To Father:

Happy Father's Day!

My siblings and I realized that none of us were really going to be around the house for Father's Day so we all decided to do something a little unique and special for Dad and that at the end of whatever we decided to tag a P.S and give a clue to where we left a gift for him. My gift being Rolos {his favorite} next to where he sits to watch TV. So for my unique item I decided to make a video for father with the help of Jamison. {Jamison being the camera man}. After several bloopers that Jamison has insisted on keeping for embarrassing viewing purposes...this was the video I made for my father.

Love you Dad!

Hmm...Sunshine.

This is me working...

...waiting for this phone to ring so I have something to do at work. 

As you can tell, it is a busy day at the Baltimore office.

So, I'm going to relax some more and get paid to do it while I am at it.

Later.

Don't Know How I Did That...

This is my hair. {Yes, that is my head}. Weird, but odd looking bun now isn't it?

Would you believe me if I told you that there was not a single hair band or bobby pin in my hair and it naturally stayed that way? I didn't even tuck ends in or make knots.

 

As you can tell I was quite proud that I could keep my hair like this for 15 minutes {and yes...I did walk around}. So...this is what happens in Maryland when I get bored at 11 PM waiting for Jamison to come home from work so we can hang out...awesome.

My Summer Loves..

My list of my summer loves...

1. Jamison {duh}

2. Sunshine

3. Travelling

4. Blogging

5. Socializing {with the few people that I see in the day}

6. Glee! {I joined the bandwagon right as the season was ending} and The Bachelorette {shocking, I know!}

7. Daily Exercising {Kind of turned healthy all of a sudden}

8. Reading the Old Testament {Leviticus is boring!}

9. Talking to my mother on the phone. {I really enjoy that!}

10. Scrounging the internet for ideas...hard to find good ones...

11. Working. {Not really my favorite, that is why it is at the bottom of the list.}

Although this seems to be an impressive list I feel like something is missing. I need something else to do, between all of these activities I just eat. Which according to my list there is a lot of time to eat! {Kind of a problem}. 

I want/need a hobby that won't cost me so much money and my waist line! Shopping isn't a hobby, and I have this new interest in making food from recipes...which is another problem. {I know I'm skinny, but when sitting on my butt ALL day long I need to be careful with what I eat...especially when I am wearing a dress in the nearby future.} So if anyone has any suggestions, I would love for something to do!

The Philadelphia End Cap

For those who hate reading, this is a very short version of our day told by myself at Love Park.

Love Park!

Can't you feel....the love?!

Also being in Philadelphia...I needed to have a picture with the Love sign!

And what better to have a picture of the Love sign with the man I love?

And this is the fountain behind the Love sign, it is super refreshing to sit next to it after a very hot day! {In fact, some people enjoyed it more than we did, one man went in and laid down in the water and then left! The water was full of mold! Gross!}

This is me enjoying myself at the pond/fountain area. Jamison loves taking pictures sometimes!

And this is me again, with pretty flowers in the background at Love Park.

Ultimately, I think we felt the love!

Pat's and Geno's!

Although it was a Sunday, Jamison and I decided that since we are in Philadelphia...gosh darnit we have to get a philly cheese steak! {It knocks out one of the those life goals, to eat a philly..in Philly!} We couldn't just eat any cheese steak...but the world's best cheese steak! So to satisfy our needs we decided to go to both Pat's and Geno's!

Pat's and Geno's both consider themselves to make "The Best Cheese Steak in the World" and to make it even better..they are next door neighbors! So, we decided to put them to the test and decide for ourselves who we thought had the "World's Best Cheese Steak". We bought one cheese steak at Geno's and then walked across the street to Pat's and bought another one. So ultimately we had a sandwich each. Not too unhealthy right?!

For all of you rookies...this is a Philly Cheese Steak with 'Wizz with' {Meaning cheese wizz with onions}. This seemed to be the standard from all of the locals to get the 'Wizz with', {and President Obama ordered this when he visited the place} so we followed along with everyone else and ordered this! Yummy!

So after eating at both places...we then had to choose...

Geno's...

or Pat's?

And although both places had some delicously made Philly cheese steaks...the winner by slim margins is......

Geno's! We felt that they both had wonderful taste, but Geno's had better food presentation, better customer service, and slightly beat out Pat's because of the flavor in 'each' bite that we took. {ha! I sound like the Food Network!}

Jamison and I in front of the 'winning' cheese steak joint!

{Did anyone else think that it was funny the stark differences between the level of 'showiness' from both Pat's and Geno's? Geno's looks amazing...while Pat's looks like a local diner. Nonetheless, they are both yummy places to go eat!}

Next stop? Love Park!

