#westwardho2014

Westward did I go! I left DC at noon on July 21st with some major emotions; anything from extremely sad to super excited. I had an amazing 9 day journey, with tolls galore, gas stations, coke in hand, GPS systems, and so much trail mix I didn't know what to do with myself. All the logistics of the trip turned out tremendously and I even managed to visit some family and friends along the way. It was a trip of a lifetime and I drove about 36 hours total to get to my final destination of Utah. Yes, I'm feeling pretty empowered right now!

Here's an account of my travels. If you follow me on insta, you've already seen most of these!

My final hurrah at the Jefferson the night before I left. So many tears. I love DC.

Road trip CD mixes, cards, snacks, and trail mix galore! All from wonderful friends.

My final goodbye at the Grove St. house

1st stop, Cleveland:

Gravesite of John D. Rockefellar. Managed to get some history in there!

My cousin Kim and I with her 2 girls at the gravesite of President James A Garfield.

This is Indiana. Check out those clouds!

 2nd stop, Notre Dame--for a nice hour or so.

Touchdown Jesus!

And there's my selfie!

3rd stop, Chicago. 

Architecture boat tour. Can I say AMAZING? An absolutely beautiful day!

Another gorgeous view of Chicago!

Oh and Melissa joined me in Chicago. At the Bean in Millenial Park

Beanin' it

No road trip is complete without a jumping picture.

The Willis Tower. Formerly known as the Sears Tower. 

Those are our feet--Duh.

And Melissa with me. Yes, that's a huge drop down there. 

Another jumping pic on the shore of Lake Michigan

And we biked along the shore. Gorgeous!

A Chicago style hot dog. I didn't like it. 

We went to a Cubs game too!

Check out that view! Too bad they lost 12-1. :(

 4th stop: Nauvoo, Illinois

Lucy Mack Smith house

Selfie time

The temple. Had an amazing session and saw Susan Easton Black (popular church historian. I took her class at BYU)

with Melissa

Love this pic with Hyrum and Joseph and an incredible sunset

 5th stop: LDS Church history sites in Missouri

There's a lot of land, in case you're wondering

We drove an extra 40 minutes for this. Oh well. Haun's Mill.

Far West MO temple cornerstone

Liberty Jail--my favorite stop out of all of them!

Kansas City, MO temple. 

Oh yah and then we ate some Kansas City BBQ. Mmmm good. Met up with my old roommie Stacia and her husband, not pictured.

SO much meat! So messy.

 6th stop, Lawrence Kansas with my cousins!

Got to see 4 of my cousins while I was there!

Janae and I decided to match. That's what you do when you're the same age.

Oh and this was on my 8 hour drive to Denver! Kansas was freakin' boring just FYI

7th stop, Denver, CO:

My cousin's cute kids. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics with my Baer cousins

Yep and people sell Marijuana. Denver is quite the hippy town!

Got some sight-seeing in.

Love me some historical homes

And Voodoo Donuts

I even braved a torrential rainstorm to get these, which is why I look so wet. I also saw my friend Melanie who is not pictured!

Oh the Rockies! 

And 9 hours later I got home to Utah--Exhausted.

And my nieces made me some sweet signs to greet me

I had no idea I had short brown hair… :)

Now I'm back in Utah. It was an EPIC journey that turned out to be incredibly empowering. For 2/3 of the trip I drove by myself and had a lot of time to drive and think. I kept chanting to myself: I CAN DO HARD THINGS. Driving across the country was one of them and now starting a new chapter in my life is another. I got this: I CAN DO HARD THINGS--again.

My best friend's wedding

My little darling got married! Sarah's wedding fantastically ended my 5 year chapter in DC. Sarah was one of my first friends in DC when I moved out there 5 years ago. Not only was Sarah funny, smart, spiritual, silly, and service-oriented but she accepted me with open arms and helped me to adjust to life on the East Coast. She was a huge part of my life in DC and now she's a married woman! It's so good to see my girlfriends find these men that love and adore them. 

In no order, here are some pics from that beautiful east coast day. A day to remember!

Look at those two!

We are the cutest

Cheers with Stephen and Chris!

Her DC girlfriends

The first of many selfless

Hahaha. We are so funny!

Sarah's got attitude

Her bridesmaids

We're being so weird here MJ doesn't know what to think

Temple selfie!

temple selfie #2

temple selfie #3

Reception selfie with Ryan!

It was a magical day to always remember. Congratulations Sar Sar! 

