Helen Keller at Midnight

Last night (actually in the wee hours of the morning) I was awoken by a text message on my phone. I wondered who in the heck would be texting me at that hour and of course I had to check and see who it was from. It turned out to be spam. (I guess that's what you get when you apply for jobs online...) Anyway, then I noticed that I had a missed call, a text, and a new voicemail from my brother Daniel. I ignored them because I didn't want to wake myself up so much that I couldn't fall back asleep. As I was trying to drift off to sleep again my pesky brain started thinking about the text and voicemail. The womanly worrisome part of my brain was on high alert. An annoying voice in my head was asking me questions like, "What if it's important?" No, I'll just check it tomorrow I stubbornly told myself. "But what if it's an emergency? What if there was some kind of accident? What if something happened to Meredith (my sister-in-law) or Peyton (my nephew)"? Fine!!! I'll check it!!! The text message simply said, "Are you still up?" Well, that didn't answer any of my annoying brain's questions. So I listened to the voicemail. It said....wait for it...."Why did Helen Keller's dog run away?" (I'm sure all of you know the punchline to that joke). But apparently it was new to my brother. He was giggling in the background! I rolled my eyes, told my brain "I told you so!", then grudgingly smiled and went back to sleep.

This morning I texted Daniel back. "Did you know Helen Keller had a dollhouse? No? Neither did she!" Now that is a funny joke!

Here's Daniel and Peyton watching some t.v. Boys. Sheesh.

Fall Adventures and New Friends

This past weekend was very eventful and the most fun I've had since... the week before! (Haha, because of Ashley and cupcakes and such). Usually I go for a whole month before having so much fun at once. It's been really nice to have fun things to do actually with other people! On Saturday I rode with Christine and Tanya (two friends from my ward) up to Homestead Farms in Maryland. The drive up was so GORGEOUS! The fall leaves were everywhere and fall in D.C. is especially beautiful. It was nice to leave the city behind for a bit and go see a little more country. I feel more myself and more relaxed out in the country. I have a lot of pictures thanks to Tanya and Christine of our adventure. Most of these pictures are actually from Tanya but a lot of them have me and Christine in them. Tanya was behind the camera the whole time!

The tractor pulling us on the hayride.

The punkins! You can't tell from this picture but there were a ton of smashed pumpkins all around the field. It looked like a pumpkin massacre! They actually shipped in these pumpkins from Tennessee because of all the late rain in Maryland. Yay Tennessee!!!

Me holding the pumpkin I would have picked. I just decided to purchase some baby pumpkins instead so I wouldn't have to haul this one around. But it was the best one!

Me and Christine weren't paying attention. I was texting?

Now we're laughing at something. Me and my asian eyes when I laugh! (I know that sounds racist... but I'm not trying to be! That's just how I look sometimes...)

Some of the baby pumpkins I opted to buy instead.

Christine and her new boyfriend.

Christine's new boyfriends ex-girlfriend. She was really jealous of Mr. Scarecrow and Christine. I understand feeling sad about the breakup but she didn't have to be so witchy towards us! (hehe)

These little piggies reminded me of my days of raising pigs. They don't stay cute for very long that's for sure!

We were looking at all the chickens in the coop when this big turkey ran out and surprised us all! He won't be around for much longer. Bless you turkey. Bless you.

There were a bunch of kids there too. (once again hehe)

We were trying to decide between apple pie and caramel apples. The line for the apples was shorter so we tried them. We made the right choice! They were so tasty! I ended up licking all the caramel off that I could. Delish.

Christine posing with our "fall haul". We got some great stuff!


Later when I got home from our adventure I met the girl who is going to take my position as the nanny for Addison and Jackson. We met and then two hours later were on our way to take the metro to a YSA activity at the ward I'm planning on moving to. Suffice it to say, we felt like we had known each other for years by the end of the night. So glad that Whitney is the one taking my spot! I feel much better about someone else getting to hang out with Addison and Jackson all the time if that person is awesome and my friend! :) The activity we went to was pumpkin carving and other fall stuff. I only knew two people at the activity but thanks to Mark (who I only met two weeks ago!) me and Whitney met some cool new people. It's so nice when you meet new people who make you feel comfortable and who are so friendly! I'm so glad my friend Jill invited me and encouraged me to come. Then on Sunday I met even more new people because Whitney and I went to yet another single's ward in Virginia. It has definitely made me feel more confident and has helped me remember that I do have good "people" skills. I'm glad it's easy for me to talk to new people (well at least when I know one other person there). I'm even more excited for the next year when I go to a new ward and make new friends. My year of being a (self-imposed) social outcast is over!!! Time to boost up all the confidence I've been working on this year and go out there and be the best me I can. (I sound really corny now so it's time to end this post). More deep thoughts later. Peace out girl scouts.

