The best and the worst

Yesterday I voted in the Virginia Primary. It always feels good to exercise your civic duty and being surrounded by people who also feel that they're vote does matter and are willing to wait forty five minutes to vote. This year's election is far from over, yet the media has already had a feeding frenzy analyzing every detail of the candidates history, policy, spouse, personal life, taxes, health habits, it's tiring and hard to actually know what the candidates policies are amid all the muck (and I even consider myself a political junkie). I will not go into depth about my opinions, the amount of opinion is already overwhelming. But I do want to share the best and the worst of the political ads that have been run so far this season. And I will say that the candidate whose video I chose as best, was also who I voted for yesterday.

My two worlds

I've had sufficient time now since I returned back from my two week Christmas break in Utah to settle back into my DC city life routine. I've started graduate school (I'm getting a Master's in Public Policy at George Mason University) and I'm back to the full-time work grind. Coming back and forth from Utah to D.C. has become an emotional roller coaster ride for me. Whether I'm flying to DC or I'm flying to Utah, I feel like I'm going home and I know that there are people that I love and familiar places in each of them. This feeling is amplified by my acknowledgment that these two places couldn't be more different, which is obvious in the activities that I participate in and I notice subtle differences in my personality depending on where I am.

Exhibit A:

Here I am at Silverton Mountain Resort in Colorado with a bunch of "Mormon Hippies," or my people. We had skinned up (skinning up a mountain involves attaching skins to the bottom of your skis which prevents you from sliding backwards so you can go up and then when you take them off you can ski down) and then we skied down one of the most incredible runs I have ever taken in my life. Probably a foot and a half of fresh power on a clear day in a big open bowl. It was indescribable, the rush that I felt taking my first turn when we were up at 12,000 feet with friends cheering me on was one of the highlights of my break, maybe even my year, or maybe even my life.


Then this is me a few weeks later in the President's press room. Yes that podium right behind me is where President Bush speaks at the press conferences he holds. My old roommate Staci was kind enough to ask me if I wanted in on a last minute opening she had for the prized west wing tour. You can only get one if you know someone who works in the White House and will take you. She works in the President's speech writing office, and I can testify that you can't blame his writers for how he manages to mangle his words. We were the only people in the west wing besides secret service agents and one of the most memorable moments was when we were in the lobby and taking a picture in front of the presidential seal when my friend who was taking the picture said "I really wish I was lying when I said a secret service agent is walking towards me like he wants to arrest me." Secret Service Man was not happy with us and our cheesy tourist ways.

Exhibit B:

One of my favorite places and a few of my favorite people. Cross country skiing in American Fork canyon with Brad, a friend from college, my brother Brian and our puppy Jackson. I love downhill skiing, but there is something about the tranquility and fluidity of cross country that is totally addicting. And Brad and I have a yearly cross country reunion tradition, he is what I would call an extreme cross country skiier. I know, you would think it was an oxy moron, but he really is, he goes off jumps and everything. Such a blast. That is another great thing about coming home over the holidays. I get to see friends like Brad, who is going to law school at Pepperdine, but also comes home for the holidays to spend time with his family. I also got to spend a lot of time with my dear family and especially with Brian who had recently returned home from a mission in Jackson, Mississippi.

This was a beautiful evening I had last week ice skating with a few friends at the sculpture garden that is part of the Smithsonian. You walk there and are surrounded by monuments and museums and then you enter the sculpture garden which has a lot of beautiful pieces that rotate periodically. They also have jazz concerts here and you can just bring a blanket and listen and lounge on the grass in the summer, and during that time the ice rink is actually a fountain. Last week the atmosphere was perfect with white Christmas lights hung around the rink and everyone stylishly bundled. The weather was perfect as well. Sarah and I choreographed an ice skating routine, it had some very elegant moves including twirls, but also some non-conventional moves such as the funky chicken and the robot, but don't you worry the judges gave us perfect tens.

Exhibit C:

I am probably the least fun person in my family, seriously. Those are definitely my parents, and they are definitely sledding while being pulled by our truck in the church parking lot (hookybobbing is the correct terminology for those of you not yet aware of this cutting edge sport). So I think you get an idea of how my family rolls, this was my parents idea for a Christmas morning activity. Is it any wonder why I just can't get enough of them?


Another highlight in my month that I have been home was visiting the Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz exhibits at the Corcoran Museum. Also this gem, Nuttin But Stringz, I saw perform at a civil rights tribute on Martin Luther King Day at the Kennedy Center. Absolutely incredible.

Midnight conversations at IHOP

This post is a first for me. Usually I don't post about something like dating, believe me I already have enough conversations about it with my friends. However, last weekend I went to IHOP at 1:00 AM on a Friday. I want to throw out the disclaimer that this isn't something I normally do at 26, I realize I am no longer a freshman in college. This in itself isn't worthy of a post. Although I did find it highly entertaining that the host who seated us was a cop who was on duty, in uniform, with a walkie talkie on his belt. And one of my guy friends I was with was wearing a too tight, brightly colored women's cardigan that my roommate had bought at salvation army for an ugly sweater party. I loved watching everyone's reactions to it.

