A few summer requirements achieved

I realize it's been almost a month since I updated, and this is not due to a lack of inspiration, but to the priority that I've placed on blogging. But I've committed to do a mini update tonight of what has been consuming the month of July, which includes a few requisite summer activities listed below.

1. Summer Reading
I'm obsessed with this book that I'm reading Three Cups of Tea if you've talked to me in the last few weeks chances are that I've brought it up. It's a truly inspirational story of former climber Greg Mortensen who recovers from a failed attempt at climbing K2 in a small village in Pakistan and vows to return and build a school there after he sees the longing for the children there to receive an education and the inability of the government to provide it to them. It is a story that I think anyone who has traveled to a developing country can relate to as you visit for a short period of time and I think in our most idealistic moments we all make promises or at least think to ourselves how much we would love to come back and try to do or create something for this community that has taught us so much. Greg Mortsensen is someone who did this and more. Nicholas Kristof wrote this article in the New York Times that acurately portrays what I think our approach to foreign policy and national security should focus more heavily on, building schools instead of bombs as he says.

2. Gardening
What started as an herb garden earlier this spring become much more a few weeks ago. I had a friend introduce me to the concept of square foot gardening, then we held a workshop where we had a girl who had taught square foot gardening on her mission teach us about gardening and composting. I was fascinated and the thought of becoming a little more self sufficient and watching something grow was very appealing. Setting up the garden really wasn't that much work or that expensive. And here are some pictures of my garden after three weeks. I'm hoping that it continues to grow and produces despite my late start. I am growing tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, cucumbers, beans, lettuce, carrots, basil, rosemary, squash and zuccini. If any of you have minimal time and space for a garden I strongly recommend this method. Email me or do your research on the internet, there is a lot of information available.
3. Road Trips
Definitely an essential part of any summer and this summer has been no exception. I spent this weekend in Cincinnati, and thanks to the Jensen's and their hospitality and letting us take advantage of their "all inclusive suburban resort" we had a weekend that struck just the right balance of relaxation and fun.


Amber's family didn't seem to mind that at least one of the guys that went with us was trying to mold his tastes in baseball and music. There was also second cousin uncle Dan and Andy competing with Joe to be the competing to be the new favorite.

Cooling off after a morning of tennis and preparing for the first decathlon event, a race across the pool on inflated mattresses.

First and second row seats directly behind home plate with the diamond club. That's just the way we roll. I was agog I was aghast when we walked in an they handed us a gift bag, told us there was a gourmet all you can eat buffet, followed by full service during the game. Hot dogs, slushees, peanuts, nachos, ice cream and any other ball park fare on demand and included with the ticket. Diva Dan even wanted a Red's hat and so one of the workers brought him hats of varying sizes for him to choose from. I called my parents and had them turn on the game and they were able to see us on tv, my mom said she has never been more proud of me, I don't know if that's something that I should be proud of.

The game was great, and the reds won and don't you worry as if the best seats in the house, great company and perfect weather weren't enough. They had a softball home run derby after the game followed by one of the best fireworks shows I've ever seen.

Saturday we went to King's Island, conquered the beast, ate skyline chili and had a hot dog-off. Who won is subjective and controversial, like most offs that have happened this summer. If you could the number of hot dogs that would be Joe, but if you think most food should win that would be Dan. That night we saw The Dark Night, which I'm sure everyone has or will see. It was incredible. We spent Sunday afternoon in Columbus Ohio and met up with my roommates Stephanie and Erika and our friend Kristie. Steph is from Columbus and it was definitely a treat to meet the Sonksen's and Stephanie's mom is incredibly kind and entertaining, just like her daughter.

I am recommitting myself to better document the rest of the summer and catch up on a few of the events that I didn't get to in this post.

