Memorial Day in Annapolis

Megan and I had the whole entire day free to spend doing whatever we wanted. Megan came up with the brilliant idea to go to Annapolis and spend Memorial day at the United States Naval Academy! Seriously. It was the best idea ever.

We had to leave pretty early, around 7:40, and walk quite a few blocks downtown to get to our bus stop. We got on the bus, paid $1.60, and rode the 1 hr. and 30 min ride to Annapolis. That's really all that it cost for us to get there. We got there right in time to walk down the street, walk in a few shops, and realize just how hot and humid it was out. For real. We bought a fresh squeezed lemonade and went right back outside just in time for the town parade to begin!

The Annapolis parade for Memorial day was quite fantastic. The Naval Academy band played, and there were a lot of veterans of different wars that marched for the parade. It really was a neat experience. Definitely not like any parade you would see at home in Utah. It wasn't too long or anything though, so right after it was done, we headed over the the Naval Academy base. There, we decided to not take a guided tour, but we looked around all of the museums, and we walked around the campus a bit. It was still waaaay hot outside, so it wasn't too pleasant, but it was so beautiful there that it sometimes didn't even matter. Again, I'll add pics once I get my laptop up and running :)

Once we left the Naval Academy campus, we were starving and went to lunch. We went to a cute little Italian bistro. I ordered some crepes. It really was quite good. Afterwards, we got to shop around in the little town. Annapolis really is an adorable little village with small shops. So much fun.

We got back on the bus to Baltimore ($1.60 back), and had our long journey home. I still think the people on the buses are quite interesting, but it keeps it all entertaining at least. We had to transfer to the light rail at one point to get us back to downtown. So now I really do think that I have taken every form of transportation there is here.

We got back to our place, and decided that we wanted to go shopping down at Inner Harbor, even though it was so killer hot out. We left, walked down to the harbor, and we were sad to find out that the mall had closed. Luckily, there were still some shops further down that were still open.

After our shopping, we sat down at the harbor for a bit and just watched the boats and the water at the sun began to set a bit. We left before it started getting dark so that we could get home in time.

Overall, today was a great day. I'm glad that I had a pretty much once in a life-time chance to experience Memorial day at a US Naval Academy. There were so many things that happened that were cool and interesting. I'm so thankful for all of our soldiers that have and do fight for our country.


The United States Naval Academy Band Opening Up the Memorial Day Parade in Annapolis


Annapolis Vietnam Veterans






Me and Megan at the United States Naval Academy




Some gardens at the Naval Academy


Maryland State Capital Building

First Sunday In Baltimore

Two things I've learned today:
1) Sundays in Baltimore are nothing like Sundays in Utah.
2) Sundays in Baltimore are exactly like Sundays in Utah.

Let me explain why:

After waking up and preparing for church, I walked down the street about two blocks and stood at the bus stop. I had to wait about 10 minutes for a bus to show up. There I was standing there in my sunday best with a nice bag, while the rest of the people there were in their scrungy looking clothes and most of them were smoking and hadn't showered in what smelled like days. A drunken man even came up to me and asked if I had any money. I lied and said no, and he went on (I could have not even responed and he wouldn't have even noticed because he was so out of it...). The bus came and I was the innocent one who didn't know what to do. I paid my money, and took a seat and stared at my map. A few stops later, the bus got so full that someone had to sit next to me. Luckily it was a clean-cut younger gentlemen who looked quite freiendly, so I started a conversation with him, and asked him how to signal a stop when it was time to get off. He told me that all I had to do was pull the string. If he didn't tell me that I probably would have just passed the church. I did make it to the church though, and it was no problem at all. There's a stop right in front of the chruch. I didn't have to make any transfers or anything. The whole bus ride cost $1.60, and took about 25 or 30 minutes from the time I got on. I arrived to church 20 min early (the next bus would get me there 10 min late).

The church meeting schedule is backwards, but I like it. The ward is really really small (maybe 35-40 people max? but maybe that's an underestimate due to the holiday weekend), which makes it really friendly. I almost already know everyone's name. It's so great how nice everyone there is, too. The Relief Society Room was killer hot. Mom would have died. In Sacrament meeting, they had me join the choir, and we performed that day. It was an easy song, so that was good. The choir had six girls and one guy.

After the block, there was a "munch and mingle" (like a linger longer) and we had a picnic in the cultural hall! It seriously was sooo much fun!! I got to just talk with lots of new people in the ward and get to know people better.

I got my laptop to Page (the computer guru in the ward) while I was at the munch and mingle. He said that I might have a virus :( But hopefully he can get it fixed for me no problem. Worst case scenario I'll have to get a new hard drive. No bigie. It just sucks coming out to Baltimore and then having your computer crash like that. Oh well. Page is seriously so great. I will owe him big time for helping me out with this...

