"I often dream of six impossible things before breakfast"

Today I saw Alice and Wonderland and I loved it. There's a lot of symbolism to that story. At one point Alice says she's going to break out of the "destined" path and make her own path because it's her own dream. How often do we go through life following what others expect of us? We can't live our lives just to please others. Ultimately it is our own decision and sometimes we have to take that leap into what is believed to be the impossible just to see how strong we really are. As the blue catepillar says, Alice is hardly Alice in the beginning but as she follows her own path she becomes that Alice that lives up to her potential. Life is the search and development of our true selves and one day we will discover ourselves and reach the potential that God sees in us. So thank you Alice for teaching me I can choose my own path and believe in the impossible.

If you could live anywhere

Hillary, Heather, Maddie, Michelle, me, Rebekah, Jona, Kelli, Gabel, and Breezy at the water front in Old Town Alexandria

The door to my dream house :)

The awesome St. Patrick's Day parade in Alexandria

Okay, if you could live anywhere for one year, all expenses paid for, where would it be? I don't know a definite answer to that question but Old Town Alexandria is definitely in the running. I love the quaint little houses and walking where George Washington walked. It was so calm at the water front and it was one of my favorite days here. As I was sitting on the dock, watching Jona try to feed the seagulls and looking at the blue sky and water I thought that there is no where that I'd rather be than right there. I would definitely love to live here. I don't know what it is here but I feel like I have had more wonderful and near perfect days here than I ever have before. The feeling like life is great and I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be which doesn't come very often when you are a single young adult. I don't know if it's because I'm here that's making me happy or if it's because I've learned how to choose to enjoy life as it comes but there's something magical here for me.

It's the Little Things

So despite the wonderful week last week and all the sleep I got last night somehow I managed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Go figure. So in attempts to turn the day around I made a list of the ten small things that make me happy :)

1. Popcorn, peanut m&m's, and Sprite
2. Phone calls from friends
3. packages and letters, (esp. when full of chocolate, thanks mom!)
4. the feeling I get when I prove I'm tougher than I thought
5. watching the sunset
6. wearing new clothes and knowing I look good for a minute
7. remembering the times I cried laughing
8. the smell of christmas
9. rocking out to my favorite song
10. Most importantly the knowledge that even when all of this fails I know have someone who will always care and never leave me alone

I'm Falling in Love

I don't know what it's been today. Maybe it was the blue skies and sun, the non mormon lady on the metro who thanked me for reading scriptures, the press release I successfully wrote or the huge cookie my boss gave me at work. Whatever it was, I realized today that I am falling in love with this city. I love going to work on the mall, I love going to exhibits and lectures and I love all that this city has to teach. Here the opportunities are endless and learning never ends. It's going to be hard to leave. Good thing I still have 7 weeks to make the most of it!

New York!

Snowmaggedon ended and we up and went to New York City! About 15 of us went up to Ny and got out of the snow and out of the apt which we had been stuck in for a week. My life felt like a movie. My trip involved two broadway plays, Mary Poppins and In the Heights, the Statue of Liberty, the MET, tons of good food, the Brooklyn Bridge, and a visit to the temple. Just to brag a little bit, besides a couple of boys in our group I was the girl that led the group occasionally due to my awesome navigating skills ;) not really but I do enjoy knowing where I am and where I'm going. It was the perfect weekend getaway. Crazy part was, when vacation was over we went home to D.C. :)

Snowmaggedon!

So, if you never heard, DC has recently survived Snowmaggedon and it was everything I hoped it would be! Work was cancelled for a week, church was cancelled for two and we just got to chill :) This picture was taken on the day we decided to "play ball" in the snow. Really it ended up that we just threw each other in the snow and needless to say the girls were at a huge disadvantage. Anyway, my supervisor said this hasn't happened in the 18 years that she lived here so I count myself lucky to have been here for it. It was the days I dreamed of as a kid come true.

Piano in the portrait gallery. Pretty much my piano, gold, made by steinway, American symoblism, what more could I want?

Sophie, Lance, Adam, and I down by the potomac after eating at baked and wired, mmmmm :)

Photo shoot on the bridge way down by the potomac, classic shots of all of us

Again, photo shoot, courtesy to Jen in front of the cute little houses down 25th street