Week 5: Paint your heart out

Mon., July 5, 2010: Quality time with my resume tonight. We have lots of catching up to do!

Tues., July 6, 2010: Hanna (my cousin) suggested we take a trip to "Paint Your Heart Out" in Occoquan, Virginia. Paint Your Heart Out is the cutest ceramic painting boutique ever! It's nestled in a quaint town completely hidden from the major thoroughfares that surround it. Occoquan and Paint Your Heart Out are definitely on the top 5 places to visit in Northern VA.

Hanna painted a darling creamer cup and I painted a modern looking plate. You'll never guess my design. A flag of Texas. :) You can take a girl out of Texas but you most certainly can't take Texas out of this girl!

Hanna used to work here for 8 years. Nikki, the owner, opened the place 10 years ago. She designed and made this mosaic. So beautiful!

Didn't get a chance to take pictures of Occoquan (the small town) because we both had to race off to work. But I will definitely be back to document it in picture (Lisa--you and me in August!!)! Thanks Hanna for a splendid, splendid time painting!!

Wed., July 7, 2010: Our neighbors to the right of us are from El Salvador. Miguel and Eric are often outside chatting the night away. Tonight they had a new friend with them: Elmer. Elmer was super quiet and kept a straight face the entire time. Not even a furrowed brow when trying to decipher what I was saying in Spanish. I don't think he said one word. Miguel would answer for him. I joined in their conversation for a bit. At the end of our chat, I said, "Elmer--it was so nice meeting you. Next time you really should let others get a word in edge-wise. Geez!" That totally got him cracking up and he actually cracked a smile. Mission accomplished!

Thurs., July 8, 2010: I fell in love today with the most beautiful spot on planet earth. The very edge of the Marsh Dykes 5 minutes from my house. Remember the pictures of the small marina I posted a week or so ago with the dragonfly that was captured in one of the frames? Well, if you take the same trail that leads to the Marina down all the way to the end, the trail opens up to a breathtaking view of the Potomac and the marshes. I didn't have my camera with me, but even if I did, the pictures wouldn't adequately capture the beauty. It's a MUST SEE!

Fri., July 9, 2010: Chanda and Shaleen flew in from Tennessee today. AHHH!! I just LOVE these girls! Chanda's mission companion, Brynn, also flew in. We all spent the evening together at a conference for LDS singles (roughly 300 people in all). We ate at a yummy Thai restaurant on King Street in Old Town Alexandria. Then we boarded the Cherry Blossom for a boat ride on the Potomac. We went north up towards the National Mall. A fireworks show greeted us as we approached (in the picture you can make out the Capitol on the left side of the frame with the fireworks on the right). Amazing! The captain was a jolly good fellow.

Sat., July 10, 2010: Brynn, Shaleen, Paul, and Chanda spent the day skipping along the National Mall. Oh, and I did some skipping too. But not to worry Mom--I was wearing my ankle brace! :)

We visited the Washington Monument (this pic is taken from the Lincoln Memorial). My favorite part of the Washington Monument is the engraving at the very top: Praise be to God.

We even made it inside the monument! Thanks to the rain, tickets were still available. The sun came out by the time it was our turn to tour the memorial.

Check out the views from the top:

The Lincoln Memorial.

The Jefferson Memorial on the Potomac.

The Capitol Building.

You can see the DC Temple from here as well!

We visited the Lincoln Memorial and the WWII Memorial. We took a guided tour of the WWII Memorial. I strongly recommend taking the tour with the park rangers. There is a significant amount of symbolism behind each piece of the memorial! My favorite part: The oak leaf wreaths that sit a top 1/2 of the pillars for each of the states.

We walked all the way to Union Station to eat lunch. Along the way we passed several beautiful magnolia trees.

We took the metro back to the National Mall so as to give our feet some needed rest. We were pretty pooped.

In the evening we attended the celebration of the founding of Old Town Alexandria. The local symphony played for an hour or so before the firework show. Because the town is so close to Reagan National Airport, they had to pause the fireworks show several times as planes flew over. Pretty funny. The symphony director had to draw out the performance because of the delays and lots of people left thinking the show had ended when in fact it hadn't. It was a great time!

