FAME

December 23rd 2009 Cindy Ivie and I were in the local paper the Logan Herald journal for going to every restaraunt in Cache Valley,UT we only have three more to go to. I would love to post the article here but it would not let me.If you want a link I would be happy to email you one myself.

I love to make a list and do everything on that list. When I was at Kathy's one night over a year ago I remarked that I thought I had been to every restaraunt in Cache Valley so I looked in the phone book and realized that I had not been to over FOURTY of them.

I asked several people if they wanted to go with me to visit food places and NOBODY wanted to go with me. They either did not have time or money or the desire to do it. They did not know they were giving up an opportunity to be in the paper!!!!

I asked my co-worked Cindy if she wanted to go and she said yes. We started out going to the places that MAKE food
we went to Gossners where I got one each of their flavored milk and we had so much fun tasting their cheese:)
we went to Lowers where I took home some meat
we went to Pepperidge where we bought a ton of stuff and had some goldfish samples
we went to Aggie Ice Cream and had their ice cream and some of the BEST SANDWICHES EVER!!! I highly reccommend the chicken salad there
we went to Caspers and had ice cream.
we went to The Bluebird and got an O'Aggie bar, a special bar native to this valley. I liked mine. I thought the food at the Bluebird was good and I really like the atmosphere in their. The service there is really slow though at least everytime that I have been in there and one time I found a hair in my salad there.
we went to Bluebird chocolates around easter and they had a huge easter bunny on sale that was 85$ and he was HOLLOW the chocolate there was good though:)

when we were done with all that Cindy said where should we go next and I thought well lets start going to all these places that I have not gone yet. So I had gone to a lot with Kathy or Kate or on various dates but then Cindy and I really got down to buisness we started going to a different restaraunt every week.

Over time our friendship grew at first we were just co-workers we became really good friends and we laughed and cryed. After I lost my job at Qwest in July 2009 I was happy that Cindy and I kept our tradition and frienship strong. Since we only saw each other once a week we sometimes would sit in restaraunts from about 4:40 until seven PM sometimes later we talk about EVERYTHING. It has been one of the highlights of my week and something I will REALLY miss when I move to VA I know that no matter how bad my week is I will have dinner with Cindy and we will laugh and have some good food.
Here is some of the restaraunts we have been to and what we thought of them-

I have been to the A & W fast food place in Smithfield when I was on a break from the thrift store and I LOVE THEIR LIMEAIDE!

Kate and I went to the Artic Circle in Preston and had fun getting their sweet pototo fries they were really good :)

we went to Blackstone in Logan when that was still open which is a VERY NICE place... I did not like my meal at all... the waiter even warned me not to get it but I did anyway... Blackstone has since closed down

we went to the Beehive Grill in Logan. we really enjoyed their homebrewed orange drink and rootbeer drink. There food was just OK.

I have been to Beto's for lunch it is OK

I have been to Big J's tons of times since that is the nearest fast food place to me. I like a lot of the stuff that they have.

I don't really like Burger King

WE BOTH LOVE BURGERZ EXPREZZ in Smithfield, that place has great service and good fries and really really really good food :)

I LOVE CAFE RIO- been to ones all over UT :)

I really like Cafe Sabor. I have been there on dates, with Qwest and with Kathy and with Kate everytime I have loved what I have gotten:)

Caffe Ibis had great sandwichs all though they made us pay extra for our drinks but would include coffee in with their meal deal which I thought was lame.

Carls Jr is OK

Center St. Grill is OK

Chilis is OK

I really like the Copper Mill I went there on a date once back in 2005 this guy was like yeah arn't you lucky that you are on a date with me so I could find this cool restaraunt. He said I would not be able to find a cool restaraunt like that on my own... little did HE KNOW

El Sol was OK

El Toro Viejo was neat I had never been in a small authentic restaraunt like that

The Factory Pizzaria was SO GOOD! Kate and I went there and I loved it and I thank her for showing it to me :) Cindy and I had so much fun there, it was very much my kind of place and we got a TON of food!

Cantonese House in Smithfield... YUMMY!!!! I go there so much on my breaks from the thrift store that they say is this Keli?:)

I DID like the Firehouse, UNTIl Kathy and I went there one night and were treated VERY RUDE. I am never going back there... not even for a skookie there are to many good restaraunts to waste my time there..

Callaways in Smithfield was expensive but REALLY GOOD some of the best mac and cheese I have ever had ever :)

Frederico's was good I loved their salad :)

I have been to Golden Corrall lots of times in lots of states. it is what it is.

Hamiltons is WAY NICE. I have even been to a wedding reception once there with Kathy. I am just OK with the food though

IHOP- is well IHOP

Indian Oven was DELICIOUS great service great food we loved our meal there I want to copy all the stuff that we got there:)

I have eaten at Iron Gate Grill many times because they used to cater for Qwest and give us gift certificates. They have good food and it is a cool place

I love the Italian Place in Logan! they have great sandwiches!

Jamba Juice-is good

Juniper Take-out had some really yummy food and great fries

Kamin Thai food - was just OK I was a bit disappointed every other time I have had thai food it was way good this was just OK

Korean BBQ was great! great service great food!

LD's in Richmond was MY FAVORITE! I love that hometown yummy food! it just says Cache Valley

pupuseria el salvador was good my second little tiny authentic place

I really liked Logan's Hero's.

I have been to Mis Amores in Preston so many times for some reason people love to take me out to eat there. I really like it

the Olive Garden is just OK. Kathy and I went there last December (2008) and they sat us so close to the door that everytime someone came in a big gust of wind did also

panda express is good

papa johns and dominos are OK but I am a pizza hut girl :)

Papa Kelsey and Henrys was way good!

Pier 49 had great garlic bread.

I really liked the Pita Pit when I lived in Provo do they even have that here anymore?

quiznos and subway are good for lunch breaks

Taco Bell was rude to me so I try to not go there except on Halloween when they were giving out free Tacos and Matt and Shelli got some for me

Texas Roadhouse was DELICIOUS!!!! YUMM great bread great food!

wendys is good

I loved Wingers tortilla soup and their popcorn and their salad. I went there on my lunch break from Qwest a lot

I got Wok on Wheels a lot at Qwest too.

Yah Poh in Logan was great their empanada's were so good!

I also liked tummy yummies yogurt and concept

I love La Tienda in Franklin,ID that place has the best chicken strips EVER we loved our meal and the service there. It is my SECOND favorite place to eat

I really like The Cracker Barrell in Paradise too. They have delicious food

my friend Rachael and I went out to a place in Weston, ID called Papa Js or something like that and WE LOVED OUR food there too..

