Thirteen Mile Races & Thirteen Hour Days

I ran the DC Rock n' Roll half marathon last week.  It was quite a different experience from my previous races.  First off, it rained. It rained when I woke up at 6 in the morning to leave, it rained when the race began, it rained as I ran up a very long and steep hill, and it rained as I crossed the finish line. I was soaked.  This race was also the hardest that I've ever ran.  The combination of not adequately training and hills, is mentally and physically challenging.  There were so many times when I just wanted to stop, walk, or take a quick breather.  The only thing that made me keep going was the thought of the finish line.  It was the most satisfying feeling when I finally crossed it. 

After the race Matt, a few of our friends, and I went to BTS.  Matt and I rewarded ourselves with the biggest burger we could find. It was sooo good.  I would run 13 miles again for it.

The best time of the year has come, Spring! It's starting to warm up in D.C.  I think I let the weather affect my mood too much.  I've been significantly happier since it's gotten warmer.  Everything is better when it's warm and the sun is shining.  Last Thursday was so warm, my friend Jane and I decided to take a walk down Georgetown and by the river. We stopped by Georgetown Cupcakes, looked at beautiful dresses in one of the shops, and watched the gorgeous sunset. 

Literally half of my coworkers are pregnant and they are all due within a few weeks of each other so the baby showers have begun.  Last week I was handed a box of diapers and some ribbon and was given the job to make a diaper cake. I had never made one before, but that that's not a problem with Pinterest.  

This weekend my friends and I decided to make dinner.  We made teriyaki chicken, baked vegetables, spinach salad, and for dessert, we had Oreo milkshakes.  We had so much fun making it and everything turned out so good. 

After dinner, we ended our night with The Sound of Music.  I loved all four hours of it.

Saturday was a 13 hour day. It started with a visit to the flea market.  It was so much fun.  We planned on being there for an hour but ended up being there all morning.  There were so many different tents that had everything from jewelry, restored furniture, and amazing art to fresh fruits and vegetables. 

From the flea market, we headed to Mt. Vernon (George Washington's estate).  By far my favorite thing I've done since being in D.C.  It was incredibly beautiful, both his house and his endless land.  I could spend all day just walking around.  

George's not-so-humble abode.  

We found Martha there.  She ages very well. 

From Mt. Vernon we went to Old Town Alexandria.  Old Town Alexandria is similar to Georgetown but has a totally different feel to it.  It's a super cool place.  We ate Chili at Hard Times Cafe, and I ate a life's worth of cornbread.  I have a weak spot for cornbread. 

Night time in Old Town is magical.

We sat on the boardwalk and talked forever.

I always have such a good time with these people, they are my favorite.  

(Jadeyn, Teresa, Jane, JD, Katie, Me)

 I have been so grateful for the people I've met here.  It doesn't matter where you are, if you are surrounded by good people life is good.

Another Week, Another Adventure.

My fellow intern, Kelley, went back home last week.  Her internship was only for a 7 week period.  We decided to make the most of her last day and get milkshakes and good food. I wish she was staying longer.  She's always so happy, positive, and fun to talk to throughout the work day.  She'll be in Provo this summer though; we already planned a day in August to go to our favorite Chilean restaurant.

A few metro stops away from where I live, lies the best homemade pretzels. A few of my friends and I went to The Pretzel Bakery and spent $2 on delicious pretzels.  

The Pretzel Bakery had a signature Hot Chocolate called Hotella. It's what it sounds like, a combination of Hot Chocolate and Nutella.  I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the best Hot Chocolate. 

My cinnamon sugar pretzel.

And yet again, here's another picture of food I've eaten recently.  Maybe I should just make a food blog since it consumes most of my posts.  Food is obviously a big part of my life in DC and I can't hide it. After work last week a group of my friends and I went to Ted Bulletin's.  They are famous for their homemade poptarts and milkshakes so that's what we had.  

My to die for Oreo Milkshake. 

Matt and I were suppose to go on our long run for the week last Thursday.  Thursday ended up being a snow day, yes they have snow days in DC, so no one had work.  Thinking that it would still be a good idea to do our long run in a blizzard, we headed out.  We made it about 2 miles and had to stop because we couldn't see anything, and because the snow was getting deep.  It was the weirdest experience being in the city during a blizzard though.  There was no one on the streets, and it was just silent as the big snowflakes fell from the sky.  I took this picture while we were on our run.  You can see the iced over lake, the bridge, and fog.  You would never know that right behind that fog is a big city.

Everyone in the Washington Seminar group went to Valley Forge/Philadelphia this weekend as part of our Political Science class. Valley forge was a pretty area with a cool sunset.   

