Castles take DC part 3 (FINALLY)

17-38, ayyyyyyyyy, I'm like hey what's up hellooooo.... so we are finally at part 3 of our DC trip. this was probably the least eventful part of our trip, or the part that I don't want to remember. even in the dry desert of Utah, I still get annoying seasonal allergies. we can't buy real live Christmas trees anymore because I have developed a reaction to them over the years. my mom always plants these beautiful smelling lilies which we can no longer keep in the living room because my eyes start watering (and then drying out) as soon as I enter the room. and remember, this is just the desert. in the DC area, it is really humid. and EVERYTHING IS GREEN. so finally, on Friday, I wake up and I'm completely congested, I can't see because my eyes were watery (and then of course, they dried out), and I'm miserable. well, we had to leave early to get to the Reagan National airport and rent a car to drive all over Virginia, and the only thing we could get at the CVS pharmacy was this really high-strength generic equivalent to Benadryl. so I was really tired and sleepy and loopy all day. add some caffeine to the mix and......yeah. it was just weird.

our first destination was Mt. Vernon, home of none other than the Father of our Country, George Washington. if there is anything you need to know about the DC area, George Washington is seen as the precedent for everything. he is regarded with so much respect and if you have anything to say against him, then you need to leave. never mind the fact that he had a few slaves and our family got to go inside the slave cabin. HE WAS THE GOAT. (Greatest Of All Time.) it was a bit chilly that day and I was feeling like crap, so I just had to endure that part. but it was really cool to see the decorating style of the house. all the walls were painted in ridiculously bright colors. (we didn't take any pictures inside.) there was also lots of farm land. he had a 16 sided barn (which I don't remember the purpose of because I wasn't completely conscious), and there are still cows and horses and sheep. I don't know why they are there because this is literally a restored tourist attraction, but I guess it was to make it more authentic?

after Mt. Vernon, we were only supposed to drive 2.5 hours to Monticello, Virginia, where Thomas Jefferson lived. our plan was to go to a grocery store, buy some deli sandwiches, and eat them at some park halfway there because we were tired of eating out. but that plan didn't work. so to anyone who doesn't know already, Utah basically has 2 seasons: winter and road construction. pretty much all the major roads in Provo are closed off all summer, making it inconvenient to get anywhere. and the stretch of I-15 from the point of the mountain to Salt Lake is literal hell. but the next time I have to drive to Salt Lake during construction season, I won't be complaining. because the ENTIRE FREEWAY was under construction, and we were barely moving. it took 30 minutes just to go 10 miles. now THIS WAS LITERAL HELL. it took about 2 hours just to get halfway there, and my brothers and I are crammed in the back of this small rental car, and Wesley (who has the longest legs) is in the middle. since finding a random park to stop at was completely out of the picture at this point, Wesley decided to be really annoying and eat his salad in the car and jab me with his elbow every 5 seconds. so I was ready to die. but THANKFULLY the Benadryl did its magic and I was out cold from that point on.

of course, we were late to our tour at Monticello. but the ticket people were really understanding and let us catch up with our tour in the middle of it. our tour guide was really funny and entertaining. this house was a bit more spacious than Mt. Vernon, and it had a weird layout. a lot of the rooms were shaped like octagons. again I don't really remember much of this part because I was in survival mode and my mom decided she wanted to make us all miserable and tour the entire garden, the wine press, the outdoor bathrooms, and the museum at the end. I feel bad for anyone who was trying to visit Thomas Jefferson because his house was so freaking far away from everything, and it was at the top of a hill. but I did learn some interesting facts about Thomas Jefferson. on his gravestone, he did not want it to say "3rd President of the United States". instead, it said "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, & Father of the University of Virginia." those were the 3 things he wanted to be remembered for the most. also, Monticello is pronounced like Monty-Cello, not "Monty-sello", which is the way that the small podunk town in Utah is pronounced.

