but it really should be labeled "Justin's Christmas tree at my house". Whatever you choose to call it, we decorated it last weekend. I leave the lights on 24/7, mostly because I'm too lazy to turn them off.

Thanksgiving Walk

I spent Thanksgiving in Evanston, WY with my family (grandparents, some aunts, uncles, and cousins). Our day included some great turkey and potatoes, a walk in the sun which was much was much warmer than expected consider the ice and snow on the ground, and a great game of Mormon Bridge (which I was winning until I became a little loopy...probably from the cold medicine). All in all a great day.

Touristy adventures of late

Arlington Cemetery in the Fall. I had no idea how large this cemetery is. It really helped me to appreciate the sacrifice and honor of military sacrifices.
I told my mom when she looked at this picture that I'm too short. Then she asked me if I rather be too tall...

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Airforce Memorial. A scout leader took this picture for us and then Justin explained to the boyscouts about how his jet could fuel your car in 3 seconds.

In front of Liberty Hall. This is the only good picture we got in Philadelphia. Guess we'll have to go again. We had some amazing Chinese dumplings and fried rice in Chinatown that night.

Boston

Considering the fact that our trip to Boston included a 16 hour car trip (17.5 hours if you count the time that Dawn and I were lost) and our total vacation time was 3 days, I enjoyed my first trip to the beautiful city very much.
One highlight of the trip was actually in the state of Connecticut. Guided by a trusty GPS, we found ourselves driving down a country road lined with beautiful autumn trees to a little diner called the Bluebird Inn. With a name like that, you know it's going to be quaint and lucky it was good too.

By the time we made it to Boston on Friday night just had time to fit in a walk through the park and a yummy Italian dinner. The food was great... though next time I'm going for around 3 on a tuesday.

The next day we enjoyed a fabulous YSA conference with some great missionary insights from Elder Ballard, Elder Christensen and a the owner of JetBlue airlines who not only is Mormon, but amazing at sharing the gospel. Anyone reading this blog right now needs to read this more: http://www.moregoodfoundation.org/ It's an amazing website about what we can do to share the gospel via the internet. This foundation makes baptisms possible all the time!

Saturday night was the big masquerade. Dawn helped me with a fabulous up-do for my hair, and Justin looked very handsome in his Airforce uniform. The dance was held at the Harvard club.

All in all, it was great first time visiting Boston, and fun way to spend Halloween!

I'll just call it Halloween and save you from all the cheesy titles that crossed my mind

Justin & I had a fun pumpkin carving night. He'd never carved anything but boring old pumpkin faces, so I had to show him how to do a cool pumpkin. We happen to think it turned out pretty well, especially when it's all lit up. Now if only we had a front porch...