Independence Hall

Independence Hall-the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed! Although we weren't able to tour the inside {because we didn't get the free tickets fast enough} it was still neat to just be able to walk around the area and in the courtyard behind the hall. It was a beautiful area, and something cool...the road right in front of Independence Hall is a cobble stone street!

This is the backside of Independence Hall, I love the clock tower/steeple thingamajig. And in front of the Hall happens to be a statue of a founding father {man unknown}.

And this is me, looking inspiring and doing a wonderful representation of the statue of the unknown man. This statue is evident that our Founding Fathers worked really hard to be an inspiration through not only their writing but through their body positioning in their statues. Can't you see the resemblance?

This also happened to be the statue where several "New Englanders" read the Declaration of Independence to us. Very cheesy but none the less still cool.

And this is another picture of the backside of Independence Hall, I couldn't help it...it is such a beautiful area with all of the surrounding trees!

Next stop? Geno's and Pat's for cheese steak awesomeness!

Liberty Bell Center

After visiting the Independence Hall/Liberty Bell Visitor Center we walked across the street to the Liberty Bell Center where the bell is displayed. The entire Liberty Bell Center is a tribute to the Liberty Bell {shocking} and before you enter the room where the bell is at you are led through tons of historic artificats about things pertaining to the bell and the historical significance it is to America.  

This is the historically famous 'cracked' Liberty Bell!  The bell has actually been cracked twice! The first time it cracked was in 1753 when the makers of the bell John Pass and John Stow were giving it a test ring. After it cracked they remade the entire bell all over again. The bell cracked again, {which is the crack shown today} when it was being rung at the funeral of John Marshall in 1835 {who Marshall was one of the signers of the Declaration of the Independence.} The crack is so large that it has silenced the Liberty Bell for forever. It is sad to think that a bell that would bring so many people so much happiness from just the sound of it and it will never ring again.

On the bell it is written: "PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF LEV. XXV X." Under this reads, "BY ORDER OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF PENSYLVANIA [sic] FOR THE STATE HOUSE IN PHILADA." Lower on the bell are the inscriptions, "PASS AND STOW," the last names of the founders who cast the bell (John Pass and John Stow). Beneath this is "PHILADA," short for Philadelphia. The lowest inscription is the Roman numerals MDCCLIII (1753), the year the bell was re-cast. Very cool!

Very neat experience, in fact, one of the coolest things that I have done since living out here on the East Coast! 

Next? Independence Hall! {close up version}

Independence Hall/Liberty Bell Visitor's Center

Welcome to Independence Hall! Well, the far away view of it at least. At our first stop, we started  across the street at the Independence Hall /Liberty Bell Visitor Center in hopes of grabbing tickets to take a tour inside of Independence Hall! {Which sadly, we failed...first come, first serve is hard when tickets are available at 8:30 AM}

The Visitor Center was a great place to get us in the 'historic' mood. Inside there were a lot of New England characters playing roles and telling stories of what happened at Independence Hall. {Which for those who don't know this is where the Declaration of Independence was signed}. There were several 'New Englanders' playing instruments that you don't particularily see nowadays, one man was writing vistor's names in calligraphy with a quail pen and ink from a bottle, as well as a woman who would teach you how to knit! Also in the Visitor's Center there were exhibits to see about the Declaration of Independence/Liberty Bell as well as movies that you could get tickets for to view the reenactment of the making of the Declaration of Independence. {Heads up, the movie was lame}.

It was a beautiful day to be out sight seeing, as you can tell from the pictures there wasn't a cloud in the sky at all, and very surprisingly the humidity wasn't horrific for being so close to the shore! {Which was very good news for my frizzy, long hair!}

Next stop? Across the street to the Liberty Bell Center!

Sunday Destination: Philadelphia!

This last week Jamison and I took the long drive to visit Philadelphia! We made sure to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Love Park and to visit Geno's and Pat's to decide for ourselves who really does have the 'world's best' cheesesteak!

We took a lot of pictures of our trip and some videos that will hopefully load up on Blogger...so check out the next couple of posts to see what we did!

And although there may not be a lot of words in each post, you will definetely get the experience from the pictures!

 {There is a good chance of duplicates...I can't decide which pictures I like best!}

                  xoxo,
                                                 auburn 

Storms Like Never Before...

Before I came to Baltimore I thought I understood and knew the definition of what a thunderstorm was through my experiences of living in Utah. The Utah thunderstorm definition being: 'Crack of lightning and the roar of thunder every 15 minutes with a sprinkle of rain here and there'.  Since living in Maryland, I have now come to a quick understanding that Utah thunderstorms are weak compared to the severe thunderstorms you get out in the plains/east coast.  Definition of Baltimore thunderstorm: 'fabulous light show with great surround sound for hours of entertainment, caught without an umbrella? Sucks to be you'.