OH and how can I forget the moment when I was washing my hands in the bathroom at Monticello and in walks Wesley, completely unaware that he's in the wrong bathroom. then at the same time, I scream "GET OUT!" and he screams "THERE AREN'T ANY URINALS!" and leaves. but the reason this is so funny is because Justin walked into the women's restroom TWICE in Hawaii, realized there were no urinals, and ran out screaming.

we took one picture.

afterward I was feeling a little bit better and we ate at Five Guys in Charlottesville and drove 2 more hours to Williamsburg and stayed at a hotel there. Wesley was the only one who brought a swimsuit and decided to hit the pool at 9:30 pm.

the first thing I saw when I left the hotel room was a shirtless dude, smoking, blasting country music. I guess that's a normal thing in Virginia. that day we went to Colonial Williamsburg, the original capital of Virginia. we got to tour all these restored buildings, the Governor's Mansion, the printing press, the magazine (where all the weapons are kept), the jail, and the original capitol building. my mom asked the tour guide how the colonists were able to hang the chandelier in the center of the room if they were so short, and she literally said, "I only answer important questions." so the world will never know how the chandelier was lit every day in the capitol building, because it wasn't important. we also went to the art museum and found a display of all these old pianos. back then, there weren't nearly as many keys and there weren't pedals, so that explains why Baroque music doesn't use very much of the keyboard. I'm grateful that pianos were able to develop much more in the next century because most of the music I like to play is....all over the keyboard. but it was really cool to see all the ancient pianos. my mom forced us all to look at the old dishes, and after we finally dragged her out of the place, we headed back toward Baltimore.

 the Governor's Mansion had a lot of guns. believe me. a lot of guns.

so no one needs to hear the run down of our drive back to Baltimore, but we got to our hotel at about 9:30 pm. when we got to our room, there was literally 1 King sized bed and a chair. we all just looked at each other and said "there is NO WAY we are all fitting in here" and went back down to the lobby and explained how there were 3 adults and 2 kiddos and that we couldn't fit in that room, and then the guy at the front desk explained that the online system wasn't working properly, but that he couldn't get a suite for us because they were all full, but we could get a different room with a king sized bed AND a folding couch bed, so it would still be really snug but it would have to do. we resorted to sticking the 3 adults on the king sized bed, Wesley on the folding couch bed, and Justin on the cushions on the ground. this was less than ideal because I'm the one who always gets my own bed, but we were coming home the next day, so we all just had to suck it up and go to sleep, because we had to be at the airport at 5 am.

OK SO THE NEXT PART OF THE STORY SUCKS but it is finally almost over. we all woke up at 4:40, gathered up all our crap, and got to the BWI airport at around 5. our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 8:30 AM but my dad had a conference in Rhode Island that he had to go to, and his flight left for JFK at 6:30 so it was just easier to all get to the airport at the same time. I was super grumpy and tired and waiting for our flight seemed like eternity. well, we finally boarded our flight to Minneapolis at 8 ish and we were supposed to take off at 8:30, get to Minneapolis at around 10 ish, have a 45 minute layover and fly to SLC and get there at around 1 pm. but this was a newer plane, and there was ONE oxygen mask that wouldn't pull down, so the maintenance people had to come try and fix it. also, Delta decided to freaking replay the same song 5 TIMES IN A ROW (I think it was called With Every Beat of My Heart or something?) and let me say it again, it was literal hell. once the music stopped, it was better. but we ended up taking off at least an hour later than we were expected to, and the flight attendant was trying to be optimistic about trying to make sure we all got our connections, but right before we landed, he said "everyone who is going to Salt Lake, you missed your flight.....we will get tickets for the next one." so we had 3 extra hours to waste at the Minneapolis airport before our new flight to SLC left. needless to say I was in a really bad mood. I was jet lagged, I had been up since 4:40 am (2:40 am Utah time), and I just wanted to get home. we finally arrived in Salt Lake at dinnertime.

again, I apologize for this post being the least exciting of the 3, and to be honest most of it just consists of me complaining about how much I hate driving all day and being stuck at airports (except being stuck at the Narita Airport in Tokyo and going through all the stupid security lines and ATMs and getting our subway passes and waiting in more lines and spending about 4 hours there was possibly the worst day of my life). but I honestly loved going to DC and learning more about our country and my appreciation of American history has grown. and if you take anything from this, just..don't connect. even though flying straight through from SLC to Baltimore is more expensive. it saves a lot more time,

have a great day everyone!