I got a ride home from church, which was great because I didn't have to ride the bus home with weirdos. I was so sleepy then. I took a nap. It ended up being a long nap.

I was then invited by another friend in the ward, Elizabeth, to go to the DC temple visitor's center to listen to a speaker on science and religion (more specifically, genetics, the plan of salvation, and faith). So I went with her, and some other people from the ward, Amber, Cristian, and Heather, to that. It was a lot of fun to spend Sunday evening driving down to the temple like I did two nights ago and seeing it again, and then listening to the speaker. We sat on the temple grounds for a while after and ate some dinner that Amber packed for us. Best way to spend a Sunday night? I think so :) I have some pics I took of the temple at night. I'll add them once I have my laptop up and running.

Settling In

Today I took it easy and decided to a) spend no money and b) not go anywhere. Good plan, right? Yeah, I thought so too.

It all started with sleeping in until noon. Keep in mind folks that is 10 o'clock Utah time, and after a long week of little sleep. It was much needed. I got up, and freaked out because my laptop wasn't working. Luckily, I met a guy last night from the ward that should be able to help me out. Atleast I'm hoping so. If not, there's a Best Buy downtown where I could fork out a bunch of money to maybe get it fixed. Worst case scenario, I use the computers in the Business Center of the Apartment complex like I am now. It's acutally quite nice...

After I finished my short term freak out, I finally had the opportunity to unpack all of my things and set up my room exactly how I would like. I even brought a few of my glitter stars from my old room to hang on the walls to make it a little more like home. I'll add pics of my room once my laptop situation is all figured out.

After that, I had to figure out how to get to church. Easy, right? Yeah, I thought so. I have to take the public bus (there is a stop directly in front of the church). The bus maps looked simple at first, but I didn't completely understand them. I ended up walking down to the bus stop to see if it was the right place and if it would take me the right direction. I'm 90% sure that it will. Well, more like 99%. I'm just a little nervous. I've never had to take a bus to church before. And never in my life has it taken me more than 3 or 4 min to get there. Tomorrow it will take me about 45. I think. We'll find out. And I'm not sure how I'll get home either. I might have to find a ride home with a member.

I'm so excited to go to church though! Yesterday, everyone from the ward was so nice, and they all were so easy to get along with and fun just to talk to. I was able to relax and not worry about stuff. I can also say that I'm from Utah and half of them atleast know something about it compared to the rest of the people out here who don't.

Takin' It to the Streets

I woke up early again this morning (relatively speaking anyway) and Megan and her friend showed me where the Johns Hopkins Shuttle bus stops down the street. This shuttle is what I will take to work everyday once I start working next week.

I got a call this morning confirming that I had to get tested for TB today. Yikes. I hate needles. As much as I hate leaving phone messages. Those are my two biggest fears. Anyway, after I got off the shuttle, I found my way to where I had to get my TB test done. In the meantime, they decided to let me get all my paperwork done. Let’s just say that I was there filling out paperwork and getting tests done for almost four hours. It wasn’t much fun. Luckily my friend Sam was there, so that made it better.

I hopped on a shuttle bus and hoped that it was the right one to take me back to my street! Luckily it was, because I was in a hurry to get back to my place so that I could get something to eat, and then hurry and get ready to go to the Washington DC temple with the YSA ward! I was super excited to go!!

Megan and I had to sign some forms for the apartment last minute, so the only way that I could get to where I needed to be in time was to catch a taxi. It was my first taxi ride ever!! We rode the taxi just from my place up to the hospital, and it cost $8. I thought the taxi ride was pretty darn cool.

Pretty much all in one day I learned all different sorts of forms of transportation! It will definitely be a good skill to have.

Lauren, a member of the ward, picked me up where we had planned to meet, where we then went to her place so she could get changed (oh, by the way, Lauren is like the coolest person I have ever met), and then we went to the church to meet. This is where I got to begin meeting some of the ward members. They are all SO awesome. I really am going to LOVE this ward so much.

The Washington DC temple was absolutely fabulous. It was such a neat experience to go there. I really am so grateful that I had the opportunity to get away from all the commotion of the city, and the stresses of moving and creating a new life and just focus on what really matters in life for an hour or two.

After the temple, we all went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. Apparently the ward likes to go out to eat a lot. It was really fun to break the ice with the ward members and get to know everyone a bit better. It really will be a fabulous summer :)

First Full Day in Baltimore

Today began with what felt like an early start while still being a bit jet-lagged. Dad and I had one goal today and that was to get me all set up and moved into my apartment. We began by going to some Goodwill stores. We found me an old small bookshelf and a little nightstand, and a sturdy old chair. Then we went to a trusty old Wal-Mart and picked up some groceries.

