Thank yous

Thank you to those who supported my petition for change.

Thank you to Melanie for putting up really cute pictures of my niece on her blog. Keep them coming.

And thank you to Melanie for changing my blog background randomly w/o telling me....I like it...good to keep up with the changing seasons. Thanks Mel :) I love that you just did it. Haha.

Petition for Change

I'm starting a petition on my blog to get Melanie to add new pictures of Grace to her blog...in case you weren't aware, there have not been any new pictures of Gracie since November 6, 2008. I am in finals studying mode now since my finals start one week from today, yet how am I supposed to get through my ridiculously awful and boring days of studying if I do not have new pictures of my cute niece to look at? Yeah,...I don't know either.

You can indicate your support of this petition by leaving a comment :)

Together we can fight for change...yes we can.

To avoid studying...

It's that time of year, when I have to devote literally ALL of my time to studying for 4 exams....but seriously I cannot make myself focus on anything. I dread it so much...and find any excuse I can to put it off...like blog posting :)

It is officially FREEZING in Washington....Wow. I complain about it at school and my friends shake their heads in disbelief saying: "Okay, Utah." --Don't like being called Utah...but I have never been able to handle the cold weather...its the WIND that kills me. I'm seriously thinking I need to live in a place where it doesn't get below 50 degrees....I'll take suggestions.

On Thursday, I went to hear Senator Orrin Hatch talk to a group of LDS students about "How [his] Faith has Influenced [his] Personal Service." It was fun to hear his stories. He's a very articulate man...very smart. And it's almost endearing how much he loves to brag about himself...like he's been talking like that for years, that he doesn't realize what he's saying. But he's a sweet man and has put in so many years of service to our nation. I went up and shook his hand afterwards. I told him that I thought he knew my grandparents, Ralph & Pat Romney (since when he lived in Utah, they were next door neighbors). His eyes lit up and he went on to tell me how wonderful my grandparents were and then asked me if he could give me a hug :) It was cute.

I feel like everywhere I go lately, I'm being asked to give money to someone or something. Seriously, I counted the other day, and I was directly stopped and asked 5 times! Whether it's homeless people on the street that come up to you, people at school with this fundraiser or that one, or volunteers for some organization cornering people as they wait for the light to change at crosswalks. Seriously. I wish I had money to give all of these people...and everytime I pass a homeless person, my heart seriously aches and I think about what I could possibly do to help people like this in a positive, lasting way...I don't know... I always find myself wishing I carried an extra sandwich around with me. The Savior teaches that we should care for one another... especially the poor and hungry...but then you hear awful stories about people getting hurt or being in danger because they went too far to help someone (like how Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped by a man her mother had helped by giving him some work to do at her home)...and then you wonder if you give money, if it will be used for food or drugs & alcohol...but should that matter to me when I think of giving? I don't know. I donate money through fast offerings...I love that program because I know it will be spent well...in ways that really help people to improve their lives and lift them permanently out of the situations they are in. We can't try to permanently solve this problem by continually coming up with temporary solutions. And I certainly don't have a practical one to offer. But I feel so awful when I say no to these people who ask me for money...and with it happening like 5 times a day now...I feel even worse about it. Maybe that's the point.

Go Jazz!!

The Jazz were in town this week playing the Wizards so we got tickets to the game... unfortunately they lost. But I was really excited to get to see Deron Williams play despite the fact that he was really only like 80% still from his injury. Watching games at the Verizon Center is not as fun as Energy Solutions Arena in SLC because it was much emptier and not as loud. But it was still really fun to go! Callie and I went to Vapianos for dinner before the game...LOVE that place. Such a fun atmosphere, excellent food, and good price! All in all...it was an great break from finals!

City that Never Sleeps

I went to NYC last weekend and stayed with some friends. It was so much fun! I love hanging out with new yorkers who know about all the cool things do and places to go. Friday night we ate some fantastic Japanese food in the East Village followed by nutella & raspberry sauce filled crepes near Houston Street. There are so many amazing restaurants in the East Village...that is my favorite area of town to walk through at night in nyc...so fun! Saturday, we went to South Street Seaport and walked down Wall Street (in a crazy windstorm!!) and then went grabbed dessert at Serendipity, and then went to see Spamalot on Broadway! While I was there, we also ate at a really good pizzeria in the Upper West side and got cupcakes (pumpkin with the most amazing cream cheese frosting) and banana pudding at the famous Magnolia Bakery. We grabbed our desserts and walked down the street and ate them in front of the Manhattan temple. I had such a great time!

Here I am at Serendipity. For those of you who don't love chick flicks, this ice cream parlor / restaurant is super famous and can be found in many cute movies set in nyc. One Fine Day, Serendipity, etc.... If you can believe it, the wait for a table for 4 here at 3pm on a Saturday was 2 hours!! (We put our name in and then came back later). Their signature item is Frozen Hot Chocolate...which is like a milk shake but thinner...and comes in a big sundae dish...so good....we got one of those with a little peanut butter flavor in it. And then we also got two other sundaes and shared the dishes. Delicious! And pricey...yes, the sundaes were $15 a piece!

Carly, Nick, and Chateau....under the Queensboro bridge on Roosevelt Island.


We took the tram from midtown Manhattan to Roosevelt Island (which is just east of midtown). It's a commuter tram so it was only $2 to ride. And it was so amazing! I loved it. It was like we were flying though the buildings and then across the river. And it had just gotten dark, so the lights were starting to come on in the buildings...I love the nyc skyline....this was so fun!! We just rode there and back....$4.

Strolled down Wall Street....stopped here in front of the New York Stock Exchange for a picture. You could feel the depression in the air.... ;)

We went to see a Broadway Show!! Monty Python's Spamalot. It was really amazing! So funny, very similar to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail but with music. They added a part for the "lady of the lake" - she had an INCREDIBLE voice! I loved all of her songs!! So spectacular and fun to be at a show on Broadway. Oh and Clay Aiken was one of the knights in show...he's odd.