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).