spring in DC

this time of year always makes me reminiscent. 3 years ago we were packing up our provo apartment, graduating from college, leaving jobs, friends and family behind and trekking to dc with hopes of something great on the other end. 3 years ago steve & i were about to embark on the best thing that has ever happened to us. there's something about taking a leap of faith and leaving the only state you've ever known with nothing but your personal belongings and your best friend in hopes that something better is coming. of course we had plan B in case this whole adventure didn't work out but neither of us spent much time entertaining it because we so badly wanted plan A to work. not a single day goes by that i'm not grateful that our plan worked out in such a seamless way. we couldn't have planned these past 3 years better if we tried. this doesn't mean that everything is perfect because there are still things about this place that kick my butt everyday (whyyyyyy is it so far away from family?), but it means that this year, unlike every other anniversary of us moving to dc, i hope we stay here for a while. i finally feel like dc is my home and that i could really see another 10, 15 or even 30 years here (no matter how ridiculous the real estate market is). 3 years ago i never thought i would utter those words.

hello again!

it has been too long since i last posted. it's been a fun and busy winter. loads of snow, lots of basketball and even more work. welcome to the pierce family! we spent the holidays in nashville and utah with family then returned to DC to dive into our 2014 goals and resolutions. every year we try to instill a theme or phrase in our home. 2013 was the year of trying new things, and try we did! i tackled watercolor classes, lots of new recipes, a new approach to healthy eating, new work out routines and new colors into my wardrobe (hello, black). steve took on a new job, a new approach to traveling to new places (the introvert in him is a bigger fan of the familiar), first time on the radio to talk about byu basketball and trying new-to-him vegetables. we decided our 2014 phrase would be "not every hill is worth dying on" - which is more for me than steve, but we are both working to keep the bigger picture in mind at home, at work and in life in general. it's be very positive so far. oh how i love new years and new goals.

in january steve started his last 2 classes for his masters degree. i think he's been counting down till graduation since the beginning and i'm so proud of him that he is almost done and that means no more tuition. oh that's been hard to fork over a lot of money every semester for the past few years, but i'm very grateful that we've been able to do it on our own, debt free. graduation on may 17th can't come soon enough!

in february we met up with our best friends in philly for presidents day. we had the best time and just learned that they are moving to baltimore this summer, we can't wait to have them closer to dc! we also visited friends in charlottesville and ate the best chinese food ever.

at the end of february steve spent a few days in baltimore for his company retreat. while he was somehow singing karoke with the owner of the Orioles at a dive bar i traveled to utah for one of my best girlfriends weddings. rachel was the happiest bride i've ever seen! she was beautiful and the day was perfect and her new husband seems like the greatest. it was such a fun weekend to be apart of.

   march was filled with snow days, girl scout cookies and steve's birthday. he wanted to watch the ncaa tournament and eat fajitas and pie for his birthday so that is exactly what we did. we took the day off work and had a basketball watching marathon weekend. 

we are looking forward to a fun spring and summer with  lots of traveling and time with family!

this is what we call "steve works past 8pm and his work pays for dinner" 

summer recap

school has started and i've been slacking at blogging, so here's a crash course summer recap:

JUNE

-now that we've retired from nursery the kids really miss steve. just last week we were at cafe rio and ran into one of our favorite nursery boys and he said "jessie you come to nursery this sunday, ok" i told him i would (because i often do now that i'm in the primary presidency and over nursery) and then he turned to steve and said "you come too steve" it was cute. since we have retired we've started occasionally babysitting the kids so their parents can enjoy a night away, and of course we don't let them pay us. it is so much fun to spend a saturday afternoon or evening with these kids.

-four year anniversary! of course steve happened to have class the night of our actual anniversary... is grad school over yet?

-went to the nike store in georgetown to meet kevin durant, and steve just needed to have his latest basketball shoe.

 

-we made a valiant effort to go to the smithsonian museums that we hadn't been to yet. we still haven't seen them all, i just love dc.

-our bestest friends came down from brooklyn for the weekend. gosh i love it when they come to town

JULY

-4th of july fireworks at the national mall with friends from our ward

-day trip to gettysburg on the 5th of july during the week of the 150th commemoration. it was a loooong day because there is so much to see, but we had the best time and learned a lot

 -i had a root canal! it was awful, well not the actual procedure, but the infection i got in my tooth. yikes. so far we are at 2 crowns and 2 root canals for the year, and counting... (probably getting another next week.. no!!!)

