STARVATION.

Have you ever gone three days almost completely without food? Yes, I've been there now. I have been super deprived. So this is the story. I left for Washington at 8:15 Vegas time in Saturday morning. Prior to the flight I had a sausage mcmuffin. I was also, somehow, without a water bottle. When I got to my new residence in Washington, D.C. at 7:30pm, the only things I had eaten in between were airplane crackers and raisins. I was STARVING. So, I immediately went to dinner. Meal #1. Then, stupidly enough, I was too excited to make a trip to the grocery store. I did, however, find some plastic cups. I used the cup for drinking, and kept it in my room for future use, since I was still without a water bottle. The next day, unfortunately, was Sunday, which meant that a grocery store trip was a no. I survived that day on granola bars and a piece of strawberry shortcake from the linger longer after church. Oh, I also had a package of pretzels from the front desk of our building. Me and my roommate, who is also without food, caiphed them and carried them in our purses to church. That's the kind of thing that massive hunger makes you do. We also collected another 2 plastic cups from the ward function. They were also brought home in our purses. And now, it is Monday, 3:43 in the afternoon, and I ate a granola bar this morning, got a bagel from our professor, and a hot dog from a cart about an hour ago. That hot dog was pickin' 4 dollars! But so delicious. And, you can congratulate me, I finally bought a water bottle. I will no longer go thirsty. Yay me!

But see, running on little to no food wouldn't be this bad normally (well, I first have to say that I WOULD NEVER NORMALLY DO THIS! I am not anorexic, I LOVE FOOD WAY TOO MUCH. It is a temporary solution, I am running to the grocery store right after I finish this post, and I will go alone if I have to! And yes, Mom, I will be safe!), but, I have been walking SO much. Several miles a day, I would say. Yesterday we rode the metro to Arlington National Cemetary, then walked back to the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War and Vietnam memorials, the White House, and THEN back to Foggy Bottom where we live. Round trip, it took several hours, and I was without water the whole time (except when we found a drinking fountain randomly). And then today, we had a class in the morning, and then split into groups to find our internships. We walked aimlessly trying to find this one guy's FOR THE LONGEST TIME, and then the overbearing girl at the front of the group decided that we shouldn't use the metro, because she didn't want to pay for it. It was slightly contentious to say the least. I hate it when people act like they know what they are talking about, when they really don't. This girl is married and pregnant, though, so I didn't blame her for being kind of snotty. But I did think it was weird that she didn't want to ride the metro. Crazy.

We finally found what we were looking for, and I convinced everyone to get on the metro and just RIDE to the Smithsonian. So, I found my internship location. It is right on the mall. I love that place. It's like my fave. The address to the Museum of American History is actually 14th street and Constitution Ave. I love it. We walked around inside for a while, and it was pretty sweet. My favorite thing in there so far was Seinfeld's puffy shirt. It's on display. I didn't take pictures this visit, though, those will come later.

The other problem with going without food and water is the HEAT. It is very humid here, and the past three days have been record breaking temperature-wise. Apparentely it's usually in the 60s this time of year, but yesterday it was 92 degrees! Insanely warm for April. I hate feeling sticky.

And last, before I post pictures, I just have to say that I love being here. It's so worth the foot pain (from walking so much), the starvation and thirst, the heat, the everything. I so happy to be here. It's really pretty. I love the trees, and all the buildings are really cool. I love being able to walk or ride the metro everywhere I go. It's just so convenient! I love it. And I love my roommate. Her name is Genevieve Swift, and we get along very well. She stays up with me and talks when we are in bed, and I love doing that. I will post pictures of us soon! We haven't taken too too many yet, and they are all on her camera, so be excited for when they are posted! I also really like all the other people in the program. We are all actually pretty good friends already, which is so fun.

I think that's about it. Enjoy the pictures! Until next time!

P.S. I was really limited on what I could bring with me because of weight limits and stuff, and I just want to say that the only thing that I brought that was not practical was my Link Larkin Calendar. I love it. Go Zac.

P.P.S I am SO watching American Idol tomorrow. I super excited. Vote for Matt, will ya?