Cupcake Wars

Want a cupcake? You know you do!


A couple of months ago I set out on a self-imposed journey to discover the best cupcake D.C. had to offer. There are A TON of cupcake places here. Basically we have the same amount of cupcakes in D.C. as Provo has frozen yogurt joints. (Which is more than you really need). So every weekend I would try a new cupcake place. Or my boss Stacey would bring me home a cupcake from her work. Let me tell you she brought me several (like 5 or 6) cupcakes. It was awesome. Thanks Stacey! So that helped a lot in my important study of cupcakes. I finally tried all the places that I wanted to try (but probably not even close to all of them). Here is the top five starting from my lowest to highest rating.

#5. The Sweet Lobby- This little cupcake place is right by Eastern Market and probably shouldn't have even been in the running. But it's right by where I live so of course I had to try it out. The verdict- too dry. If the cupcake isn't going to be nice and moist (ew I hate that word...) then what's the point of eating it?

#4. Hello Cupcake- This shop is on the same street (barrack row) as The Sweet Lobby so it's also very accessible to me. These cupcakes were good. But they were just "alright". Also the staff were not friendly at all. I think if you're gonna serve cupcakes you have to be really perky. Cupcakes=happiness.

#3. Sprinkles- This place is SO GOOD! But compared to a couple of other places I had to give it third place. Also the cupcakes remind of something besides cupcakes. (I have a dirty mind, so sue me!)

#2. Baked and Wired- Okay, I considered tying these for first. They're amazing!!!! And huge!!! And moist (cringe).

(Our cupcakes from Baked and Wired. Mine was called Rainpoops and Unicorns or something... Ashley's was called the chocolate cupcake of doom. Aptly named).
And there is no huge line to wait in to get them. (At least when we went). And some of the cupcakes names have swear words in them. (One cupcake is called Pretty Bitchin'). Awesome. But the reason I made it second is....

#1. Georgetown Cupcakes- I tried these first. I will always be loyal to Georgetown Cupcakes. They are heavenly. The perfect amount of sweetness and frosting. TONS of amazing flavors. People love these cupcakes so much they wait in huge lines like these.

If you haven't seen it, this shop also has it's own t.v. show on TLC called D.C. Cupcakes. The show= not that great. The cupcakes themselves however= heaven!
Our array of Georgetown Cupcakes. (Yes we each got two!)

This is how Georgetown Cupcakes really make me feel:

That's right. Deliriously happy (or high?).

Georgetown Cupcakes also make me forget all my manners and I just start sampling everyone else's cupcakes.

GC (Gergetown Cupcakes) are so good I eat two cupcakes at one time. Using one hand.

But as you can see, I really enjoy Baked and Wired too!

Ashley enjoyed being doomed by chocolate.

Mark fell in love with his red velvet cupcake.

Well, if you ever come to visit D.C. and want to try some cupcakes, I would recommend going to Georgetown Cupcakes AND Baked and Wired. They're both in Georgetown and only a couple of blocks away from each other. And it's a good thing I don't live right next to these shops! I am going to Georgetown tomorrow night to eat at Serendipity though. (Yes like the movie Serendipity!) They recently built one here in D.C. I'll try to resist getting cupcakes but I will probably end up trying the famous frozen hot chocolate!

Thanks to Ashley for all the pictures!

Moving On

I realized that I never updated on this blog as to what I was going to do next. I had a few weeks of intense anxiety and worry and tears over what the heck I was going to do and where I was going to go. Mostly where I was going to live. I had already decided that I was going to move back to Utah. I was planning on driving back over from Tennessee after Christmas because my brother and dad were driving out there anyway. Then I went to my friend Ruth's house and we were talking and she said, "I'm just going to be really honest with you right now. You are too brave to move back to Utah." (I'll explain what she meant in a second).

Basically I was just planning on moving back to Utah because that's where all my friends are. No plan as for what job I would have or if I would go back to school. I just knew Utah is where I felt comfortable and that I had a lot of people who loved and cared about me there. But when Ruth basically told me, hey going back just for the social aspect is so much less then what you're capable of, I started listening. Finally. Several other friends were telling me I should stay here even if I get a new job. I just wasn't listening. I wasn't even listening to myself. Every other day I would switch from being excited to move back to Utah and feeling a little unsure/uneasy about it. I would have to try to convince myself that it was fine and it was the right thing for me. But Ruth had it right. I am stronger than that. In order for me to keep growing and being the best version of myself, I need to keep pushing myself. And I was just yearning to have my college experience back. But the problem with that is, I have moved on. I am no longer in college, and I can't go back.

