Faith, Hope, and Charity 8/28 Restoring Honor Rally

My alarm went off at 5:15 am and I could hardly contain my excitement.  The morning that I had been waiting months for was finally upon me!  I took a shower and put my hair in a pony tail, did my make up, put on my red flag shirt, and headed out the door.  We had already made plans to check out of our hotel so we took our bags down to the front desk and asked ever so sweetly if we could keep our luggage in the bellman's storage while we were at the rally.  They told us that it would be no problem and then that is when I asked them why they had changed my room rate.  Oh, I need to explain.  When I had woken up I had received my folio via email and it showed my room total.  Which had an extra $20 added to it.  I inquired as to why it was different and they said that it wasn't different.  I, trying to remain calm, said that I could get my confirmation email right from my phone to prove that I was, in fact, correct and they were wrong.  Once the douche at the front desk knew that I wasn't playing around he said that there was not problem and that he would fix it.  What...were they hoping I didn't notice extra charges on my folio?  Seriously, I will never stay with their hotel again!!
Anyway...Kelli and I left headed towards the Rally.  We started walking down the street and came across a Starbucks where we purchased two bottles of water and 2 bagels.  We ate our bagels and started our long journey to the Lincoln Memorial.
When we arrived about 8am at the rally there were soo many people!!  More people than I have ever seen in my entire life.  We finally settled on a spot on a slight hill beneath some trees.  There was a big jumbo tron screen in front of us that was blocked by a bunch of trees but at least we were shaded.  The rally started right on time at 10:00am.  The crowd roared to life as Glenn Beck was introduced and the rally began.  We all stood and said the pledge of allegiance and sang along to the National Anthem.  I got kinda teary as we sang.  Ok, I'll admit, I got really teary.  Glenn Beck also was teary as he said 'build it and they will come" Once he said that we all applauded and shouted!   He also said that he has 'just received word from the media that there were more than 1,000 at the rally'  We started laughing hysterically at that comment.  He then said 'the Lincoln Memorial holds about 200,000 people, the field to my right holds about 250,000, not only are we full here, they are behind me, and they are full in the field, and I have just received word that we are filling up in front of the Washington Monument."  They estimated that there were 300,000-500,000 people there.  The rally was not focused on politics but it was focused on how this country needs to turn back to God.  We need to focus on Faith, Hope, and Charity.  We need to become better people.  The people that God knows we can be...we need to remember that we are THE promised land.  It was amazing...if you're able to watch any of it you need to.

After the rally we walked a few blocks and hailed a cab back to the hotel.  Once we were at the hotel we got a drink and we relaxed for a bit in the lobby.  We got our luggage and walked to the Subway restaurant down the street where we had lunch.  After lunch we grabbed a taxi and headed towards Arlington,VA.  We checked into our hotel and we called Jason.  He came and picked us up and took us to the Arlington National Cemetery where we saw the tomb of the unknown soldier, where I cried some more.  We saw the changing of the guards at the soldiers tomb and then we had to leave because they closed.  It was a beautiful, sacred place and I am blessed to have been able to visit.  From the moment we left we went to the Lincoln Memorial and took many pictures.  We then drove back to Virginia and ate dinner at IHOP.  After dinner Jason dropped us off at the hotel.  I didn't want to say goodbye.  He is such a good guy.  I'm tired of meeting good, date-able, people and having them live so far away.  I guess that's my life.

Saturday night into Sunday morning we slept and relaxed.  Sunday we just took our time getting ready and ate dinner at Chili's and then took the airport shuttle.  The flight back home was uneventful on both ends.  D.C to Newark and then Newark to Las Vegas.  The flight to Vegas was pretty much empty and they were soo good to us.  They even fed us dinner and gave us headsets for free.  It was a good, un-turbulent flight.    I was grateful to get home but sad at the same time.  Back to life, back to reality.

p.s I think I have scared Rexburg off.   I wrote him a couple of emails from D.C and it has been more than 3 days since I last heard from him.  Again, I have awesome luck!!    Maybe, I'm wrong but I kind of think I'm not.  I'll let you know.  


Have a great night!! I love you all!!


Love, Andi 

Going, Going, GONE continued....