Castles take DC part 2

I told you. this second part would be a long time coming. not that anyone cares, of course. and I'm sorry that the slightly controversial opinion post had to come in between my vacation posts. but now that Wimbledon is over, I will hopefully have more time and energy to get the rest of my DC post out here.

(side note: Wimbledon was crazy. so many upsets. I was really hoping that Roger Federer would pull through and win his 8th Wimbledon title after being injured, and it looked like he would. but he got knocked out in the semis in 5 sets by Milos Raonic, and to be honest, that hit me hard emotionally. but I'm glad Andy Murray was able to beat Raonic and get a title. and I am hoping and praying that Federer can win the US Open this year.)

OKAY. now I'm ready to talk about Washington, DC.

we stayed in an AirBNB vacation home in the city, right next to the metro station. it was very convenient and it was in a cute red brick building. it was a bit snug, and the bathroom was connected to the one bedroom (which my parents occupied), so we had to interrupt their quiet time a lot. there was literally 6 inches between the couch that my brothers shared and my air mattress, and another 6 inches between my air mattress and the dining table. instead of eating out, we cooked our own food in the kitchen, but the closest grocery store was this organic market which had super weird, ultra-healthy food. we had to eat spinach wraps (on the blandest tortillas ever), couscous, and rice pilaf. I tried to make myself a normal quesadilla using the spinach wrap one night, but 1. I couldn't figure out how to turn on the gas stove and was waiting 30 minutes for it to turn on before I realized my mistake, and 2. the tortilla sucked. but there was also a CVS pharmacy close by, and I was able to get all the Diet Coke that I needed.

OKAY for real I'm ready to talk about Washington, DC.

the first day was probably the busiest, hottest day. we began our adventure at the Spy Museum. this was one of my favorite museums I have ever gone to. we got to see all this KGB and CIA and German spy equipment, and it was so cool. we learned how hard it is to be a spy. you can't trust anyone, and you have to be conscientious about everything: the way you walk, the way you talk, eye contact, everything. you had to be a master with disguises, and you had to be real sneaky. you couldn't be claustrophobic either. there were also some activities where we had to look at a picture and find all the suspicious items and the video cameras. basically, everyone and everything is out to get you. sounds interesting, right? well, just as we thought we were finished, THERE WAS A JAMES BOND EXHIBIT. it had all the secret tools used in every movie, and I learned more Bond trivia than I signed up for. it was really neat. for the rest of the trip, we looked around at people and tried to decide if they were spies or not. good times.

since we didn't end up getting a White House tour (we either failed the background check, or there were too many people requesting tours), we just walked around the area, took some pictures, went to the World War II memorial, and walked around near the Washington Monument (our tour was the next day). then we had a guided tour at the Capitol Building, which took forever to walk to, plus we were all tired and hot and grumpy. we couldn't bring anything inside the building. no pointy objects, no food, no drink (empty water bottles were okay), and we had to go through intense security. we had to wear headphones and they were all somehow connected to our tour guide's microphone. it was pretty cool because he would talk and we could all hear him, which made all the other tour guides able to give their tours at the same time. since the House was in session, we didn't get to see the whole building, but we got to see the rotunda and all the state statues. the art on the dome was incredible, and I can only imagine how hard it was to paint like that. our tour guide asked all of us where we were from so that he could specifically point out our state statues. ours was of Brigham Young, and I don't remember anyone else's, but the Florida one was the dude who invented air conditioning. in the visitors center, there were more state statues, and the other one we had was Philo T. Farnsworth, the guy who invented TV. because we were so tired of walking, we took a break in the visitor's center to just sit down and Wesley thought he saw Jason Chaffetz, our US Representative and got really excited. we will never know if it was indeed Jason Chaffetz, but it's nice to think that it was.

 WWII memorial

 Obama was chilling inside 

 Justin uses every chance he gets to brag about how I stopped growing when I was 14 and how he's 13 and 6 inches taller than me. he's also jealous that I have a Freddie Mercury t shirt and he doesn't.