AUGUST

-jay z and justin timerlake... amazing.

-steve's family came to town and we spent the weekend in a small town in southern virginia. naturally we went to a animal feeding farm. the pictures show exactly how much fun steve had with the animals. 

 

-i chopped 9 inches off my hair - pray to the humidity gods that they go easy on us washingtonians the rest of the summer!

-georgetown date nights, found a new favorite dessert place called pie sisters. super cute and amazing pie!

-roadtrip to charlottesville to visit some of our closest friends who just moved their for law school and to see byu v. uva - aka: east coast general conference, every east coast mormon was there!

...tonight we are going to a korean bbq karaoke place for a friends birthday, wish us luck!

4 years and the outer banks

to celebrate our four year anniversary we headed to the outer banks to spend a relaxing weekend at the beach. we had the best weekend with just enough beach time, and still got to explore the area and see some cool things. we went to jockey ridge state park at sunset, cape hatteras lighthouse and the wright brothers memorial. we also ate at some amazing restaurants (currituck bbq twice!) and really had the best time. i can definitely see the obx becoming a summer vacation tradition since it's only 5 hours away. there's something so charming about this place.

we stayed in nags head - take 10 steps from our hotel & you were at the beach

jockey ridge state park

steve with the panda kite, best target buy ever

climbing the lighthouse. i loved the black and white floors.

about 30 years ago they actually had to move this lighthouse because it was too close to the water and on unstable land. they moved the lighthouse about a mile inland to where it is today. it was so fascinating to learn about how they moved it.

sand for days. some points of the outer banks are so skinny that all there is room for is a 2 lane highway. the ocean is just outside this photo on both sides!

the field where the wright brothers first took flight.

that one time we went to a kenny chesney concert....

a few weeks ago 2 tickets to that night's kenny chesney fell in our laps. neither of us are kenny chesney fans, but we never say no to live music. we trekked out to the end of the blue line to fedex field (home of the washington redskins) and had a fun night. this was our first experience with the country music scene, because lets be honest, taylor swift doesn't count. it was interesting... the tailgating, the amount of beer that was consumed, the people watching... it was entertaining. steve and i have been to our fair-share of shows; from large arena shows like jay-z & kanye, taylor swift and katy perry to smaller venues and our personal favorite, small bars where some of the best bar bands play. what i'm trying to say, is this was nothing like any of those shows... it was hilarious and bizarre.

before the show started we wanted to find a good restaurant for dinner. we never go to landover, maryland so we wanted to find somewhere good. we ended up at a southern comfort food diner, which in steve's eyes, is heaven on earth. the place was packed. we knew it'd be good because we were the only white people in the whole place the entire time we were there. the mac & cheese wasn't my favorite, but everything else was awesome. highlight of the day was when we got our food steve said "i didn't burn 850 calories at the gym today for nothing!"

as fun as it was, i think that's our last country concert for a while. next up: jay-z and justin timberlake later this summer. i'm already counting down.

some nights

some nights i have primary meetings and steve works until 11pm
some nights we are both home at 6 and make the best dinner together (my favorite!)
some nights we catch up on our favorite shows
some nights we crash and are both in bed by 8pm
some nights steve has school and i go shopping, or do laundry
some nights cafe rio is necessary
some nights we go for a run on the national mall at 10pm
some nights steve stays up till 2am watching and writing about basketball
some nights we go to a movie on a tuesday, just because
some nights we decide over dinner to go to the OBX this summer and book a hotel right then
some nights we go to concerts
some nights i actually wash my hair while steve plays basketball
some nights we explore the district to find new restaurants


i'm loving these nights right now.

on our way to church on mothers day - to talk in sacrament meeting!

april: the best month to spend in washington dc

april in dc is amazing. the green on the trees starts growing back, cherry blossoms are in full bloom, restaurants open their patios up, the memorials with water fountains get turned back on, and the humidity of summer hasn't kicked in yet. it's perfect.






we've had a fun april so far. some of our closest friends came down from booklyn and stayed with us over conference weekend. michael & jess are two of the coolest people we've met. while we wish they still lived here we love that we get to see them from time to time. whenever we spend time with the barnes it means one thing... brunch!!

