Check it out!

The new I'm a Mormon videos from Russia just came out.  This is the one that I worked on as an editor.  So basically what I did was sift through three hours of interview to create a 4 minute story that not only makes sense and conveys a solid message but is also true to the subject's entire interview.  After I did the prep work the final editor smooths things over and adds music and fills it with cutaways and other footage.  Watch for the karate fighting scenes, I put those together. 

Press CC for English subtitles

Beyond the editing time, it was really wonderful to get to know the stories of some of the people Adam knew from his mission in Russia. 

Haunted Tree Creation 2012

Our 3rd Annual Halloween creation.  The entire thing is made of candy and chocolate. You should have seen the eyes of those little children when they saw it.  

The tree is made of rice krispie treats covered with pretzels and painted with chocolate.  

The dirt is crushed chocolate graham crackers and brown sugar, with chocolate rocks.

Adam picked out all the blue flakes with tweezers for the fruity pebble autumn leaves. 

Party with The Piano Guys

In an impromptu date, Adam and I drove down to Spanish Fork for a free in the park concert put on by The Piano Guys. It ended up being an awesome concert and we were right up at the front.  Something you may not know about Adam is he's a big music fan and plays the violin.

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Lessons from the Art Museum

Ironically the Smithsonian is abandoned on holidays.  We practically had the museum to ourselves which I admit was a nice change from being pushed (violently) aside by middle-aged Asian women...Not to profile or anything.  I imagine with the population density of Japan, if you waited in line for anything you'd die on your feet. It's really just a culture that channels the cries of "Carpe Diem!" Thank you Horace; you have forever changed tourism.

And now for something completely different. 
"Profile Portrait of a Young Man" by Masaccio 1425
You see it too, huh?  It's not just me. Now we know where the costume designer for Harry Potter spends her lunch breaks.

 

Another favorite from the art museum: 
God Flicking Adam on the Head aka The First Blame by Domenichino, 1266

Apparently, Domenichino thought that chivalry had died before it began.  

 

And then, this guy is Iceskating-

Memorial Day Concert

We went to the Memorial Day concert that was at the Capitol Building front lawn.  

 

We got there early and met up with some of the people in Adam's internship program.  Snacks, sun, blanket, sketching, games, and music.  It was great. 

 About half way through the program, we got evacuated because a huge storm was coming straight for the Capitol.  Rather than getting onto the nearest metro station like the other thousands of people, we walked as far as we could before having to go underground from the wind throwing projectiles at us.  We were able to beat the rush into the subways by walking to the farther out metro.  By the time we got off our stop the downpour had started.  The rest of the afternoon was spent with clean pajamas and mango sorbet cuddled up in front of the TV where we caught the rest of the concert (they switched from live footage to the rehearsal backup.)

Honor the Fallen

Memorial Day weekend was quite the weekend.  We usually have only Saturdays to hit the city and the sites and trust me, we hit them hard.  This weekend we had four days! So we did a lot. I'll post them separate thought.  Being in the Capitol for Federal holidays definitely brings them to a whole new level.  I can't wait for The Fourth of July.  

       Arlington Cemetery 

 

 

We went to Arlington Cemetery where after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee's land was taken from him and used to bury the union soldiers.  It is a gorgeous place; beautiful and sacred.  We went Saturday before Memorial Day so we got to see the place with all of the flags put out.  

We Made It!

We made it to D.C. 

WHAT ADAM'S UP TO:  Last summer Adam and I were talking about what we wanted to do for the summer and thought... why not do something fun like D.C.? So we did.  Adam got into our university's prestigious internship group, the Washington Seminar.  It's kind of like a temp agency that takes care of the background checking and interviewing and put's their stamp on them so that people looking for interns already know they're cream of the crop.  Adam is working with the Capitol Building with the senate as an intern for Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.  He's gets to go into the Library of Congress (which is gorgeous), the Capitol, attend congressional hearings and stuff like that.  

WHAT TRICIA'S UP TO: I got a job at National Geographic Headquarters as a production coordinator for the Media department.  I work with the Radio show and with the film department that works with grantees.  This is one of those miracle-type things.  I didn't have any time to look for a job or internship before we left and NG's film dept. just happened to be looking for a short term employee.  Lesson: prayer does pay off.  There's always something cool going on at National Geographic; my first two weeks have been pretty awesome.

 

LIFE IN THE CITY: We live in a little apartment right by George Town.  We really lucked out with our housing.  We are right inside the D.C. city, next to a metro and only a 20 min walk from my work.  It's also in a very ritzy/nice area that is safe and pretty and has all kinds of fun restaurants and shops to visit.  The apt. complex we live in is owned by the LDS Church and is specially for interns from BYU so we are really lucky to get a spot.  Of course we do have to get used to living in dorms again.  Shared kitchen, next-door neighbors and their roommate.   Exactly like a Helaman Halls freshman dorm on BYU but with your own bathroom.  It has been an adjustment (pushing twin beds together, sharing kitchens, etc.) but living so close to the DC world makes it worth it.  However, anyone wanting to donate a king size memory foam mattress top for the cause will be awarded a National Geographic year subscription. 