The point of this post is that one of my friends brought up that a girl had recently told him "Someday you're going to make some girl so happy" and this got us into a conversation of lame things that guys or girls have said to us to let us know (they think kindly) that they didn't want to date us. Would it be that bad for someone to just say, "I'm sorry, but I just don't have any romantic feelings for you?" For some reason we feel like we have to soften the blow by making up excuses and try to turn rejection into some kind of compliment. It was a pretty funny conversation. I'll go ahead and give a couple from my life to start things off and then I would love to hear these type of comments that you've either given or received. Of course I've gotten the "you're just like a sister to me" this translates as I have absolutely no romantic feelings toward you, nor will I ever. I also had a guy who took me out four times in two weeks, and then on my birthday take me to the beach at Utah Lake where we had a little bonfire and made smores and then he told me he was sorry but he just didn't want a girlfriend. The action of taking a girl out every three days are not consistent of the words that you don't want a girlfriend. The worst though was a guy that I was into who told me that "I want to date someone just like you" that's just offensive. He may have meant it as some backwards compliment, but seriously.

I'm not writing this out of bitterness, I just find it amusing that we have such a hard time being honest and a lot of times by not just saying how we really feel we make the situation worse. Maybe if we all realize how ridiculous we sound when we say these kinds of things we'll stop saying them and just be honest.

Anyone else have an example they would like to share or a strong opinion on the importance of honesty?

I too am grateful

Everyone's gratitude posts really inspired me and made me reflect on what I hold most dear. The older I get the more I realize it's my relationships that have the most profound affect on my happiness and give me satisfaction. Specifically my relationship with The Lord, my family and my friends. But I would like to go into specifics of a few things and people that I am particularly grateful for at this time in my life.

• My family. I am really blessed that although I have lived thousands of miles away for the last 15 months I have been able to see my family quite a bit. I have been able to go home to Utah four times and then my parents have come to DC, New York and my entire family went to Italy in this time. Just spending time with those that you are most comfortable with is refreshing and it was a special treat to have my entire family reunited over Thanksgiving when Brian came home from his mission in Jackson, Mississippi. And our neighbors took the liberty in decorating our house, part of the decoration includes 200 helium balloons that we gathered because we wanted to try to see if we could put our cat in a pillow case to see if it would float. Unfortunately/fortunately the cat must have caught wind of our plan and by the time we gathered all the balloons it had disappeared. But we still decided to use the balloons for a great family photo.
• Wonderful friends. Of course nothing can replace family, but I've found a pretty good substitute while I live on the other side of the country. I have been blessed to live with a lot of amazing girls since I moved to DC. The last two houses that I lived in have really felt like home. The girls of Joyce and Uhle Street have made me feel loved and taken care and have helped my transition to the east be a surprisingly easy one. They all came together, along with Ogreid (Odie, Grayden and Reed), to treat me to a birthday dinner last month and helped take the sting out of turning 26. 26 was a surprisingly hard age, it marks the transition to the late twenties and for once I really do feel old. But this is not the only time in my life that I have been surrounded by great friends. All of you from my childhood to high school, Utah State, The Mission, BYU and now DC have been with me through a lot of adventures and good times as well as difficult times and I really appreciate it.
  

The girls of Joyce and Uhle - (Back to front, left to right) Courtney Mecham, Jenny Corry, Leanna Kowallis, Sarah Stancliff, Erika Borgquist, Jeanette Lyman, Stephanie Sonksen, Jocelyn Sparks, Staci Wheeler, Alison Aikele, and Hollie Pollan.
Ogreid and the Dice at Halloween: Odie, Jenny, Grayden, Courtney and Reed

• Fall, it has become my favorite season. In DC fall lasts two or three months. The leaves change in phases and stay on the trees much longer than in Utah. The humidity decreases and there is so much to see and do. I love that from my desk, I can walk down the hall and overlook the white house and monuments and seeing them surrounded in color is really a treat. Perfect for Saturday hikes and bike rides and road trips to West Virginia, New England, and Boston.
  

