Can you take a picture of us=We want the historical piece in the picture

Greetings from Washington DC!

I arrived to DC safely, obviously, and after a mishap at the airport involving a broken handle on my third piece of luggage and only 2 hands, I made it up 5 escalators to my apartment (with the big help of a tough old black man) as well. Here is a sneak peek at my apartment and its view:

You can't really see it here but past the circus tent thing is the Pentagon.

I can't believe it hasn't even been a week. I love it here, and I love my roommates but for some reason days seem so long! I have already seen the White House (not inside), the Washington Monument from afar, the Treasury (not inside), the Holocaust Museum (amazing), the Jefferson Memorial, and the Pentagon Memorial. I don't have a lot of time to elaborate on the events at the moment, but I am going to try and be better at this so I will have more time to explain. For now, I will post some pictures and let your imaginations fill in the gaps.

Me, Chanel, Leigh, and Jamie at the White House

Costco is in walking distance, but our only solution to get the groceries back to our apartment was to steal the cart. This is us taking the cart through our classy lobby. We then left the cart in front of our fellow student teachers' apartment with a sign that said "Take that suckas!" haha We have fun.

My internet is being retarded and I realized I haven't uploaded my pictures of the Pentagon Memorial from my camera yet so I'll have to finish this later. The Pentagon memorial is so beautiful and peaceful, though, that I'll have to do it justice. Anyway, I have to go to bed because I have my first day of observing tomorrow. I'm assigned to Woodrow Wilson High School which is a more diverse school. I spent a long time getting a tour today and the atmosphere is everything that I have wanted. I'm not sure which teacher I will be with yet but it is looking like a teacher with 12th grade...I'll know more tomorrow. I'll leave you with a funny quote from a lady that was in the elevator with 11 of us the other day. "Ohhhhh, we gon crash!!!"

DC or Bust (Bust not an option)

This is my new bland wardrobe. Teacher style, baby. No, actually I do have some color in there and I will be stylin' but I have never bought so much brown, black, grey in such a short amount of time. I have never bought so many clothes, period, in such a short amount of time. Anyway, I leave for DC in the morning, and I should really be asleep but...whatever. I'm excited. A lot of unknown awaits. I am going to miss the familiar and comfortable of Utah though. Especially the people! Including these guys:

And this little booger. (Don't ask me what she's doing here):

And this dude. I hope, when I come back, he still laughs at me when I sing "I love it when you call me big papa, throw ya hands in air..."

And...well, everyone! I have it pretty good here, but I guess you've got to test yourself and grow at some point, right? I plan on updating often on here; I'm sure I'll have lots of awesome pictures and stories.

So...talk to you soon! I love you all.

we'll still be singing this song, the one they can't take away

I connect to this song in so many ways, the message is strong and I think the video is adorable:

Closer to Love by Mat Kearney

Have I ever mentioned that one of my dreams is to learn how to play the drums? I could totally be the drummer chick in this video.

How do you make Lady Ga Ga cry?...Poke Her Face

A few opinions I have formed or facts I have found out in the last few weeks:

Fireworks should go off every night. It's a good feeling to see them explode in the distance as you drive down the road.

85% of customers don't think through their problem logically before they call in to complain. Also, 90% believe in shooting the messenger.

Plan on spending more money than you planned on spending.

Don't watch a hotdog or sausage be made.

I am a country soul. Landscape, starry sky, no traffic. But I can thrive in the city too. Opportuniy, events, high heels.

There is NEVER enough time.

People who cry over losing their dog are NOT silly. At all.

You can have a happy life, it's all up to you. Change your outlook, your focus, your why. Take control.

Let it all out with a funky coat of nail polish or funky dance move. You really are 18 inside.

"Don't hang up till you're smiling. Light up the dark little star keep on shining and leave your mark on the world, it's all aligning." Light Up the Dark by Lucy Walsh

What is your why?

It's an amazing experience to have a 2 and a half hour meeting at work and to walk away feeling more inspired than you have in a long time. Now, I work at a satellite company. Satellite in itself is not inspiring; I mean, really, my purpose in life is not to make sure that people are paying less for better tv. Strangely enough though, this summer job that has me taking DISH and DTV orders and talking to angry customers into all hours of the night has made me think about business and the individual with not a new but fresher perspective on a few things.

Groove's purpose of business is to instill self-confidence in their employees and their customers so they can be more prepared in their daily lives. Selling satellite systems are only the medium in which they choose to make this point.

At the meeting on Thursday we had Simon Sinek talk to us. He has been helping out the company for a while because he is a business consultant of sorts and believes in Groove's cause. He said that successful businesses know their why. Why are they in business? (To get money doesn't count because money is only a result) Anyway, people will be naturally attracted to companies, friends, etc that have similar whys. Yes, individuals have whys too.

Why do you do what you do? Why are you here? Simon's "why" is to inspire others to find inspiration in their own life. I haven't quite pinned down my own "why" but I think it is something along the lines of letting other's know that success/happiness is attainable for everyone and anyone. I'm not becoming a teacher for the money, and English is my medium.

Successful businesses happen when they are full of people that have compatible whys. Happy individuals are in jobs that are compatible to their own whys. That happiness gets passed on in the home, life, etc.

It's fascinating to think about how much of an effect knowing your own why could have on the world. People would seek out more fitting jobs, friends, etc and the world would be a better, happier place...maybe.

What is your why? What is your wish?

picture from here

king of puns

I love my Dad!

Happy Father's day, you're the best!

Summer...

What up blog world? I've been going through the motions of my summer life, working like crazy, sleeping, dating, hanging out, etc and I didn't even know a month has past already. There really is just not enough time in the day to do everything I want...so writing has suffered. I had today off (well technically yesterday because it's 12:12 but whatever) and it was nice to have some breathing time.

For the last three years at BYU, I worked at the same job. Imaging aka "the dungeon." I finally told them when I was available for a going away party so a month after I left they threw one for me. ha. It was nice to catch up with everyone, eat some good food, and smash the crap out of a pink pony pinata. When I left, I didn't have anything to do so I walked around campus a little (felt oddly nostalgic) and went to say hi to the couple in charge of my DC student teaching but they weren't in their office. I went to the bookstore and bought the Kelly Clarkson cd on impulse. On my way back to my car I stopped in the Bean Museum (taxidermy). In my 4 years at BYU I never went inside to check it out. For the last two years I even parked in it's parking lot everyday...and still never went in. It was pretty interesting but I kept having the feeling that at any moment my life would be a horrific real life version of night at the musuem...and those bears are big.

JFSB-where I had most of my classes

Bambi?!

On the way home I drove with the window down and blasted a song called Ready on the Kelly Clarkson cd that has lyrics like "Fearless with cape in hand" and "I'm ready now." Then I'm pretty sure a thunderstorm, and a walk in the rain rounded the day off nicely.

I should really have work off more often.