10 Things I Love About You

Dear DC, I think I'm in love. With you. I've known for quite some time, but now that I'm about to leave, I wanted to express it publicly. You changed my life, and it's about time I wrote down why. My upcoming stint with Israel is making me miss you already. So in no particular order, here are 10 things I love about you (I had to keep it to 10, but seriously I could go on forever).

1. My job. Dear DC, the main reason I came out here was for my awesome internship with National Defense University. I wanted to check out the DC scene and working for the government at a military installation with international people seemed the best way to get a full picture of what DC had to offer. I'm pretty sure I got a rose-tinted picture, but it was AWESOME. I now have dear, dear friends from more than 60 countries, I got to travel to three different states and stay in some really nice hotels, I helped teach an ESOL summer camp (which included teaching and playing on the playground with children from the Maldives, Jordan, Israel, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Tunisia, South Africa, Japan, and Panama), I gained a much fuller picture about what I want to do in graduate school and how, I totally got to practice my mad language skills, and I had the best coworkers a person could ask for. I also overcame my deep water fears and jumped off a huge bridge into a river, learned how to shoot a shotgun (and actually hit a few clay pigeons!), learned 60 different English accents (although unfortunately I didn't learn how to imitate them), and found out, once again, that my drawing skills are atrocious. My job this summer changed my life, and I loved every second of it. Of all the things I will miss here, I will miss my job in the International Student Management Office at National Defense University the most.

2. The Free Things. DC, you were so easy to love because so many awesome things were free. The original flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner? In the National Museum for American History, one of the Smithsonians. Free. Islamic art? Ancient Chinese jade? African sculptures? Old spy planes and space shuttles? The Hope diamond? The zoo? All things found in the Smithsonians, and all free to visit. Oh, and did I mention that the Dali Lama came to DC? Free speech on the Mall.

Want to see a monument to the signers of the Declaration of Independence? Or the Vietnam, WWI, or WWII memorials? Or the Washington Monument, or a tour of the Capitol or the White House, or the Lincoln or Jefferson memorial? All free. There were free events almost every night at various locations around the city, so much so that I just couldn't keep up. Case in point: the Kennedy Center had free concerts every weeknight at 6. Totally free. Just walk in, sit down, and be cultured. And did I mention that there is free wireless at the Smithsonians and the Library of Congress?

Plus, walking's always free!

3. Driving on Rock Creek Parkway and over the 14th Street bridge into DC. Actually, driving anywhere in DC is a thrill. I want to thank my job and Matilda, my old car, for the joy I get in driving in DC. (Even though I had to part ways with Matilda before I came out here, I credit her with my deep love of driving and the thrill I get every time I'm behind the wheel.) Sure, traffic's bad occasionally, parking is horrendous, and people have this odd habit of parking in the middle of the road, but there are some beautiful roadways in DC. Like Rock Creek Parkway. I seriously feel like I am driving on some of my favorite Provo roads when I'm on that road. There's nothing like the thrill I get when I drive past the Washington Monument, or the Capitol, or the Potomac river. Riding in a car naturally takes a backseat to driving, but I also appreciate all those moments that I haven't had to utilize public transportation and some nice soul gave me a ride. But thank you, dear job, for giving me opportunities to drive.

4. Old friends and new friends in DC. I was thrilled to find that in addition to my several friends that I already knew living in DC, a few more of my friends decided to move out here. Sean Strebel, Rachel Cannon, and Sarah Shumway were my contacts when I first moved in, and then Sheryl Tubbs moved to DC, Noelle Teh moved to Philadelphia (just to hours away), and Shalayne Davis moved to Virginia just two hours south of DC. Once I got here I realized that many of my other friends, including Lindsey and Brett Anderson, also lived in the close vicinity. My time in DC could not have been shared with cooler people--plus I met some pretty awesome people out here! I never had a dull moment with such awesome friends.

5. Cupcakes, cruises, and other outings with Sarah and Melissa. I won't say much about the difficulty of once again living in a communal living situation with a bunch of youngsters from BYU. My two saving graces were named Sarah and Melissa. They were both returned missionaries and graduating in August, like me, and dang we had some good times together. From exploring the Masonic temple in Philadelphia to getting caught in a huge rainstorm walking around the Tidal Basin to getting free Chocktaw days t-shirts (celebrating Melissa's Chocktaw heritage) to eating free "birthday" cupcakes on our Groupon-provided cruise on the Potomac to our "feminist power" night at Serendipity (celebrated with frozen hot chocolate and stealthy rearranging of furniture to watch Sherlock Holmes) things were a laugh a minute with these two. This last month in DC has been really lonely without them, but friends like this don't just disappear forever. When our paths cross again, it will be a sweet, sweet reunion (and I might even bring cupcakes!).