I am so sad to leave here but I can at least say that I have made my mark and I look forward to start going to places in Centreville,VA :)

I think that I will follow Cindy's tradition of always asking the waiter or waitress what they like I have gotten some really good food that way and I think that would help people like my mom that are almost PETRIFIED to try something new.She was so paranoid the first time that I took her to Taco Bell when I was a teen she wouldnt even ORDER she just went to McDonalds after and got something there... she needs to get out of that rut...

holiday

I love white elephant parties and I think that I want to have one every year. I have had this thought before... but the last time I had one I lived in Provo... that was a long time ago like maybe even five years ago or more... so I had one this year and I plan to have one next year and the next so that is good enough for me so here is a synopsis of Keli's white elephant party 2009!:)

I invited people, I meant to make cute invites and invite EVERYONE... but well I was not feeling good and um I did not so here is who came: I will not put their whole names because not everyone wants my blog to come up if they are googled
The ( P) family- Amy, Kent and Nathaniel

The ( N) family- Jeff, Megan, Silas, Livia and Lucy

The ( R) family -Carla and Jorge

The ( C) family- only Rachael and Taylor

The ( W) family Carol and Steve

Harley

and Carla and Jorge brought their friend Steve

everyone brought an appetizer or a dessert, Harley and I made a chex mix and put in cheez-its and pretzels :) When Harley and I went to Lee's I said that she could pick out what she wanted to bring she picked cinnamon rolls, so we had those too.

Amy brought oreo truffles YUMMY!
Carol and Steve brought 7 layer dip and chips
Rachael brought chips and dip
Megan brought homemade gingersnaps
Carla and Jorge brought a big tin of cookies
and that guy extra guy Steve did not bring anything

we ate some food, then I gave everyone a number and they were allowed to pick a gift even the kids played :)

I don't know if I can remember right what everyone got but I will try!
Keli- I got a box of hot chocolate
Harley- a book about cowgirls
Amy- she stole some stuffing from Jorge I am not sure what she had to begin with
Nathaniel got a little magnetic Cars thing
Kent-got some kimchi I would have ate some there because I like kimchi but Carol and Steve had all ready left and I was not sure how old it was...
Jeff - got some paper ornaments that Steve( the extra guy) had made
Taylor traded Steve ( the extra guy) for a kids book and some tootsie pops
Rachael -Im not sure???
I just remember that Amy also got a book about canning...
Livia - got a leopard print blanket that Harley had picked out at family dollar
Silas-??? some sort of food
Megan- a CD case
Lucy-???
Carla- some mens cologne
Jorge???
Steve- the extra guy got some dominos that Taylor gave him because she wanted the tootsie pops
Carol and Steve left early because they were going to FL.

afterwards people stayed and chatted. Carla, Jorge, the extra guy Steve and I watched a movie and Harley spent the night

it was a good party and I all ready have a gift for next year :)

holiday

My friends Amy and Kent had a Christmas Cookie Exchange Party at their house a couple of weeks ago and I was lucky enough to be invited:)

what you do is you bake a dozen cookies then bring them to the party and you can take a dozen home of any kinds of cookies that are there :)

my friends, Kathy, Marian, Rachael, and Brinna came and brought cookies too.

I made these cookies that I got out of the Paula Deen cookbook that was dough wrapped around a hersheys kiss. They tasted OK

Kathy made cake mix cookies

Marian's step-daughter Josie made no-bake cookies for her to bring and Marian made molassas cookies for her sister Rachael to bring.

Brinna made chocolate chip.

Amy made several kinds and all were good :)

VA day TWELVE

OK well... I went to bed at like 3 AM had to get up at 5Am.. .so um yeah... I called The Reston Taxi and told them when to be at Rob and Erin's and told them I did not get reception so if I did not answer just wait and I would be right out... so I saw them call and I ran out and guess what they were DRIVING OFF... I called them back and after like SEVERAL CALLS I got him to come back he was like you are late you will make ME late all day I was like I am not late, I am ready you were driving OFF!!! like sorry I was not out on the curb at like FIVE THIRTY AM...He then asked me to get to the airport and I said I did not really know... so even though he had a smart card he went all these backroads and I got to the airport just in time to WALK onto my plane... ISNT THAT AWESOME...

see what I mean about me leaving to go places insanly early..

I slept off and on the whole flight... because I was a bit tired...

when I got to UT there was no one to pick me up and it was a fiasco but my friend Marian's husband Vern got me a ride with a shuttle so I got home and was WIPED OUT!!!!!

and that is my trip :)

VA day ELEVEN

I do not know if I woke up at ... is the best thing to describe this day... lets just say when morning came I was in Centreville,VA at Heather's house. Luke and I stayed up until 6 AM then I had to get up at like 8AM to meet Danielle at Alamoot Rental Cars... so IDK that during those two hours I really SLEPT...

I met Danille at the rental car place we gave back the rental car then she drove me over to Rob and Erin's

This Sunday I was WAY thankful for ONE O CLOCK CHURCH!!!!!! oh my was I thankful... I somehow managed to get ready and look nice for church... probably the only think that kept me awake was adreniline thinking of the great conversation Luke an I had had and how much fun it was seeing all my friends...

church was good. I know I fell asleep during sacrement meeting at least one time... maybe more because I am not sure what they talked about I think some missionaries leaving for Brazil or Chile and how there is more than one in the stake going the same place and IDK if they were leaving or coming back or WHAT really???

during SS I had Emily so I had to stay awake we talked about putting on the whole armor of God and the teacher started out by asking us who had seen Gladiator and he was like no one wants to admit it??? I said I had but I was bored by it..he was like well there was fiery darts in it... he had this whole laminated armor that he had made that was really cool...

In VA it is hard to find modest clothes according to the women in this class. I said that they could go online and purchase some from UT companies that make modest clothes and this one lady acted like that was PREPOSTEROUS and said she would sew on her sleeves... like well go ahead.. I dont have a sewing machine...

we also talked about living the law of chastity since it was mostly married people in there they were like well just be intimate with your wife... I wish it were THAT easy since I am single I got a list a mile long that I have to follow and I am glad to do so:) I also want to say that even after staying up until six Am I could take the sacrament with a clear conscience WOOOHOO! that felt GOOD! :)

Rob and Erin teach SS kids that are like 9 or 10. They are great teachers!

It was the 5th Sunday and this guy that just got realeased from the Stake Presidency and his wife taught about marriage and how we bend apart but need to bend back together in marriage and how they had polled the stake and what people want in the stake.. this one lady was like well people in the world want a woman that wears lingerie... I was like what the??? first of all that is TOTALLY INNAPROPIATE to say.. and what??? then they were like people of the world want someone that makes a lot of money... I said no good people of the world want a good man or a good woman and if they don't they need counseling...like people of the world are not all TRASHY my heck... the guy teaching said good point... they later said that we want people that are good providers.. and how is that different from someone with money???? like if you are a good provider you have $ I mean that is how I see it any way...

after church Rob and Erin took me to Heathers in Centreville and I was able to meet her kids Lony who is 12 and April who is 8. we chatted then Heather had to go to the Giant in Clifton to pick up her friends son Dalton who worked there and we saw this man and he had on tight jeans and cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and shirt and a belt buckle and Heather was like WHOA CHECK HIM OUT and I was like who? and she was like that guy right there! and I said what and she was like where did he come from??? it is like he just dropped in from TX. I said that there were guys like that ALL OVER where I lived ... in fact I bet I could just go stand outside my door and see men like that driving by she was like whoa I did not know anyone looked like that that did not live in TX... I told her I have several pairs of cowboy boots and she was like and you WEAR them and I said I sure do:)

Heather took me back to Rob and Erin's and

Erin and I stayed up WAAAY to late then I was up until like 3 AM so yeah 6 AM one night and 3 AM the next ....

and you did not see a nap anywhere above...