Sun., July 11, 2010: We attended a special church service on Sunday morning to wrap up the conference. Then lunch in the cafeteria of the middle school where the service was held. It brought back so many memories of the Missionary Training Center. Then I had to say goodbye to my three great friends! We need to do this again SOON!!

Note the footwear. Shaleen and I would have gladly swapped shoes. She looks so great in heels, though, and my ankle is still recovering (necessitating the really hideous sandals).

Week 4: Intersections

Mon., June 28, 2010: Friends visit
Some friends came over to visit Heidi tonight. They had their daughter, Claire, in tow. She is 3 (maybe??) and such a doll! She wasn't keen on visiting with strangers (her parents have taught her well) and seeing as I'm a really BIG stranger, her excitement to interact with me was, well, lacking at best. But her dad coaxed her into letting me read her a few books. What a cutie! Oh how I miss my niece and nephew. Check out how cute they are: comptoncorners.blogspot.com.

Tues., June 29, 2010: Summers intersect and believing the impossible
Driving home from a religion class tonight, I thought it approrpiate to document the street that I live on: East Side Drive. It intersects with Ireland. My sister Lisa and I spent two summers ago in Ireland visiting our mom's ancestors' homeland. This summer, I live on East Side Drive and am spending the summer visiting places where my dad's family lived. They came to America from England in 1620. Pretty amazing how paths intersect, in a very real sense. I was also excited to get a picture of VA's speed bumps. They call them "speed tables."













As to believeing the impossible, yes, one should always believe the impossible. Why? Well, I'm talking with a friend of mine, Steven Morris, who I have never heard sing before. Not even sing along to country music in his shop. Suddently, out of nowhere, he bursts into singing--yes: singing!--a song from the LDS musical Saturday's Warrior. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday I couldn't believe my ears!

Sarah: Are you singing a song from the LDS musical every LDS girl watched like 1,000 times back in the day?

Steven: Yeah. It's called Saturday's Warrior.

Sarah: I am stunned that you, Steven Morris, (a) know the name of the musical, (b) have seen it, and (c) have seen it enough to remember the lyrics to the songs.

Steven: My sister watched it every Sunday growing up. EVERY Sunday. Until one day the VHS went missing. We never did find it.

Sarah: Really. It was never found again. Shocking. This conversation is making my blog this week.

Steven: Really?! Sweet! I'll tell my mom and sister to read it.

This one's for you Steven. Here's to believing the impossible! :)

Wed., June 30, 2010: Temples
Happy birthday Mom! My mom turns 30 again this year! I spent the evening at the Washington D.C. Temple. I love the temple. The DC temple is extra special to me because my parents were married there. But the MD/DC area also serves as a nexus for both the Cody and Compton families. My dad's family settled in Charles County, MD. My mom was born at Walter Reed in DC while her parents lived in MD. At the time, my grandfather was studying and then teaching at Catholic University. My boss asked me yesterday to share a bit about what Latter-day Saints believe. It was a great opportunity to share with her my beliefs about God, prophets, priesthood, temples, and prayer. You can learn more about LDS temples and the LDS faith by visiting http://www.lds.org/temples/faq/0,11264,1904-1,00.html and http://www.mormong.org/.















Thurs., July 1, 2010: Flying, floating, and driving objects
The weather here this week has been perfect. Low humidity, highs in the high 70s and low 80s. I skipped down to the Belle Haven Park (along the Potomac) and found some ducks to feed.










I then walked along a path that runs parallel to the Potomac. The path is encased with all types of flora.













At one point the path open us to a small marina. The sunset reflecting off the trees and the sail boats first caught my attention.













I stood on the shore for quite some time and watched planes fly over, cars drive over the bridge, and sail boats cruise along the river. It's fascinating to see the contrast between nature's tranquility and the rush of the cars, planes, and boats as they fly, drive, and float by. As I was snapping a few pictures an unusually large dragonfly flew right in front of my camera. You can see it captured in the picture. It's on the left hand side of the frame with a human "dragonfly" in the upper part of the frame (click on the picture for a better view). I couldn't have timed it better to capture both flying objects.











