NYC Baby

So this weekend I spent exactly 24 hours in New York City, and I had a great time. It's funny comparing road trips in DC to Utah. Instead driving four hours to end up in the red rock heaven of Moab or charming quaint Jackson Hole we have Philly that's two hours away, New York is four hours and Boston is eight. It's a different kind of escape and the adventure always brings the unexpected. For instance on this New York trip we were in China town looking at knock off purses. My roommate Staci (in the middle in the above picture) wanted a particular bag that you had to go a hidden room in a warehouse to see. So we followed this women three blocks away into an alley and through a huge metal door. We climbed four flights of stairs and when she opened the door I was shocked to see about thirty Asian men and women at sewing machines with fabric everywhere working at creating these designer knockoffs for the tourists. I felt like I had stepped back in time about fifty years, or at least crossed the border to a different country.

On our whirlwind tour of New York we visited Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhatten Temple, and Times Square. We also helped my roommate Staci prepare for the annual "Wheeler Party" that her and her brothers host. There were probably around 200 Young Single Adults from the area who came to their Hawaiian themed party, however I was exhausted and really not in the mood to make small talk with a bunch of people that I probably would never see again so I went and took a nap for about an hour and a half, then woke up in time to dance for about a half hour before the party died down. New York is an amazing city, but I was just reminded of how I really don't ever want to live there, when we came back to DC it seemed so small, clean, and familiar. Home.

My latest obsessions....

Okay, so I'm at a loss for what to write, but feel like I should write something here at least weekly. So here are a few books I'm reading, songs I'm listening to, websites I'm digging, hobbies I'm cultivating etc.
So yesterday my roommate Leanna was so excited to show me this website she has found www.bfro.net look it up and you'll understand. It's a website run by the scientific research organization dedicated to exploring the bigfoot/sasquatch mystery. Folks this is no joke. It's actually a girl in our ward who's brother runs the site. Anyways they have bigfoot expeditions all around the country where you spend the weekend in a place that has had numerous bigfoot sightings. Conveniently there is an expedition in South Carolina on November 8...I'm really pushing to head there for my birthday next year, can you think of a better way to spend 26? Me neither.

So here is a playlist of some songs that I'm listening to, anyone who knows me knows that I love finding new bands and sharing my discoveries so here goes:
Concrete Seconds - Pinback
Shiver - Chris Velan
In the morning - Junior Boys
Concerning the UFO sighting near Highland, Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
Decatur, Or round of applause for your stepmother! - Sufjan Stevens
Come and find me - Josh Ritter
Big Sur - The Thrills
El Salvador - Athlete
Wake up - The Arcade Fire
Baby Boy - Beyonce
Its Too Late - Evermore
Saint Simon - The Shins
Skeleton Jar - Youth Group
Nothings Gonna Change Your Mind - Badly Drawn Boy
A House Is Not A Home - Field Music
Be Without You - Mary J. Blige
July, July! - The Decembrists
Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs

I have self diagnosed ADD when it comes to finishing books...I am currently in the middle of two (but that's only counting those I've picked up in the last two weeks) They are "A Long Way Home" which is a really sad, graphic, but interesting autobiography of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. I'm only half way through, but it has totally changed my perspective on war and what it does to people. Especially seeing it through the eyes of a child and how you can become so totally hardened. There are constant reminders of the evil that exists in the world as was evidenced this week by the shooting this week at Virginia Tech. The other book is not as fast of reading, but is very interesting. "The Omnivore's Dilemma" which talks about the evolution of the human diet and how far we have come from eating actualy "food" I can't give too much commentary though because I'm only about twenty pages in.

A very happy Easter

Nothing says a perfect Easter weekend like an egg hunt with a group of people in their mid twenties to early thirties, a trip to West Virginia to watch horse races and eat at a buffet, a rocking birthday party for my roommate Leanna, and a job that gives me holidays that I don't even really know how to celebrate (Good Friday) off from work.

Since I am a self-proclaimed novice in the world of blogging I don't know how to put captions on pictures....so starting top to bottom we have our favorite horse "splendid frolic" brining home the money, my beautiful roommates at rock & roll bowl, Leanna showing off her precious golden egg to Courtney, and Sarah and I enjoying watching all the "kids" hunt after playing Easter bunny.
p.s. can someone please help me figure out to layout a page....s.o.s. I'm self-conscious enough at times about having a blog...

Apparently the national cherry blossom festival is a big deal. I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of it until I moved here, and even then I didn’t fully comprehend. Well this weekend I understood. The Japanese donated 3,020 cherry trees to our nation in 1912. They have been planted around our national monuments in Washington D.C. and it is truly spectacular. The trees surround a reflecting pool that lies between the Jefferson and Washington monuments. Yesterday my roommate Sarah and a few other choice souls (a 6 a.m. departure time for a bike ride is a great weeder to find the truly hard core) packed a crepe breakfast and headed to the monuments for a pre work picnic at the cherry blossoms. It was incredible, I think our friend Cristy put it best when she said we were privileged to see “dawn’s rosy fingers trail across the blooming sky.”

I finally caved.....

Welcome self to the world of blogging and welcome to all you who care enough about me to actually read this. After a bit of prodding, but mostly because I really enjoy reading others blogs and keeping in touch with those who I really wish I could actually talk to more frequently, I decided to join the world of the bloggers. It’s less intrusive to all of you than sending out mass emails and not as overwhelming as getting a myspace account. So blogs away.