VA day TEN

Alex and I woke up in Reston,Va at Rob and Erin's house. we got ready and went to Leesburg,VA. I love Leesburg,VA I don't know that I would ever LIVE in Leesburg, VA but I would DEFINATLY ( however that is spelled) live on the outskirts like Lucketts, or Lovettsville or something,..but I love Leesburg, you know what I love Lewiston too... It must be something about those towns that start with L... I love Leesburg because it has a cool old town with fun shops to go in. I also love it because it has SEVERAL thrift stores all within WALKING distance to each other. The thought of this is always amazing to me like how do you have the population of people getting rid of things to sustain this MANY thrift stores??? I mean there ares some Saturdays at Somebodys Attic where we get in nothing.. or nothing but junk... so Alex and I were up there going through shops etc.

when we got there I had to ask some man to help me parallel park they were standing there and staring at me trying to do it so I thought I might as well get them involved then one of them with a mullet followed Alex and I into a few different stores until Alex asked me in one why is that guy following us, I said IDK but he looks like white trash... and then we did not see him any more...

we went into this one store that sells witchcraft stuff..they had all this stuff on the wall that I have only heard of in Harry Potter or episodes of Buffy and Angel, like hold on WAIT this stuff exists... I was like oh my all of a sudden I am in diagon alley... and we are just a couple of muggles... they had all kinds of spells for sale and potions and well WOW. we also bought some 40 cent candles that if we burn them will give us psychic abilities.... they gave us a reciept like a mile long that told us all the abilities that we would have if and when we burn these candles. I have not burnt mine yet ...and when I do please no that it is just for fun and I love candles and please dont read more into it because there is nothing more to read into it...I got a picture of Alex with a magic wand for sale and this guy said "careful that thing is loaded"when Alex was waving it around...

we found some jeans for Christopher, Alex's 8 year old brother at a thrift store we found him FOUR pairs for 9 $ and they were Old Navy and Lands End. We did not find anything for us though :(

We also went out to eat at a cool place called Leesburg Diner we had a cool waiter named Garrett who I forgot to tip... so I now need to go back there..

We then went to a park called The Red Rocks Wilderness Overlook Park... is that a long enough name?? and Red Rock where in VA has red rock??? I don't know if they do because I did not have time to walk out to the overlook BUT they had all these old buildings and you KNOW I LOVE taking pictures by old buildings so I got some BEAUTIFUL pictures of me and Alex by these old buildings.

Then we went back to Rob and Erin's to get ready for my high school reunion that I PLANNED! :) well... I tryed my BEST to plan it...We ended up at Dennys in Fairfax,VA it was attended by :

Shiloh and his wife Mary who live in Sterling,VA and have two REALLY cute little girls Beth and Ashley they all came.

RACHEL - who lives in Tacoma,WA Rachel was one of my BFF's in HS. I was so happy to see her! she looks THE SAME and is still amazing. Rachel is the kind of girl that makes everyone happy and laugh just to be around her everyone loves Rachel :) in fact when we were leaving this one guy was begging her to stay and hang out there but she came with us to the after party at a bar :)

BETH- who lives in Sterling,VA Beth is one of my BFF's from HS and well I love Beth and had been with her daughter Alex all day taking pictures and buying jeans for her son Chris. Beth is amazing and she looks that same. She is absolutly beautiful :) She came to the after-party and Dan took her home

Dan and his wife Stefani came- Dan rode my bus and we had a lot of adventures together for sure. I think that at some point after HS Dan may have hit a growth spurt because I don't remember him being so tall??? He lives in Round Hill,VA Dan was so fun that night he was funny and fun! I am so glad that I got to meet Stefani his wife:)

Don- from NC came

Ed - from Williamsburg,VA came

Don and Ed were BFF in HS and I am glad that they still keep in touch. It was really nice to see them there and they seemed to have a lot of fun :)

Zack that graduated from CLC when I was a freshman that no one there really knew came. He seemed like a nice man.

Leann- who now lives in Stafford,VA came she seems to be doing well in life and happy she looks very similar to that she did in HS. It was nice to see her.

Dean - who now lives in Gainesville, VA came He was a lot of fun.

HEATHER- who now lives in Centreville,VA came she was so much fun!!! Heather was one of my BFFs in HS and I was also very happy to see her she looked amazing and I had so much fun with her :)

LUKE- who is Heather's twin brother that lives in South Riding,VA came he was one of my really good friends in HS and my BFF's brother, I guess I used to call him Lukey a lot in HS but for some reason 35 year old Keli just wants to call him Luke.

Ambur- that now lives in maybe Arlington,Va came she looked amazing

Missy- who lives in Herndon,Va came with her and Luke's daughter Megan who is SO CUTE! and her GF, Elizabeth who I got to know and Elizabeth is for sure one of the coolest people I have ever met! :)

Jill- who lives in Washington DC. she looked so similar and was a lot of fun...

so we had a little over 20 people there :) great turn out. if I put your name in caps then that means you were one of my BFF's in HS :)

Beth and I left Sterling,VA and that dumb Tom Tom GPS led us to MANASSAS!!!! it had also led Alex and I in CIRCLES the other night trying to get us from Reston to Sterling... Alex had been like um we are back at my moms and I am like what the??? then when we went to the park it led Alex and I into a town house neighborhood and then in circles in there... I was like do they want me to PARK in here and WALK to the park because I could SEE the park from the townhouses... but there was parking at the park so IDK what ?? so this GPS leads us to Manassas... I was iffy when I got off on this one exit.. but I thought well maybe the freeway loops around here and goes back toward Fairfax but then I saw this sign for Manassas National Battlefield and I thought um NOOOOOO... and then another sign with how many miles it took to get to Gainesville and Warrenton... I was like OH NO WE ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!! and Beth was like NO IT SAYS TAKE A RIGHT!? and I was like I DONT CARE WHAT IT SAYS THAT IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY and Beth was like how do you know? and I was like BECAUSE I LIVED HERE and I know where I am and there is no way that THAT is the right way...so I pulled into a gas station and GPSed it on my phone and we were there in like 10 minutes PHEW those Tom Tom GPSs SUCK they serioulsy SUCK!!!!!!!!! YUCK....