 


of course we had to take a quick trip to nyc to watch byu play in the mit tournament at madison square garden. i thought it was a great idea until we got back to dc at 6am and had to be to work only a few hours later! it was fun though, new york is always an adventure, even if it's only a 13 hour round trip...









andrew mcmahon (steve i's favorites of. all. time.) came to town the night before my birthday so we HAD to go. it was the best way to start my birthday celebration. [major bonus: his newest song is amazing - listen here] steve had a super busy week with work and school but luckily we celebrated all week between eating at new [amazing] restaurants in dc.


 the past few weekends we have put on our tennis shoes and been tourists in our own city! it has been a lot of fun to see things that we haven't seen yet. it's crazy how much there is to see in this town and almost all of it is free. although the tourists can get annoying sometimes (they don't get public transportation, or how to walk on a sidewalk) it's fun to explore new things. [this photo is from our visit to the national gallery of art, the van gogh and monet paintings were our favorites!]

the rest of our april has been filled with....

three crowns and one root canal later, my teet areis starting to recover!

steve is a master sunday school teacher and i am loving all the kids in primary

steve's favorite time of year has begun - nba playoffs are in full swing.

i finally have a front porch where i can plant flower pots!

this weekend is the white house correspondence dinner, so we will be on the lookout for celebrity sightings all weekend AND steve and i have been invited to the buzzfeed white house correspondence dinner party.

26

this one turned 26 yesterday! it was so fun to celebrate with his favorite things all day with two of his closest friends. a few months ago i had this crazy brilliant idea to fly two of his closest friends to town for the weekend so they could hang out and watch the first weekend of the ncaa tournament together. they've been here for 24 hours already and i'm realizing it was the best birthday present ever. the kid never takes time out of his busy schedule for himself so i figured this was the best way for him to slow down and enjoy the weekend. needless to say, steve is loving life right now.

i think this photo totally captures steve at 25:

iphone

headphones

work bag

tired face

metro ride home from work

to quote justin timberlake's newest single, mirrors, "you are you are the love me life, you are you are the love of my life, you are you are the love of my life" :) happy birthday my dear!

a post with a lot of words and only 1 photo

before diving into 2013 i think i should wrap up 2012 with a top ten of the year:

top ten of 2012:

cafe rio opened 5 miles from our house, we take taco tuesday very serious in our house.

lots and lots of visitors (we love visitors!)

jessie trip to nyc while steve slaved away for the election

first cherry blossom season in dc, absolutely breathtaking

moved to a bigger apartment, yay for more closets & hardwood floors

disneyland and the beach with some of our favorite people

billy elliot, memphis, newsies, momma mia! the year of many musicals

hottest DC summer on record. yikes

anniversary spent in utah, thanksgiving in new jersey and christmas in texas

celebrating the 2012 election on november 7th at 3am - about sums up steve's year

2013 started out busy and hasn't slowed down since! we visited friends in brooklyn for a weekend and spent the weekend laughing, eating and visiting the basketball hall of fame. we had the best time! steve had some great job interviews and got 2 job offers in a 12-hour period then had to decide in the following 12-hours what job he wanted to take. it's tiring just thinking back to that 24 hour period... yikes. while both were really great opportunities and we felt incredibly blessed to have the option, (even though sometimes i would prefer to not make a choice, i'm awful at deciding anything and everything). i was so proud of steve for putting a lot of thought into it and taking the offer that will be best for our family and his future. he said farewell to the campaign trail and joined the dc consulting world! the day after he made his decision we left for vancouver for steve's grandpas funeral. while the purpose of the trip wasn't ideal, it was fun to see and spend time with family. steve's been busy with another semester of grad school and i'm keeping busy with primary and deep cleaning/reorganizing/redecorating our apartment! this is my favorite photo (and moment) of 2013 so far. we purchased this chair and of course we thought it would fit in our car and of course it didn't so instead of getting a truck we decided to shrink wrap it to the top of our car. of course this we did this during one of the coldest weeks of the winter. driving home during rush hour with the windows down and this on top of our car was probably the most beverly hillbillies moment we've had. and that is saying something because we do these kinds of things all. the. time.

very thankful

 

i love the month of november and i love thanksgiving.

there is always so much to be thankful for, and this year isn't any different.

while we are always thankful for the more obvious things in our life

our warm home, great jobs, loving family & friends

this year i've tried to focus on the smaller things, because they matter too!

