It's March Madness!!!

What a week we had! This marks the 3rd week in a row we had a three day weekend (thank you snow). It's official, I only have about one month left of school. I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown. Here is a recap of the week...
Sunday
Carolyn's old roommates from BYU came and stayed with us. Carolyn made us an amazing dinner. It was fun to have them around. As we showed them the in's and out's of the metro and the city, lots of us felt like actual residents for the first time. And yes, it was fun to live with 11 girls for 4 days.
This picture was not taken on Sunday, but I just discovered it. Monday through Thursday, we take turns cooking dinner with a partner. Sweet and tender, I know. We have roommate dinners. It's fun. Since we do this, there is never any need to go grocery shopping! The only thing I have in my cabinet is water, fiber one bars (which are the basically like candy bars...they are So good), mini-kleenex packages, and gum. Whomever's idea it was to cook for each other was truly inspired.

Monday
Snow Day!!! We woke up to snow. DCPS declared a 2 hour delay. We rolled over and slept for two additional hours. Then we got all ready for school. Meggie and Kristen called their mentor teacher and she basically told them not to even attempt to go. Last time we had a snow day we went to the school and no students came so they put the 40 or so in attendance in a room and showed them a movie on African Aparteid. Well, public transportation wasn't running yet, so Ms. Chandler told me there would be a sub there so not to worry about going. It was so great to be home. I worked on my Teacher Work Sample (this ridiculous project we are doing for BYU) then traveled to the Hishorn Museum of Modern art with Carolyn and her friends. It was a weird museum. Contemporary art is weird and I think I could have done half of that stuff...at age 3. Anyways, it was enjoyable none the less.

WednesdaySenator Flake (R-AZ) came and spoke to the Barlow Center. It was really great to hear his perspectives on DC Representation in the House (he thinks if it is approved, it should be done so constitutionally, with no vote given to level things out through the gained Utah representation. If it doesn't work constitutionally, he doesn't think it should go through at all. He told us that lots of talk is supporting DC as being seceded back to Maryland and only leaving the national Mall to the Federal Government), being a member of the Church while away from home, the economy, and many other measures. When I asked him what he would tell a group of high school seniors, if he were to give a lesson on Congress the next day (as I was), he responded, "tell them to vote Republican" then he laughed and explained that here in DC the local news is the rest of the nation's national news and to take advantage of that. I really learned a lot from listening to him. It is great to have so many opportunities here in DC.

Friday

Friday after school, Meggie, Kristen, and I, walked down to the Vietnam Memorial and Lincoln Monument. We had intentions of going to the Jefferson Monument as well, but it was such a long walk from Foggy Bottom, we got too tired and walked back. Thousands of thousands of names are inscribed on the wall of people who gave their lives for our nation. Many people question America's involvement in Vietnam. Regardless of these torn opinions, I have gained a great appreciation for those individuals who have given so much to serve Americans. They choose to protect a group of people they will never meet. Millions of Americans openly display their distaste for war and forget the sacrifices given by so many. I am grateful for those who have served in so many capacities to protect our great nation. Friday night, we went to Georgetown Cupcake and to the "big green chair" with some Barlow people. Turns out the "big green chair" is on our school campus. (Pictures to come as soon as they are emailed to me). Some of my students came out of Our Town practice as we were sitting in this chair. All of a sudden, I heard this loud, prolonged yell. I saw that it was my student Elijah. He is one of my favorites. Honestly, on the first day of class, I thought he was going to be one of my struggles, but after a few talks in the hall and the library, we have gained a mutual trust and respect. I really appreciate him. I always have to make him take off his hat and stop rapping while I'm lecturing, but I really appreciate him. He's a smart guy. We have good discussions. He taught me what "boney jeans" are (skinny jeans for those of you who aren't up on style like I am not apparently. They are called boney jeans because they stick to your bones). I also saw Nuri (who skipped my class earlier that day), Mayaa and Kailaisa. Kailaisa made my day. I just began teaching DC History and am pretty insecure. Let's be honest, I know absolutely nothing about DC History and Ms. Chandler knows EVERYTHING about it. Well Kailaisa, who also skipped class for some reason, said that she wishes she didn't miss class because "she likes that class now, it's interesting." Well, as a teacher, that totally made my day. We also saw Nicholas and Jasmine. Nicholas is in my government class and he is a golden student. Always attempting to analyze the daily political cartoon and just a really sweet boy. They were so excited when we told them we wanted to come see their show choir and Our Town performances. They are great kids. I really appreciate them. I have learned so much already.
SaturdaySaturday morning, we took a trip to the Eastern Market. It is basically a glorified flea market. We saw lots of great things and purchased a few treasures. We purchased Time magazines from the 1930s-1970s (to display in our classrooms one day). We found some great antique jewelry and I purchased a really great picture of the Cherry Blossom Trees and the Jefferson Monument. We finished off the morning with crepes, a Eastern Market must. What more could you need?Oh, and the weather has been INCREDIBLE this weekend. I am just so happy and want to be outside all the time. We currently have one of our couches on the balcony. I hope this lasts, but have a feeling it will not.
Saturday evening, we attended the Naval Academy YSA Ball. It was such a fun gathering, but, let's be honest, the crowd was a bit different than we expected. We thought there would be a humongus turn out, turns out everyone looked 14. The men were dressed in uniform and some girls were in formals. It was pretty fun to see them all dressed up. There are not many LDS people at the Naval Academy, and many of the guys there haven't served missions (which made us quite older than the typical YSA guys). It was fun. Thank you Naval Officers for serving our nation, and thank you to my guy friends for serving our Lord on missions.

This is what Wendy found a the Eastern Market. She is so odd...but she sure loves her glasses.This is the funniest picture of Wendy, I couldn't resist.

Amber, Kristen, Colleen, Mike and the Blue Angel JetWe found this hat on the coat rack and all hurredly took a picture.

Don't worry, we don't know a single one of these Navy guys...