A full day, but no new pictures...

...at least on my computer. Our camera cord is still being used.

Today was a busy day. We went to the UConn vs. Georgetown game at the Verizon Center downtown. UConn had a really great first half, but the second half was lousy. They lost 72-69. The people next to and in front of us were UConn fans also, which was nice. I was a little concerned that the girl directly next to me was going to spill her precariously perched alcoholic beverage in my lap, but that didn't happen (thank goodness!).

After the game, we metro-ed to the Smithsonian and grabbed some lunch at the Georgetown Deli in the Old Post Office Pavilion. The sandwiches were definitely a rip-off, but looked appetizing compared to the pizza/gyro/stagnant Indian food/fried chicken featured in the rest of the food court. We rode the elevator up to the top of the bell tower, from which there is a fantastic view of the city. We got a few really nice pictures, including one taken by a third party which contains both of us (a first for this trip!).

We ran into some of our Washington Seminar colleagues at the Old Post Office Pavilion, so we went with them to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. While looking closely at the Declaration, we discovered...a MAP on the back! Just kidding.

Tonight we went grocery shopping and ate delicious homemade chicken masala for dinner (I say homemade, but that really just means we bought the nifty Trader Joe's simmer sauce mix and put in some chicken and potatoes). Tomorrow: Church, hopefully callings, and a munch and mingle!

Cajun Creole (among other things)

Today was our first day of classes. Each week we work Monday through Thursday, then participate in a one-hour class and at least two outside-speaker briefings on Friday. The times for our briefings vary, depending on the individual speakers' schedules. Today's lectures were pretty interesting; the first was by a public relations consultant about communication and the second one was by a guy who had done a lot of stuff in government, academia, and humanitarian work and whose topics ranged from government spending to the NFL. After the briefings, we went to the Kennedy Center with another married couple from our complex.

Every night during the year, the Center hosts a free concert on the Millennium Stage at 6 pm, so we were able to take in an hour of Cedric Watson and Bijou Creole. The band included an accordian, drums, a couple guitars, a d'jimbe drum (Grant: I thought of you when I saw their drum. I hope you still play the d'jimbe often so you can grow up to be in a band!), and this instrument that looked like a metal bib. I'll have to look up its official name.

Aunt Amy let us know that Julia will be playing on the Millennium Stage this Thursday. We are so excited to hear her play and see Aunt Amy and Uncle Mark again.

I'll post our pictures from this evening tomorrow when I get my camera cord back from the other married couple who borrowed it. Love you all!

Let it snow!

Look! It's all of the Frosts together at once! That doesn't happen very often.

It's supposed to snow approximately three inches tonight. Good thing we don't have to go anywhere tomorrow. I am definitely enjoying this Monday-Thursday workweek thing.

Exciting things that happened today:

1. Jason is doing our laundry. He's such a good husband.

2. We listened to the BYU basketball game last night (not today, but still a highlight). Awesome game.

3. Jason got to start a really intense research project at work today. It sounds like they are really putting him to good use.

4. I ate several Joe-Joes after dinner. FYI: A Joe-Joe is like an oreo, but it's made by Trader Joe's instead of by Nabisco and it has peppermint filling (!!) (I will try to bring some home to you, Mom!) instead of cream. Amazing.

5. Today I got to sort the Senator's schedules for the past year. I think it's surprising Congress can get anything done in between random fundraisers, meetings, and social commitments. If I ever get despondent about government, I'll just remember that the lawmakers are ridiculously busy.

6. I went to the flag office by myself. The building where I work is labyrinthine; lots of staircases skip floors and hallways that you think should go somewhere don't and some hallways look a lot like other hallways. Anyway, I went to the flag office for the first time yesterday to order a flag for a constituent (apparently you can request flags that have been flown over the capitol. I guess it makes a good Eagle Scout gift or something. It gets shipped to you with a nice certificate explaining the day it was flown and why...I'm obtaining so much interesting knowledge!) and today I found the office all by myself. I was not so lucky when I tried to find the post office this afternoon.

This is at the National Zoo from when Jason's family was visiting. I think it is a very nice picture!

Everyone at the Marriott. We really had a fantastic time with the Frosts. We sure miss you guys! Good news: there's a Rock Bottom by Jason's place of work. Hopefully we'll see you guys soon.

I worry that a blog doesn't feel very personal, but I hope you guys know that I think about and miss all of you EVERY DAY. Thanks for all of your support! We love you!

Sharla: Thanks for the email! I meant to respond more quickly, but I can't check my email at work and forgot to respond last night. You're great!

Wednesday!

It's about 8:51 pm here in the district. The evenings here go by very quickly. Tonight we had taco soup for dinner (taco seasoning courtesy of our local Trader Joe's), then spent some time in Georgetown. Tomorrow is the last day of our workweek (hurrah!) and then we'll have briefings on Friday. Saturday: Georgetown vs. UConn. We are excited!

Highlights from today:

1. I got to go on a tour of the Capitol building in preparation for leading my own tour groups. It is such a beautiful building! My favorite part (besides the rotunda, which naturally has to be my favorite part because it is so stunning) was probably the old House chamber. I liked the old Senate chamber too, but the House chamber has this cool acoustic thing where you can whisper at one end of the room and be heard at the other end AND there are little plaques in the floor identifying the desk locations of noteworthy House members (i.e. Abraham Lincoln). Plus, Utah's Brigham Young statue is in the old House chamber. Go cougars!

