Up in the Capitol Dome!

I (Kelsie) was recently privileged to be able to go on a tour of the inside of the dome in the Capitol building. It is a pretty rare opportunity so I was pretty stoked! Want to see what it looked like? Okay cool! We'll start at the top! Keep a-scrollin'!

This is Susanna, Bryan, and I on the very top balcony area! As you can see, it was very windy! It was an amazing view! I spent most of the time clinging to the inner wall though because it is VERY high up there.

This is right up by George Washington's Apotheosis. It is so beautiful close up! Again, I was too afraid to look over the balcony. I like to, you know, stay alive. Falling over the edge is a real possibility. 

Apotheosis of George Washington. See how he is surrounded by 13 angles? 13 colonies. George Washington was supposed to be buried under the rotunda. I'm chuck full of facts about the Capitol.

Sus and I. 

If you look really close at the top of this window pane you can see some etching on the glass. This is where some Civil War Soldiers carved their names in the glass on the way up! It is easier to see in person.

Beams in between the outer and inner dome. Did you know there were 2 layers of dome? Now ya do.

This shows the different levels we went out on balconies on (each designated with an arrow).

Lots and lots o' stairs.

There it is! It was really cool. If you ever come to DC, call your Congressman and see if he will take you on up!

Start Spreadin' The News, I'm Leavin' Today....NEW YORK! NEW YORK!

Hi all! Kelsie here.We sure have been slackers. The first week of February we went to New York City to meet up with our good friends Steve and Jessica Hart. It was both of our first trips to New York so it was quite the adventure for us. We only got a few pictures from our camera as we forgot to bring our charger (ha ha just our luck) but here is what we did get! We will add some more later from Steve and Jessica's camera. They were kind enough to take pictures of us at the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Times Square, and a few other places! So without further ado, here are some of the pictures we got:

Here is where we stayed! The Radisson! It was quite nice and fun to be so close to Times Square.

Our hotel again, but it's sideways and I don't know how to change it HA! Josh will have to help me out.

We were lucky enough to get tickets to go see Phantom! It was INCREDIBLE. I would go to NYC again just to see another Broadway musical.

Iconic NYC art. Taken for obvious reasons :)

Smooching in Central Park! Mmmhmmm.

See that fountain?! Have you seen Enchanted? Well if you have, you will recognize that fountain! Us in Central Park again!

New York was really incredible! We also saw the 9/11 Memorial (which was beautiful), ate some fantastic New York style food, and just had an all around great time. I was a little grossed out by the Subways when I saw some rats and got dripped on but it was ok. It was a wonderful opportunity for us!

Holocaust Museum & Jumbo Pizza Wars! Take one :)

Hello all! This is Kelsie writing today. Yesterday we took the subway to to DC for another Saturday adventure. First we made our way over to the Holocaust Museum. The museum is quite the educational and emotional experience. More than once I was brought to tears by the atrocities memorialized there. There was so much to see. We were there for three hours. After leaving we decided it was time for a lighter experience and traveled up to Adams Morgan (the DC bar area) to experience the Travel Channel Jumbo Slice War that my cousin Cam clued us in on. The slices were HUGE! Josh and I (mostly Josh...) were able to finish both of our slices. It was a great adventure.

Pictures!

January 12, 2012

So I decided I'd better add some pictures for everyone to see! The first picture is from December when we went to DC for the first time. We saw the capitol and decided we'd better take a picture!

View of the Capitol from the Southwest

After we saw the capitol and where Kelsie will be working for the next 4 months we decided to go to the famous DC cupcakes in Georgetown! For those of you who don't know, DC cupcakes has a show on TLC and is known around the nation for having amazing cupcakes.

The Famous DC Cupcakes Store in Georgetown

 

Kelsie and Josh waiting to get their cupcakes

The first few days Kelsie went to work, I rode with her to make sure she got on the right buses and didn't get lost. I went job hunting, but I also went sight-seeing. I got a picture of the Capitol from the East and I also got a picture of the Supreme Court Building.

Capitol from the East

Supreme Court Building

Finally, this past weekend we took a trip to DC again to sight-see. After we went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, we walked out to see this magnificent sight -

Washington Monument With a Beautiful Sunset

Afterwards we went to find something to eat and ended up near the White House so we decided we'd might as well go see it too!

Stay tuned for more!