Shiloh and his family and Rachel were all ready there. Then Dan and his wife and Leann got there so we asked to be moved over to another area. ...

Even though I had called that morning and told them that we were going to have a big party they acted like it was news to them and seemed very put off that we had that many people coming... the waiter Purma also kept asking me to order... I finally told him that WHEN I WAS READY TO ORDER I WOULD ... I got a pomegranate blueberry lemonade which was not the best but not horrible either and Rachel and I shared nachos that were SO FREAKIN GROSS!!!!!! I got sick of looking at them after a bit... we also got turtle pie that was GROSS!!! so um yeah next year we are doing something different...like not going to Dennys cause YUCK!!!!and that waiter I mean if he had refilled my water anymore than it would have been all over the table...

I sat in a booth with Leann and Dan and Stefani and Beth . Rachel was on one side of me and almost everyone sat on the other side of me, Heather, Ambur, Leann, Jill, lots of people and Luke was behind me. being the social butterfly I am I got up and talked to a lot of people though

when that guy Zach got there I just had no idea what to say??? I mean none of us knew him and I wanted to be christlike and go over there and talk to him but there were so many people that I was friends with in HS that I had to talk to first and well yeah that is how it goes...

in HS I took this picture of Dan, Don and Ed against a wall at CLC They had me take a re-creation photo at Dennys which I would say is not my best work. I think that next time I need to take a MUCH better picture... but some of that is my fault because there was this man there that was balding and had on a low cut shirt and a gold necklace and a Nascar jacket and I decieded I needed to take a picture of him and show it to Rachel IDK why?? so I kept trying when I was doing the re-creation photo but my camera is broken so it did not turn out... so then I sat back down and made Luke scoot over and tryed to take another picture and I have no idea why but me and Luke and Rachel and Dan and Heather just thought this was SO FUNNY.... even if you were there I don't think you would get it ...but we thought it was funny...

after Dennys we all went over to a bar really near there called the Auld Shebeen or something like that... I was really against going to a bar and had NO PLANS to go.. but I was having so much fun with those people I thought why not I dont have any issues with drinking or smoking... Dan and Stefani, Heather, Rachel, Beth,Dean, Jill and Luke and I went over there. I was surprised because when you go into a bar here it is the trashiest sluttiest girls... for the most part and the most redneck guys for the most part... like that is a big population of people that go to bars here... So Dean and Dan were buying people rounds.. I did not drink anything at all because I was not thirsty and I did not want to be going to the bathroom all night... I got us a booth and we had a lot of fun sitting in that booth talking...eveyone got some form of drunk except for Luke and me. Luke only drank one beer at the beginning and then that was all. He also did not smoke IDK who else smoked or did not smoke... cause I was mostly sitting in this corner with Luke on one side of me and I know he did not smoke.

We had to leave because they had last call and because the bouncer started screaming at us to get out of there like FIVE MORE MINUTES !!!!! IDK why I mean im sure he wanted to stay there all night and not go home hahahahah

Rachel gave me a ride over to Luke's car and Luke drove me and Heather back to her house in Centreville, VA

Then all three of us talked until Heather passed out

Then Luke and I stayed up until SIX AM talking. I put his picture above because we had a really good conversation and it was just a great ending to a great day :)

VA day NINE

I woke up in Reston,VA at Rob and Erin's :) Danielle and I had planned to go to The Newseum, The museum in news in Washington DC. She was staying in Alexandria,VA so she left from the Huntington Metro and I left from the Vienna,VA metro. I took the orange line to metro center then the yellow line to navy/memorial/archives/penn station... is that a long enough name for a station??? and that is where Danielle and I met.

We walked a short walk to The Newseum. In two places at The Newseum they have a newspaper from every state from THAT DAY they rotate around different papers. on the day that we went outside they had The Logan Herald Journal!!!! I had to look again like WAIT IS THAT LOGAN'S PAPER HERE IN DC at the NEWSEUM??? and yes it was!? They had one from Boise for ID. and for VA outside they had one from Charlottsville and inside one from Richmond. for UT inside they had The Salt Lake Tribune. just think that even the Preston Citizian and all those papers are there some days! :)

The Newseum was AWESOME!!!! we were able to see a large exhibit of pulitzer prize winning pictures then read the stories of what had happened with the photographer and the picture like before and after.. totally worth it..

We went and saw a 4D movie that was part of our 20$ admission price. We both loved that. our seats rocked and went back and forth as we went through time with a man in colonial times that saved a printing press so that we could have news and Nellie Bly that went undercover in a mental institution and was the first femal investigative reporter and Edward Murrow who was brave enough to report news from Loundon during the bombing so that America would know what was going on over there and help during ww2. WE BOTH LOVED THIS MOVIE

They had a few sections for kids like interactive things that kids could play on the computer or where they could pretend to be in the news and then buy a DVD of that.

We saw a 9/11 exhibit where they had a chunk of the world trade center and of the pentagon and then a huge wall of newspapers from all around the world from that day

there was a sports exhibit with some amazing photographs of different sports stars

there was a crime exhibit with different things from criminals that had made huge news like the mobsters from the 1920s and 30s to the DC sniper, they had a replica of the car they shot out of . They had waco, and a FBI agents uniform, they had the unabombers cabin, they had Patty Hearsts outfit she wore when she robbed that bank. They had stuff from Timothy McVeigh, stuff from some men that were spys that I have never heard of, stuff from watergate, so many things.

we saw a huge section of The Berlin Wall the largest outside of Germany and a guard tower

we saw a whole exhibit on the hunt for Lincoln's killer.

we saw an exhibit on Woodstock and pictures from that. The pictures were really cool.

we saw an exhibit of First Dogs dogs that presidents have and I hope everyone knows that the Obamas have Bo that Ted Kennedy gave them.

we saw some guy named Tim Russerts office. I had to look him up on wikipedia

we ate a very overpriced lunch at a Wolfgang Puck restaraunt they have there.

There was also a HUGE HUGE HUGE did I say HUGE screen where you could watch the latest news,nothing was really going on the day after Thanksgiving 2009 but imagine that room the day MJ died or something I bet that room was packed with people...

So that is all I can REMEMBER that we saw at The Newseum at this point in time...

while we were walking back to the metro we saw a man playing the buckets and I took a picture of him with Danielle because she said that she liked that kind of music:)

We got on our metros and we left:)

I called Beth and went over and visited with her family

Then I took Alex with me over to Rob and Erin's and we stayed up late taking pictures and playing around on FB

Alex got me into the game on there sorioity life... however that is spelled. I do not have a farm yet. ...

that is about all for that day :)

VA day EIGHT

THANKSGIVING 2009!!!!!! I woke up in Bealeton,VA at Danielle's sister Linda's house.
Danielle and I went to the grocery store and got some stuff. I made artichoke dip and put it on bread. I wanted to make these cute candy turkeys but could not find all the candy necessary to make them... I guess this is what I get for waiting until THANKSGIVING DAY to go shopping..