When we finally got to our rooms I had already made the executive decision that we were switching hotels.  I was not about to pay the rude front desk people more of my money to be treated poorly.  So while Kelli passed the hell out on the bed I started calling hotels in the surrounding area.  I finally settled on The Courtyard Marriott Crystal City in Arlington,VA.  Once the plans for Saturday night had been made I called my friend Jason to let him know that we had arrived and that we needed to sleep.  He told us to 'sleep well' and then I told him I would call as soon as we were up and ready so that we could all meet up.  I also called this guy named James and pretty much relayed the same story to him.  After making my phone calls I took off my glasses, set my alarm, and fell asleep.  When I woke up our room was freezing and I immediately went to the bathroom to take a long, hot, shower.  I got out of the shower and Kelli and I both got ready to go.  I called Jason and told him we were ready to meet up and that we were going to China Town.  He told me that there wasn't much to do in China Town but being the dumb tourist that I was I decided we would be fine.  Well, one taxi ride later, we were in China Town.  After walking two blocks we were done with China Town and what did we have to show for it?  Nothing!!!  That's because, just like Jason said, there isn't much to do in Chinatown unless you want to eat and we weren't hungry.  So, luckily Jason finally caught up to us at the Verizon center and we came up with a "plan".
Jason had said that there was a National Portrait Museum just up the street that we could go to so we left The Verizon Center and walked up the street.  We toured the museum and saw tons of cool paintings, portraits, and some very random sculptures.  Overall it was a good time.  I got a chance to chat with Jason about what we both do for our jobs, about Quito, Ecuador (we both served in the same mission just a few years apart) and just about life in general.   There was one painting of this girl and guy and it looked like they were lying down and the guy had his hand over the girls mouth and here eyes were wide with fear.  I leaned over to Jason and told him that "I don't like that painting...it freaks me out"  I told him that maybe it should be named "Friday night" because maybe that was just a normal night at that couples house.  Who am I to judge, right?  lol  It was funny, but maybe you had to be there.  :)
When we were finished at the museum I had the honor of deciding what we were going to do next.  Side note: If you don't know, I'm horrible at decision making sometimes.  Especially if I am put on the spot I tend to freeze and say "Why do I have to decide?"  So, they made me decide and  I chose the White House.  Even though I'm not a fan of the current residents of the White House I figured I should at least go and take some pictures.  So, we began the hike to The White House.  We walked, talked, and laughed our way to The White House where, upon arrival, we began taking pictures and soaking in the sights.  Because I mean from the White House you can see the Washington Monument across the park and it's just so beautiful.  While we were at the White House I received a call from James wondering where we were at and where we wanted to meet up with him.  So I explained to Jason that we needed to go meet up with this kid at Pennsylvania ave and 12th street, if I'm remembering correctly.  While we were walking to meet him I realized that I was perfectly content just hanging out with Jason and my sister but that it was too late to blow James off.  So, we met up with him and it was kind of strange.  He has a very different personality.  Anyway...I introduced Kelli and myself to James and then we all headed towards the Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, and the national mall area.  While we were walking it was my sister and James up in front and Jason and I in the back.  I leaned over to Jason and told him that James better not try anything with my little sister or else he'll be in a world of hurt.  We both laughed at the silliness of the comment, and the situation.
So, we saw the sights, and eventually, as we were walking towards the World War II memorial Jason leans over and said something about the "group of Japanese tourists" and I started looking around, somewhat bewildered, because I didn't see any Japanese tourists.  The only "tourists" that he could have been talking about were what looked like a bunch of Photography students with their tripods and cameras.  He then started laughing and said 'ok, maybe, they are just a photography class working on low lighting conditions'  I have never laughed soo hard!!  We joked about that for the next half an hour.  Whilst we were resting at the World War II memorial I decided that we should go eat because Kelli and I had not eaten since 'The Brewhouse' in Newark.  After what seemed like an eternity of trying to decide what the F we wanted to eat we all decided to eat at 'Cheff Geoff's' some hoyty toytylol  So, we slipped Jason some money and took care of our new friend/tour guide.  Dinner was good, but mostly because there was water, air conditioning, and we got to sit down and relax.  All good things in my book.  During dinner I came to the conclusion that I was done with James and didn't want to meet up with him at the rally the following morning.  Once dinner was over and the check had been paid we all gathered outside the front door.  James bid us adieu and headed toward the Lincoln Memorial to camp out to get a good spot for the rally.  Jason, Kelli, and I all headed towards the metro.  Jason made sure that we purchased the correct tickets and that we got to the right train.  I hugged him goodbye and thanked him for hanging with us.  I told him that we would be in touch because we would be in his neck of the woods the next day in Arlington,VA.  He even offered to come and pick us up in his car and take us to the hotel room.  
I was kind of sad to say goodbye but I knew that we would see him the next day.  Kelli and I got on the metro and then we got off at our stop and we were lost.  Straight up couldn't figure out how the hell to get to our hotel so we hailed a cab.  A few blocks later we were home and went to sleep.

to be continued...

