Driving a Bus Through an Army Base

Today I had off of work and so I wanted to do something fun! Last night I decided I would try to go to the temple by means of the metro and bus system. (For some reason it never dawned on me that there was a metro and/or bus close to the temple until Matt mentioned it the other day:) I figured out the most direct route to get there and set out on my adventure this morning.

First I hopped on the metro and went to the station, where the bus would be to take me to the temple. I got off the metro and onto the bus and thankfully the bus had this talking machine that told us every stop coming up, otherwise I definitely would not have exited at the right stop. We were driving on these narrow, windy, tree-lined streets where I could not see far enough ahead to see the street signs coming up. I got off at my stop and looked around to see if I could see which way to go. Although I knew I was close to the temple, I couldn't see the temple at all because there were so many trees.

It was in a residential area and so I walked up one of the streets to see if I could see anything and when that didn't help, I made a few calls to see if someone could look it up for me but eventually realized it was much easier to find someone outside that I could ask how to get to the Mormon temple. I found a man outside and he directed the way. As I started walking, it made me a bit nervous because there were no sidewalks and very little grass or anything to walk on beside the busy road. I made it to the right road and was happy to see the temple and the little bit of sidewalk that I got to walk on :)

I did a session (which was awesome) and then came back out and waited for the bus right in front of temple. (For some reason there was no bus directly to the temple at the time I was going, but on the way out there was). On the bus we went through an army annex base and a guard got on the bus and all of us had to show our ids aka driver's license to get through. When he first got on I didn't know what was going on, so I was a bit nervous, then he told me he needed to see my id. I stumbled through my purse looking for it and finally found it and showed it to him.

This bus was not equipped with the cool talking machine that told us each stop, so I was keeping my eyes out for the metro. We stopped at a stop for longer than normal and I could not see a metro sign but I decided to ask someone if this was the metro and indeed it was the stop I was looking for. I was glad that I asked.

TO BE CONTINUED....

AnnaLisa Loves the D.C. Area!

I love this place! The amazing view of the temple from the freeway! This is about 30 minutes away with no traffic.


This is about 30 minutes away on metro.

I went to downtown D.C. on Tuesday and wandered around a bit. This picture is from the top of the Old Post Office Tower. It was an awesome view! On this little trip I also went to the National Portrait Gallery and took a tour and then wandered around a bit. That place is huuuugggge! Seriously. There is so much to see in there. Then I went to Ford's theater, which I talk about later in this post. I also wandered around and saw a lot of beautiful churches. I didn't go inside the churches (although I wanted to) because they were closed for the day by the time I got to them. At the end of the day I briefly went inside the Natural History Museum. It's changed since the last time I've been there and I definitely want to go back and explore some more. After my brief visit to the Natural History Museum I headed home on the metro. Overall it was a fun trip! I highly enjoyed myself :)


Another view from the top of the Old Post Office tower.


I also went to Ford's Theater where Abraham Lincoln was shot. I've been wanting to go there for a long time and I finally made it there. The theater has been refurbished. The tour guide said that nothing is original, but the positioning of the box and the seating is the same as it was when President Lincoln was alive. He said the only thing that was original in the theater was the chair that Mrs. Lincoln was sitting in at the time her husband was shot. I didn't know this until I went there but they actually still do plays there for people to watch. I think it would be pretty sweet to see a play at Ford's Theater. I love President Lincoln! He was a good man. He had his problems, but he was good.

This is only 5 minutes away by car.

This was on Labor Day when you could get a free Chick-fil-a sandwich by going in with your team's logo on. I went with Lara and Glen and family and we all got free sandwiches. It was pretty sweet :)

This is only 50 minutes away by car.

This was also on Labor day. Lara, Glen and family and I went raspberry picking. It was my first time ever, as far as I can remember. It was fun! I enjoyed the raspberry picking and eating the raspberries along the way and afterward. I also made raspberry jam for the first time ever with the raspberries that we picked (it was my first time ever making any kind of jam, but more about that will come on a later post:)

This post is really random, but I hope you still enjoyed it.

Great Falls!

Before picture! Lara, Spencer, Cami, Emma, Adam, Ellie and I went to Great Falls last week and it was awesome! It was really hot, but it was fun! We didn't actually get to see the falls, but we walked on some pretty awesome trails :)

After picture with cool setting on my camera: color swap

Color Accent feature on my camera.

I really liked the bridge in the background.

The cool bridge!

Look at this sweet bug... maybe not sweet but a cool shot.

I ♥ faces-Crazy, Silly, Funny Face

I had just barely graduated from BYU when I went on a celebratory car trip with my family up to Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria and surrounding areas. I was feeling a little giddy about finally being done with school and kept taking silly self-portraits along the way. This was one of my favorites that shows a glimpse of my euphoria from graduating.

Check out more Crazy, silly, Funny Faces at Iheartfaces.com.

All Lincoln! All the Time!

So I've decided to change the name of my blog to "Cute Pictures of My Nephews and Nieces." Here are some cute pictures of Lincoln and I and some of just Lincoln. Lincoln, this post is for you, my cute little nephew! Enjoy!

Trying to hand me some food. What a cutie pie!

Me visiting Matt and Karey at their house.

Cute and happy nephew!

Random Pictures!

Spencer, Emma, Adam and I went to the National Zoo when Lara and Ellie were in Utah. I took this picture. I was trying to do a different kind of self portrait. This was at the Amazonia Exhibit.

One of the few pictures I got of Spence at the zoo.

Emma and Adam had fun watching the elephants being fed.

This was on another day before Lara and Ellie went out of town. Spencer, Emma and I went to the National Geographic Museum and walked around that area. This picture was at Farragut Square.

Me in one of my self-portraits at Farragut Square.

Me, Emma, and Spence in front of the National Geographic Museum. We had never been there before and it was interesting. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be. The theme at the museum was lions and tigers and cheetahs and it had a lot of awesome pictures and videos of them in the wild.

In front of the National Geographic Museum. In November, they are going to have some of the original famous terra cotta soldiers from China on display at the museum. I am way excited about that! Although it will cost money to get in, I think it will be totally worth it :)

This is on another random day when Lara, Spence, Cami, Emma, Adam, Ellie and I went to Arlington National Cemetery. It was Lara's first time going there :)

I thought these pictures were really cute. Cami and McKenzie were sharing an ice cream cone and McKenzie would take a lick and then she would keep a hold of the cone and then give Cami a lick. It was pretty cute!

I know all of these pictures are really random, but I just wanted to share them with you, so that you could enjoy them too :) My nieces and nephews are so cute! And my brothers and sisters and parents are awesome! I am so grateful for my family and the love and support that they give me and have given me throughout my life.

More pictures to come soon....

Change of Heart

When I was little I thought I wanted 12 kids (or more) and already have my first four kids' names chosen (of course I'm not telling you, Maylie, Jack, Kylie, Nathan, what they are because I don't want anyone stealing them). The last few weeks though I've been having a little change of heart.

Why would hanging around Lara's cute kids make me change my mind you ask about having lots of kids? Well, let me tell you...

Two words: TEMPER TANTRUMS

I've seen enough yelling, screaming, and belly aching to last the rest of my life...most of it emanating from one particular child.

Couple that with my recent fascination with "A Baby's Story" on TLC and I've almost decided to adopt. First, of course, though I need to get started planning that big wedding in London next year.