2. Jason updated the IAF webpage and wore the same sweater as one of his co-workers (but in a different color).

3. I heard the Senator playing the piano in his office (the walls are very thin).

4. Did I mention we are going to the Georgetown vs. UConn game? :)

5. This is technically a highlight from last night, but we went to a really awesome restaurant yesterday. It is called El Pollo Rico and is at the Virginia Square metro stop. It's a Peruvian rotisserie chicken place, so there are like thirty chickens on rotating spits behind the counter. You choose a whole, 1/2, or 1/4 chicken (which is literally a whole, 1/2, or 1/4 chicken hacked in pieces right in front of your eyes), french fries, and coleslaw. The chicken also came with two sauces that I couldn't really identify, although in retrospect, I think one was green chile.

Shoot, I really wanted to find a picture of the food at El Pollo Rico, but cannot download one from their website. If you feel inclined to investigate this savory fare, visit www.ilovethischicken.com. Such a clever url.

6. While the Senate is in recess, I get to wear jeans to work. If only I had known this before taking casual clothes out of my suitcase the day we flew out.

Well, that's all for now! We are having a blast! I can't believe we have been in the city less than a week; everything feels surprisingly comfortable (even though last night I was really disoriented in the metro and tried to convince Jason that we should travel on the OTHER train, which would have actually taken us out to Fall's Church...I thought I had everything figured out).

Day One (among other things)

We haven't even been in DC for a week yet, but I feel like we've gotten a lot accomplished.

We went to church on Sunday in the DC 3rd ward. It was amazing. My dad attended the ward while he was out here on business and really enjoyed it, so we were excited to attend. The ward meets in a converted walk-up apartment in Columbia Heights, so the building is not very big. There were folding chairs next to the benches to accommodate more people. The members are really diverse; most are French-speaking West Africans. On Sunday, three confirmations were performed during Sacrament Meeting, which was really neat. Afterward, all the visitors (including us) got to stand up and introduce themselves (still in the chapel). I was surprised by the number of visitors; it is unusual for there to be visitors in most Utah wards (especially our most recent married ward), but there were probably ten people visiting the ward for the first time. One visitor even bore her testimony, which was neat. We will supposedly have callings by next Sunday and are so excited to serve.

After church, a former-BYU-student couple invited us to their apartment for dinner (along with the other Washington Seminar marrieds and a few other couples from the ward). It was a blast (and a good thing, because I forgot we needed taco seasoning for the taco soup we were planning to eat for Sunday dinner). We feel so welcome already!!

This is Jason in front of the Supreme Court building. Our orientation ended early yesterday, so we got to do some more exploring. We went to Georgetown (no pictures yet, but we will take some! Georgetown is beautiful!) and rode the Circulator bus to the middle of the city. On the way home, we stopped at Target (it's amazing how everything is accessible via metro), then ate macaroni and cheese for supper.

We both had work today. I think I'll have to write more about this later; in a nutshell, we both had great experiences! Everyone in Jason's office is very nice (not to say that everyone in my office isn't--they are) and it sounds like he will have a great internship. I got my nifty ID badge today and didn't get lost. This is the view from our kitchen. The city is beautiful! Living in an urban area is a new and interesting experience. We do not have a car, but have not yet been inconvenienced. Life is pretty simple.

This is our little kitchen. We do not have a dishwasher, but did discover yesterday that we have a disposal.

Dad Frost: we used your black strainer yesterday. Thank you very much for letting us borrow it!

Last picture for today: Jason took this yesterday while we were exploring. He's becoming quite the stellar photographer. Because it is so cold, I have been wearing my coat everywhere and, consequently, in every picture. I promise that I change the clothes underneath :)

Baby, it's cold outside...

It has been so cold here! It's currently 25 degrees, but feels much more chilly. We went sight-seeing this afternoon, walking from our apartment to the mall.
The Washington Monument is much bigger than I imagined.

Jason took this wonderful picture. For some reason, I had a difficult time taking any good pictures of him (see below!) but he produced fantastic shots every time. Note the building far in the distance: work! We'll see how that goes on Tuesday.
This is probably the best photo I took of Jason. I wonder if President Bartlett is home...
Me by the White House!!
Another one of Jason's pictures. We hit the White House, the Washington Monument, the WWII memorial (VERY cool!) and the Lincoln Memorial before heading home. We stopped at Trader Joe's and picked up some grub for dinner. It's been a long/productive day!

We're here.

We officially checked in yesterday morning and have moved into our apartment. Thanks to Jason's wonderful familia, we have groceries, pots and pans, and linens. They left this morning to go back to CT. We will miss them.

The apartment is bigger than we expected and has a lot of mirrors. Unfortunately, we don't have any hot water, and apparently the problem will not be fixed until Monday. Ugh. Thankfully, we have not had to shower here yet; we spent last night with the Frosts in Bethesda and the night before in Baltimore.

We haven't taken any pictures yet, but will post some eventually. We're trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day. I think we might pick up our metro passes and go into downtown (is it called downtown here? I do not know). It is really windy here, and the forecast says it will snow on Monday :/

We have not really had any crazy adventures yet, but we did go to a really delicious restaurant last night called Rock Bottom with the Frosts and had an amazing breakfast this morning at the hotel. Watch for an upcoming picture of the entire family together at the same time.

Dad--We saw the Department of the Interior Building and I put my hand over my heart.