An Extraordinary Man

"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

Wow, talk about powerful imagery. That quote is etched on this stone of MLK Jr., which is removed from the 'mountain' where you enter the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.

This exhibit is spectacularly done and it seems only fitting to blog about it on his day. I had not been to Washington D.C. since high school, so I was excited to see this new monument. It did not disappoint! I was only going to only post pictures a few of the quotes from the memorial but couldn't narrow them down anymore than this. Seriously, this man could speak!!

Finally, talk about the placement of this monument! Standing across the Potomac at the Jefferson Memorial, this is the sight line you see. Lincoln towering over MLK Jr. We could all learn some valuable lessons from both of these extraordinary men - especially the current men and women in power!

November pt. 2: Be Thankful

Back in the spring of 2009, I studied abroad in South Africa. It was definitely a life-changing experience, one that proved I wanted to work with children and live abroad again someday. I also met some of the most amazing girls who were also studying abroad in the same program. All the adventures, classes, and wine tasting bonded us tight! Now, while we are scattered around the country and we don't always keep in touch the best, anytime we are together, it's like no time has passed. So of course, when one of us is getting married, a reunion is in order! This wedding is why at the end of November, I found myself in Washington D.C. for a glorious weekend...

                          I am so thankful to have such wonderful friends in life! A weekend with my girls was just what I needed!

After the wedding festivities, my friend Hannah and I spent a day walking around Washington D.C. We ended up walking the entire National Mall loop, enjoying the views. As you can tell, I got really excited to see fall leaves on the ground!
 
We happened to be there on the anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, so reading those famous words were especially powerful.

My favorite memorial is still FDR's - I love how symbolic the water is. As you walk through the memorial, waterfalls increase in number and intensity according to the world events happening throughout his terms.

I saw the MLK, Jr. memorial for the first time and was in awe of it's symbolism too. More on that one tomorrow though!

I didn't want to go all the way to the East Coast for just a few days, so I took days off school and spent the entire week of Thanksgiving (and both weekends) away on my trip. After D.C., I took a bus up to New York City to spend the week with my cousin, Lacy and her husband, Vinny. My brother was even convinced to come up to see us (although it was probably mostly to see his girlfriend). I'd never been to New York before so I was excited to explore the city!

Times Square, Bryant Park, and Rockefeller Center were first up. Sadly, the big tree had the scaffold up all around it so I didn't take any pictures of it. The Lego store did have a great model of the whole Rockefeller Center though!

There were 3 things I wanted to do when I was in New York:

1. See the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island museum
Hurricane Sandy took out all the docks on Liberty and Ellis Island so we were unable to go see the first thing on my list. The closest we got was seeing it from across the harbor at Battery Park. 

2. Visit the castle at Central Park
This one was easy to accomplish! And it didn't disappoint - I do love me some castles.

3. Watch Wicked on Broadway
Lacy may have gotten tired of hearing me lament about not being able to see it. So we all walked down Broadway so I could at least see the sign. Then this happened - watch this video - wow, I have amazing brothers!!

It was so very good to spend some quality time with family! It's funny how you don't realize how much you miss someone until you get to see them again!

The last time I saw all my girls together, and Lacy, was back in 2010. That is far too long! But it did make me realize the importance of surrounding myself with good people. All of those girls made my heart happy!! I'm thankful to have them all in my life!

My soul renewed, I returned to warmer weather and work. Lucky for me, I have a wonderful husband and two snuggle-loving doggies waiting my return. Plenty to be thankful for in my life!

November pt 1: Babymoon

No, not for us! Brad's sister and husband, Stacy and Thomas, finally had the chance to come visit us here in Arizona and since she is pregnant, they dubbed it their 'babymoon' - their last vacation together before kids. On our long weekend, we took them to see the classic Arizona sites. But as geological features go, you can only take so many of the same thing. We took it upon ourselves to get a little creative, enjoy the photo journey!

First up, Montezuma's Castle - sweet ruins of the Sinagua, ancient cliff-dwellers. It's crazy how well it has been preserved, despite being built in the 700's. Think of it like a high-rise apartment with around 20 rooms.

Next, we stopped at Tuzigoot National Monument. This is more ruins of the Sinagua people, but it was a huge complex with around 110 rooms. One feature about these ruins is that they didn't really use doors, but had trapdoor style openings in the roofs with ladders to climb down into each room. The pictures don't really do it justice - the architecture used is truly incredible.

We ended up in Sedona right around sunset, so it was perfect timing to see the red rocks!

 And look, Baby Huck in Sedona!

The next day was spent oogling at the Grand Canyon. It was bitter cold but like always, gorgeous views. And did you know that on Veteran's Day, entrance at all national parks is free in honor of our veteran's service? What a cool way to celebrate our freedoms!

Baby Huck at the Grand Canyon!

I was freezing and quickly learned at all the look-outs, you can see from the car!

Our little min-vacation with Stacy and Thomas was great! And I don't think they got too bored entertaining themselves the rest of the week while Brad and I went back to work. They were even nice enough to make the drive to my school and see my classroom one day. All the kids couldn't stop whispering about the pregnant lady! Hopefully my class didn't scare them off about their future kids...and if it did, too late now!