The PEOPLE that I love in the CITY that I love

In 4 days I am leaving the city that I love. Obviously DC is a magnificent city on its own for very obvious reasons. But to me, it holds a special place in my heart because of the many dear friends I have made in the last 5 years. These pictures explain it all. 

My amazing roommates. Talk about women who have taught me everything from hosting a good party, to wearing the right color of lipstick, to how to be a great listener. 

Early morning Cherry blossom run circa April 2014.

LJ and I in our 80s garb

Wardies at the Legwarmers Concert--awesome 80s cover band

Kathryn and I in Amish country. Rhubarb anyone?

Nats game, eh!

Eastern Market breakfasts are the best--especially with some of my favorite ladies

Wilson Prom with Matt. Then my students started calling him my "boo." Lol.

He even got me a corsage! 

With my cute pregnant coworker, Patty! Best teacher roommate, ever!

Last faculty meeting with Kristin and Aimee. Peace out Wilson!

 

Our 7th period planning posse at work. Always up to one shenanigan or another. 

My mentor, Margot and Reynauld, our guest speaker about the Civil Rights Movement.

Oh Sean. I love this kid. At the Nats game.

Teresa and I at Ben's Chili Bowl!

Megan and I in Georgetown!

Logan and I at Meridian Hill Park in DC.

Sarah showing off her lingerie at her bridal shower. Raar. 

All the people who love Sarah and excited to see her get married!

Bachelorette weekend with these ladies. $27 spent on the slot machines too. :/

We so cute. I love this girl! Atlantic City beach board walk.

National Harbor Ferris Wheel. Love this woman too. 

Dudesie Fest 2014. I am going to miss this girl like no other. 

My dating "expert" and elliptical buddy, Annette. 

Doug, Jeremy, Jeff. Good guys.

Brigham, my book club friend! We've shared some great books and moments together!

Known these ladies for 5 years and we are just missing Stoker. I love these girls. 

This post is making me sad. How will I live without these people? I love you, DC friends! I will miss you, DC…like…seriously. :( 

The PERFECT Fourth.

It was a 4th of July of a lifetime. I don't know what it is about holidays, but it's so important to me to really celebrate them. Last year on the 4th of July I was in Peru. And although that was pretty awesome, I also missed out on America's birthday and felt the pang of homesickness down in South America. So one year ago I promised myself that I would have the best 4th of July ever--in DC, of course!

And it happened. It all started with an early morning run with my friends, Lindsay, Trent, and Lee. We ran to the Air Force Memorial and then to the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon.

Side note:  l love that on our runs our conversations go like: "hey, so should we run to the Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, WW2, Capitol, FDR, MLK, Air Force, or Pentagon memorials today?" You know you're in DC when…

Anywho, back to the schedule. The jog was beautiful. Afterwards, we headed to the country--which by the way is like an hour away from DC, which ain't bad. Here is one of the views below. It doesn't even do any justice. The greatest thing is that we were rocking out to Motab's Spirit of America album while driving down these country roads. It was exhilarating.

Oh, and have I mentioned that the weather was 80 degrees with NO HUMIDITY???!!!! Wow. My mind was blown. The heavens were in our favor that day!

After enjoying a scenic drive, we hung out at my friend's parent's house in this country estate, I mean, it was amazing. No pictures shown but we swam, went four wheeling, watched the World Cup in the theater room, laid out by the pool, made synchronized swimming videos, ate watermelon and apple pie and enjoyed the day in the country where we couldn't even see another house. How much more American can you be?!

Later we had a BBQ at another friend's house. Delicious burgers--with guacamole. Yum. Great conversations all around too. 

Oh and the day gets better, people. We went on a bike ride to the Jefferson Memorial, hung out in the 80 degree NO HUMIDITY weather, took some patriotic pics--see below--and chatted the night away while we waited for the fireworks.

Oh and don't worry, the fireworks over the tidal basin were spectacular. This pic doesn't even do justice. I love America. I love DC too. 

We even got some awkward pics in there too. Jeff loved all of the attention he got from us ladies. I swear, men have it so good out here. 

And lets not forget my partner in crime, Lindsay who was my wing-woman the entire day. I love this girl to pieces! Do you like my patriotic outfit, btw?

The day ended with some fro yo. I was pretty exhausted by midnight but I went to bed with so much joy in my heart. I love DC and I love the 4th of July. God bless America. It was the perfect 4th!