Going,going, GONE!!!

Good evening, and greetings, from The Madison hotel in Washington D.C!

Today has been an extremely long day and I'm grateful for the time I have to sit in my hotel room and write this blog and an email to someone that has recently come into my life. I will touch on that in just a minute. :)

Last night (Thursday) we were dropped off at the airport and boarded our flight to Newark, new jersey. I will say that I held back and did not write on my facebook status that "I'm going to jersey shore bitch!!" even though I desperately wanted to say that. Lol Anyway, the flight was horrible!! We flew via Continental and it felt like we were sardines in a can. We had the option to purchase Direct TV(which, I did) and I watched 'The Jersey Shore' and then the 'Rachel Zoe' project. That took up a whopping two hours of the four hour flight. Which at that point I tried falling asleep but was incredibly unsucessfull. Suffice it to say I was happy to land safely in Newark.

Once we were in Newark we booked it to our connecting flight gate and once we got there we grabbed a bit to eat at 'The Brewhouse'. How appropriate is that? Lol. We grubbed down some panini sandwiches and potatoes, paid the server, and waited for our flight. When we finally got on the plane I could barely keep my eyes open. Kelli, my sister, said "andi, there is the New York skyline" I pried open my eyes long enough to say hello to my favorite city even though I've never been there and then I passed out.

Arriving in D.C we walked into the terminal and it felt like we had walked into a library and not a busy airport. Literally, there was the distant noise of CNN but that was it. Very strange. We got our bags and then hailed a taxi. Wow, we sound so citi-fied. :) Our cab driver was soo cool!! He was this little Asian man and he was pointing out the different monuments and telling us that we should come back in April to see the cherry blossoms. He also told us that none of the buildings could be higher than the capital building. He also told us not to go past the Capitol building because it's "like Africa" his words, not mine. Lol. He dropped us off at our hotel where I has been told on numerous ocassions that we could check in early to be able to sleep. Well, that didn't happen. They gave us some song and dance about how they try and accomodate early check-ins but they had overbooked the night before. So, Kelli and I sat down on a couch that faced the front desk, and miraculously, they got us into a room pretty fast.

To be continued....I must write that email which is going to someone I met online(I know, you're shocked!) but he's really cool. I think we will call him...rexburg. Which, maybe my next trip will be to Idaho. I'll write more hopefully tomorrow. I love you all!