Fri., July 2, 2010: Kayaking on the Potomac
After work on Friday a friend and I headed down to kayak on the Potomac. I just can't get enough of the outdoors around here! We rented the kayas from Jack's Boathouse. It's housed right beneath one of the bridges and has a very Austin-ish feel. We were right near Georgetown (you can see one of the chapels in the background).













And I learned what a paddle board is (the guy on a board pushing himself along with a paddle):










Sat., July 3, 2010: Prince William Forest Park and the Capitol Concert Rehearsal
I met Paul Bickmore at a church activity the first week I was here. Turns out he was good friends with my brother, Matt, in Austin. Another intersection of sorts, if you will. Paul works for the Parks service identifying various flora in the parks around here. He took a group of us out to Prince William and showed us the different types of pine, oak, and beech trees that are growing in the forest. AMAZING!! We learned about forests' life cycles, blooming cycles, and how the vegetation is affected by access/exposure to sun. Thanks Paul!!












We found some blackberry bushes.













In the evening, Hanna and I went up to the Capitol to enjoy the dress rehearsal for the 4th of July concert that is held on the Capitol's west lawn. We ran into the little girl I had read to on Monday (and her parents of course!). Such a small world. Love it. Lives intersecting yet again. Hanna and I sat on the stairs of the capitol between a family from east Asia and a couple from Algeria. It was a culturally and linguistically rich experience. What brought all of us together was a love of our country--a land of liberty, prosperity, and a rich heritage of sacrifice, service, and goodness. It was an inspiring sight.











Sun., July 4, 2010: 4th of July
Happy birthday USA! It's pretty awesome to be in DC for the 4th of July. It's pretty much amazing to be here everyday of the year. Heidi (my roommate) and I took a drive down to the Potomac. We sat on the grass near Mt. Vernon and took in the beautiful scenery. After we'd been there a bit, she asked, "Are you ready to go?" "I could stay here until the sun rises tomorrow." I just can't get enough of the view and the peace of being outdoors in such beautiful country. It's no wonder George Washington made Mt. Vernon his home. It's breathtaking. We then headed up to a hill near our house and watched the fireworks. The best part? Seeing a fire engine parked right next to us. The firemen were all sitting on top of the truck watching the fireworks.











Thanks to all of our service men and women and their families for their service and sacrifice. Abigail Adams once wrote to her husband in January 1777, "Posterity who are to reap the blessings will scarcely be able to conceive the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors" (as cited in McCullough 's John Adams, 2001, p. 169).

We rounded out the evening singing patriotic hymns (hooray for having a piano in the house) and reading 2 children's books about the Constitution and Washington DC. (Heidi was a children's literature major so she had these on hand.)

Week 3: Sunrises and sunsets

Mon., June 21, 2010: I was up before the sun today. My roommate, Tammy, and I went down to the George Washington Memorial Parkway hike and bike trail at 5:30am. The trail lies along the Potomac river. Many people use the trail to bike to work in DC. It was a cool morning and absolutely beautiful!! Tammy set off to run while I walked along the path. After warming up my ankle a bit, I decided to give jogging a whirl (doc said that was a-ok!). I actually jogged an entire mile. My ankle didn't give me any problems at all. It felt great to be jogging again, even if just for a short distance. Oh how I miss my running days! It was wonderful to greet the sun. I regret not taking my camera with me to capture the sunrise.

You can find out more about the trail by visiting http://dc.about.com/od/nationalparks/a/GWParkway.htm

Tues., June 22, 2010: I now have my very own library card here in Alexandria and paid a visit to the Sherwood Library. How is it that all libraries seem to have the same aroma? I felt like I was walking into the Coke Library in San Antonio.

I also paid a quick visit to the Masonic Temple in Alexandria. It sits on a magnificent hill off of Duke Street. I didn't make it inside, but it was beautiful to see at night.

My roommate, Heidi, is very talented! One of her many talents is that of scarf-making. And she gave me this beautiful scarf she hand-made. It's super warm and is made with some of my favorite colors: purple and green!