Another problem I had that Ruth helped me to see was that I had the mindset of I'll only be in this area for a short period of time. I think I was just waiting to see what would happen while I was here. But I wasn't really reaching out as much as I could have. I wasn't pushing myself to be more social. I felt very isolated because I was doing it to myself! I kept doing really awesome things here in D.C. but always had the feeling of "If I'm doing all this cool stuff alone what's the point? I'd rather do boring stuff with people I love and who love me." (Moving back to Provo... nothing to do but awesome people...) But seriously, I just haven't been making as much of an attempt to get to know people here because I felt like I was just in the waiting game. Waiting for the next big phase in my life to just happen. Obviously, I have to make it happen. I can't wait for life to happen to me. So I FINALLY figured that one out. (Thanks Ruth, you may never know what a huge impact that conversation has on my life!)

I kept wanting the Lord to tell me where to go but I just kept getting the feeling. It's your choice. Wherever you want to go. But I just knew I wanted to keep progressing. And staying in this area (with a fresh perspective) was the way I could do that. So I am planning on moving to Arlington, Virginia. I am currently applying to receptionist/secretarial jobs in the area. I'm keeping an eye out for apartments available in the area. I guess it's not 100% sure until I get a job and an apartment but that's the plan for now. At least I have something to work towards. More updates to follow!

How could I move away from all of this?

Frequent metro rides which give me funny stories to tell my future grandchildren.

Georgetown Cupcakes with friends.

Eating cupcakes with Mr. Lincoln

Good Stuff milkshakes (yes food is a big reason to stay here!)

Capitol Hill (the year I lived on Capitol Hill will always be a wonderful memory)

The awesome houses on the east coast!

And Arlington is only a short metro ride away from Capitol Hill! Yay for staying in touch with friends from Capitol Hill. :)

New Shoes and Shoes of Halloween Past

I bought some new shoes today. I put them on as I was taking the metro back home to see if they were really comfortable and to try them out. I needed new shoes that were four things. 1.)Comfortable- because I have to walk a lot in the city. 2.)Both dressy and casual. 3.)Shoes that would go with a lot of outfits. 4.)Shoes that I can wear in cold weather (aka not sandals). I felt pretty good about my choice. As I was riding the metro I looked down at my new shoes and realized they had black corduroy material on them. (Sounds heinous I know, but they're cute slip on tennis shoes). As I was thinking about how gross black corduroy sounds, I remembered some shoes I had in the 6th grade.

Every year before school started my mom would take us to pick out new shoes for the school year. The year I was about to start sixth grade I found these amazing shoes that I LOVED!!! And I wore them every. single. day. And guess what material was on them? GREEN VELVET. Green velvet tennis shoes. Yep. Awesome right? Like I said, I wore them every day and they were pretty famous. That year for Halloween I was the grim reaper. Not the most popular costume for 12 year old girls that year, but I've always picked things that I like because I liked them. Not because they are or are not popular. (I'm also not afraid to like things even if they're really popular even though I do like to be different sometimes). Anyway, back to that Halloween. I was out trick or treating with my family (I think that was my last year). And I was thinking, this is so cool. I don't have to be embarrassed to been seen with my family because no one will recognize me in this black hood. But I forgot one thing.

I was walking door to door when I saw one of my classmates. I walked right on by feeling confident that no one would recognize me and she said, "Mary? Is that you?" I stopped in my tracks and turned around. "How did you know it was me?" She pointed down to my shoes. "Oh I saw your shoes and knew it was you." "Oh...."

And that's the story of how my velvet green shoes and how they were awesome (and sometimes not awesome).

This is almost exactly what my costume looked like. Scythe and all. I couldn't find any pictures that looked like my awesome green velvet shoes.

A Day in the Life of Mary as Seen by Ashley

So, I have a really crappy old camera that I never use because it's not even worth the trouble. But my friend Ashley is here visiting for the week and she took lots of pictures of the area where I live. So I thought people who read my blog should read her blog so they can see pics of where I live and also some fun pics of me and Ash living "a day in the life of Mary" yesterday. To clarify, "a day off in the life of Mary when she's showing her friend around D.C." Haha! But when Ashley kept saying, "this is so cool" I thought yeah it really is, and I live here! I'll never forget my year on Capitol Hill. And even though I decided to move to Arlington, VA it's only a ten minute metro ride away from the district. So I'll still get to experience all the cool things of D.C. Here's the link to Ashley's blog. Read it! The end. Her blog is found here.