Danielle and I drove to Reston,VA on all these curvy roads I thought for sure I WAS GOING TO PUKE... we went over to Rob and Erin and Emily's and I got dressed and did my hair and phew I felt like myself again... I had not had much stuff with me in Chesapeake,VA and it was nice to be back at Rob and Erin's where all my stuff was.:)

Danielle said that Rob and Erin are the kind of people that you just SEE them and you can tell they are nice like you just know that they can never be mean! :) and I agree :)

Danielle took me to my Aunt Diane and Uncle Kerry's in Fairfax,VA it took a lot of curvy roads to get there too. On a side note, my Aunt Gail that I had been staying with is my mothers younger sister by two years. My Aunt Diane is there baby sister she is ten years younger than my mom and eight years younger than my mom. She lives in a VERY LARGE house in Fairfax,VA Danielle had to drop me off at noon even though I was not suppossed to be there until three pm because she had to be at her families house in Manassas,VA and I did not hear anyone in my family offering me a ride from Reston,to Fairfax.... so I took what I could get...

I made my artichoke bread. My cousin Kirk was making a cauliflower/broccoli cassarole. My aunt Diane was finishing up preperations.

I asked everyone what they were thankful for I added a few extras for people too:)

here they are mine are all real:

Keli is thankful for

being here on Thanksgiving with my family

the gospel of Jesus Christ

my Little Boy Spike

my friends!!!!

my warm house and cute clothes:)

Beverly ( my mom) is thankful for

her health and her families health

all her favorite tv shows

her car

her house

that she has money to pay her bills

Kristen ( my 20 year old cousin)

is thankful for

friends

family

her health

that she goes to a great university and has cute clothes

Uncle Kerry is thankful for

his health

his job

his wife of thirty years of Diana Lynn who he loves with all his heart

The Redskins and the great season they are having

The Washington Post and the Black Friday ads .. he is getting up at 3AM

Bradley ( my 31 year old brother)

is thankful for

his DVD's

his job

his vacations and abilities and to vacation

his family

volleyball and softball

Aunt Diane is thankful for

her family

her job

her horses

football( she loves football)

God!

friends ( if she had any)

Kirk ( my 19 year old cousin)

is thankful for

FOOD ( he guesses)

SPORTS

FAMILY ( he guesses)

FRIENDS

FACEBOOK

I got this way cute paper and rolled all these up and put cute little ribbons on them and put them in the cute bucket you see above. I passed them around the table and whoever you picked you had to read theres out loud

I will leave it up to your discretion to guess which ones I made up and which ones are real. Some are all real I just added them

For some reason I can't find my dads at this very moment but he is grateful for his family and friends, his car, his church and things like that:)

we had turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed pototos, punch that Granny used to make, a veggie platter, rolls etc for dinner. For dessert we had three kinds of pie.

Danielle came and picked me up at five pm we went to Dulles Airport to get our rental car. They said they were all sold out so I went off and said isnt there anything that you can do? They sent us to this place called Alamoot Rental Cars. It was this little rental car place that is run by some persian men and they just have piece of paper up that says Alamoot Rental Cars. They rented Danielle this car that had over 120 thousand miles and was missing some knobs... I think it may have been part of the cash for clunkers program. Danielle was like this is like it is someones personal car.. I said that it probably was...

Danielle went to go visit friends and I went over to my cousin Scott's in Centreville,VA I got to see his new baby Maddi awwww... I talked with Scott for a bit then went back to Reston,VA to Rob and Erin's

I just want to express my gratitude for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints! It has blessed my life in more ways that I can imagine and I know very soon I will have my own little family to be thankful for :)

VA day SEVEN

I woke up in Chesapeake,VA and my aunt and I went to Charlotte Russe because Danielle gave me a gc for them a couple of years ago and there is no Charlotte Russe in Cache Valley. I got a pair of blue boot bedroom slippers that Harley borrowed on Friday and has not given them back yet...and some eyeshadow that looks better on Alex than me so Im probably giving it to her.

We went to the Goodwill and I got a REALLY COOL DRESS for like four bucks! ( that I wore on Sunday.) everyone in there was so friendly and loud and I realized that all this time I have been trying to be QUIET and thinking there is something wrong with me well no that is just me I AM LOUD AND PROUD!:)

I went in another thrift store which was not really a thrift store... but a bunch of junk that people had bought and were charging inflated prices for...

then my aunt Gail and Bettie all went to Doumars in Norfolk,VA where they invented the ice cream cone. I saw it on The Food Network and really wanted to go

then we dropped of Bettie and Gail and I went and visited her friend Pam in Portsmouth,VA

Gail and I drove around Portsmouth,VA they had some REALLY cool old houses and a ferry that goes between Portsmouth and Norfolk... COOL .

I got a magnet for me and Shelli

Gail and Bettie then dropped me off at Danielle's and we, Danielle, myself, Vanessa, Deondre and Deondre's friend Mikey all headed up to Northern VA

we spent the night in Bealeton,VA at Danielle's sister Linda's house

VA day SIX

I woke up in Chesapeake,VA and my aunt had a whole day planned for us. We drove from Chesapeake,VA to the Outer Banks of NC! I had NEVER BEEN TO NORTH CAROLINA! how cool is that I have been to another state! turns out it is only a little over an hour from where Gail lives!!! :)

We drove over lots of bridges and it was rainy outside and the water was choppy not many boats were out.

the road to the Outer Banks was really cool tons of older houses and little towns and farms. When I was in VA it had not froze yet which is amazing to me because that happened in like August or September here! so there were still farmers markets that were open and farmers stands and there were signs everywhere for things for sale like COLLARD GREENS FOR SALE! I have never even eaten a collard green and have no idea what they look like or even how to cook one.

We passed this monster truck place where some monster truck the grave digger was that was neat

our first stop was The Wright Brothers Memorial. I have ALWAYS WANTED TO GO THERE! Gail was not feeling well so she waited in the car. I walked up to the monument and walked around and took pictures. It was two days before Thanksgiving and not the warmest day and rainy but there were a TON of people there... This is a national park so it is done very well they have a big monument then in another area they have statues depicting the first flight and everyone that was there.

they have re-creations of the sheds that they lived in and used as a hanger and where they landed on the first four flights they had a really nice visitors center

and a very nice gift shop where I got a magnet for me and one for Shelli :)

Our next stop was a state park called Jockey's Ridge We walked around the visitors shop and then Gail got back in the truck and I walked out on a boardwalk and looked over the sand Jockeys Ridge is the largest sand dune on the E. Coast. A man was out there waiting for his grandchildren and told me that the actual large sanddune I could not see from the over look but I could walk out to it but it was raining and well it is sand and Gail was waiting so I declined... The man took my picture and I told him I was in town from UT and he said his brother owns a sandwich shop out here and I asked if he was LDS and he said he was and he told me where the ward meets there and also that they are in the Raleigh Temple District PRETTY COOL HUH???