Next stop was to my apartment to move in. It was a really hot day, and dad was dripping sweat like nothing else. Because I live on a busy street with no parking, we had to park in a parking terrace for $10 just to move my stuff in to one of the buildings nearby. We got the job done though, and got into my new home.

Eventually we decided to drive around and find a place to eat in the last half hour before dad had to say goodbye. We told Mabel to direct us to the Wendy’s that was a couple miles or so away. Due to terrible downtown traffic it took us ages to get there, just to find out that this old Wendy’s was now a drive-thru pharmacy. At this point, dad had to get going or else he was going to get charged a late fee for the rental car. This meant no food. Oh well. No food was fine. But saying goodbye was hard.

My dad pulled over to the side of the road next to my building, and I gave him a quick hug in the car. I got out of the car, my dad pulled away, and I walked to my building. All alone in a big city. I kept my sunglasses on, even in the building, so that no one could see my eyes in case I had a few tears forming. I got to my apartment, sat down, and didn’t know what to do. Even though I knew this was home, and I knew this is where I belonged, I cried for a bit. It’s hard being all alone in an unfamiliar place with no one to help you. I soon got over it though, and walked downstairs to the market and got some fruit to cheer me up. I made my bed too. That always makes me happy for some reason.

An hour or two later, my new roommate, Megan, came home and life quickly became spectacular. We first had an “fun” time trying to figure out the internet situation (I still don’t have internet as I’m initially writing this…it will be posted later), but it was an adventure anyway. We then decided to have fun for our first night together and take a night out in the city.

Megan and I walked downtown, through Inner Harbor, then to Fells Point where we had dinner at the Brick Oven pizza restaurant. It’s supposedly really famous and has been featured on the Food Network (who knew?). But yeah, it was really really good. We then ate some gelato next door, and got to chat outside in the nice cultural Fells Point area at twilight.

I started getting terrible allergies at this point, but I just had to deal. Hopefully they won’t last all summer… We began to walk back home. Halfway back, we took the metro. It was a really neat experience. It reminded me exactly of the metros I rode in DC three years ago. Overall, it was really a fun night, and it was a great experience to see the city on foot, and experience city night-life as well.

I think that I’ll like it here in Baltimore a lot. I’m still nervous about things, but I know that it will be okay.

Tomorrow I will get to go to JHU Hospital and get a TB test so that I can start work next week….

Goodbye Utah!

Today begins what will be a three month long adventure of me living in Baltimore for the summer! I hope to keep this blog so that my family and friends can read about everything that I do, and also for personal record more or less. Just keep in mind, I'm math-minded, not English-minded, so my writing skills aren't super stellar.

I got approx. 4 hours of sleep last night, and woke up at the crack of dawn to continue packing (I had no idea how to pack for a whole summer...let's hope I did it adequately). My dad and I left for the airport by 8 this morning, and we boarded the flight by 9:30. It was really weird because I thought that I would be really sad or scared to leave, but I wasn't. I even smiled as we took off. The flight was super boring. Four long hours of absolutely nothing.

We landed in Baltimore at 4pm, and we went to gather all of my luggage. We then went to the rental car place. Let's just say they were ultra ridiculous and it took us like an hour to get a car. My dad wasn't too happy. But. It's a cool car. It has mood lighting in it. I can change the interior lighting to any color I light at the press of a button. Plus, my dad likes it better than the VW Beetle we got when we were in Baltimore two weeks ago.

Anyway...we then headed straight to my hew home :) And here's what's really awesome: it really did feel like home! I was so happy to be there! My new roommate, Megan, really is going to be one of the best parts of living out here. We didn't stay too long though, just long enough to sign some forms and pick up my key so that we could officially move my stuff in tomorrow.

By this point, we were really hungry, and what would traveling be with my dad without going to a buffet? That's right. We hit it up at a Golden Corral. Our handy dandy GPS named "Mabel" will take us anywhere we want, so we told her where we wanted to go, and she took us there! It was a very much appreciated meal, to say the least, after what felt like a long day.

Now we're sitting at the hotel room. Dad is sleeping. Surprise? Not really.

I'm so happy to be here in Baltimore! It really does feel like home to me somehow. As corny as that sounds, it's so true. Am I scared? Maybe, but only about the unknown. Things like transportation, people, locations, etc. are what make me nervous. In the next week though, I will learn these things, and then I'll be able to start work next Wednesday and have a whole new array of adventures!