 WWII memorial feat. family of tourists

 I'm just a bill, yeah I'm only a bill, and I'm (standing) here on Capitol Hill

 Brigham Young statue

the best family picture we could get. we were all tired and hungry. and yes Wesley is wearing a jacket in this 90 degree weather. I question his motives.

Day 2 was a bit more cloudy, but it was still hot and humid. we spent a lot of time at museums, including the Air and Space and the American History museum. both of them were really cool, and I learned that I would not qualify for an airline stewardess in the 50s or the 60s. you had to be at least 5'3", and I'm 5'0". you also had to be really good looking and wear flashy clothes. in the 1980s however, they adopted the traditional attire and more people could do it, not just average-height females. also, here is some tennis trivia: Roland Garros was the first person to cross the Mediterranean Sea by air, and was a French aviator and fighter pilot during WWI. the stadium where the French Open is played was named after him! we also got to visit the Jefferson memorial, the Roosevelt memorial, and the Washington Monument. I loved reading all the quotes from our early Founding Fathers and one of the Thomas Jefferson ones was about the importance of religious freedom and how our motto is "in God we trust". it makes me sad how our country is less focused on that now. but enough about politics. here are some pictures. (my mom's camera battery died so there weren't a lot of pictures from this day. in fact I only have 3.)

 the next day started out rainy, but after about 10 minutes we realized our rain jackets were useless as it started to warm up. we started our day at the Library of Congress. there was an exhibit featuring 40 Books That Influenced America, and guess which book was number 4 on the list? THE BOOK OF MORMON! who would've thought, with all the recent criticism our church has received? apparently it was a good influence on enough people that it made the top 40 and the Library of Congress owns an original copy. Needless to say we were all pretty stoked about that. the architecture was also amazing. after that, we went to the National Archives and got to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Magna Carta. the Declaration was pretty faded, so if there is any treasure map there, it's probably impossible to read. my mom decided to buy a fake Declaration and a fake Bill of Rights to hang in our house. no treasure maps on those, either. thank you National Treasure for ruining our hopes.

so I know I'm taking forever and this post is already longer than you signed up for, so I'll really try to keep this short. after we did all that, we went to the White House Visitor's Center because we didn't get to do the real thing. that house has SO MANY FREAKING ROOMS that probably aren't used for anything except to show off things. (as is Kensington palace.) then we did the Lincoln Memorial (ABE LINCOLN IS AWESOME) and then we did a tour of Ford's Theatre, which was probably my favorite thing we did the entire trip. we got to go inside the theatre and our tour guide literally put on a "show" from the stage of the theatre, giving all the details of Lincoln's assassination. he told us what play was going on, where the Lincoln's were, the life story of John Wilkes Booth, and how he was hunted down and killed. my favorite part of the story was that the dude who was supposed to kill VP Andrew Johnson got too drunk that night that he didn't end up doing anything. it was actually so cool to learn all the extra details. I also learned that pretty much the entire Lincoln family went crazy after that, which isn't surprising.

well, this concludes part 2 to our adventure in DC! just a heads up, part 3 will be pretty lame because my already-annoying allergies really decided to act up, so I was on Benadryl the whole time. (naturally I was really tired and grumpy). so this was definitely the most exciting part of the trip. thanks for putting up with all my pointless ramblings, and stay tuned for part 3! and in the words of Ron Burgundy, "don't just have a great night, have an American night!"

a personal opinion on feminism

I remember a few years ago I would get on social media and I would see mostly happy things: pictures from family vacations, people getting married, new mothers welcoming their brand new baby, success in sporting events, family members greeting loved ones after not seeing them for 2 years, or brand new puppies.

That stuff is still there, but there is a lot less of it. Now, when I get on social media, I see so much hate, anger, and judgement toward one another. Why? "Oh, because your church doesn't support gays." "Oh, because the college you worked so hard to get accepted into has a horrible honor code that punishes rape victims and lets rapists do what they want." "Oh, because this person doesn't support transgender people using the bathroom they want." "Oh, because this person thinks the Second Amendment is more important than personal safety." "Oh, because of police brutality." "Oh, because this person supports X as a presidential candidate."

or my personal favorite:

"Because this woman said that she wasn't a feminist and all women should be feminists! and any woman who says they are not a feminist is crazy and is going to hell!"