After our tour around Valley Forge, we thought we would top off our day with some sledding on this hill.  Ten minutes into sledding, one of the girls in our group was laying at the bottom of the hill yelling for someone to call an ambulance.  She went off a hidden jump and landed flat on her back. Her immediate thoughts were that she was paralyzed as she couldn't move her legs.  It turns out she fractured her lower back.  It was an eventful evening.  She was in the hospital the rest of the weekend and left with a back brace. I was so impressed with how calm she was through the whole thing and how she kept a positive attitude.  If I was in this situation I'm sure I'd be a wreck.

All day Saturday was spent in Philadelphia.  We went to some neat places like Independence Hall, the Constitution Center, Christ's Church, and the Liberty Bell. History is rad.

The Constitution Center had life size statues of the founding fathers. They may seem stiff, but they were actually quite flirtatious. 

This one made me dance with him.  I was feeling tired, but, after a few minutes of begging me to dance, I couldn't say no.  

For lunch we went to an indoor market.  It was HUGE and very crowded.  It had just about any and every type of food you could think of.  My favorite was the Amish donuts.  You could see the Amish women making the donuts from scratch as you waited in line.  I bought three.  I don't know if I can ever have a normal donut again after trying these ones. I'm now on a hunt to find an Amish cookbook. 

Philadelphia

Gettin chilly in Philly with these sillies.

DC to NYC

 My new adventure this week was New York City. DC is at a prime location so I'm trying to take full advantage of that while I'm here. A group of ten of my friends and I bought bus tickets and got a sweet deal on a Marriott Hotel by Times Square. The total with transportation and two nights at the hotel was under a hundred dollars.  I don't think a trip to New York could get any cheaper than that.

We wanted to make the long weekend in NYC as long as possible.  So, we woke up at 3 a.m. Friday morning, left our apartment building at 4 a.m., boarded our bus at 5 a.m. and got to New York by 9:30 a.m.  I was impressed we pulled it off. It was so early and a good majority of us only got 2 hours of sleep the night before.  Thank goodness for bus ride naps.

This picture was taken right after we got off the bus and realized how cold it was.  The first day was SO cold.  My fingers would literally freeze if I took my glove off for more than 30 seconds to take a picture.  But we were in New York so we didn't let the cold stop us from having a good time. 

First stop, Grand Central Station.  It was a very grand building.

On the ferry to Lady Liberty. My hair and the wind are a dangerous combination. 

The ferry is a must in New York.

The Statue of Liberty in all her glory. 

You can see the cold in this picture, but the frozen ice chunks made for a cool view. 

 We saw the most amazing sunset on the ferry heading back to the city. You can see the Statue of Liberty to the left of the sun.

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE breakfast. It's my favorite meal of the day hands down. Usually my favorite breakfast food is french toast or waffles. However, we went to a bagel shop Saturday morning for breakfast, and we all couldn't believe how good our bagels were, especially the creme cheese on them.  In the containers behind the glass the creme cheese looked like gelato.

When we planned on going to the toy store, FAO Schwartz, we thought we'd be in it for 15-30 min max.  We were there for over an hour, maybe two, I lost track of time.  There's something so fun about big toy stores, like really large candy.  Or maybe it was just us who thought so.

Try and tell which one is me.

Even though it was covered in snow, we took a stroll in central park.  We stopped at this bridge and fed jelly beans the to ducks int he water below.  New York ducks love jelly beans, who knew?

Jane and I got stopped by Darth Vader and this other animal looking thing in Central Park.  We just thought they were being friendly when they asked to take a picture with us.  No, they just wanted our money.

Got swept off my feet. 

We saw Tiffany and Co. and immediately all the girls wanted to go inside.  Some of the guys in our group weren't so thrilled about it.  It had 5 stories of luxury.  When I was on the engagement floor I actually heard someone who was trying on a ring say, "no, it's not big enough." The ring she had on was probably already $30k.  On the way out my friend Jadeyn spotted the most gorgeous thing in the whole store, the doorman ;).  I call him Mr. Tiffany.  He had a sweet British accent and was quite charming.  We couldn't resist not taking a picture.  Wedding announcements coming soon.

A very wet Times Square.

I saw Les Mis on Broadway!  It was amazing, definitely one of my favorite things I did while in New York. 

We were able to get really close seats, which just made the experience that much better.

On Sunday we went to the chapel in the Manhattan temple for church. The temple is definitely a building that sticks out amongst those around it.  For one thing, most buildings don't have a golden statue on top.  

This is the Freedom Tower by ground zero.  We went into the new 9-11 museum.  It took 3 hours and I still didn't get through everything.  It was very surreal hearing the voicemails from passengers on the planes, seeing pictures, and seeing remnants of the buildings. 

Ground Zero.


To experience the trip for yourself, click HERE.