East Coast Spring Break

Hi peeps! Long time no blog, eh? Well a few weeks ago the sun came out just long enough for us to have awesome spring break! We took off on Thursday morning and drove 11 rainy hours to arrive at the home of the wonderful Ben and Bonnie in Washington D.C. Ben and Bonnie let us stay the night thursday and it was so fun for Matt to catch up with his best bud and it was so fun for me to get to know their family better!

It is easy to see why Matt speaks so highly of them... They are awesome!

My hard working husband had some business to attend to the next couple of days (He can tell you about his meetings with Agco and the fancy club he went to with his boss...) so I hopped a bus up to New York City. All day Friday I wondered around the big apple. I saw Times Square, walked through the amazing public library, got into the Museum of Modern Art for free, and literally screamed of fright when a homeless woman snuck up on me! I'm positive New York has more to offer me but I think I did pretty good for just an afternoon.

That night I took a train over to New jersey to spend a few days with my brother Richie and his family. It was SO much fun to see my family and spend time with my little niece and nephew! They are too darn cute for words. What added even more to the fun was the FLOODING! Practically all of New Jersey was under water! Roads were closed and houses evacuated.... one of which was Maria's mothers home! So although it is awful for her to be evacuated from her home, it was fun for me to have more people at the Rylander slumber party! 7 of us stayed in their apartment for two days with 1 bathroom! The 2 days seemed so short so I'm glad we got to be so close!

Saturday with the Rylanders we took the Ferry over to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It was really amazing to see what the immigrants had to do to come here. Hours and hours of delays and lines and tests. Very interesting. I loved taking the same steps my ancestors must have. The Statue of Liberty, or as she was first known- Liberty Enlightening the World, was huge! We climbed only the stairs of the pedestal she stands on and we were winded! The whole day was so great.

Sunday was our 1st anniversary and I spent most of it on a bus in traffic! When I finally got back to DC all we had time for was dinner at PF Chengs. But it was nice to be together :)

Monday we toured the Capital! I feel so Juvenile admitting this but I was half expecting everything to be red, white and blue inside. But it was surprisingly gorgeous! The interior was splashed with pinks and greens and blues and gold- so so pretty. Besides ooh-ing and ah-ing at all the pretty colors... Washington D.C. had me completely smitten and inspired because of all the amazing things left behind by our forefathers. enjoy the pictures!

Isn't this amazing?

The Corner Stone of the Capital is right beneath this Plaque.

Old Supreme Court Chambers

This used to be the room where the presidents signed in laws. But now it is the waiting room for famous people like Bono and Lance Armstrong.

This is the most recent addition to the Capitol's Rotunda. It's Reagan's statue. The base has fragments of the Berlin Wall in it.

Shout out to Brigham Young!

This is where Abraham Lincoln sat in Congress

Does this balcony look familiar? The presidential inaugurations happen right out here! We were kicked out within 5 seconds of stepping outside so we didn't get a great picture.

After our tour of the Capital we had an awesome dinner at the indian equivilant of Chipotle with Ben and Bonnie and his mom. Later that night, for desert, we walked up to the famous George Town Cupcakes. The line was so long and we missed the first 30 minutes of The Bachelor but it was so worth it! I can't explain how someone could make a cupcake this good but I would wait in that extraordinary line any day of the week for these!

Georgetown Cupcakes! We had 4.

This where the shopping and eating happens.

This is the front of the National Archives Building. "Study the Past."

Right behind these gates is the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence!

Natural History Museum.

Air and Space Museum

"If I were giving a young man advice as to how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio" -Wilbur Wright.

Consider it done on June 9th Wilbur!

Spaceman Desert! yum!

(Freeze dried Icecream)

Newseum.

This museum is ever changing with what is happening in the world. Out side is the front page of a newspaper from all 50 states.

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

This place felt so Sacred. He is a true hero.

The White house.

Right across the street is really the only place we saw protesters.

We made it to the Washington D.C. temple JUST in time for the last session. So beautiful.

We loved Washington D.C.! If you haven't been, GO. This was by far the most inspiring trip I have ever been on. There is so much to learn from this city and it's history!