6. Fall in DC. Ok, so I never actually experienced Fall in DC. It makes my heart ache just thinking about the beautiful weather and scenery that I won't see when Fall happens to DC. But I guess it's just another reason to come back, eh? But the other day I was driving on Rock Creek Parkway and the sky was overcast and the leaves were falling and it felt like Autumn.

But since I couldn't experience Fall in DC, I guess the next best thing was the rain. I love rain, especially if it happens in the evening and not in the morning on my way to work (because it messes up my hair, like, all day. Seriously.). There have been a couple of times when the sky just opened up and dumped buckets and buckets of water on the buildings, the ground, and unsuspecting pedestrians. And it was AWESOME.

One night around 11:30 it started raining hardcore. I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by, so I grabbed my keys and ran outside. I walked down to an overpass just down the street from my house and just stood there, umbrellaless, letting the rain just pour down. I guess it looked really scary and suspicious to passers-by, though (a female standing on the bridge looking over the edge without an umbrella in the middle of a huge rainstorm at midnight) and at least five different people asked, "Ma'am, are you ok?" as they walked by. I seriously think they thought I was going to jump. But really I was just enjoying the rain.

Since I can't find any pictures of the rain, I guess the next best thing is a sunset after a rainstorm. Love those clouds.

7. The government/military ID that was required for my job. Now, I know that this seems like such a strange and trivial thing to love. But this ID card changed my life, people. I can't even begin to tell you the lines I bypassed and the places I got into with this ID. When I went to the Pentagon and the State Department I got a "no escort required" badge, I once got into an embassy without having to get searched when the man at the gate saw me wearing this, and I almost got a military discount from Sally Beauty when I showed this ID with my debit card (and then I told her I wasn't military, sadly). CAC card, I will miss you.

8. The DC Temple. Guys. This place is beautiful. So beautiful it causes accidents on I-395 because it just rises up out of nothingness. It's also huge and overwhelming and towers over everything in the vicinity. And the grounds are gorgeous.

Did I mention that the inside is also spectacularly beautiful? And part of my time in DC was spent living closer to this temple than I lived to the Provo temple? What a dream.

9. Mormon Day with my coworker Keri. One of my coworkers, Keri, was an intern just about to start her senior year at the University of North Carolina. She kind of freaked out on the first day when we were chatting and she found out that six of us in the ISMO office were Mormon. "Wow," she told me. "You guys have just tripled the number of Mormons I have ever met in my life."

It was great fun to have Keri around to help me realize just how quirky us Mormons/West Coasters could be. I taught her what "biffed it" means and she introduced me to the South Park episode on Mormons (which was surprising much more positive and much less crude than I was expecting!). Her last night in DC we went to Cafe Rio (there are two out in the DC area, one of which is about 15 minutes away from where I live now!), a necessary Utah experience, and then went and had a picnic on the DC Temple grounds. Basically the whole summer working and hanging out with Keri was awesome, and it was always fun to laugh with her at the quirkiness of Utah people. Keri was so great and offered to take my turn at the alcohol-serving table at some of our work events, and her last day of work she spilled coffee all over her white shirt and I used my magic (and my Tide pen) to get it all out. Life in DC would just not have been the same without Keri.

10. DC has character. And I just love it. Other places have character, too, but there is something special about the different areas of DC. Georgetown, U Street, Southeast, Adams-Morgan, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, Chinatown--all of these places could be their own city with their own flair and personality. And instead they all happen to be squished inside the same city, adding to the diversity and excitement.

I mean, just look at this character. Where else can you find alley ways and houses and doors like this?

I have to admit, I just might have cried just a little bit when writing this post. Because my life in DC has been incredible and spectacular and amazing (even with the intense heat and withering humidity, the crowds and the tourists, the high prices, and the dizzying pace at which I live my life). And even though I am sure my next stage of life will be incredible and spectacular and amazing, it's hard to leave such a beautiful life for the unknown.

So DC, it's been fun. Even though exciting times lie ahead, part of my heart will stay here. I guess I'll just have to come back and retrieve it at some time in the future, eh?