We went to J Crew where I would get a LOT more clothes if they were NOT SO EXPENSIVE! but Gail had found a J Crew outlet... Gail got me an orange shirt, a pair of green cords and a CUTE BLACK HAT! .... I later wore this outfit and had VERY GOOD LUCK! :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE JCREW!!!!

We drove back and stopped somewhere in Nags Head, NC and I got out and took a picture of me by the beach. I thought I was far enough back but the water did come up and get me on one leg so once again I had wet pants well pant leg and wet shoe.:)

We went out to eat at a place called Bagels to Beef and I got cranberry pecan white chocolate caramel cream cheese and it was SO GOOD!!!! YUMMY! and the girl in there said she liked my J Crew hat SEE I TOLD YOU IT IS GOOD LUCK!

We also stopped at a lighthouse in Currituck,NC and I got out and for 7$ climbed to the top I was breathing so hard from climbing I forgot to be scared towards the top the stairs were slippery because they left the door open and it was raining and the rain came in and got me...:)

we drove back and stopped at a cool store called The Cotton Gin.

and then drove back to Chesapeake,VA and my friend Danielle came to get me and me and her and her daughter Vanessa went out for ice cream at Friendlys and Vanessa said she liked my hat :)

I also got magnets at Jockeys Ridge and the lighthouse.:)

another magnet filled day! :)

Va day FIVE

On Monday I woke up in Reston,VA at Rob and Erin's. Erin, Emily and I planned to go and tour the US Capitol this day. We had been staying up really late for the past few nights.. like 1 or 2AM so it was a feat to get up and get ready and get out there to the bus stop for the Reston Connecter bus befor NINE AM!!! so there we are running out the door me carrying a stroller that was banging against my leg and a big purse and no coat...thank goodness I was in VA where it was in the 50s and raining and not here in UT where it is 18 degrees and snowy. Erin was carrying Emily in her carrier and all the stuff that she needed and Emily needed for the day. We got to the bus stop and realized that we still had five minutes to spare... phew... this is a commuter bus for people that are commuting into Washington DC. it takes you from Reston to the West Falls Church Metro Station. I don't think a lot of moms in Northern VA do the whole tourist thing... just like a lot of moms in Cache Valley don't ... BUT I DO! :) and I will be a mom one day.

We got to the West Falls Church Metro and Erin accidently left her purse on the bus, she did a great job chasing it down and I am proud of her. I stayed with Emily:) we got on the orange line to Metro Center I think then we took the red line to Union Station. We got off the metro and walked over to the Greyhound station where we checked my tickets in because later that day I was going down to the VA Beach area.

We then walked over to the US Capitol. It was a short walk and it was really cool to all of a sudden see it like we are going to tour THAT! As we got closer I noticed how much security is around it, you can look across the street and right there is the Lincoln Memorial. I did not have my camera working that day I only had my phone with me so the picture from that day are not the best...

We went inside and checked in and while Erin nursed Emily I went into the gift store. I bought a magnet that said US Capitol Visitors Center and one that said US Capitol. ( and because I forgot to mention it the other day I also have one that says Calvert Marine Museum and Solomons Island,MD) I also got replicas of the declaration of independence and the bill of rights and the constitution that are on my desk right now in a cool container.

when Erin was ready we went to go check in with our tour and they said that we could start one right then. We went and watched a short movie about the US Capitol in a nice little theater then met our tour guide Vernon. He told Erin and I to meet him because we had to take the elevator. when we met him upstairs he had to find us because for a second we joined the wrong tour...

Vernon was a really funny tour guide... he told us about the painting the apothesis of Washington and said that "there is George Washington ascending into Heaven to become a God and he is taking 15 women with him.... hahahah 13 are for the original states and 2 are for Liberty and Justice. He also told us about people laying in state and how in 2007 before they took her body back to the Bahamas Anna Nicole Smith layed in state and I thought WHAT ??? WHY??? then we realized he was joking...

He showed us a the crypt where George Washington was suppossed to be buried there but in his will he stated that he really wanted to be buried in Mount Vernon. So it took them a long time to find someone to be buried there but now Jimmy Hoffa is buried down there.... hahahahha

I told Vernon I had just read The Lost Symbol and I heard that EVERYWHERE in the Capitol had cell service he said that was not true that if he took me down to that crypt and left me there... I would not be able to call anyone for help hahahah

there was also an older lady that tryed to get in a fight with Vernon about whether George Washington DID or DID NOT have slaves....

As part of being a tour guide Vernon has to memorize 100 statues because every state has two and he pointed them out for us on the tour for any state that people wanted to know about. VA has George Washington and Robert E. Lee- but who else would you EXPECT for VA...UT has Philo Farnsworth-inventor of the TV, yes a Mormon invented TV:) and Brigham Young- who else would you EXPECT for UT! He asked me to point out Brigham Young and I pointed out a man with a short beard, but there Brigham Young had a long beard... I could not get a picture with anyone but Philo because we were on a tour and the statues were surrrounded by people.



Emily was the best little baby in the whole wide world during the tour and barely made a peep. Several people including Vernon complimented Emily and Erin on how good of a baby Emily is :)

After our tour we left The Capitol and it was raining. we realized that we had went out the wrong entrance and were now RUNNING TO THE GREYHOUND STATION... IN THE RAIN... I had on little brown fabric flats that got SOAKED and the rain was coming up into my jeans which in turn also got SOAKED. I am used to spoiling myself in the rain and snow and wearing boots so my pants dont get wet... I forgot how much it RAINED in VA and DC. I took a cab over to the Greyhound and left some of my stuff in Emily's strollar...

So there I am standing in the Greyhound Station wet from the knees down phone dying because the charger is in Emily's strollar and I find out the bus is running an HOUR late and they dont need to tell us why

two men in front of me were having a conversation here is how it went
man one: yeah I could have taken a plane to TX my sister offered to pay... but I was like naw I hate flying I will take the bus... ( I thought YEAH RIGHT you HATE flying SO MUCH that you would rather take THIS BUS for a few DAYS then FLY... whatever)
man two: well I am just coming back from Atlantic City, NJ ( they have a lot of gambeling there) and I just won 3400 but I wanted to take the bus too... ( like mmmhmm right... you are both broke or have some sort of issue with your license like I do so you cant rent a car..)
man one: well all I know is I told my sister to meet me in TX with a whore and some Grey Goose Vodka....
man two : alll right that is what im talkin about...

wow all I can say is wow.....they said lets sit in the back of the bus and I thought note to self... do not sit in the back I don't want to hear that conversation all the way to VA beach.

