A Simple Photo | 01.21.14

 

(Me in front of the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC. I forgot what that building was and spend 30 minutes googling different things to figure it out. I finally got it!)

When I was little, my Aunt Marcie was a nanny in Boston. We would write letters back and forth and she would occasionally send me pictures. One time she took a trip to the Washington DC temple and sent me the most beautiful pictures of it. From that day on, it became my favorite temple, and I swore that I would visit it someday.

Fast forward to my junior year of high school, and there was a boy that I met when I went to visit my sister Shari up at BYU-I who was serving a mission in the Maryland area. We wrote back and forth, and he too sent me some beautiful pictures of the DC temple and the Baltimore area. It made me want to visit that area even more.

Fast forward another seven or so years and my sister-in-law Adrienne and her husband Mark moved out to Virginia, and I hoped and hoped that I would get to visit them sometime. I finally got my wish, and in November of 2011, I flew out of SLC with my in-laws. I was beyond excited. While I definitely wanted to visit the DC temple, I just wanted to see the DC area. I was lucky enough to get to do both. The temple was absolutely beautiful. We went at night at got to see it all lit up. So pretty. Then we were able to spend a day in DC itself. It was beyond amazing. There is so much history there, it was unbelievable. I could have spent a lot more time there. One day just doesn't cut it. Just walking around the museums was an adventure, but to see the architecture there and all these buildings that you only see on TV, incredible. I didn't want to leave. I didn't get to see enough, but the memories I have of that place are amazing.

I hope to be able to visit there again someday, and be able to see everything all over again, plus the places that we missed. I want to learn more about the history of our country so it will mean all that much more. I also want my future children to be able to experience it and to have fun adventures with their parents that they, too, will cherish forever.