Life Plan

Every couple of months I tend to come up with a new life plan. The plan usually involves me quitting my job in the next 3-6 months and traveling to some exotic location. Then I find a reason to not do that and 3-6 months later I make the same plan. I've realized there is a pattern here and this has been going on for at least a year and a half. Hmmmmm.

In the meantime I entertain myself by thinking of funny (in my head) captions to go along with pictures like this one. Please caption away.

The art of losing

Anyone who knew me when I was attending BYU knows that I always joked that I was best friends with the students that worked in the lost and found. If I would lose something as insignificant as a folder or as significant as a credit card or a cell phones, without a doubt I would head to the basement of the wilk, ring the bell and a friendly zoobie would return my property to me. It became a running joke with my roommates about my bestfriendship with the lost and found.
So one might think that once I moved away from Happy Valley to Washington D.C. that my luck wouldn't follow me. That assumption couldn't be further from the truth. I remember the first month I moved out here twice I was walking downtown on my lunch break and somehow my credit card fell out of my pocket or purse and onto the sidewalk. And both times I had on my headphones and was chased down by some good Samaritan who returned it to me.
Since those first few incidents, I have been more careful, but on multiple occasions I have left my ipod in the gym locker room at work and it was always returned to me. But this last month has been particularly difficult for me to keep track of my stuff. However, to date I have only lost what was stolen from me in Costa Rica. I have left the following items:

• In New York I left my credit card at the register and it was kindly returned to me
• In another restaurant in New York I left my camera on the table after we left and the waiter chased us down
• I dropped some tickets from my purse in the metro station and some lady chased me down and ran up the escalator to return them to me
• Last week there was a banging on our door at 11:30 pm and Jeanette answered it and it was someone in our neighborhood returning my wallet that had been lying in the road for a couple of hours

My favorite DC story actually happened last year. I was going to "the melrose" to visit some friends and watch the office when I tripped and fell pretty bad on the sidewalk. All my belongings went flying and I thought I had gathered everything. However, as I was being bandaged up by Doctor Tina there was a knock on the door and some lady was there and she was returning my wallet. How did she know where to find me in a large apartment complex? My BYU ID, she knew Mormons lived where I was and assumed I was there.

Brilliant. I may lose a lot of things, but they always come back to me. And BYU, I thank you for that.

NYC

This past weekend I went to New York City to spend time with my friend Jen who I had met on a bike trip the previous month. It was so great to meet her because I had heard a lot about her, been compared to her and I already knew we had a lot in common. Although I'll admit I had no idea what a connection we would have. She's amazing, but if I feel like if I say too many great things about her, I will sound narcissistic, since essentially we're the same person. But we had an amazing trip and I'm so glad I was able to spend some quality time with her before she moves to the West Coast.


Here I am with Jen and Lisa at lunch after our initial meeting and bike ride in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I think it was right about now that we decided we had to go up to New York before Jen moved to San Diego. Unfortunately Lisa had a work emergency and wasn't able to join us in NYC. I'm still in mourning. Nevertheless, I went, and I'm so glad I did. This was my fifth trip to New York, but definitely my favorite. This was the first time I had gone specifically to visit a friend who lived there and seeing New York with a local is the only way to do it.

Highlights from the trip:

• People watching outside of Penn Station and seeing such treats as a very pregnant woman who was wearing a shirt that said "I'm single" on the front and "Call me" on the back
• Walking back to Jen's apartment in Harlem at 1:30 in the morning after grocery shopping and seeing police tape blocking off a large area and seeing a helicopter overhead with a huge spotlight patrolling the area. I ask "Was someone murdered?" Jen responds very casually "Yea, probably."

• Biking almost the entire perimeter of Manhattan. Although at times I feared for my life dodging cars, and had to bike in weather that was 94 degrees and very humid (after I wiped my face on my sleeve there was black exhaust covering my shirt sleeve). It was still exhilarating and I think the best way to see the city, we biked along the Hudson, through Battery Park, up Fifth Avenue and through Central Park. Here we are right next to the Stock Exchange on Wall Street.

