I think Abbi and I are officially DC city girls.

What a great week.

Sunday Abbi and I wanted to get out and go to Georgetown since we have never been. We found a 90 minute, 3 mile guided walking tour in one of the DC books Aaron left for us. What a great walk, taking us through one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. We saw the church where Thomas Jefferson use to go, a couple of very old cemeteries, and the oldest house in DC that has still not been moved from its original location. It is called the Old Stone House and dates back to before the Revolutionary War. Along with some interesting history Georgetown just has a great feel to it, with different types of houses, certainly like nothing you would see in Lubbock. Georgetown also has a whole street full of the best shops in DC.

Many people have heard of Georgetown Cupcakes, it is a local bakery that became famous from the TV show DC cupcakes. On a sunday afternoon the line was wrapped around the block. Our boss at work told us there is a much better place with no line down the street called Sprinkles. It was pretty delicious, but Abbi and I are determined to go back and try Georgetown Cupcakes to compare the two.

Sunday was really the beginning of the dog days of summer here. Woah, it is another level of miserable. Nothing makes me melt like the humidity here. It is awful and makes me miss the dry heat of Lubbock.

Sunday night my step-sister Leigh Anna arrived from Baltimore to visit for a couple of days. It was great to have her here. Since we were off work Monday we decided to go back to Georgetown to shop, see Georgetown University, and use the buy one get one free coupon we had received from Sprinkles on Sunday.

I have not seen many Universities, but Georgetown University tops my list of most beautiful schools. The old stone buildings take me back to another time. I wish I could have walked the campus with my grandfather so that he could tell me about his days at the school.

Thursday 3 of our professors arrived from Lubbock to check on us and spend some time with us this weekend. Thursday after they came to our work we went out to eat at a place by there hotel. A really interesting little place called Park Tavern. Strange things on the menu like "unusual salt" and not just ribs but Duroc ribs. Dr. Marshall had one of the best pizzas I have ever tasted. It had chicken and dried cherries on it with a cheese I had never heard of. Hopefully I will go back there and have that pizza again before I leave.

Friday Abbi and I were off again and spent the day in the city with Dr. Marshall and Dr. Boston. We went to the National Gallery of Art, it was really fun going around looking at paintings with three other women talking about what we liked and didn't like about each one. Dr. Marshall knows a lot about art so it was also interesting to hear her opinions on some pieces. I had been to the Gallery briefly by myself before but had a much better time this trip. We saw a Da Vinci, some Monet, a Picasso, the thinker, and a lot of Rembrandt's work.

We took the professors to look out from the Old Post Office Building. I have been there 3 times now and see something new each time. I love looking out on to such a beautiful city. For dinner we met up with Daniel and tried a Thai food place in Dupont Circle. My favorite is still Thai Pepper but this place was not bad.

Saturday Abbi, Dr. Marshall, Daniel, Dr. Boston, and I all went to the Holocaust museum. I have recently watched Schindler's List so I thought I was prepared for the museum. Nothing can prepare you for such a horrible time in human history. What an amazing tribute to all of the people who lost their lives.

After the museum we went to the Union Station area to eat at an irish pub called The Dubliner. Our waitress had arrived from Ireland at Christmas to marry an American. What a fun lady, she had blue eyes and dark red curly hair and really reminded me of the movie Brave. So many amazing selections on the menu!! I didn't know what to get so I just went with our waitresses recommendation of fish and chips. WOW! It was amazing, really great quality fish with a thick golden brown batter. YUM!

After dinner the girls all went on a trolly tour called Monuments by Moonlight. I highly recommend it to anyone who is coming to DC. What a great way to see all the sights and learn a lot of interesting facts. We drove all around capitol hill and even though I have been there before I didn't know what each building around it was until last night. We went to the Marine Corps memorial monument which is the marries putting in the flag at Iwo Jima. It is the largest bronze statue in the world. It was really beautiful.

It was a great night with Dr. Marshall, Abbi and Dr. Boston. I really look up to Dr. Marshall and Dr. Boston. Two women in science who have really accomplished incredible things. They are also two of the most caring people I know. Having them here over the weekend really lifted my spirits about some frustrating things we have been dealing with the summer.

Abbi and I have not had a normal intern experience. Most interns live in the city in an apartment full of other interns and meet people from all over the country. Abbi and I joke about our 4 friends we have met here and how our favorite one is the 16 year old who works in the lab with us who we both wish was our little brother.

