Nourished

Nourish[ing]:
(verb) to strengthen, build up, or promote
(adj) promoting or sustaining life, growth, or strength

Besides my main new year resolutions for 2013, I set 2 other goals each month to focus on. One of them for April is investing in nourishing relationships. To me, this means reserving my time, energy, and resources for relationships that restore not deplete, comfort not aggravate, uplift not drag down…because life is too short and too hard to spend with people who do the latter instead of the former.

Halfway through the week, I saw a beautiful article about the power good relationships and a strong community can have in our lives. I am grateful that the Lord has always cushioned the hardships/trials and elevated the triumphs/blessings in my life with tender mercies in the form of wonderful people who care.

“The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion…and his tender mercies are over all his works.”(Psalms 145:8-9)

Monday - recovered from roadtrip to Boston.
Tuesday – Andrea suggested we go to FroZenYo before Institute to catch up (aka girl talk). It was a beautiful day outside and we got to sit and talk in this equally beautiful park.

Wednesday – My cousin Georgette was in DC for a work event. She was one of the first new relatives I met when my Mom and I moved to Guam, where my [step]Dad is from. We hadn’t seen each other in years and it was great to catch up over dinner, although we do NOT recommend Neramitra Thai Cuisine for their horrible service and mediocre food. I got the pineapple fried rice.

Thursday – I met up with Tyler and Chris after work to try the pho at Froggy Bottom Pub. It was kind of hot and humid to really enjoy pho but I'm relieved there's good pho so close to work!

Friday – It's funny how much Friday's dinner mirrored Thursday's - totally unplanned! Britt suggested meeting for dinner before her and Mari went to see a Shakespeare play (note to self: see a play with these 2 theatre fanatics). I picked the restaurant Wok and Roll for its awesome name (Chinese and Japanese sushi - so punny!) and convenient location in Chinatown. 2nd day in a row getting Asian noodle soup! The weather turned windy, chilly, and rainy - great soup weather :) I got the egg noodles with bok choy and shrimp wontons.

That evening, I braved the downpour to go to Patricia’s “Sultry Slow Dance” party, a hilarious and lovely idea :D I felt kinda awkward at first, as I'm sure most people did haha. It felt like high school again (the playlist was mostly '90s love songs) but it was basically like any other party except for the obligatory physical contact. I love social dancing so no complaints from me! It was like speed dating standing up - get to know someone for the length of a song, then switch! I met some new people but enjoyed mostly catching up with male and female friends :) This was the only pic I got cuz I was too busy dancing...the party was winding down but Ray and Sarah are always ready to boogie haha

Saturday – Woke up early to go to the Multi-Stake YSA (young single adult) Service Activity. We went to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in east DC (I very rarely venture there) and joined several other organizations to clean up and fix up the beautiful park. I had an unexpectedly high level of enjoyment clearing invasive vines from trees and pulling weeds, which was partly due to my new friend Marissa and Alan, our volunteer group leader. My upper back is super sore from bending over (I thought I was in shape!) but it was worth it :)

Went home and rested a bit, went shoe shopping (yes, it was fruitful), then met up with Tara (“former roommate, present friend” :D) at Dupont Circle. Busy as she is with school stuff before finals/graduation, she suggested catching up over frozen yogurt. I was touched :) We talked it up at Sweetgreen, arguably my favorite froyo place.

Saw these gorgeous tulips all over on the walk to Foggy Bottom. MAN, I love DC in the spring!! Can't believe it's been a year since I moved here...

That evening, Britt helped throw a “Bodacious Birthday Party” for her roommate Michelle. There was wonderful company, delicious circus waffles (Mary and I went giddy over them), and balloons in my favorite colors. What a joyous evening.

Sunday – It felt so good to go to church again in my own ward – the first time in a month due to my Seattle/California trip, General Conference, and Boston trip. I got to sing “The Lord is My Shepherd” and accompany myself on the piano. I figure the best way to keep up my talents is to use it to [hopefully] uplift others. But I'm glad the heart-pounding anticipation is over haha.

I also got to visit teach Meisha with Elizabeth and have my visiting teachers Erin and Shannon over :) Each year, my testimony of the Visiting Teaching Program deepens because of the nourishing relationships I’ve been able to build through it.

