It’s hard to believe spring break is over and I’m back at Drake again! This past week just flew by… A quick recap of my spring break:
Saturday: I had my last Upward game. This year Michaeline & I have been coaching a first and second grade cheerleading squad. It has been such a blessing & I will really miss my seven little cheerleaders!!
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| The Starlets, 2011 |
I spent the rest of Saturday packing and cleaning… not too exciting, but something that needed to be done!
Sunday: Wake up at 5:15am for my early morning flight. I had spent the night at Audrey’s house, so she drove me to the airport for my 7:10 flight.
I had a really encouraging conversation with the woman I sat next to on the airplane. :)
My cousin, Jonathan, picked me up from the airport & we went to church. It’s just really awesome to see how God is working everywhere! The message was about being “All In” for God. This is definitely something I’ve been challenged by this past year. Psalm 63:3 (ESV) says, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” Matthew 13:44 (ESV) says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” This man knew that he was getting so much MORE by giving up everything he had. God’s love does not disappoint. Ever. It can be so easy for me to look to other things to fill me up, but this is not where life is found. In John 10:10 Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Having a relationship with Christ is GREATER than anything the world has to offer.
We spent quite a bit of time with my cousin Jonathan, his wife Becky, and his ten-month-old son Jacob throughout the week. This was really awesome because we hadn't seen them for a few years!
After church I went out to eat with Jonathan, Becky, and Jacob. My family got into DC around 1:30 and we met up with them. We went to the Native American Smithsonian museum that afternoon and then to eat at the mall.
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| Jacob & Me |
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Lukas, Eric, Rachel, Me, Becky, Jonathan, & Jacob
at the Smithsonian Native American Museum |
Monday: A visit to the Washington Monument. Pretty neat to be up that high and look out the windows at the surrounding area.
The people who took this picture for us were wearing Drake apparel and were from Des Moines! Love seeing people from DSM in other places :)
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Dad, Jonathan, Becky, Jacob, Me, Eric, Rachel, Mom, & Lukas
outside of the Washington Monument |
Then we took a walk to the Teddy Roosevelt Island... And then to Arlington National Cemetery where we saw the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The beginning of lots of walking for the week! I think we walked about 8.5 miles each day--much more walking than I normally do, so I was a little sore after the first day...
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Lukas, Me, Eric, & Rachel
on the Teddy Roosevelt Island |
Tuesday: We went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in the morning and walked around DC in the afternoon.
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Me & Rachel
outside of the Ronald Regan Building |
Wednesday: We toured the Capitol, which was pretty sweet. My mom had arranged the tour through our Representative. He was even in his office when we stopped by!
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Dad, Eric, Me, Lukas, Rachel, Mom, Becky, Jonathan, & Jacob
outside of the Capitol |
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| Representative Robert Schilling |
In the afternoon we went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, which was really fun. It's a hands-on museum with life-like/size figures of people ranging from presidents to athletes. I especially liked it since I love taking pictures. :) Here's just a few...
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| Fist Bump with Abe Lincoln |
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| Me with The Kennedys |
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| Morgan Freeman |
Thursday: We went to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. It was really cool, and one of my favorite places that we saw. There was a tour of his home and an interactive museum with some sweet movies. The self-guided audio tour of the plantation was pretty neat too.
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| Mount Vernon |
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| Outside of the Mount Vernon Plantation |
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| Mount Vernon |
Friday: The weather was beautiful--almost 70 degrees! We walked around to all the monuments...
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| Jefferson Monument |
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| Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial |
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| FDR Memorial |
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| FDR Memorial |
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| Korean War Memorial |
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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| Walking around DC |
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
(My mom had a cousin who served.) |
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| World War II Memorial |
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| World War II Memorial |
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| World War II Memorial |
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| World War II Memorial |
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| World War II Memorial |
Saturday: Back to Des Moines! I had a very early morning since my flight was at 6:15am, but I made it back to Des Moines at 11:30am.
I'm really thankful that I was able to spend the week with my family. :) They are wonderful!
