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.

We wish you a Merry Christmas.

We put up our Christmas tree in the middle of November right after we purchased it from Target. It's a magnificent 3' Ernie Pine Tree (pre-lit!) and looked really Charlie Brown-esque at the store. With some extra lights and tiny ornaments, however, I think it looks pretty stellar. We made Chiles en Nogada (a.k.a. Chiles in Walnut Sauce) last week. Those red things on top are pomegranate seeds. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever cooked in my life, but it ended up being very delicious. Thanks to Hannah for roasting the peppers over a burner!
Jason and his DMB shirt. We had a wonderful Christmas morning!
Some highlights:
Jason got me a fantastic watch and some killer perfume (and gloves, so my hands will stay warm walking from the metro station to the Hill)
We got to talk to Jason's immediate family in the morning and then to his extended family--including Grandma Funny!--in the afternoon. We're getting excited to see them while we're back east.
Christmas dinner/night with the Pullans was phenomenal! Because our flight was changed, I don't think we'll be able to see everyone on New Year's Eve, so it was nice to spend some time with them on Christmas.
No work!

We hit Jason Barrett's homecoming on Sunday. His talk was muy bueno. I love the crazy-eyed dog in this picture.

The end is near!

Of finals, that is. Thank goodness.
Only two weeks (exactly!) until we leave for DC. Hopefully our flight doesn't get changed again before then...
I think we are just about ready to go. I'm glad we get to have Christmas in our little apartment before we leave, though; our tree is very tiny and cute.

31 days and counting...

Yes. This is a dog snuggie. A blanket with sleeves that is perfect for your little pooch. I am trying to count the things I would purchase at Target before the dog snuggie...

Wow! It's a little surreal that we will be leaving for D.C. in ONE MONTH. We have both secured our internships (hurray!) and are trying to get all the last little things done before we go (i.e. purchase appropriate attire, learn the ins and outs of a large/complicated/important building, move out of our apartment, etc.).

Right now it is 18 degrees warmer in DC than Provo, which makes me even more excited about this trip.