i am thankful for a husband that gets up first on weekday mornings. i like to think it's because he takes twice as long to get ready as i do, but i know he does it to let me sleep a few extra minutes

i'm thankful for a niece that says "i lope you" in the sweetest voice that just melts our hearts, 

even from 2,700 miles away

i'm thankful for to do-lists & felt tip pens, because they make the work day so much better

i'm thankful for simple traditions steve & i have started, like sunday walks and tacos on tuesday

i'm thankful to have returned to a normal dinner time since november 6th

i'm thankful for a church calling that has pushed me out of my comfort zone &

gives me the opportunity to serve

i'm thankful for a level-headed sister that always gives the most level-headed advice

***

i hope everyone will take time this weekend to give thanks for the simple things!

another election (almost) come and gone....

we are 7 days away! and even though the chaos doesn't necessarily calm down right after election day, it will be nice to return to a more normal dinnertime.

while it has been a busy few months and not always ideal, we've been incredibly blessed. this sounds funny, but it has been a dream come true for Steve to be on the battle grounds this election cycle. every night when i ask him how his day was i will follow up with "are you sick of it yet?" and he always always always responds no. while i got sick of all the banter surrounding the election weeks ago, he loves it, and the fact that he is happy makes all of this worth it. he enjoys the copious amounts reading and research, the sometimes difficult people and the long days. although i would love to live closer to family, friends and in a (slightly) cheaper city where we might own a home sooner rather than later, it all is worth it to have a husband that loves his job.

this election cycle has continued in the tradition that we have learned so much about ourselves individually as well as in our relationship over the past months. and while it is easy for me to countdown the days until it's all over, i am a little sad to see it go. the idea of moving onto something new, whether it still be at the DCCC or somewhere else in washington, it's a little scary. this whole election cycle/transient job thing is something i will ever get used to, but the way steve handles it with confidence makes it easier.

so in the case i don't blog again until after president obama (hopefully) wins another 4 years,
see you later election of 2012, you were incredibly good to us.

a busy week

we had a busy 7 days last week. while steve was working 24/7 my parents decided to come to town and keep me company. we first went up to nyc for 4 days then they came back and spent a few days in dc.

while in nyc we went to david letterman, saw mamma mia! and newsies, ate great food, carriage ride in central park, 5th ave, rockefeller square, union station, brooklyn bridge, downtown and 9/11 memorial, and my favorite, empire state building at night. thanks again for such a fun trip mom and dad!

 while in dc we saw the fdr and jefferson memorial, dinner at our favorite restaurants, trip to charlottesville to see jefferson's estate at monticello as well as university of virginia, as well as a trip to annapolis to see the naval academy. the highlight was definitely going to the nationals baseball game the night they clinched the division championship. time for the playoffs!

my dad & i with fdr's dog, fala, at the fdr memorial

a huge thank you to my dad for helping us paint the stairway and entryway in our apartment as well as fixing everything else around our apartment.

there's something great when parents visit.

keep your eyes on the stars but remember to keep your feet on the ground

 

the weather this past weekend was incredible. for any of you that have never experienced summer in dc, it is miserable. so humid, so hot and so sticky. luckily, i think we've said goodbye to the extreme humidity for the summer and have happily welcomed the cooler temperatures. sunday night steve & i decided to check out yet another cool dc spot that we hadn't seen yet. i love that there are a million things to do in this city, and even after 16 months we still haven't seen or done them all. roosevelt island is nothing but trees and running trails and was absolutely incredible. in fact, while we were walking the island i kept telling steve it reminded me hiking in utah (which i always miss, steve not so much). steve was in heaven because a few of the lookouts gave a perfect view of his favorite dc bridge (the bridge to georgetown). needless to say it was an enjoyable sunday night and the teddy roosevelt memorial was amazing as well.

our only complaint - where are his glasses?

the memorial had these massive stone manoliths with all of his most-famous quotes. of course my favorite being the title of this post.

as we were leaving there were 50 or 60 people kayaking in the potomac. it was super cool and another reason why i am really starting to love this place :)

lately

it's been a crazy month. steve's younger sister came to visit and i'm pretty sure we all almost died of heat stroke (no joke was over 100 degrees and humid everyday she was here), we moved 1/2 mile down the road to a new apartment (while gaining 220 square feet - a hot commodity here in DC), steve has been in summer school and election season is already beginning (no more time off until december!), and i'm trying to get settled and make sense of our new apartment (first thing to go was the pepto pinkish/peachish walls in the bathroom). photos coming soon!

today i was pleasantly surprised when i got home from work and found the photos from our shoot in utah in the mail! jordi (our photographer) is pretty much family now that we've done engagements/groomals/wedding day/family photos in 2010 and now these with her. she's the best and we always love catching up with her!