I have always lived in suburbs my whole life so moving to a big city and living right in the middle of it is so foreign to me. The first week being here was so weird to me. The life style is so different. The thing that I had a hard time adjusting to the most was that there was no nature, well at least not the nature that I was use to. BYU is located in a valley, surrounded by towering mountains. In D.C. i only see towering buildings. I also had to adjust to grocery shopping. You would never think that grocery shopping would every be a huge ordeal. But take away a car, and it is. For the first couple of weeks I had to plan out exactly when to go, how I'm going to get there, and I had to constantly remind myself while I was in the store not to buy too much because I had to carry everything I bought home. But I have recently discovered the ultimate solution to all this. Safeway delivers. I now order my groceries online and they deliver them right to my apartment. Grocery shopping's a breeze. And the third biggest adjustment I had to make was living without every person I have every met at BYU, and some of my best friends. The first couple of days I turned to my phone countless times to text a friend to hang out, only to remember a few seconds later that they were on the other side of the country. Adjustments are a good thing though. Adjusting means that you are changing, embracing new experiences, and growing far past your comfort zone.
I have been in D.C. for approximately four weeks now. My adjustment phase is over, and I LOVE it out here. There are so many little things that I love about my new adventure, but I will name the basic five. First, I love all the BYU students who are doing the Washington Seminar with me. We all get along really well even though we're all so different. We often find ourselves dying laughing and we do everything together. Second, I love my internship. I am working for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (formally Morality in Media), and it is the perfect fit for me. NCSE is the leading national organization fighting pornography and indecency through public education and application of the law. I have learned so much in the short time that I've been here and I 100% support the cause. I also have the best co-workers. I don't mind coming to work everyday, and that's the dream. Third, food. There is an endless amount of places to eat here and everything is so good. I am constantly trying new food at restaurants I've never heard of before. Fourth, I like the unique history here. There is so much to see and learn on every corner. It's a cool experience living at the center of the nation where everything started. And fifth, I like the how there is always something going on and something to do. I live on the corner of Georgetown (the cutest town ever), I'm surrounded by shopping, free concerts, and much more. I don't think I'll get bored.
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| A week before I started the Washington Seminar I came to D.C. with my Dad and sister Lauren. We did all the main touristy stuff while they were here. It was fun to spend time with them and the best thing was that my dad taught me how to use the metro and navigate around the city. I looked like a pro by the time the rest of the students got here. Watch our trip HERE. |
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| Washington Monument, mid-evening. |
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| Lincoln Memorial. A cool memorial for a pretty cool guy. |
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| & Pizza. This is a sample of the many delicious meals I've had while I've been here. |
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| Every weekend night you can find us in the basement of the Barlow Center watching movies and playing games. We've gotten really good at Mafia. |
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| My friend Teresa and I at the famous Georgetown Cupcakes. The cupcakes surpassed my expectations. Teresa a non-traditional BYU student who is also doing the Seminar this semester. She's one of the most amazing ladies I've met, I hope I can be like her one day. |
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| Some of the other students and I exploring Georgetown. JFK and his wife lived here. |
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| Georgetown is home to the cutest houses. I'm going to have a vacation home here someday. |
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| The Potomac River. |
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| Jane. I seriously love her, we always have fun together. |
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| We ate at the restaurant where JFK purposed to Jackie. |
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| Georgetown. |
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| We celebrated MLK day how it should be celebrated, in D.C. at the MLK memorial. We were definitely the minority here. |
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| To end MLK day we went to the Kennedy Center where we watched a free Natalie Cole concert. She sang one of my favorite songs- "This Will Be". |
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| Kennedy Center |
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| The snowy view from my office. |
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| And the sunny view from my office. |
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| Me and most of my coworkers at a meeting in Philadelphia. |