**side note: when people post this kind of stuff, just know that you are not changing anyone's mind about their personal beliefs. you are either attracting support from those who already support you (which is good), or you are making other people feel judged because they have beliefs that differ from yours. so I am in no way trying to get anyone to agree with me or change anyone's mind. I am only trying to share my personal beliefs and hoping that all of you can accept me as a person, regardless of what I believe in. It is okay if you don't share the same beliefs as I do. I know so many good people who I completely disagree with politically, but I respect their opinion and they respect mine and we are still friends because we have so many other things in common. So I hope that I don't lose any friends over this, and if I do, then I apologize that something that I have an opinion on means so much to you that you would choose not to be friends with them because of it.

Okay. Side note over.

Over the past few years, feminism has been becoming a very big issue, especially in the media. I was taught in my history classes that feminism meant "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men", which is actually the first definition that comes up when the word is Googled. and yes, feminism was very important in history; if women weren't willing to stand up for what they wanted, such as the right to vote, the right to labor, the right to get an education, the right to be able to play sports in school, or the right to be able to own property, then I wouldn't be able to do any of these things. But we, in America (note I said in America) aren't fighting for these things anymore. since the official definition of feminism states "the advocacy of women's rights...", then I don't have to say I am a feminist because I am not an advocate. I personally don't feel I need to be. in my life, there are many things that are more important to me than the wage gap, whether or not a woman is elected president, or how Disney princess teach girls to rely on Prince Charming to be happy, rather than teaching them about being smart, brave, independent, or successful. (I mean these are kids movies; all they care about is the story, not about whether the princess was a successful businesswoman!)

so many times I have seen, "All women need feminism because...(something about men being more successful and how they don't respect women)." If feminism truly means "gender equality", then why are we focusing more on one side than the other? why is it considered okay for a woman to say "men are stupid", while it is considered sexist for a man to say "women are stupid"? Why is it considered acceptable and heroic for a woman to hit a man for self-defense, but if a man did the same thing for self-defense against a woman, it would be a crime because "he hit a girl"? are we saying that women can defend themselves, but men cannot? finally, the word itself is ironic to me; many women have stated that feminism simply means "equality of both men and women", yet it only has only one of the genders represented in the word. if we simply just want equality, then why not use the term "gender equality"?

I don't describe myself as a feminist because I don't personally see myself as an advocate for women's rights. Rather, I see myself as an individualist who wishes to respect everyone without having to label myself as a feminist OR an anti-feminist. I personally believe that men and women were created with different purposes, and that those differences should complement each other in working together, marriage, and relationships. I want to go to college and get a Bachelor's degree before having kids, but that's not because I'm trying to prove myself as a woman; I'm doing it because I believe that education is important and I want to focus on that before I focus on anything else. I want to be successful, but I also want to get married and be a mother, which I believe is a harder job than anything else. I've seen people get attacked for choosing to get married (heaven forbid to a MAN!) and have children, and that they are "wasting their potential as a successful woman" and that makes me very sad. My mom went to college, got married, graduated from BYU with a Bachelors in dietetics, did an internship, and then had children and has been a stay-at-home mother ever since, and she is one of the most compassionate, hard-working people I know, and I want to be like her. I'm not saying that all women have to get married and have children, but it should not be looked down upon. I think women and men should be able to do what they want because they want to do it, not to defy gender roles.

I believe that women should be treated with respect, but not because I am a feminist. I believe that everyone should treat each other with respect, regardless of gender. I believe that an individual should be able to do what they want and be looked at as a strong individual, not as a feminist icon. and the bottom line? because I am a woman and I have the agency to make my own choices, I choose not to call myself a feminist. and if you choose to call yourself a feminist, then that is perfectly fine with me.

and that should not determine whether or not I am a good person.