WWF

The next few posts are going to be out of order because I only have certain pictures to incorporate. Friday morning we all awoke to find fliers posted on each door down the hall. The fliers read "WWF (Wrestling With Females) and had each girl on the floor paired with another person that they were supposed to wrestle in a match the following night. We were told to wear the closest thing we had to spandex--clearly this key ingredient really excited me. I was paired with Haley for the first bracket. Throughout the day I heard remarks from both guys and girls whom all had their bets on Haley winning the entire thing. I tried not to listen to these naysayers, as I was up against her first. However, when it came down to it she bailed. Apparently she gets to competitive or somethign and didn't want to hurt anyone. I don't really know what that's all about. Anyways, over the course of Saturday evening, my respect level for about 85% of the girls on the floor increased dramatically. I wasn't sure many people would participate, but to my surprise they did! When it came down to it, Ashley and I were first to wrestle...we felt a lot of pressure to set a certain standard for the entire night. I feel I can safely say we accomplished this goal. We began by bowing, something people continued to do afterwards. We even had it timed so we did flips and threw one another over our backs and stuff. Our moves were insane. I even made Ashley bleed. That cut our match a little short because we thought her earing ripped through her ear--but it didn't, so don't worry. I think I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life had I truly mangled her ear. There weren't an even number of pairs, so Ashley and I both moved on to round II and wrestled each other again. We needed to declare a winner from the first match still. She ended up winning. However, it was after this match that I caught onto the fact that you were out if the other could pin your shoulder against the ground for three seconds. Somehow I missed the fact that it was your shoulders that had to be pinned. Had I not missed this simple and obvious part of the game, I think I could have gone on a little farther.

Mine and Ashley's outfits...I was even able to incorporate my handy dandy F-pack (fanny pack). Obviously I couldn't wrestle without my Hulk Hogan handlebar mustache and Ashley with her matching unibrow and mustache.
Because our matching outfits, you can't tell whose body is who in some pictures. Take the one below for instance. I had the forsight of wearing a headband to tell us apart in all the madness.

Look at the technique and impecable form....
These are all of the WWF wrestlers piled on the champion, Megan. She is in red on the bottom.
Here is a video of my defeat. I hope you all appreciate my great humility.

Veterans Day

Tuesday we all had work off for Veterans Day. Obviously there were many ways to celebrate, being in DC and all. This holiday has never particularly struck me before--it was just a day off school, gladly taken. However, being able to honor all the individuals who have and continue to serve our country was a wonderful and rewarding experience. We got up early and headed out to Arlington Cemetery. At 11:00am on 11/11 they always have a service to commemorate the signing of the WWI armistice. They have a ceremony in which they lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns and then have a service in the amphitheater, featured in the pictures below. Vice President Cheney was the guest of honor, thus laying the wreath and speaking at the service. They noted one particular person, the last surviving veteran from WWI. He is now 108 years old and living in West Virginia. My favorite part of the ceremony was the Procession of Colors. The flags were all carried by veterans. It was really touching to see these older people so proud to be participating in this event. The outer ring of the amphitheater, which forms a sort of balcony was filled with veterans. They were also many dispersed throughout the crowd. Below is one of my favorite pictures from the event, a veteran saluting the flags during the Retiring of the Colors. You could truly sense their deep respect for the country and the ideals it represents. Overall, everything was beautifully done. After the ceremony, there was about a ten minute walk out of the cemetery. We got the chance to walk past the thousands of tombstones. As we were walking down the road I noticed one veteran seated in a lawn chair between some of the graves. He had placed flowers on one grave and three round, smooth rocks along the top of the tombstone. I don't know if these had particular meaning but it was clear that he had known this individual. This scene was very moving to me. Although each of these graves may simply appear as stones to me, to these veterans they all represent individual faces and stories.

Eastern Market and Library of Congress

More pics for the fam...

Outside the Kennedy Center after work, the Potomic is behind us.






Here are some more pictures from a couple of Saturdays ago. This was just when the leaves had started changing colors and was one of the first colder days--the beginning of fall. We went to the Eastern Market in the morning which is some big sweet outdoor market open on weekends. They have vendors selling tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Then they have people with craft tables. I bought some earings and fruit. My favorite part of it is that they have each of the produce items cut up for you to taste. They have some of the best fruit ever. Afterwards we walked to the Capitol, then went to the Botanical Gardens and some of the Museums along the mall. Another great day. I'm telling you, this place is amazing. I'm going to cry when I have to leave. For reals.

Another lovely day...

I seem to be having a lot of these recently, but last Sunday after church we got off the bus at the National Cathedral. First of all, the weather was once again amazing. The leaves were stunning and it really just felt like autumn. Anyways, this building is incredible. It is the sixth largest Gothic Cathedral in the World and is so sweet. There is an observation gallery where you can look out and see into Maryland and Virginia. This view was amazing, once again just a sea of fall colors. Afterwards, we went into the Cathedral's garden. It was also beautiful. All the flowers were in bloom and it was starting to cool down. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I LOVE IT HERE!

I love my life...

Stuck in the Elevator...you can see the pain in our eyes and the sweat glistening on our foreheads...HELL!

At one of our briefings, W.ashington D.C. Court of Appeals..The entire group...
High Heel Race...
When this picture was taken of Ashley, my internal organs were being smashed...
Ok, so this particular queen reminded me of someone back in Provo...please tell me who? I think it was just the height and face shape.

Quick story for this picture...first of all, the guy we asked to take the picture was standing there for about 4 minutes and couldn't figure out how to work the camera. We had to inform him he was holding it upside down. Obviously smashed...after taking it he proceeded to state, "Damn, straight bitches know how to pose." Then the butterfly queen (which in case you couldn't tell, yes, those are butterflies all over her head) scampered off doing some five year old potty dance telling us how she had to pee...