• Front row tickets to the Broadway show Curtains starring David Hyde Pierce who we found strangely attractive.
  

• Eating this truly decadent dessert at Max Brenner Chocolate by the Bald Man and catching up with old friends living in New York. Jane a good friend since elementary school and Julie who I met in D.C. and recently moved to NYC for grad school.

• Sleeping out on the roof of Jen's apartment
• A random picnic in the primary room after church and an exercise where the boys in town for summer gave Jen their security sales pitch and she tried to convince them to vote for Obama.
  
• Waking up to a brunch Sunday morning that Jen had made of corn pancakes with strawberries and yogurt.

• This is as close as it gets to the beach in Manhattan. It was close to 100 degrees that day and anytime we saw even a tiny piece of grass there were people laying out. Hilarious.

Here are some other noteworthy recent events that I won't dedicate an entire post to.
Bowling at the White House. Strike. And I do have two fully functioning arms, even though this picture would indicate otherwise.
Mormon night at the Death Cab for Cutie Concert. We smuggled in KFC and Bobby hid his chicken snacker under his hat.
Another sign that Jen and I were destined to be friends. She would do yoga with me in the parking lot after biking in Pennsylvania.
Dutch Bike Dutch. This was the second time I attended this event that has become a D.C. favorite. A great activity no matter how avid of a biker you are. We drive up to Amish country and bike through the rural countryside. And I just have a bond with bikers, here are more instant best friends, Lisa and Tyler. And yes I know right now the song "primary colors are one, two, three" is going through your head right now.

Costa Rica in short

Yes we were robbed
No there were no weapons, my friend told me that if I wanted to be technical I need to say burglarized, but all I can think about when I hear the word burglar is the image of the McDonald's Hamburglar
Yes we came home early
No I didn't swim in the ocean while we were there
Yes I did laugh so hard I cried and my stomach was sore the next day
No I didn't find my one and only, but Courtney did
Yes after we were robbed one of our few possessions was three full decks of cards to play nertz with at night
No we didn't have an oven in the hostel, but that didn't stop us from making delicious brownies in the microwave
Yes we did find a disgusting monster of a crab in one of the rooms we stayed in. I think crabs are my least favorite animal.
No it did not escape alive
Yes we did fly over a tropical storm on our way home. The plane had some major bumps, people on the plane screamed, the scene from the plane going down on lost flew threw my head
No I didn't need to worry, we were flying on the premiere airline based in El Salvador: Taca.

Needless to say the trip was not all that we expected, but what I did expect was to have a great time traveling with two of my dearest friends from D.C. Sarah and Courtney. That made everything worth it and we were able to laugh and joke the entire time despite a few setbacks. And we had one unforgettable day in La Fortuna that included a horseback ride galloping through the rainforest at the base of a volcano and around a beautiful lake with our Tico caballero Jonathen who would pick flowers to put in our hair. Drinking Pina Coladas served in a pinapple from a bar that had seats in the pool, a zip-line canopy tour, soaking in thermal hot springs, and a dinner where I have laughed more hard than I have in months.

Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!
The small joys of traveling. The volcano in the background was expected. The delicious watermelon we enjoyed while watching a group of local teenagers perform capoiera in the park wasn't.

We joked about how in all of our pictures we were either wet from the rain or pool or else eating.

The horseback ride a relaxing afternoon at a beautiful water park were both parts of what was truly one of the best days of my life.The crab hunt. See how resourceful we are using a mirror to spot him hanging upside down under the armoire and nudge him out with a giant tropical leaf.

These are the crocodiles we were looking at when the heinous crime occurred. They might look like floating logs and you think I'm just saying they are crocodiles to make myself look not as stupid. The belongings we were left with. About ten magazines. some wet ones, three decks of cards, one Book of Mormon, two ipods, granola bars, some wet wipes and three decks of cards.