I got on the bus and realized that since I did not have Alex with me like I have all the other times there was an open seat beside me. This guy sat beside me that looked like a combination of Old Man Winter and Father Time. I thought NO DONT SIT BY ME!!!! you probably smell but he did sit by me and turned out to be SO NICE! ... I felt like I needed to listen to A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief a few more times. He even gave me some food and water! His name was Larry and he also did not need to tell me his whole life story or ask me mine which I also liked...

so there we are sitting on this bus with the rain POURING down in tons of traffic this man diagonal in front of us was snoring so loud I could barely sleep or read... the girl in front of us was drinking a beer because even though that is not allowed there are NO SECURITY CHECKPOINTS to get on a Greyhound...That girl called her mom to complain about the snoring man like MOM there is a man on here SNORING so loud like grandpa but LOUDER... I guess her mom said what do you want me to do about it.. .? and the girl was like um IDK???


we finally got to Richmond,VA and because the bus being late and the rain and the traffic my bus to Norfolk,VA was GONE... the next one was coming at THREE AM. It was now SEVEN PM... So I called my aunt and she was nice enough to send her friends Bonnie and Judy that live in Colonial Heights,VA to come and get me. They were so nice and gave me some DELICIOUS SOUP!

My aunt Gail and her roommate Bettie came and got me and we all went back to Chesepeake VA

I read some then went to bed...

when I went to bed I was so glad I was not sitting in the Richmond,VA Greyhound Station. I get my license ALL THE WAY back in May 2010 and I hope to never ever ride that thing AGAIN!

for the most part an OK day...

VA day FOUR

Sunday I woke up in Reston,VA. Erin and Rob told me that there was something in Northern,VA called a mid-singles ward for people that are 31-45. Kathy later told me that they have that in the Denver area too. AND WHY DONT WE HAVE THAT IN UTAH??? I don't get it??? So all the people my age that are single in that stake go to this ward, it is a family ward so if you are divorced or a single mom or dad and have kids you can still bring them and then they have single people and regular families that go there to. Even if you are in another stake you can get permission to go to this singles ward. AND WHY DONT WE HAVE THIS IN UTAH????

on the downside church did not start until TWO THIRTY??? like um ? Im sorry what time did you say??? Im used to getting OUT of church at two... not starting at TWO THIRTY!!!!! Erin was so nice she called around until she found me a ride with a really cool lady name Vickie.

Sacrement was cool they talked about gratitude

Then for Sunday School we all met on the stage this one guy who I thought was attractive said that we were going to meet up there so we could get as " rowdy as we wanted" I thought HOW ROWDY DO WE NEED TO GET THIS IS SUNDAY SCHOOL!? There was almost 20 people in the class some boys some girls and the thing I realized is they did not have a distinguishing factor like oh he or she is really large or she looks like a man... or that person is not all together there....they just looked like for whatever reason they had not gotten married or had got married and got divorced so here they are this is the first time EVER that I have EVER been around people my age and single and not felt like um???am I the only NORMAL person MY AGE and single SERIOUSLY???

They started by announcing several activities that are coming up like family home evening and different things AND WHY DONT WE HAVE THIS HERE????? we only have "singles activities" that not many people attend and it is all people old enough to be my dad or old women and I mean OLD women that are like between 65 and well like 90. I went to one activity once here and there was a lady there that was in her NINETIES... and the only guy there had brain damage... very sad...

I know that they have got to be other single men in Cache Valley that are my age and single that I have not met I just dont get why we are not organized like that ??? but my name is not Thomas S. Monson so I guess that is not up to me.

So they started class with no opening prayer or anything and I said hey are people in VA just apostate or are we going to have an opening prayer. a guy behind me said... she must be from UTAH and kind of sneered the word Utah... Rob and Erin later said that MAYBE I should not have said that because people in VA are really into letting everyone know they are just as good as people in UT. but the lady that gave me a ride said good for me and maybe they need me to light a fire under them...I told Rob and Erin that I would say that here in UT too.. and I think that Bruce who taught Sunday School yesterday knows I would too:)

When I introduced myself I said that I lived in UT but don't think Provo, don't think SLC think Napolean Dynamite and I live three miles from that town...

we talked about missionary work and why it is scary to do it???? wait hold on it is scary like sorry how long have you all been home from your missions long enough to get SCARED NO!!!!! then we split into little groups and said why should we do missionary work ... like um IDK you tell me??? I was my groups spokes person and I said we should do missionary work because the church is true! also because we want people to feel the joy peace and happiness in their lives that we feel in ours. I said that I was working with less-active people and non-members in my ward and how Amy and I are bringing treats to people and how we are having parties and other things. They said that was all impressive since I do live in Utah and it is much harder here and then they encouraged people to invite people to the DC temple to see the lights I thought yeah that is a good idea why not???

Then they said we had 15 minutes at the end of class JUST TO TALK... I thought are you KIDDING ME??? but then I thought wow well we are like older and not married and the church wants us to get married so if they need to give us 15 minutes at the end of class they have to...

One guy came up to me and said you said you grew up in Chantilly, did you go to Chantilly High I said um .... no he was like oh then did you go to Herndon and I was like um.. when I was in VA before and LDS I had lived in Loudoun County so the question of where I went to HS was not even an issue. So this guy was like so where did you go then and I almost lied and said a private school but instead I said that I went to Cedar Lane ...gasp... he said he had heard of it... he was like when did you graduate. I said 1993. He said that he graduated just a couple years before me in 1982.. ... like yep just a COUPLE OF YEARS.... wow... I then went and told a girl that had a skirt made out of ties that I loved it and then just sat there and no one talked to me... I looked around and realized that everyone in there was a lot different from me most LDS people my age are REALLY QUIET... the loud mouth ones like me mostly got married when they were young... if they are divorced they are in some quiet stage of their lift where they are still to shocked to really talk. It was like every guy in the room was some version of Mitch just REALLY QUIET and REALLY AWKARD... sitting there in that room ... I knew wow I am not a regular LDS girl of the age of 35. but for the FIRST TIME EVER I had a testimony that that was OK that a guy would come along and he would LOVE that I was not like all the other girls that he would think that was AWESOME and be so glad that he found me. I KNOW THIS IS TRUE!!!! that one day a man that is not married and someone I like will recognize how wonderful I am ...I guess I am kind of intimidating for a lot of LDS people and they just don't talk to me and others think I am really funny and cool...

RS was good. some married girls talked to me the lady that gave me a ride reminded me that single people have their agenda and the girls dont want to talk to me cause I am MAJOR COMPETITON... ..??? and the guys dont because they are scared of me... but I believe SOMEONE WILL SOON...

Someone came up to me at the end of RS and asked if I remembered them I said no because I thought I might have went to elementary school with her but um I don't really know...?? She was like you went to Chantilly with me and made fun of me all through HS. I thought um WHAT? I went to Chantilly for like a MONTH before I had to go to Cedar Lane... and that was in 1989 and well I don't remember making fun of ANYONE???OK I will admit that I made fun of some people at Rocky Run but I do not remember making fun of her EVER. then she said that I had changed a lot since HS and did not look at ALL the same... which is wierd because most people that I actually WENT to HS with say I look the EXACT SAME.. I said how do I look different, she said that I don't dress in all black????

