In The East

Andy and I went to Virginia last week to check things out, meet the Andy's new co-workers and boss, look at some cities where we might want to live, did a little sightseeing, and I relaxed while Andy worked.

Virginia is absolutely beautiful. I loved it there. It rained a little bit and it was so weird. It's not like raindrops, it's like mist. It was cool. The landscape was gorgeous, people were so friendly and nice, and I really like Andy's boss and the people I met that he'll be working with. The first day Andy just worked and met a lot of contacts while I hung around and did whatever. We went sightseeing one day- we didn't see much because we figured we'd be back soon enough. It was weird to go into the city- it was like a different world. Suits and briefcases everywhere- I felt out of place, especially since the 3 guys I was with were wearing suits :) We spent a lot of time in the Capitol building because that is where the company Andy works for does a lot of their work. We got a behind the scenes tour and we were able to get into a lot of places that regular people don't get to see. We saw tons of political celebrities (John Mccain, Nancy Pelosi, Senator Kennedy (not the dead one- his son I think :), Senator Judd Gregg (who was so nice and talked to us for a minute- later that night we saw him on TV- kinda surreal). It was amazing. I felt like I was in a movie. Right before we made our way into the Capitol, we noticed all of the streets were closed down and there were about 20 black, dark suburbans and a huge entourage at the front of the building. We also noticed snipers all around the roof of the building. Andy's co-worker noted that some bigwig was there. Later we found out that it was President Obama and I didn't actually see him but we got within about 40 feet of him. It was crazy. I'm not a fan of him, but it was still pretty cool anyway. Our tour guide (Andy's coworker) was awesome and he knew so many things. It was such a cool, fun, informative day and I learned a ton.

We also had a free day and we chose to go to the D.C. temple. It is so beautiful, and huge. It was so quiet inside and hardly anyone was there. I loved it- it is one of my favorite temples now. There was this gorgeous picture inside of Wilford Woodruff surrounded by George Washington and many of the Founding Fathers of our Country. There was a plaque telling the story of Pres. Woodruff in the Manti temple and two nights in a row these gentlemen appeared to him and told him they wanted their temple work done and until it was they wouldn't let him alone. He had it done the next day. It was an incredible story. I noticed myself feeling the spirit several times throughout our sightseeing day and I realized it is because I was so grateful for these incredible men who founded our nation and for all of the amazing things they did. I am so proud to be an American and live in this wonderful, beautiful country. Now- if only the boneheads running it currently would stop screwing things up, we'd be good.

After the temple we cruised around different cities, neighborhoods, etc. and looked at houses and places we would want to live. I really like Fredericksburg but Manassas is great also. They are about 1-1 1/2 hours from D.C. so Andy will have quite a commute. Luckily he can work from home unless he has a business meeting or something.

All in all, it was a great trip. I really enjoyed myself, but I think I gained about 10 pounds. Andy's boss is so nice and he took us out for almost every meal. One of the places we went to eat was a restaraunt of a guy who was on Top Chef and he won 2nd place on the show. It was a hamburger joint, but seriously- the best burger I've ever had in my life.

I was so thankful for my brother and sis-in-law who were watching my kids. Baron was sick the first couple days, they had one day in the middle where no one was sick, and then Daphne was sick the last two days. I owe them big time.

The beautiful Washinton D.C. temple

White House

Wahington Monument

The Capitol Building

This is the center dome in the Capitol. It was so high up and the paintings in there are breathtaking

This is on the upper balcony of the front of the Capitol- the view.... amazing


The Hall of Statues- one of the things I learned was that in the Capitol, every state is allowed 2 statues of instrumental people to be displayed. They have to be either brass or marble. They are all over the whole Capitol building, but in this one room there are a ton. Utah has Brigham Young and another guy (I forget his name) who invented TV.

Me and Brigham :)

The Capitol is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in

This tub is original to the Capitol. It is now in a mechanical room, but it used to be a bathhouse. It was used for political people to wash in after they would ride their horses in and be dusty and dirty from riding. A lot of famous and influential people sat their behinds right where Andy is sitting ;)

Lady Liberty

The snipers on top of the Capitol building


The Justice Building

Union Station where we took the metro several times

We had a fun trip and I'm actually looking forward to going back :)