And the fun begins

Sunday was our first full day in Maryland. We decide to find a close church to attend and ended up at the College Park Church of Christ that meets at the Holiday Inn across the street from our apartment. This local church only had about 8 members and were the kindest and most welcoming people I have met so far. Everyone was so friendly and wrote down all of their contact information incase we need anything. Even though the Church of Christ is not what I am use to it was so nice to just be welcomed and prayed for by a great group of Christians.

After church Dr. Laughlin took us into downtown DC to practice using the metro. We got off near the mall area, where all the Smithsonian's are located, and just walked around for a couple of hours. Getting to know how the metro works is pretty easy it is the bus system that is more complicated and will be a little harder to figure out.

Our morning commute to work consisted of two bus rides. It took us about an hour and a half total to leave our apartment, get on the bus, travel, wait for the next bus, and finally reach the FDA. We met our boss who gave us a tour and told us about the projects we are going to be working on this summer. Along with working on some really cool research projects our boss is going to try and organize a behind the scenes tour at the Smithsonian and see if we can spend the day shadowing the head veterinarian at the national zoo!!! When he told us that I about fainted! What a fabulous summer this is going to be. I could not have asked for a better boss. He brought us home from work and told us, "I live just down the road from y'all so I will just start picking you for work in the morning". Oh man what a relief that will be.

 Since there was nothing for us to do at work today but fill out paperwork, we got home about 11am. After a good nap Abbi and I decided to make our way to target. I am happy to report that we made it to a target completely on public transportation and carried all of our groceries back with us.

It is such a joy to just be here on my computer talking to Abbi and Daniel about what movie we want to watch tonight while we eat our home cooked meal. This summer is going to be relatively stress free, and just about working hard at the lab and enjoying the city.

I am feeling really blessed and supported by all of my family and friends. Here are some pictures of our day downtown. 

The hope diamond in the Natural History museum 

A giant 3 toed sloth in the natural history museum 

Abbi and I in front of the National Archives where they keep the Declaration of Independence