Even though we are having a bit of an unconventional summer spending the weekend with the professors telling them all the places we having been, and showing them some of our favorite spots in the city reminds me how many adventures Abbi and I have been on.

This blog oftentimes serves the same purpose. I love sharing my stories with my family and friends but more importantly at the end of the week it helps me look back with a smile.

The most important lesson I learned this week was to never give up. Watching a film about people who survived at Auschwitz one lady said you can't give up on anything. God has put me right where I need to be. Love to all my family I am missing you like crazy.

Pictures!

 Oak hill cemetery chapel in Georgeton

  

One of the places in Georgetown they buried slaves

Love the houses in Georgetown

Old Stone house

Crazy steep and creepy Georgetown steps

Georgetown U

Waiting with Leigh Anna

Metro

My mom sends the coolest letters

Art Gallery. 

Monet

Monet

VanGouge 

Picasso

The dancer

The thinker

Better pics from the fourth 

White house

Red cross

Dr. Boton next to Abbi and Dr. Marshall in the back

Capitol 

FDR memorial has 6 waterfalls 

MLK memorial

FDR memorial

Iwo Jima marine corps memorial 

Vietnam memorial

broken swastika outside of Holocaust museum

How to make white gravy

Another week in DC, another week of adventures, meeting new people and some interesting stories to take back home.

Monday Abbi, Aaron, Megan and I all went to get some top notch seafood. WRONG! We remembered someone told us to go on the river to a buffet called Phillips. My dad always describes amazing seafood places in Vegas and I was imagining this to be somewhat the same. I decided Maryland is not really a seafood place as much as it is a crab place. Unless it is in something else I really do not like crab, it is way to hard to get out of the legs. Even though they didn't have a lot of sea food they did have some decent food but over all a little bit of a let down.

The rest of the week was filled with anticipation to take the train to Baltimore and see the Rangers play. We got on the train at our metro station and it was packed. Since Baltimore is only about 15 miles away many people make the commute everyday for school or work. It was about an hour train ride and it dropped us off right at Camden Yards where the Oriels play. Since the game would be over late we decided to get a hotel in Baltimore and spend Friday exploring downtown.

After dropping our stuff off at the hotel we made our way to the stadium. I have never been an opposing fan at a ballpark before and was a little nervous about the game. We had great seats behind the rangers dugout and there were surprisingly about 30ish rangers fans around us. It was fun eating ballpark food and seeing my favorite team play. The game was a little bit of a let down because we lost but it was awesome to see Kinsler hit a home run.

The group directly in front of us were season ticket holders. What an interesting group of Northerners. Our group and theirs became fast friends and, as always, ended up talking about life in Texas. It was pretty funny when the older man asked Aaron how to make white gravy. I guess I am a true southern because I thought that was a no brainer.

Coming up here I have learned that people from West Texas really are very different from people from the north. Tumble weeds, wind storms, flat land, and droughts are all very strange to people. You would think with all the ethnic food in this area there would be a killer mexican food place. Nope, lots of spanish food, thai, greek, russian, indian, along with many others but no little burrito shacks like home.

Friday morning before Aaron had to catch his plane back to Lubbock we went to an observatory in downtown Baltimore that was right off the harbor. The building was called the World Trade Center, I do not know the history behind the building but it does have some memorial aspects to it. People in the south have so much respect for what happened on 9/11 but up here it seems to be so much more real. New York is only 3 or 4 hours north of here and many first responders went from Maryland. On the glass of the 27th floor look out was all 2700+ people that died in the towers. It was very moving.

After Aaron left Abbi and I went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Coolest. Place. Ever. I saw my first real-life 600 pound sea turtle. It is a rescue off the cost of Long Island that is missing a flipper. This place was huge... they even had a giant dolphin tank on the 4th floor.

Baltimore was really fun but it was great to be back at the apartment. Friday night and all day today we slept and were very lazy. Look forward to spending tomorrow in town. Abbi and I are going to go to Georgetown which should be really fun.

4 more weeks until I am home. Can not wait to see Estevan at the Airport and head straight to Rosas!

waiting for the train

Camden Yards

Such a fun time

Observatory look our over the harbor. 

names etched into glass

Loved this boat on the bay

sea turtle!!

Flounder!!

Sloth up there!!

I can cross getting my arm caught in the metro door off my list of things to do.