I thought UM WHEN DID I???? I asked why we were talking about this at church on the Sabbath esp. since it happened sooo long ago? She said that it had haunted her ever since... I said well Im sorry... I am really sorry because IT WAS NOT ME! I swear to you you ask ANYONE I went to HS with and I did not wear all black... she said it was funny to see how people turn out. Im not sure what that meant???

After church I went back to Rob, Erin and Emily's and Beth, Alex, Chris and Dylan came over. CHRIS HAS GOTTEN SO TALL HE IS ALMOST AS TALL AS ME! HOW DID HE GROW THAT MUCH SINCE APRIL???

We had four cheese lasagna and pumpkin cheescake muffins that Chris and Dylan help me make. We also made a mocktail, it was Cardinal Punch which is

half gingerale

half cranberry juice

splash of lemon juice

splash of oj

and there you go :)

We had a nice dinner and Alex's BF Nic even came over and played the guitar for us and it was nice to meet him.

so all in all another GREAT DAY

the picture above is Erin and Rob's daughter, Emily with Beth and Eric's daugther, Alex. They are so pretty :)

VA day THREE

Day three I woke up in Reston,VA at Rob and Erin's. I love to go on day trips, so I like to plan at least one everytime that I go to VA, as you may remember I went to Shenendoah Caverns, in 2007. I went to Staunton,VA in 2008 and I went to Brunswick,MD in 2009. This time I found Solomons Island,MD. It is about two hours from Reston,VA where Rob and Erin live.( all though Rob timed it and said that it took about 1 hour and 46 minutes) It was a really nice drive. We passed over a bridge on the Potomac where you could see the Washington Monument and the US Capitol in the distance. We passed over bridge after bridge after bridge...even a drawbridge which Rob thought was pretty cool. On the way home I fell asleep and I guess we were stuck in "drawbridge traffic"

So we are driving along when all of a sudden just like that we are in the country! like signs up for bait and tackle and fishing licences, one seemed to be made out of duct tape. There were signs for all kinds of seafood for sales like LOBSTERS TURN HERE! FRESH OYSTERS PULL OVER! and CLAMS!!! and CRABS!! There was even a guy selling something out of the back of his truck and I really wanted to pull over for that one but we were going fast and on what would be the equivelant here of a free way and well we would have turned around if we could :)

When we pulled into Solomons Island, MD there was a brick sign that said "welcome to Calvert County Maryland" on one side and on the other side a sign that said " God Bless Ya'll real good" which they attributed to a quote from some guy. WE WERE ALL LIKE WHAT??? WOW and went back and took a picture...

Dave had been really worried about us going there because he said that Solomons Island was a summer town and that we would not have as much fun going there in the winter as we would if we went there in the summer because the tiki bar would be closed and we would not be able to go crabbing. He also said his parents had lived there for ten years and wanted to know how I found out about that town. I said I had looked it up on the interent. I had to remember that Dave does not know that I could get a degree in travel and tourism and looking things up on the internet.

Even though we went and visited in November we were able to go to the Calvert County Marine Museum. It cost 7$ to get in and I thought it was well worth the money. They had a lot of stuff about fossils there. They even had a large dinosaur bone from Emery County, Utah that I had to travel all the way there to see. They had a whale skeleton that they said had washed ashore with Hurricane Ida in 2000something. near that they had a human skull and that is all it said by it human skull..I don't even KNOW what is up with that? like um did that wash up in Hurricane Ida too?? because if so that needs to go to Bones and Booth or something but not be in a museum???

There were boats and boat things on display. There was an exhibit upstairs of Solomons Island now and then which had pictures of the same places in Solomons Island now and a long time ago.

They had a childrens area with a light house that kids could dress up and climb in and play in. They had a large boat that you could also dress up and get in. and tons of things to do. When we first got there, there were a lot of moms with little kids playing there. I thought that is the way to do it.. Get a season pass here and then your kids could play here when it is to cold to play on a playground.

They had an outdoor boardwalk that we walked on and a really cool otter exhibit. I had seen some otters at the VA Beach Marine Science Museum in 2008. These were bigger and way more active, at least we got there at an active time. These otters, Bubble and Squeak were about as thick as Spike and longer than Spike and SO CUTE! they were swimming around and playing and even licking the window and basically putting on a show for us. Emily had so much fun looking at them and even clapped her hands when they came by. Erin said that it must be time to take her to the zoo:)

There were old boats to look at and boats that in season that you could even go out in for a fee one said it went out for a little cruise, I am glad that one was not open because I did not have all my stuff with me and it would suck if we had gotten shipwrecked..

As part of our ticket we could also tour the Drum Point Lighthouse which was on the same property. This is my second lighthouse that I have toured. I toured one in VA Beach,VA lots of years ago. This one you walked up some stairs then walked up a ladder. that was scary then you were in the living area where they had different signs that said that a baby was born there at one point and other stories about different people that had lived there, then you took some more stairs up to another living area. Then you took some more stairs to another area then some more stairs to the tippy top. It was so beautiful and peaceful up there and I am so glad that we toured that.

When we were done touring, we drove around and went over a big beautiful bridge just for fun. then drove back over it... just for fun..

We drove through town and decieded to eat at Roy Rogers. They used to have over 600 Roy Rogers restaraunts in the US they are down to 62 now. I know this because Erin went to go nurse Emily in the bathroom and Rob and I looked it up on Wikipedia on my phone. First we looked up Roy Rogers the man and learned all about him ... you know he was America's Singing Cowboy at one point and was in heavy competition with Gene Autry... ( I have heard all these things because my dad grew up in the era when singing cowboys were actually popular)

I also want to take this moment to remind everyone I HATE COWBOY POETRY AND SINGING and the Lewiston 3rd ward thinks that is the kind of entertainment that we need for every activity...

Then Rob and I looked up Roy Rogers the restaraunt, it is a fast food restaraunt. There are none in UT but there food is not bad if you ever see one and need to eat I say why not?

Rob said we may now know more than anyone else here about Roy Rogers the man and Roy Rogers the restaraunt. I said I am SURE we do.. He said he felt like we deserved a degree or certificate or SOMETHING...I agreed and asked Rob to go up to the register to ask for one but he declined and I was to tired to do it.

We drove home and at some point we got lost and passed Potomac Mills Mall a big outlet mall in Woodbridge,VA which I do NOT remember passing and Erin and I were like um... then we passed Ikea..and I was like I KNOW WE DID NOT PASS AN IKEA!!! So I looked up how to get home and we were 45 minutes from home so we found our way home.

We arrived back in Reston late and went to bed

another GREAT DAY!!!!!!