Gladiator woman

I would feel cute - and able to hold my own - in any of these shoes. Which ones would you buy?

A great week

The day after my little brother left on his Mormon mission to Philadelphia, I cried in front of my editor and lost my appetite completely. I had never felt that blue before and have not since.

So seeing Al (he was technically still Elder Maughan) for the first time in two years was so great. He's not so different and seemed a little more mature (only a little, though, Al).

We traveled up to meet him and my parents, who flew out to pick him up. We had so much fun seeing the good and the really bad of Philly, meeting some of the awesome people he taught and served, eating fabulous food and touring a little bit around D.C. with my fam. Don't tell Mrs. Obray from my AP United States History class, but I really didn't know what the Liberty Bell was when I went to visit it. I did pass my AP history test though, so there.
Here is a completely abandoned building with graffiti all over it. The letters on the side said, "bone thugs 4ever" (wink, wink to those who saw it). I took this photo to show how most of the area in Philadelphia in which my brother served, looked. Unfortunately, I didn't get more photos of some of the places we went. At one point I was sure we weren't in the U.S. anymore, but in a third-world country across the ocean. I have never seen anything like it. Apparently Philly is surrounded on all sides by miles of slums. In Al's apartment building, the elder before him found a murdered body in the elevator and another elder saw a murdered body being wheeled down the hallway. Surprisingly, Al was never mugged (most elders he knew were) and he said he was never scared (Apparently he picked up lying on his mission; he also said walking around in high-90-degree heat plus 100 percent humidity in his church clothes didn't bother him).
The Smurf car my parents rented and the amazing city hall in the distance.
Against my brothers' wishes, we went to Geno's cheese steaks while he and my parents visited an elder in the hospital. I guess the cheese steaks at Geno's are not up to par with Al's tastebuds, though it is a tourist favorite (trap, as Al calls it). We think the food would have been good had we been able to taste it. Unfortunately, we put some of the hot sauce on it and couldn't feel or taste anything for the rest of the night.

All you need is LOVE... and a fat policeman in your photo.
I'm not even sure what river this is, but the Philadelphia Museum of Art (think Rocky steps) is behind us.
Looking down on the museum from the top of city hall in Philadelphia.

Feeling the brotherly love in the city of brotherly love. Don't be alarmed by the orange fuzzy thing on the left-hand side of my photo. Most of my childhood photos have my mom's fingers in them. ;)
Al's favorite Philly cheese steak. It was delicious. And it was in Delaware.
Ryan in a rare moment of reflection.
Where to get Al's favorite Philly cheese steak sandwich.
We went to Ocean City en route to Salisbury, Md., another place where Al taught the gospel.
My favorite thing about Ocean City was a new (to me, at least) treat called "water ice" (pronounced "wataeyes."). To my relief, there is a water ice joint in Alexandria!My 'rents at Mount Vernon.Fam at Mount Vernon.
Ryan played in a basketball tournament in downtown Washington Saturday and we went and watched a couple of games. His team ended up finishing in the top twelve (there were around 96? teams) but the tournament was canceled when it started to rain. We are sure his Crystal City Ward team would have taken the tourney! lol.
I have a new appreciation for sports photographers. I couldn't get a photo with both Ryan and the ball in it.
If you look really hard, you can see Ryan dribbling the ball.Pulling Ethan faces at the National Cathedral.Sitting in the Bishop's Garden at the National Cathedral.
A black squirrel. Very rare. I know, it looks brown in the photo. It's black though, I promise.
Aren't we just soooo cute?
My mom is hoping to have her backyard look like the Bishop's Garden by some time next year.
Ethan and Uncle Rob.Al at the World War II Memorial. This is right before my camera battery died. I'm sure you are all devastated that you won't see any more photos of my awesome week. ;-)

Thanks Mom and Dad, for the awesome trip and for visiting us way out here. Thanks for waiting to go home Al, so you could hang with us for a few days! We love you and are so proud of you!

Four years

Surprise cupcakes

As per Raelynn's request, here is my favorite cupcake recipe:

Mix and set aside:
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 c. sugar
a pinch of salt
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a separate bowl, make a devil's food cake mix according to instructions on the box (I know, that's cheating).

In cupcake cups:
Fill half full with cake batter
Spoon 1/2 T. of cream cheese filling on top of cake batter
Cover the filling with more batter

Bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes.

Cool and then frost with this:

Mix:
1 8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar

Not really sure what to title this one

My aunt Susan and her darling family visited Washington this week and we got to hang out with them! The kids kept Ethan's attention and pushed his stroller the whole time, so I had such a great time visiting with Sus! It was so fun to see them!

Ethan and I decided to bail out of touring with them early Friday and go home and take a nap. We stopped at the corner of 15th street and Constitution because police officers were blocking the intersection. Then, after several motorcycles and black SUVs drove through, I noticed the flags - one American, one presidential seal - on two large black cars and realized it was the president en route to the White House. As the second car slowed around my corner, I saw President Bush in the back. Though the windows were tinted, I could tell he was looking at me (also because there was no one else in my vicinity). And then he waved. Then I waved. We totally shared a moment! ;-)

I know people who loathe George W. Bush and I know people who adore the guy. I'd have to say I'm somewhere in the middle (I know, what a stance to take, huh?) of those two positions. And I know some of you fellow bloggers see him all the time, so this is nothing to you. But it was pretty awesome for me to see that controversial man so close up.

Uprooted

While I was shopping at Costco today, Ryan called to ask how the weather looked. He was considering hitting some range balls after work.

"It's sunny," I assured him.

I walked out of Costco to clapping thunder and pouring rain. Ryan called to tell me that the power was out at work and all he could see out of the windows of his high-rise office building were black clouds.

Then I happened upon this:




This sizable tree is about 100 yards away from our apartment.

And now we are under a "tornado watch." I've been watching and there is hardly a breeze right now so I'm not too worried.

I'm expecting...

... to get some pool passes soon! ;)

Apparently we were not denied pool privileges because of my tirade regarding pool rules - or because no one wants to see me in a swimsuit (though I wouldn't blame them if that was the case). It seems that my landlady's condo fee didn't go through last month. She assured me all is taken care of now.

If you are confused by this post, read the last part of the previous post.