Love, andi

Listen to your heart

This past weekend my parents went to Utah and my little brother went on a hike to Zion's National Park.  That meant that for approximately 3 days I had the house to myself! Which, if you didn't know already, I live with my parents.  I live with them not because I'm socially incapable of living on my own and supporting myself but to help them out financially whilst our country is in the depths of this financial mess. Thank you Washington! 
I digress...anyway, I was going to be home alone!  I was so thoroughly excited about the prospect of being able to watch my reality tv shows, and do whatever I wanted to do. 
Thursday night was the fateful night of departure for my parents.  They left early in the afternoon so that they would make it to Provo, Utah before the sun went down.  That meant that once I was done with work I would be driving home to an empty house. 
Driving home at dusk, knowing that no one would be home, I was so excited!  I was excited to walk in my front door and to turn on my television and watch Big Brother.  Have you ever watched Big Brother?  It is absolutely freakin' fantastic!!  It is my favorite show on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  If you do watch it...how did you feel about Rachel getting evicted?!?  Let me know!!  lol
Suffice it to say I spent all weekend long watching one reality show after another.  I went from Big Brother on Thursday night to The Real World: New Orleans, to Jersey Shore, to Design Star and the list could go on and on. 
At one point in the weekend I was on myspace.com and I remembered they have Karaoke that you can sing and record yourself.  Well, for those of you who really know me,you won't be surprised to know that I sat and recorded karaoke songs for hours this weekend.  It made me laugh to record and then listen to myself over and over. 
I then found a really cool option on the karaoke...you can listen to other people sing!!  It was like my very own American Idol Auditions week.  I have never laughed so hard and been so impressed by different people singing. 
I also spent a little time on ldschat.com which is just some random lds chat room that I ocassionally will go on and laugh at how stupid some people are.  Well, I ended up talking to this guy named Michael.  Michael, is 32, and lives in Sydney, Australia.  He seemed like a very decent, normal, guy.  So, we started talking on Skype, and I have to say he is super cool.  We talked for roughly 3 hours via skype over the course of the next couple days.  He's pretty cool, but I'm not getting excited because he lives in AUSTRALIA!!! That is so far away it's not even funny.  In fact, as I write this, it is 11:15 pm on 08.17.2010. Currently in Australia it is 4:15 pm on 08.18.10.  He's a day ahead of me.  He's cool so I'm not going to write him off quite yet. 
I also have started talking to someone from Ely,NV.  We are just going to call him Ely.  Ely and I met on ldsplanet.com which is this lds dating website that I use.  He is also 34(same age as Mr. Darcy) and he works for the prison up there in Ely.  Which, if you don't know how to pronounce it is E-Lee.  lol  We have already made plans to hang out when he comes down to Vegas in September.  His parents and family live down here.  He actually will be coming down on August 26 but that is the day my sister and I are flying to Washington D.C. or we would have met up next weekend.  So, I will keep you up to date with Michael, and Ely as things progress or digress. 
I wanted to explain why I put the title that I did today.  Whilst I was listening to myspace karaoke participants I heard many songs of love, sadness, heartache etc. 
I realized that each and everyone of us has had or is currently experiencing either the joys of a new relationship or we are being haunted by the ghost of what could have been.  We all have within us the innate quality to know when something is right or wrong.  Whether we choose to listen to or disregard that feeling is up to us.  I'd like to think that I choose to listen to the feeling but more times than not I feel that I am hiking a path that has yet to be marked as a path and that I am walking alone.  I know that's not necessarily the case but that is how I feel.  That's why I like the words of the song "Listen to your heart" by Roxette
"I know there's something in the wake of your smile
I get a notion from the look in your eyes
You've built a love but that love falls apart
Your little piece of heaven turns to dark.

Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile
The precious moments are all lost in the tide
They're swept away and nothing is what it seems
The feeling of belonging to your dreams.

And there are voices that
want to be heard
So much to mention but you
can't find the words.
The scent of magic
The Beauty that's been
When love was wilder than the wind.

Listen to your heart
When he's calling for you
Listen to your heart
There's nothing else you can do.  "

As a quick side note my friend Shauna has a new blog and it's amazing!!  Please read biggirlsdontcry.blogspot.com you will love it...I promise.  She is someone who takes the bull by the horns and listens to her heart and you will fall in love with her stories, life, and the absolutely fabulous person that she is.  You rock Shauna!!

I love you all so much!!  Have a great night and I will write to you tomorrow. 


Love, Andi

Oh how the years go by....

Hi.  In about 1 minute it will be August 4, 2010 and I will officially be 28 yrs old.  I can't believe that I will be 28!  Ok, it's officially 12:00 am on August 4...Happy Birthday to me!!  :) 
I've been feeling a little sentimental in the last couple of hours and that feeling prompted me to find some pictures from a couple previous birthdays, a graduation pic and some from when I was a little gal.  You will note how skinny I used to be.  "Used to be" being the key words.
27 was a very good year.  I got engaged, graduated college, am pregnant with my first child.  Wait just a second...that's not MY life.  In all seriousness it has been just a overall good year.
I'm so thankful that I'm here.  That my Heavenly Father gave me the gift to come down to earth so many years ago.  It's weird to think that just a little over 28 years ago I was in Heaven still.  I must have been really excited to come down and meet my Mommy and Daddy.  I love them soo much!! 
I'm really excited to see what 28 has in store.  Whatever happens my motto is going to be: "28 is gonna be great!".  I've decided that I'm going to try and read The Book Of Mormon 28 times this year and I'm really going to work on making myself the best that I possibly can be.  I want to be the person my Heavenly Father already knows that I can be. 
I love you all soo much!!

Love, Andi
p.s...sorry about a couple of the duplicate pictures. I can't figure out how the heck to delete them.

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Andi and Maddie 2010