Out here you can watch the storms build up and expand for as far as the eye can see, even cooler you can watch the lightning stikes and hear the thunder coming for hours. Although the daytime storms are cool, the storms are even better at night only because it is as a light show from each lightning stike that lights up the black clouds.

As the storm approaches, the light becomes more distinct and the thunder sounds like a gun shot depending on how close the lightning struck. When it rains out here, it pours for hours at a time! Rain in Utah is a sight less seen and takes only several minutes before it's over. Here I feel like it never ends and depending on the storm you get good sized hail will come from the sky! 

I have never experienced anything like this before, the first couple of storms we had out here {which it happens to rain at least once a week} have amazed me because I didn't know these storms were possible!

Jeez, was I naive!

*I didn't take these pictures, Google did an amazing job for me so I borrowed them. There was no intentions of stealing, promise!*

One Year. Two Months.

I can't believe Jamison and I have now been dating for 14 months. It is crazy how fast the time has flown by and all of the amazing adventures that we have experienced together.

 I came into work the other day to find flowers that had been left in the office for me by Jamison. All of the bouquets I have received from Jamison have been beautiful, but I think that this has been the prettiest bouquet Jamison has ever given me! {Do I say that everytime?} These flowers are beautiful! Although it has now been a week later and I am finally writing about them, I am surprised to say that they still haven't died yet and look like they just bloomed!

I secretly like to smell them, {as well as the other guys in the office} especially the carnations. They smell so good! I get a lot of compliments on my flowers, besides we all know I worked so hard to get them!!!

Thanks for the flowers again Jamison, it was a great way to brighten up the office as well as my day.

Love you.

Sunday Destination: Arlington National Cemetery

Because Hudson, Jamison and I work Monday through Saturday from early afternoon to late evening we are unable to sight see the amazing places surrounding Baltimore during the weekdays. So when I have some spare time in the office I plan out our Sunday destinations! Because our only available days are on Sundays it has been difficult because we want to spend money on food/souveniers etc. So to compensate, we try and spend our time in the local free places and do our sight seeing that way in attempts of keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Our very first Sunday destination was at the Arlington National Cemetery. This is an enormous cemetery with acres and acres of land that holds the bodies of those who served our country and died in battle.

Although incredible does not seem to be the appropriate term, it is a very incredible and humbling experience to be able to walk through such hallowed grounds. For every tombstone, I see a family who suffered from the loss of a loved one. This same individual died for our country, for me, so I could have the freedom that I enjoy each and every day. It is truly a humbling experience to have been able to be here.

Also included in the Arlington National Cemetery is where President John F. Kennedy is buried along with his wife and children. This man died serving our country in a whole other way, he gave hope, and gave an incredible speech where he told the world that the United States was going to land on the moon. How I wish I could have been alive to hear that in person!

Also in the Arlington National Cemetery there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, that included in the name, represents those who died that we couldn't identify their remains.

At this tomb it happens to be guarded 24 hours a day, regardless if it is raining or stifling hot. We happened to get there as they were doing the 'Changing of the Guard'.

I battled the idea of expressing how I really felt about the 'Changing of the Guard' because I don't want to be judged by the feelings I felt for it and what I experienced. {But then I realized this is my blog where I can say whatever I feel, which happens to be a freedom I enjoy, and I'm going to share my thoughts anyways!}. With these thoughts I say this out of respect and in reverence for those who died for my sake. I feel like the 'Changing of the Guard' was a presentation/show for those who visited the cemetery. The soldiers on guard appeared as if this was a job, or a mundane task, that was needed to be performed every 15 minutes. While walking through the cemetery I realized that we can get so caught up with every day routines that we forget those individuals who sacrifice the most for us each and every day. It made me sad to see that even standing in front of the tomb that the spectators were watching the 'show' and not fully understanding the importance of why the tomb is being guarded each and every day.

I hope that from my own experience this last Sunday that I may never forget and remember those who sacrificed so much for each of us. What a humbling experience.

Late Night BBQs.

You know it is officially summer when you start having BBQs with friends and family! {Family being Hudson of course....} 

On Sunday nights there are a lot of us from work that get together at the Terrace where we live and sit around the fire after cooking our food to just eat, relax, and talk around the fire. It really is a lot of fun!

This is the very lovely crew who joins us every Sunday for our BBQs. This picture was taken right before we started to eat Smores! Yum! Sunday evenings are so much fun when you have something to do....even if it is just relaxing and talking with some new friends.