We both work full time all day, all week but when we hit the weekends, we hit them hard.  Here are some of the things we've been doing.  Apparently a restful weekend is for the weak.

GETTYSBURG

PASSPORT D.C.: 

For two weekends the Embassies opened up to the public and put on an open house.  Steel Drum bands, Kazakh chocolate, Dutch Struffelwaffles etc. 

D.C. CUPCAKES

RAY'S HELL BURGER: 

A  backwoods burger joint that Obama keeps bringing dignitaries to. Figured we'd see if it was good.

 It was. 

CAKE LIVE:

THE  NEWSEUM: 

Etc. So stay tuned.

Guess, what we're doing this summer...

One of the things I love best about Adam is that to him everything is possible. We found housing up there right on Capitol Hill and more excitingly, Adam just accepted an offer to be an intern for the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.  I have yet to figure out what I'm doing up there but in the meantime I would love a list of things to see, do and get excited for while we're up there. 

Say Goodbye to the Dress

Today I sold my dress (finally!) I didn't see any point in hanging on to it. Indeed I was surprised to find that people did.  Not that I didn't care about it.  I fell in love with it about a year before when my friend, Carley tried it on for her dress hunt.  I was looking for something along those lines when I went out looking for my own wedding and ended up fitting nicely into that same dress.  Coincidentally, it was also the dress Adam picked out of the magazine for me. The thing is, I try not to hang onto things that I can justify the memory through some other medium (ie. pictures), especially large things.  I did keep my broach (see Christmas post.)  I was a bit surprised to find a small twang in my heart seeing someone else wear it and then run out the door with it as if worried I'd change my mind (they got kinda a really good deal on it.)  Paying in full and selling it after was my projected way of "splitting the costs" with another bride.  Getting the dress I wanted for the price I wanted.  Nonetheless the sale was similar to ripping off a large band-aid.  I guess I'm not immune from being such a girl after all.

So long dress!  Thank you for being so easy to deal with: no wrinkles, no alterations, and coming with that $50 off-coupon when I bought you. Go make some other girl's day awesome.

We Saved 75% or more by switching to Youtube!

We just bought a "new" car to replace our Dodge.  This time around we got a pretty sturdy little Honda Civic, powerless steering, and manual drive which we've come to find means that, less you have automated, the less there is to break.  It has become our experiment car for all of the repairs which we do after watching Youtube tutorials. 

 A few weeks ago we replaced the Radiator (est. $300 act. $60) and this week we replaced the front rotors and brakes (est. $380 act. $65).

 Adam did the right one, I did the left.  

We borrowed the lift jack from my Uncle Gordon so I was able to give Adam the Payson tour and hang with some of the relatives. 

Success! Total savings: ~$700. 

Eleventy-One Years Later

As the year comes to a close, it's tempting to look at all the changes that have happened over the last years.  We have come to believe that the only thing consistent is change (except when dealing with vending machines.) My real amazement comes from our blatant consistency.

In a world of frequent and drastic change...

 "A Childish Quarrel" 1896  

"Charlie Bit My Finger" 2007

...Nothing is new. 

Merry Christmas!

First Married Christmas! 

We got a very cute Charlie Brown 3ft tree a few days before Christmas with all the reject trees and covered  it with all the sparkly stuff we had.  The fun of presents have always been all about the wrapping and unwrapping.  The actual gift part has never been very consequential...mostly because as a sibling, cousin, and roommate tradition, the gifts are typically things we're returning to each other.  

"My headphones!" 

"No, remember you lost those. I got you some new ones just like them."

"I remembering I lent them to you..." 

Getting your stuff back is pretty big deal and it typically happens only on holidays and birthdays.  

Being in a loving marital relationship was a different experience come present time.  He just gave me thoughtful, useful, and fun things.  How strange. 

A special shout out goes to my sister, Stacey, who made sure I didn't go without my family traditions and gave me: my pie pan, a book of awkward photos and one expired coupon. 

("It was still valid when I wrapped it!") 

Crossing traditions.  This was something I was both worried and excited about as I got married.  Adam accepted the open stockings at the end of gifts and bake a bunch of chocolates from my list of fun and we took on an adaptation of his family's ornament tradition.  Each year he would get a special ornament that showed a highlight of the year.  To counter the lameness of all the ornaments that we owned being from his life we decided to start our own.  This year for our first Christmas we made the Christmas star.  We put on some accent chain on it as well as the broach from my wedding dress. 

Meisha

This November, Miesha 

(because in high school, it was cool to name inanimate objects...)

Matilda the Oboe

Vidgronski "Vidski" the Plastic Tree

 Shannon the Canon  Etc. Etc. 

Meisha gave up the ghost. She was my first car and not-so-trusted companion for the last year of college.  In the time that Adam and I have been dating to married we've been in... (feel free to throw in some Jingle Bells tunes)...

One high-speed car chase

One tire flying off

Two ice-spin crashes

And....the final blow, a ball joint and CV joint failed at the same time cause the car to fall on top of its self and inch pathetically to the curb leaving behind a trail of twisted metal shavings and car tears.

Meh. 

So long Miesha, drive down that highway to...heaven?