Random Facts About Me: Part 2

(One of the bazillion random pictures I've taken of myself. Not great quality... they're all taken with my laptop).

So... I was thinking of a bunch of more random facts that I didn't include in my first list. I LOVE TALKING ABOUT MYSELF! :) I actually really do, because when I write something down or say things out loud it helps me process them better. So I'm learning more about myself when I write in my journal or blog or talk to friends. Hopefully you will find them entertaining to read. Without further ado:

1. I took one semester of Japanese and one semester of Italian at BYU. Random. I obviously didn't stick with either language for very long and I only remember like five words from each language...
2. I am a reality show junkie. I LOVE reality t.v.!! They're all pretty trashy but there are a few uplifting and wholesome ones on TLC. Some of my favorites are Toddlers and Tiaras (no, I don't condone how these kids are treated, it's just entertaining to watch and think "wow, I'll never be that awful of a mother"), Say Yes to the Dress, ANTM(duh!), Teen Mom, and a few other guilty pleasures I won't even mention because it's just too embarrassing.
3. I got my nickname of Mary Cherry in the sixth grade. My face easily flushes and turns red because of my fair skin. I was laughing and my face was all red and my friends said "hey you're face is all red like a cherry! Mary Cherry!" And it's stuck ever since (probably because it rhymes).
4. Movie quotes and song lyrics stick with me and I can learn them after seeing a movie once or hearing a song a couple times. And when someone says something a certain word will trigger a movie quote or song lyric. Many times I'll end up singing a song because of what someone said. (And unfortunately that song usually will get stuck in someone else's head for a while!) My family are all good at remembering movie quotes and we'll start quoting a whole movie, it's a favorite family pastime.
5. My favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Everything But The... It has everything but the kitchen sink and all of those things are so delicious! I also love Moose Tracks.
6. Some people love the mountains, some people love the sea, but my favorite thing are trees. I grew up in Tennessee "greenest land in the land of the free" and there are tons of trees. I just love trees, they're so beautiful and I even have some "favorite" trees near where I live. I would always stare out my window and look at the trees in my backyard. Don't tell anyone, but I've even named a couple of trees before! Yep, I'm weird. Anyway, that's why I don't want to live in a desert anymore. Goodbye forever Utah!
7. When I get a craving for a certain food, or something really hits the spot, I usually just want to keep eating that food over and over and over again until I get sick of it. I don't mind eating the same thing for lunch everyday if it's what tastes good. Then one day I'll get sick of it and move on to the next thing. Not very fun for other people but it makes grocery shopping really easy.
8. I have never mowed the lawn in my life. Four brothers, a dad, and a mom who likes to mow is what made that possible. I'm sure I will someday... maybe.
9. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18. It was actually the day of my 18th birthday. The reason for this was because my dad had a dumb rule that my brothers had to have their Eagle Scout to get their license and the girls had to sew a dress. DUMB! How am I supposed to sew a dress if my mom can't even sew and we didn't have a sewing machine? Anyway, I didn't mind having my mom and friends drive me around for a couple of years. :)
10. I was once a pooper-scooper in a 4th of July parade in Orem. Me and a few of my friends did it. We were volunteers and they were going to have us carry around a big balloon but it wasn't inflating so they had us do that instead. We were behind Ms. Utah in the Wells Fargo wagon. We carried shovels and a wheelbarrow and only had to stop to shovel poop twice. The crowd was cheering louder for us than for Ms. Utah. We made up formations and lifted our shovels and twirled the wheelbarrow around. I wouldn't trade that experience!:)
11. Speaking of poop... me and my siblings used to raise hogs for 4-H. This worked out really well for me because my dad or my brothers would usually do all the work and I would just show up at the end of the year and show my pig at the fair. One year my pig won grand champion and I won $1300. That was a ton of money for that age. Actually that's still a lot of money in my mind.
12. This year as part of my "Quest for Beauty" I took a bazillion pictures of myself because I hated pictures of me and looking at myself. And it worked! I think I am pretty. It's still a continuing quest and I'm sure it is for every woman. I'm still learning about true beauty and how to love myself more.

Well, there's a nice dozen for your viewing pleasure. Man I'm just so awesome aren't I?