'Welcome to TAIWAN!'

Here are some fun pictures I took in Taiwan this week, I'll write a post soon telling what I've been up to.  But for now, enjoy the pictures..

Dane, a friend from high school, taught English in Taiwan in a city 30 minute north of me last semester and I went to see him the night before he left town.  Dane picked up on a LOT of chinese and I was impressed as I listened to him speak with one of the locals, it made me want to try harder to learn chinese.  It was SOoo good to see someone from home on this foreign island!

Bike Ride in Er Sheui, Taiwan

I went to a city called Er Sheui (or something close to that)for a bike ride with some the LDS Singles in the area.  

On our ride we saw these kids playing at a watering station.  They were having so much fun, I wish I could've splashed around with them.

This is a picture of the gals on the bike ride.  Look at the beautiful mountains behind us.  Taiwan is so lush with palm trees, green mountains and bountiful crops.

Does this look like California or Taiwan?  Which brings me to the questions: Do palm trees grow in California or are they all planted? In Cali they seem to be symmetrical and evenly spaced, It's a valid question...

DC Peeps

As I was leaving DC I started this post. I'm leaving out a lot of people, etc but I wanted to keep this simple. These are a few DC people that I will greatly miss as I venture overseas.

My roommate Carlie Christensen (right) loves Watermelon and Diet Coke! Never met anyone more dedicated to staying hydrated than her! Thank you Car for always taking me to/from the airport, helping me run errands, late night talks with freshly popped popcorn, listening to me ramble on and on about guys, and sporadic drives down the parkway with the windows rolled down with the music blaring. The list goes on and on. She always helped put things into perspective. i.e 'Hey carlie, which shirt should i wear? black or blue?' to which she'd reply: 'I can't help you.'

...driving down the parkway with the windows rolled down...

This is Brad Rogers, also referred to as Brad Grylls! He's master of the grill and is always up for an adventure. Brad and I were running partners last summer. We ran through rain, sunshine, heat, humidity and beyond. This guy is so patient and is my #1 'go-to' when I'm in need of anything i.e. replacing lightbulbs, hanging mirrors, carrying furniture. I'm glad we found time to hike the Shenandoahs, even if it wasn't THE OLD RAG! This guy has the biggest heart and I'm going to miss him. 'Butn hey buddy! I'll see you in Utah!'

...Kayaking...

...Grilling...

...Hiking...

Kami and I were good friends the last 2 years but our friendship did not start there. Kami is a fellow Tree-mon-ton-ian, I have known her since I was 13. Apparently we needed to move thousands of miles to become great friends. We've been on a lot of weekend trips the last year: Palmyra, Niagara Falls, Richmond, Beach in NC, NYC(3x), the list goes on and on... Kami, thank you for always splitting meals with me and being the indian when there were too many chiefs! Thanks for your tabbi post too! I miss our daily email updates to each other. Why do I have to be asleep while you're awake and vice versa? It's driving me crazy but Taiwan is great and I can't wait to tell you about it!

..NYC...

...colonial williamsburg...

...cherry blossoms...

My sister Lisa, her husband Mack and their kids, Malcolm and Quinn live in Northern Virginia. It has been so much fun spending time with them the last few years. My nephews are so sweet and I miss their hugs!

Closing up shop..

This past weekend was my last in DC. I went to Eastern Market for breakfast, drove around the monuments, went to the American History Museum, drove to the temple, and had dinner with friends. But the highlight of the weekend was the Demolition Derby in Mechanicsville, MD.










The people watching far surpassed the entertainment of the crashing of cars! I can just hear this kid sayin', 'Some day I'll spray paint YOUR name on the side of my heep!' I wish I could think of a funny Little Rascals quote right now! Check out the dad's Tshirt though.. viewer discretion is adviced!













The Washington DC LDS Temple has been my favorite temple since Primary. I have come here many times to ponder, think, pray and to re-focus my efforts. Not to get all church on ya'll but the sight of this temple helps me to re-energize and it reminds me of the things that I must do to enter inside someday.















As I was packing up this quilt, I decided to take a picture of it for Heather because she never saw it finished. Heather (Warren) Rodriguez and my mom helped me make this quilt 2 years ago and several people have asked me to take photos as they've been making their quilts. So, here it is. I was heavily involved with student programs at USU and these are most of the tshirts that I acquired...and GO AGGIES!












On my lunch break, I walked over to 1400 Penn. Ave. to say good bye to Obama. It's such a zoo over by the white house: Secret Service running around, suspicious men in suits waltzing around, bums asking for money, tourists speaking all sorts of languages, business professionals headed out of meetings for a quick lunch, etc. I love the hussle and bussle of DC at lunchtime. I'm really going to miss this place...

Farewell NYC...

My friend Chad came from SLC to visit so we took a weekend trip to NYC. This will be my last manhattan trip for a long while :( It was the perfect weekend with great food, good company and lots of laughs! Neal, thanks for being a good sport and showing us around! Also, a big shout out to the Riley's for letting us crash their sweet pad while they were out of town!

This mirror bowl at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the met) was pretty tight! Big cities are so artistic, I go crazy trying to capture all the small things, hence the hat rack shot...














Kami and I were about to sit down on this bench with the Monet and then this lady sat down between us, it made for a cool shot! John's Pizzeria was the BEST decision we ever made! I recommend trying it if you're in town. They use a brick oven and the pizzas were reasonably priced!














We spotted an ice cream truck and I ordered a vanilla cone.  Next thing I know the ice cream man is talking me into sprinkles (I HATE sprinkles but he was cute). I told the guy I wanted just a few (sounded like a good compromise, right?) and then he dipped the whole cone in sprinkles.  I was so mad that he ruined my $4 cone. UGH!













Kami and I in the elevator at Diesel.

Row Row Rowing our boat in Central Park (well Chad rowed, me and Carlie bathed in the sun!)









The day Chad left we went to some monuments and to the Newseum.














CHAD-thanks for being patient during your 6 hour flight delay and making it out here (alive). I always need more Chad humor in my life so thanks for joining me in my stomping grounds!

I'm leaving...

It's official, I will be moving to Taiwan in 3 weeks! I was accepted into a program to teach English to kindergarten through middle-school aged students in Chang hua, Taiwan from July-January. Let me know if you have suggestions for my adventure.