Life Lessons

Today I had an experience with a homeless man that touched me profoundly. I am not sharing this story to boast or say what a great person that I am. In fact, daily I walk by panhandlers and beggers and don't even notice or even become annoyed at their persistence in asking for a handout. I have found plenty of reasons to justify not following King Benjamin's council to "succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish". However, today something happened reawakened my idealism and reminded me of the inequality that exists in our society today.

I was walking through Lafayette Park on my way to lunch when I saw an older man rummaging through the garbage. For those of you not in D.C. this park is right along the back side of the White House. It is beautiful and well-maintained and full of security so it seemed a little out of place. Then I noticed that he was taking leftover soup from bowls in the trash can and pouring them into a cup that he was holding. I could not bear to watch this. I opened my wallet and I only had a ten and a twenty. I walked over and offered him the ten dollars and he shook his head no. I asked him why and he asked if I had a dollar bill. I told him I didn't this was all that I had. He held out his hand, and I assumed that he wanted the money, but he wouldn't take it. Instead he took my hand and kissed it. I didn't know what to do, I felt tears coming and I walked quickly across the street to potbelly's. I wanted to buy him a sandwich and get change for my ten. However, by the time that I had returned he was gone and I walked around the park, but was disappointed that I couldn't find him.

I know that there are no easy answers to these kind of problems. I was reminded of an experience last year when I was meeting up with some friends for lunch and as my friend Staci was walking to meet us she ran into a good friend and neighbor from high school asking for money on the street. He was homeless and had been living on the streets of D.C. for a few months. Obviously we all wanted to help him and Staci used all her resources and connections to find him a job and housing and reconnect him with his family. However, he wouldn't accept the help and he was mentally ill, it was really difficult to know what to do to help. Until all of us became disillusioned and decided you can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves.

These problems are difficult and they have been addressed for years by politicians, activists, non profits and religious groups. There are no easy answers. I studied international relations as an undergraduate and used to really want to work in international development. Now my view has turned more inward as I have realized that there is so much that needs to be done in my own community where I can be more effective. But I ask you, where and how do you feel that you can or have made the most difference in your life?

Final(ly)

I know I haven't updated for awhile. But let's face it, I'm in finals, and my family came and visited a few weeks ago, which I will have to dedicate a post to as soon as I'm finished. I'm almost done and today, to get me excited for summer, I made a list of projects to begin next week while I'm at work with all my free time when the semester is over.

• Make a list of summer concerts I want to attend and invite interested friends
• Research a triathlon for August or September
• Plan a weekend beach trip to Rehoboth in June
• Plan my Costa Rica trip with Sarah and Courtney at the end of May
• Plan a Brazil foreign film night/screen on the green
• Research tennis tournaments
• Sign up to be on the event mailings and lunch seminars for think tanks and non profits close to work
• Expand my group project on greening Baltimore’s fleet and work with the city to present it
• Create a VA biking group
• Create an environmental group that looks at the issue from an LDS perspective

And although I'm not going to give the Corry's trip to D.C. the full post it deserves (now), I do have to give a shout out to my Mom. It was her birthday on Monday and although it's cliche she really is the most amazing woman I know. Even though she screened my phone call last night because I called during American Idol. I still love her.

She is the kind of person that puts everyone else's needs and wants before her own, in fact she always put our wants before her needs. She would pull all nighters with me working on school projects, be my partner in crime for party planning, invite me on bike or ski trips with her fun friends, plant tulip bulbs in the neighbors yards at 6:00 a.m. before anyone in the neighborhood woke up, she still sends me packages just for fun, and she helped found the "shadowlight foundation" which has brought Christmas to hundreds of families. Pretty much whenever I call her she's taking someone to a doctor's appointment, visiting, helping my sister with her horses, or doing genealogy. She's seriously an angel, my inspiration and I love her so much.

Here's Steph and my parents just hanging out in Dubya's rose garden.