-Josh

2 Weeks In DC

January 11, 2012

We've already been in DC for 2 weeks now! We've been slacking on the blogging, though so I figured I'd better update our blog today.  Kelsie has been in her internship for a full week now and is loving it. For the first week of being in Alexandria we went into the District a couple of times to find the building where Kelsie is working for the next 4 months and to look for jobs for me. At first we were just going to take buses to DC because it cost a lot less ($60 a month compared to $200 a month) but then we found out Kelsie is going to receive compensation for metro riding from work, so she's decided to take the subway (metrorail) to work. It's saved her at least 2 hours a day on travel time! 

I've been continually busy looking for a job. I've gone to DC, and lately just walked around Alexandria areas or sat on my laptop. Crazy enough, most companies have all their hiring done online! It's sad, but I'm more effective sitting at home looking for jobs online than I am walking around. Nothing serious yet, but I have found a few jobs online at companies websites in which I've applied for.  I'm just counting on at least 2 weeks before I hear anything.

We went to church for the first time the past Sunday the 8th. On the 1st of January the buses weren't running so we had no way of getting to church. The bus ride is about 45 min to an hour depending on how many people stop the bus getting on or off. The ward we're going to isn't the ward we're supposed to be in, but the building is much closer than the 2+ hour trip to the building we should be going to. The ward we are going to is the Shirlington Ward and the building is on the famous King Street. The ward was very friendly and inviting. We met the bishop, the relief society president and a few members who were kind enough to just walk up and say hi. We're excited to be in the Shirlington Ward for the next 4 months.

We just found out today that we have the opportunity to go to South Carolina this weekend to campaign with Mitt Romney. Kelsie called me around 10:00 a.m. and gave me the news. I told her that of course we should go! This is another one of those once in a lifetime opportunities we need to take advantage of. I don't know all the details yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we can!

During the time that I went up to DC I was able to walk around the streets and see the capitol building, the Archives of the United States Building, the Library of Congress, and many of the congress buildings. Together, we went to DC this past weekend and walked a few museums including the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We also went right up to the Washington Monument; unfortunately as you may have heard it's closed due to the flaws in the construction. They don't know when or if it will re-open. We also walked by the White House! It was interesting to see this beautiful, extravagant building amongst skyscrapers and busy streets. When I saw the White House in pictures, I would have assumed it was atop a hill or somewhat secluded and had nice landscaping nearby. But, alas this isn't the case. The lawn of the White House extends to the fence and from that point there are busy streets and buildings surrounding it. Nonetheless, it was a really neat experience to see these historic sites.

So far we've really been enjoying our adventure. Kelsie has gotten homesick a few times, but for the most part is doing great; she really loves it. We wish you all well and hope everything is going just as great for you!

Cheers!

-Josh

First Day in DC!

December 28, 2011

What a day! What a day! This morning at 8:20 a.m. Josh and I left the Provo airport for D.C. We had a layover in Denver as well as Milwaukee. In Milwaukee we flew over lake Michigan and it was HUGE; it looked like we were flying over an ocean. Then we continued on to D.C. Flying into D.C. was fantastic. We began decent as the sun was setting so we watched the sun and surrounding sky turn scarlet and disappear on the horizon (beautiful, but not a Mona sunset by any means ha ha). As we were approaching the run way we saw the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. It was so cool. It was then that it really hit me that “this” was really happening! This dream that I have dreamed for 2 years was coming to pass: WE WERE IN D.C. So we checked into our extended stay hotel, where we will be living for the next 4 months, and lugged all of our stuff up to our room. We then decided to be adventurous, rather than just ordering pizza, and go try out the bus system. (Oh boy…why oh why couldn’t we have just ordered pizza) Josh looked up the bus route to our restaurant and we hopped on the bus and began chatting with the bus driver. We proceeded to tell her we were heading out to dinner. She asked how we planned to get back. “Well,” we said, “we just figured we would ride the buses.” She then told us she was the last bus for the night. Great. We figured we were already on the bus so we may as well keep going. We got off the bus to transfer to the next one and of course…MISSED IT! AH! (Grandma Jones alert! You would not approve of what we did next grandma. Fair warning.) So we walked…in the dark…in Alexandria…all alone…to the next stop…a mile away. We FINALLY got there and after what seemed like forever of waiting we FINALLY got on the bus to take us to dinner. We figured the bus would stop at the stops to, ya know, let people off. WRONG. There went the next stop, and another, until we figured out that we were supposed to pull the cord. UGH. We ended up just calling a taxi to get home. What a night. Oh what a fun, stressful, tearful, maybe someday laughable night. It will be one for the memory books. One things for sure, and I think Josh would agree, I’ve never been SO afraid nor felt SO alive. Oh what an adventure.

-Kels