Cherry blossoms! Yay! I thought I would miss all of those. This picture is really cool because you get a good view of a lot of headstones at Arlington, but also because of the lone blossomed tree. It was SO pretty. I really love Arlington.This is the view of D.C. from Robert E. Lee's home, across the Potomac.The Korean War Memorial. My fave besides Jefferson. I love the inscription and fountain. It says, "Freedom is not Free." So profound.It was getting dark at this point. These are some of my crew. My roomy had left and gone home by this point, so she totally missed our LONG walk and trip to the White House, which is featured below. Left to right the people are Cameron, Lisa, Matt, Michelle, me, and Adam. The glare from the flash is there because we are standing in the crevace of the Vietnam Memorial wall. And yeah, I know the picture is crappy and dark. I posted it anyway because it's the only I have with me in it. :(
This is my museum!!!! The Museum of American History. Isn't it lovely??!! This is only a small portion of the front of it. The hot dog cart I got my hot dog from! Yum! Don't you just love all the trees?!! So pretty.

Edit: I have now returned from the grocery store. I spent $50 on groceries! The closest grocery store is a Safeway, and guess where it is???!!! Under the Watergate Hotel. Yes, the infamous watergate. I walked there today, and I bought food. YAY.

FINALLY!

I am finally in Washington, D.C!!! So exciting. I love it here. I have taken zero pictures as of right now, and I'm kind of too busy to blog, but I just want to say, it is very different from Southern Utah. Here is a list of the obvious:

1. Green.
2. Trees.
3. Humidity.
4. very, very, very narrow roads.

Okay, that's all I have time for, folks. Until next time (maybe later tonight), good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

THE BEST BIRTHDAY WEEK EVER. Except for finals.

Monday: Okay, fine. So Monday was no fun. I had to write two papers. But we played kickball for FHE!

Tuesday: My birthday!!! YAY! Happy birthday to me! I had to get up early to finish one of my papers, and then finish the other one during my break. It was okay though; a necessary evil. I got to leave campus at 3, and it was the last day of classes, so good news. When I came home I snuggled up on the couch and watched music videos, which is one of my favorite pastimes. My new favorite music videos are Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You," and Katy Perry, "Thinking of You." Kelly's video is hilarious, and Katy's has Kyle XY in it. :) By the way, I'm sorry, I don't care what anyone says. Kelly Clarkson is amazing and I love her music.

At 7:00pm, I got to watch American Idol! The whole thing! I love American Idol. And I love Matt G. We had some trauma this week. He did not perform to the best of his abilities, but, I still love him, and I still pre-ordered this week's song on iTunes. The recording is amazing, by the way. I encourage everyone to go on iTunes and listen to the clips of his recordings, cause they are the best. If you only listen to one, listen to "Human Nature." Blows me away. I love it. When Meghan and I listen to it in the car, we both kind of melt and she says, "his voice just sounds like heaven," and then I agree, and we talk about how amazing the song is for a while. It happens every time. Anyway, what better day to have a birthday than on a Tuesday that is not only the last day of classes, but is the night of American Idol performances? It was perfect.

After American Idol, we went to Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Most of the gang was able to come. We missed Lauren, Lorina and Dani, though. :( I love Old Spaghetti Factory. What other restaurant gives you salad with an amazing house dressing, sourdough bread with delicious butter, your scrumptious meal, AND spumoni ice cream for dessert??? It's the best. AND, it just so happens that on Tuesdays this month they have 40% off part of the menu!! Again, lucky my birthday was on a Tuesday!Following dinner was dancing! I know it's loserish to go to on-campus dances because only freshman go to those, but we just wanted a party and dancing. So, me, Meg, Rachelle, and Ann went. It was actually quite fun, except that they played a lot of dumb music. I requested a song, and the DJ said he didn't have time for it. So I told him it was my birthday. He still didn't play my song. What nerve, right? He even played a slow country song. How rude! :)