It is hard to believe it is July 9th. Some days the summer seems like its flying by while other weeks just creep along slowly. I don't know how many times I can say it, but nothing about this summer is what I thought it would be. It is a good lesson for planners like me to go somewhere and be totally turned upside down. Life can change on a dime and I am learning to adjust more easily.

Monday after work we met Abbi's parents back at our apartment. Abbi's parents are so fun and I was happy to see them. That night we went downtown and took them to see the Lincoln memorial and to one of our favorite Greek spots in DuPont Circle. They hate the weather here which, so it is good to know that I am not the only one that is constantly melting when I am outside. Monday night was all laughs and smiles.

Abbi and I worked on Tuesday but got the rest of the week off. Wednesday we went into the district to show Bo and Kerri around. What a day! We must have waked 4 or 5 miles. Even though we went to some places I have already been it was great showing the Brocks around. The highlight of the day was seeing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing which is where they make paper money. At any one time there could be up to 300 million dollars in that building.

After a full day of sight seeing we went to a brazilian steak house. YUM! A place where they just continually bring meat to your table until you are full.

The real adventure of the week had to Thursday. I have been looking forward to the 4th all summer. We got to the district around  930am so that we could get a spot for the parade which started at noon. We got a spot right in front of the Archives building. We didn't know this when we settled there but before the parade started they had some really neat stuff. Actors dressed up as John Adams and George Washington came out and read the Declaration of Independence. It sounds kinda silly but it was actually pretty neat. Then the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps preformed. The website description says it best.

The musicians of this unit recall the days of the American Revolution as they perform in uniforms patterned after those worn by the musicians of Gen. George Washington's Continental Army. Military musicians of the period wore the reverse colors of the regiments to which they were assigned. The uniforms worn by the members of the Corps are dated circa 1781, and consist of black tricorn hats, white wigs, waistcoats, colonial coveralls, and red regimental coats.

What a great performance! 

The parade was great. The best part was seeing the Budweiser Clydesdales. I hate the humidity here and on Thursday it was very humid. The heat really took the wind out of our sails. We powered through until the firework show at 9:30. Kerri, Abbi and I got perfect spots which allowed us to watch the show and get to the metro quickly. There were only about 250,000 people out in the Mall that night.

Friday I took a day to explore the city on my own and decided to go see the two famous cathedrals in town. The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the largest catholic church in the US and the 8th largest church in the world. I wish I could describe this amazing place. So many mosaics and a lot of different alters. Many people were taking pictures but I did not want to out of respect. There was no way I could capture the absolute beauty in a picture. 

After I visited the Shrine I went to eat at a place called Hank's Oyster Bar. The best oysters on the half shell I have ever had. I sat at the bar and watched them crank the oysters right in front of me. I also had the best fried oyster poboy I have ever eaten. I LOVE THE FOOD HERE!

I also stopped by and saw the national cathedral which is equally as amazing as the national shrine.

This week Aaron, Abbi's boyfriend, is  in town. It is fun hanging out with him and Abbi when we get off work. Tonight we are taking him to one of our favorite places called Hill Country. A great BBQ place that I might have mentioned a few post back.

After 5 weeks I can safely say that I am sufficiently homesick. I have stated counting down the days until August 10th. A special shout out to my best friend Heather who I am missing a lot. Nothing would be better than curling up on the couch and watching a ranger game after eating some of Doug's famous hamburgers. 

The past two day's I have gotten 6 letters in the mail. I go by the mailbox on our way to work and getting letters really makes me smile. Mrs. Stone, Sonja & Dad, my grandmother, and my mom have all sent the sweetest and most encouraging letters. So much in life changes and many thing come up that are unexpected but I know I can conquer all with the support and love I have behind me. I am nothing with out all of you!

Just to get an idea of how many people were at the mall before fireworks. We got there over an hour and a half early to steak out our spots. We were almost a mile away from where they were shooting them off. 

Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps 

Budweiser Cydesdales

Lots of these bikes in the parade

waiting for parade to start. 

We had the best spot

waiting for fireworks to start

Day filled with lots of waiting, sweat, and picture taking

terrible picture but hopefully it gives you an idea of about how close we were

4th of July twin

Shrine of the Immaculate Coception

So large and beautiful

YUM! The receipt on the plate tells which kind of oysters I got. Silly me I didn't even know there was more than one kind

National Cathedral

Amazing

Taking Kerri to see the Declaration of Independence

Roomie love!

Went to the National Gallery of art and really tried to get into the painting. I hate to admit it but no matter how hard I try I can not get into art. This is D'vinci's first painting.