We're in Washington! DC, not the state of course :)

Hello everyone! We're in Washington DC and having the time of our lives. Here's an update on the last three days.

Friday, January 7th: We woke up at 3:30am to finish packing and clean up the house, then Ben's brother Landon drove us to the airport. We flew to Denver then had a 3 hour layover while we waited to fly to Washington. While in Denver, my cousin Krissy DeBry called to let me know that she'd like to pick us up from the airport and that she and her husband Syn wanted to take us to dinner. We were really excited. I hadn't seen Krissy in maybe 15 years but she looks just the same- so kind and pretty. She took us to our apartment to drop off our bags then took us out to dinner downtown at a Creole restaurant. It was so fun to talk. Krissy is working as a lawyer here in the city and Syn works with a financial company. They have 3 kids that we have yet to meet. We were tired and in travel clothes, but we had a great time. I had such a fun time reconnecting with my cousin. That night, we spent our first night on the Men's floor of the Barlow Center, the church's central building in DC. It functions as offices, dorms, an institute building, etc. Anyway, we didn't sign up in time to get a married room so we pushed two single beds together and tried to avoid the crack in between all night.

Ben modeling our new bed

Our closets. The door to the bathroom is on the left.
Our dorm is very roomy and we really like it.

Saturday, January 8th: We awoke to find snow outside and decided to go and get needed items (food, toilet paper, shampoo, etc.). We live in the west end near Georgetown, in an area called Foggy Bottom. Our home is about a 4 minute walk from the Metro. It's beautiful here- very historic. It took us a 45 minute Metro ride to get to Target, then we went grocery shopping at Safeway in the basement of the Watergate complex. That's right... the Watergate complex. The deli man even pointed out the famous apartment to us. All the food is much more expensive than in Utah. Poor Ben is shell-shocked. We've begun to eat like missionaries again. Tortillas, sour cream and beans for every meal. Not really, but our diet is definitely controlled by what is on sale. Or cheap.

Later in the day we finished unpacking then walked toward Georgetown. There is a famous cupcake shop there named "Baked and Wired" so we stopped to get cupcakes for later. They may have cost $3.50 a piece but it was worth it. We then walked along the boardwalk of the Potomac river until we got to the Kennedy Center. By then I was pretty cold so we stayed inside and watched one of the free concerts they have every night at 6pm. It was a quartet from George Mason University that played beautifully. So beautifully we may have taken a nap :)

Anyway, we finished Saturday by walking back home (it freezes your ears off if you don't wear a hat), cooking dinner in our community kitchen (turns out it isn't so bad to share with guys because their diet consists of peanut butter and jelly, cereal, and microwaved burritos), and trying to figure out the bus route for church the next day. We fell asleep to the sound of a large group of singles playing games outside our door. I think we'll get used to it :)

Ben by some buildings in Georgetown.
This is about a minute walk from our dorm.

Sunday, January 9th: We awoke early to leave for church an hour before the meetings. Mostly because we had never taken the bus and still don't know the routes. The bus is cheaper than the subway, but you have to be willing to wait in the biting cold until the bus arrives. So we did that and realized you really do always have to carry a hat and gloves in the winter in DC. It took about 45 minutes to get to the church which is in Columbia Heights, near Target actually. It is an old baptist church that the church bought and put their sign on. Before Ben and I came to DC we decided we wanted to go to the Spanish branch. We called the branch president to ask if we could help and he was so excited to find out Ben played the piano. So Ben played the music in sacrament today and everyone was so excited that he'll be able to accompany the choir for branch conference in a few weeks.

Latins are so great and they are pretty much the same everywhere. They sing off tune, but with all their hearts. They greet you with such excitement when they first meet you. They love to tell you their full name (all 4 names actually) as fast as they can. But they're wonderful. Most are from El Salvador, which makes me feel right at home. During Sunday School, the branch president, who is a gringo living in the suburbs, called us into his office. He called Ben as the piano player for sacrament then gave us a joint calling to work with the young adults. We're to develop activities, FHE's, firesides, etc. to get them excited and help reactivate those who are inactive. And if they happen to get married to each other in the process, even better! :) We're excited about it.

After church we decided to take the Subway home, but the train we took broke down on the platform. So we walked the rest of the way, about 7 blocks. When the wind isn't blowing it's not too bad but when it blows.... whooo! Hold onto your hat! After taking a nap today we got to know some of the people doing internships with Ben and watched the CES fireside downstairs. And here we are letting all of you know that we're doing great! We're loving it and enjoying the experience. Tomorrow we'll walk to the White House, about 5 minutes from here, and the mall. Then Ben begins his internship Tuesday. It's such a blessing to be here and we feel this is such a tender mercy of the Lord.