• My Job. I still don't know exactly how I ended up where I am, and I know it's not where I want to be forever. But my job has taught me a lot, exposed me to new ideas and given me freedom and flexibility. I have to take flack, I think mostly in jest, for the fact that I am working for the unions. And the Jimmy Hoffa jokes do get a little old, but overall it's been a really good place for me. I'm grateful that my work will help pay for my school and that I work with people that are supportive of me, truly care about me, and appreciate my contributions even if they are small. I also just got finished working at a conference that was the brainchild of my departments director and we did most of the work on. Even though I am the peon in the office, I did have some input and contributed to this conference and it turned out great. We had over 200 union leaders from 83 countries, and got some good press coverage in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Sun. It was fun and rewarding to see a huge event like this come together. If you are interested here is the article from the post.
• My testimony. This is the last point I will expound on, but certainly not the least important. I read a lot of the articles on Romney's candidacy and I find it really interesting. Of course I, like most fellow Mormons, am somewhat sensitive to what is being said. My religion is what identifies me more than any other characteristic that I have. I identify with my religion even more than I identify with my nationality. And when taken out of context a lot of the criticisms that are made do make mormons sound a little crazy. But all I have to do is open the scriptures, pour my heart out in prayer, or visit the temple to again feel peace and comfort and know that indeed my Savior is Jesus Christ. When Brian gave his welcome home talk in Sacrament meeting he reviewed the "first discussion" and I cannot hear the account of the first vision without being touched by the spirit, which reminds me that he is a true prophet. I am grateful for my testimony and for the direction and purpose it gives my life.
  

mmmmmmmmmmmm

Yesterday I was feeling a little sick at work. I really did have a little cold and the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet had done a number on my stomach the night before. So I dogged out a little early and went home to make one of my favorite treats. Pumpkin bread. I recently found a recipe that is really good and is copying Great Harvest Pumpkin Bread. Which is my absolute favorite thing. In High School Natalie worked at Great Harvest and she would occasionally bring the day old bread to my house, I became addicted. There is a Great Harvest in Arlington Virginia. I was surprised thinking it was only a Utah thing, but I have never made it there on the day when they sell the pumpkin bread. So thanks to the world wide web I was able to duplicate the recipe. And creating this divine bread yourself makes it even more satisfying (which I never thought was possible).
So I want to share this recipe with all of you. It was the perfect food for a rainy November afternoon in.

GREAT HARVEST PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
16 oz cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2/3 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two (9x5 inch) loaf pans or three (8x4 inch) loaf pans.

Mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside.

Mix pumpkin, oil, eggs, and 2/3 cup water together and stir into dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter in prepared pans.

Bake 60 or 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

A New England and Amish Autumn

After a hot dry summer the last two weekends have actually felt like fall. The leaves are changing, the weather is perfect (light jacket weather), and it's been raining on and off. Last weekend a group of us left DC for Boston to visit our good friend Suzy. She lived in DC, but moved to Boston in the spring to work on the Mitt Romney campaign. We only had two days, but we really packed it in.

Highlights:

• We went on a duck tour where you ride on an authentic amphibious WWII landing vehicle. And let me tell, I was that cheesy tourist that I get so annoyed by in DC, and I loved every minute of it. Our guide called himself "Sergeant Meatball" and made us yell "quack quack!" whenever we saw people walking on the street, he probably weighed 300 pounds and was wearing a hula skirt and a hawaiian shirt.
  
• Canoli in Little Italy
• Street Performers downtown. I especially loved the breakdancers.
• Our VIP tour of Mitt's headquarters.
• Cuddling with all the roommates + Odie in Suzy's bed.
• We went to the Head of the Charles. A crew rowing race where colleges come from all over the country to compete. It's really close to Harvard campus and we wandered over to watch a little bit of a Princeton vs. Harvard football game. And let me tell you the Princeton band's outfits were something else.
• 
• We watched part of the Red Sox semifinals verses the Cleveland Indians in a sports bar in Harvard Square.

I spent this weekend in Amish Country, Lancaster Pennsylvania. A group of us went to ride what has become a tradition here in DC. Dutch Bike Dutch. We did a forty mile ride and it was beautiful. It had rained for three days straight. And stopped right as we began our ride Saturday morning. We were fully prepared with rain gear, but didn't end up needing it. We crossed wooden bridges, saw amish children and buggies, llamas, and pumpkin patches.
Pictures from this will have to be forthcoming, I didn't do the best job of documenting this trip.

Oh mother nature

You may think that this moose is just a sweet and innocent animal wandering through the mountains looking for food and family. That may be your impression now, but when he is staring you down from ten feet away he will make you want to wet your pants. On my trip to Utah last weekend Des and I went biking in American Fork canyon. We had been going for no longer than five minutes when I slammed on my brakes because directly in front of me on the path was this moose. I know, the picture isn't as impressive from fifty feet away. But it's the best I could do because I was so scared and didn't want to do anything that would startle it when it was close. Des and I really aren't up to par on our wilderness survival skills and so when we both realized we had no idea what to do, retreat, play dead, climb a tree....we decided to do the only thing we did know how to do. After our friend Bullwinkle took a few more steps towards us we decided to pray. And of course no sooner had we started praying that the moose turned away from us and got off our bike path and walked around us. My testimony grew, the crisis was averted, and the bike ride was spectacular.