So, when the dance ended, we gathered up our stuff, and I realized that somehow, somewhere, I had lost my keys. We wandered around the Wilk for a while asking everyone if they had any keys, and nobody had. After about five minutes of looking, I was starting to freak out a little bit. I needed my car keys! First of all, I just need them to get places! Second, it was my birthday! Third, I was parked in an "A" lot, which means that I would get a ticket if I was still parked there the next morning. Bad news. Fourth, I didn't have a spare key. My mom would have to ship me one from St.G. And fifth, it was POURING rain outside. We were not in very good circumstances. But we decided to go outside and retrace my steps to the car. I was very glad that my mom had just given me a new umbrella and raincoat for my birthday. It was perfect for the dreary occassion. Well, we got out to the car and I noticed that I left my purse in there. Locked in. Meghan saw that her purse was also in there, locked in. So, not only did I have missing keys, but I did not have access to my wallet, my camera, my phone, my iPod, my anything! What is a girl to do in this sort of situation? Well, she calls Dani, who comes to pick everyone up, and tells me to call Campus Police. (801-422-2222). Oh the brains that girl has! The policeman said someone would be by to unlock the door momentarily. Momentarily turned in to like half an hour, but once he got there, the door was unlocked in a jiffy, and miracle of miracles, MY KEYS WERE IN MY PURSE!!! Problem solved, major crisis averted.

So then, we realized that it was like 11:50, and almost not my birthday anymore! I had 10 minutes to gather the gang and blow out my candles on my cake before the birthday magic was gone. So, right when we got home, I called Meg, who had ended up at Lorina and Lauren's, and she called Kyle, and I called Paul, and somehow Kaitlin and Spencer just sensed they needed to be there, so they showed up, and it was a regular party, planned and coordinated within 10 minutes! Rachelle had been in charge of my cake- she got this amazing lemon deliciousness at Costco. I loved it.

All in all, it was a great birthday. Quite eventful.

Wednesday: Reading day of relaxation and no studying, and Pebbles. :) Oh, and that night, we went to Wal-Mart to get stuff for Ashley's shower. And guess what? IT WAS SNOWING. Like, really bad. Major blizzard. On the way back, we couldn't see the freeway AT ALL. It was very hilarious.

Thursday: Me and Meghan actually decided to study. We had to. So, we went to the library at about 10 (the plan had been to get there at 9. Yeah, right.) We stayed until 3, when Kaitlin picked us up to go shopping for Ashley's bridal shower present. We were in and out of Victoria's Secret at Provo Towne Center within like 10 minutes. It was incredible. We had to hurry because I was supposed to go in to work at 4. And I made it! I worked a two hour shift, because then I had to come home for Ashley's shower! Rachelle and Kaitlin planned it, and it was fabulous.

After the shower, me and Meg went back to the library. We studied for approximately 3 more hours. and THEN, the best event of the week! 17 Again!!! the first, premiere, midnight showing. Yeah, so I had a final the next morning at 7am, but you're only young once, right? (haha) Me, Meg, Rachelle, Kaitlin, Dani, Lorina, and Stephanie all went. And I just want to say this: ZAC EFRON IS SO HOT IT'S RIDICULOUS. Ok, I'm done. But seriously, that movie was really really funny. We all loved it, and are all kind of obsessed now. We got home around 2, and I went straight to bed.

Friday: The next morning, I woke up at like 6:15 so I could go over my notes before my test. Yes, I love getting 4 hours of sleep. It really was VERY stupid of me to have done it, BUT SO WORTH IT! I took my test- it was British Lit, and I actually think I did okay on it. It worked out very well. Yay! The rest of the day was serene. I came home and went back to sleep. For a long time. And then I studied for Mission Prep for a couple of hours. That night, I had to work my last shift at Pebbles. Sad day! I was so super tired, though, that I just wanted to go home and had a hard time savoring those last moments behind the register. Oh well. I have a feeling I'm going to be really sad about this in a couple of days when I realize that I really won't be going to work there again anytime soon (or ever again). I have loved working at Pebbles. It has meant so much to me. And I have such good friends there. I love you guys!