There were many others I felt nourished by and hopefully nourished this week – you know who you are ;) Thank you for your love. Next week will be more focused on my other April goal. Considering all the times I ate out this week, I'll give you 1 guess for what that goal is...

Boston Weekend

If you asked me about my [1st] visit to Boston, my most prominent response would be "It was miserably cold!!" But besides perpetually scrunching my shoulders up to my ears and folding my arms tightly to try to keep warm, we did see some pretty cool stuff. I consider myself an American history nerd, but the Revolutionary period is not my forte (early-mid 20th century is probably my favorite). I wish I'd educated myself more before the trip to better appreciate the history more, but I knew enough to enjoy it...

We spent all of Friday evening driving to Rhode Island, where Nicole's mom generously let us stay for the weekend. Saturday was mostly dedicated to exploring the 2.5 mile Freedom Trail (which we probably twice) thru downtown Boston and across Boston Harbor. Here we are at the Massachusetts State House next to Boston Common (oldest city park in America, est. 1634), Old City Hall, and site of the Boston Massacre -

We walked by the Paul Revere memorial and Old North Church, where he raced to light the lantern to warn the colonists that "The British are coming! The British are coming!" (Longfellow's poem made him famous) I found the Episcopal church's set-up fascinating, so different from an LDS chapel. The box pews were designed to keep parishioners warm (great idea!) and families bought their own to decorate - the closer the pews are to the preacher, the more expensive they were. I was extremely disturbed by this seating arrangement based on social-economic class...

We passed by many cemeteries. This one was atop a hill and had pretty daffodils planted throughout. I'd never seen headstones layered together like that and made so crooked by time & the elements.

We ate at a cute place in Little Italy for lunch, and got delicious canolis for dessert at Mike's Pastry :)

Then we trudged across the bridge to see the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest active US naval vessel (launched 1797). It was super cool, we had a great passionate female tour guide who's new in the Navy. I can't imagine living in those cramped quarters for 10 months at a time eating dry hard biscuits everyday, but I think it'd be fun to try sleeping in those hammocks!

Then we walked through some charming neighborhoods to the Battle of Bunker Hill Memorial...

...and back to Fanueil Hall (also used as a meeting hall by Samuel Adams and other revolutionaries) for dinner. I couldn't WAIT to warm myself up over some authentic Boston clam chowder (and some fried calamari because I was ravenous)! I could totally understand why chowder is such a big part of New England cuisine - it's a lovely warming antidote for the biting, frigid climate.

We had an early start on Sunday so we could see the beautiful Boston LDS temple before church at 11:00am. I loved the Boston LDS chapel - so beautiful inside and out.

We only stayed for sacrament meeting, then drove to take a tour of Harvard University (oldest institution of higher education in the US - 1636) with Nicole as our tour guide. It is SO AWESOME to me to think that only 6 years after John Winthrop established the first group of British settlers in Boston, they built a college. I love that education and religion are a fundamental part of our American Heritage (which class I was a TA for at BYU :))

Oh but wait, there's more! Ironically, my absolute favorite part of our Boston trip was actually visiting Yale University (est. 1701) in New Haven, Connecticut on the drive back. Nicole just got into a masters program there but it was her best friend Nick (2nd year PhD student) who gave us the fantastic insider tour :D

The campus just blew me away with its fascinating architecture (with lots of meaningful/historic words & symbols carved into the walls) and beautiful landscaping. Every space we entered - even the dining hall - seemed so conducive to studying, pondering, and stimulating intellectual dialogues. I loved that there are such prominent buildings for the arts.

Confession: when I was looking at graduate American Studies programs (they are few), Yale's program really attracted me. But for many reasons, I didn't apply. However, after this tour, it's my top choice school at which to [eventually] earn my PhD in American Studies (Harvard doesn't have such a program) after I finish my M.A. in American Studies at GW. I want to be a wife & mother more than anything, so I don't know when it would happen but it would take much preparation, prayers, and a genuine miracle to get in! So I rubbed the supposed lucky foot of this statue, just in case it helps ;)

We got back late Sunday night. The next day, bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon (we met many out-of-towners who were there for the event), killing 3 people. I feel very blessed to be back home in DC when that happened, and pray for all those directly affected by this tragedy.