Wed., June 23, 2010: A dear friend of mine, Susan, lives here in DC (thanks to Facebook we learned that we're both here in DC)! I hadn't seen Susan in 5 years. When I got back from my mission in Chile, she was heading out on her mission to Germany. Since then, she married Dustin and the two are expecting their first little one on July 5th! I attended their baby shower. Susan and Dustin were both glowing! It was wonderful to see them so happy and surrounded by their family and friends. The venue was gorgeous: Meridian Hill Park. The park is located in the middle of the city; it's a welcomed oasis from the hustle and bustle. Even the knats congregate (in the thousands).

The other great moment of the evening was (a) finding parking and (b) SUCCESSFULLY parallel parking on the FIRST TRY! I was praying the whole time that I would be able to park my car in the (what seemed to me) little space along the street. Prayers are answered!! :) I get lots of practice parallel parking here. I'll be a pro by summer's end!

Thurs., June 24, 2010: Dinner with my aunt, uncle, Hanna, and Amy. I LOVE spending time with my extended family here in DC! It's always one of the highlights of my week!

Fri., June 25, 2010: Jazz in the Park! One of my friends, Amanda, got a group together to enjoy Jazz in the Park at the National Gallery of Arts' Sculpture Gardens. There are two gardens, one of which is across from the National Archives. In the center of the gardens is a very large reflection pool. The band was set up at one end of the pool and the garden and its surrounding areas were blanketed with people and picnic baskets. A great band performed. We just sat out for 2 1/2 hours soaking up the music and the last of the sun rays.













The family sitting next to us had a darling little kiddo who was a hoot to watch! He danced his little heart out, wooing everyone around him. Here he is with a dance partner he recruited.

From there, I passed by the National Archives and then headed over to the Navy Memorial. At every turn in DC you'll find a memorial, stuate, or plaque that reminds passers-by that freedom comes at a price that has been paid by many who have gone before us. I am grateful to the many men and women of the armed services who have given their lives to protect our freedoms.

Here is a bronze sculpture by Robert Summers, a tribute to the Coast Guard (at the Navy Memorial). Semper Paratus--"Always Ready." Thank you, Dad, for your service in the Coast Guard!

Sat., June 26, 2010: A trip to Eastern Market! This place is a MUST SEE if you're in DC! It was first built in 1873 and was renovated in 2009. It's basically an indoor/outdoor farmers market with fresh produce, meats, cheeses, flowers, and artisan masterpieces! I was delighted to walk by an artist's booth and see his rendition of the flag of Texas framed and ready for purchase!! It just warmed my heart! For jewelry lovers, you would be in heaven.

Check out Eastern Market's official website: http://www.easternmarket-dc.org/

The best part about the adventure was that two friends and I began the trip to the market in my car. After getting very lost, we made our way to the Crystal City Metro stop. We parked there and then took the metro in. Here's a picture of one of the many mosaics that appear under the bridge we passed to get to the metro. Why haven't I bit the bullet yet and bought a GPS??...

My grandma called me to see if I might help her figure out how to scan a picture, save it, and email it to a friend. Combining my less than stellar technology skills with trying to trouble shoot the problem over the phone, I was pretty confident that I wasn't going to be much help. But, together we successfully completed the task!! Go Grandma, Go! It was a moment of great victory and satisfaction for both of us. I love my grandma!

Sun., June 27, 2010: I attended the LDS Potomac Ward's Patriotic Musical Fireside tonight. An ensemble and choir performed several patriotic hymns. The congregation stood to sing the National Anthem and The Battle Hymns of the Republic. I love that we stood to sing those hymns as that's the only way they should be sung! A woman also performed two solos. Her voice was radiant! I could have listened to her all night. She sang "Give me your tired, your poor." The words come from The New Colossus, a poem by Emma Lazarus that is found in the Statue of Liberty. Irving Berlin put the latter part of the poem to music. Here's a link to the poem and a bit about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus.

If you'd like to listen to the song, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g-Wm7ZJhfs.

I ended the evening by catching the last of the sunset along the Potomac that passes right in front of the church. I ran into a guy who had also been at the musical fireside. Turns out he speaks 4 languages, is an ESL teacher, and has taught EFL overseas. He had a lot of questions about deafness and signed language. It was AWESOME to share some insights and help debunk some of the myths about deafness and signed language. He had really great, well thought out questions. It seems there is an over-representation of ESL/EFL teachers in the area--which is AWESOME!