Saturday: A very busy day. Me and Meg were supposed to have turned in our Mission Prep final that morning at 8, but at about 1am the night before, we realized that we could turn it in next week instead, so we slept in. That afternoon I had Audrey P.'s baby shower to go to. I got Darbi a ducky hoody towel. I love duckies. And I got a 4th of July dress for a 0-3 month old. Hopefully she'll be the size of a newborn by July!

After the shower I went to Pebbles for our party. I pretended it was my going-away party. Danielle, both Amy's, Stephanie, Stacie, and Keli were there- Audrey P. showed up towards the end. Anyway, it was a very productive night! I got Kaitlin's sign-in book done, and I did like 6 pages for my roommate scrapbook! All in like 5 hours! I know, I'm incredible. I have never done that much in such a short amount of time.

And last, after the Pebbles party, we had our MASSIVE SLEEPOVER! We all finally gathered at around 1Am at Hannah's house. We had our mad dance party and played apples to apples, and had a CRS. It was so much fun, and I just have to say that we are the biggest bunch of nerds ever. I love it! Hannah has a king size mattress on her floor that six of us slept on, and then we blew up a queen air matress for another three girls. Before we went to bed though, we jumped on the beds and sang Celine Dion songs at the top of our lungs. If you didn't already know that we were 2o and 21-year-olds, you probably would have guessed that we were 12. It was a blast, though. I'm really going to miss those girls.

And that is the end of the week. It was a good one. :)

I want to see 17 Again, again.

Almost equivalent to "She's the Man." And that's saying something.

Baaaa Happy Easter BAAAA!!!!

Last week (4/6-4/12) was great, just great. I'm going to sum up using pictures this time...

Monday: Homework.
Tuesday: American Idol!!!
(I will respond to this weeks events on the show later).
Wednesday: WE HIKED THE Y. IN THE SNOW.
Thursday: Home again, home again, jiddedy jig!
Friday: Doctor, Dentist, Shopping. 3 Words: I HATE SHOTS.
Saturday: My best pals.
I love you guys!!!


Sunday: Easter and bunnies!Bunnies are one of my favorite things. This litter had five bunnies, and their names were: LaFawnda, PokerFace, Ocho Cinco, Drake Anthony or "The Count," and Penny. Ocho Cinco was my fave.

And to finish this off really fast- I loved going home. St. George, I swear, was made for the soul purpose of recuperation. I love it so much.

OMG, I want one.

If any of you decided recently that you wanted to get me a late birthday present, this is what I want:
A BARACK OBAMA CHIA PET!!!! There was an ad for this crazy thing on Facebook. How hilarious is THAT??!! I love it. The ad actually says:

"In honoring our 44th US President, the Chia Pet company presents this Special Edition Chia Obama.

On the side of the Chia Obama planter are his famous words:

'"YES WE CAN."

Can you grow one?

YES YOU CAN.

It's easy to grow, fun to do, history in the planting! Available in two poses!"

Click the link if you want to buy me one: http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=213041&catid=91413&aid=338039&aparam=obama

Oh my, this is the best. IDK where people come up with things like this.

My last post

Okay, so it's not really my last post, but it's the last one I will write when I am still 20 years old. I turn 21 tomorrow, April 14th. I was totally okay about this until just about NOW. I am starting to have second thoughts. The previous okay feeling was very unusual for me. I guess I should have put this on my "Odd things about Aud" list, because I know it's weird. I don't really like having a birthday. (Sidenote: I hate New Years' Eve too). I have never wanted to get older--- I still live by that giraffe from Toys 'R Us that says, "I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys 'R Us kid." I don't like adding another number to my age. When I was at the gym today, and I had to enter my age on the elliptical machine, I thought, "this is the last time I get to enter '20'," and I was sad. I've done the same thing, and have the same thoughts about multiple things the last couple of days. It's very depressing. And you know what 21 means? A lot of scary things. I like actually have to be a grown up now. I'm old enough to go on a mission, and I'm old enough to be completely legal. Super weird.

So, to sum up, I hate getting older, and I hate change. I like things to stay the same all the time. I like them to be good and then stay the same. And I don't want to grow up.

The end. Good bye age 20. You've been good to me. I'll miss ya.