They're in!

Check back in a couple weeks to see where in the world I'm going!

I went on vacation: Day 2

Sorry it is taking me so long to put my trip up.... But life is crazy!! And great.

Anyway, Harper's Ferry, WV! I just love this little town. It is probably one of my favorite places on earth. If you don't know the history behind this place, look up John Brown on Wikipedia. The weather was absolutely beautiful this day. We woke up to rain and almost canceled the whole day- Thank goodness we didn't- because it cleared up when we arrived and was so pretty all day. I love the mountains, trees, the rivers (Shenandoah and Potomac meeting and merging to continue as the Potomac), the old buildings, the train station. Everything.











My sisters would be great models, huh? Me on the other hand... I think about it too much. I would never make it work.















We ate lunch in Sheperdstown, WV. The oldest town in West Virginia! We ate in a little restaurant that had tea and wraps, paninis and salads and hummus! So good!! And I really liked how they decorated.

This is at Antietam. Look that one up, too. It's important. And I thought this cloud looked like a mushroom cloud.

I think this is called Burnside Bridge. It is so beautiful. It is really hard to imagine the battle that took place here. We got there at the perfect time to watch the sun go down through the trees.

the end.

I went on vacation: Day 1

It started out at the Smithsonian Castle. A truly lovely building. I love the red brick and the vaulted ceilings.
It was such a beautiful day. I love blue skies and white clouds. (as I'm sure most of you know.)

And let me just say that I am so glad that I was able to go again with my dear sisters. We missed Erica, of course. But it was such a treat being there with Michelle, Julia and Kate.


















This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip, I think.

Then we went to my all-time favorite place ever! The National Gallery Sculpture Garden. It is located just south of the Archives and in between the the National Gallery and the Museum of Natural History. It is a wonderful spot. Especially when you want to cool off and just read a book or listen to the fountains or talk on the phone. This is where I spent a lot of my time last summer.


This is in the West building of the National Gallery. It is SO big!

The National Gallery is one of my favorite museums of all because it is so big and has so many excellent things. Their ceramic collections are amazing and they have a lot of paintings from my favorite artists.

Right now they have an exhibit, "From Impressionism to Modernism" and they had so many beautiful paintings. I was so happy. And I actually went back two different days to look at it again.
Monet's Bouquet of Sunflowers is one of my very favorite paintings. (sorry it's blurry. the lighting was really bad and you can't use a flash inside the museums.)




Next was the Freer Gallery. This is another one of my all time favs. Charles Lang Freer was a great guy who commissioned one of my favortie artsists, James Abbot McNeil Whistler, to do many paintings for him. He was also very interested in Chinese ceramics.

So you can see why I would like this museum so much.

This room is awesome! It's called the Peacock Room, or the Blue and Gold Room.
I love everything in it! Someone commissioned Whistler to build and decorate it to showcase his ceramic collection.

There is a fire place under that big painting and there are sunflowers andirons in front of the fireplace. I want some of those!


I love this door! I would have it in my own house someday. Those windows are so beautiful.

Then we headed over to the modern art museum, the Hirshorn. It has a pretty cool fountain, too, but you can't dip your feet in this one...

I really like what they have in the Hirshorn. It opens my mind up to so many different possibilities. So inspiring!




This is a sculpture outside the American History Museum.























At the end of the day, we returned to the Sculpture Garden to enjoy a free jazz concert. It was so fun! We dipped our feet in the fountain and read our books, soaked up the sunshine and good jazz. It was a perfect end.

I was reading The Hobbit. (first time) And I loved it!

I went on vacation.

Hello! I've been out of the loop, technology-wise for about two weeks because I have been on VACATION. I love trips. And I was so lucky to have been able to go visit my dear aunt and uncle in Maryland and spend a few days in our Nation's capital.

I. Love. The. East. Coast.
the trees, the hills, the rivers, the fireflies, raccoons, d.c. and all of the history and culture and beautiful things there, i don't even mind the humidity. I love everything.

I lived there last summer and it was always an adventure and I loved every minute of it. This year I went with Michelle, Julia and Kate for a week and it was so good to be back.
We saw so much and I was able to visit all of my favorite things from last year....more details to come.

this picture is actually from last year because I haven't had time to put my pictures from this trip on a computer yet. But I just love the Lincoln Memorial.


Thankfully, Michelle and I had to go through AZ to and from so we were able to spend some time with my dear family. And welcome our new niece into the family. Ammon and Kathy named her Lillian Janeen and she is so beautiful. I can't wait to go home again so I can hold her! (I wasn't able to when I was home because she was in NICU)
I was also able to participate in my family's "Country Night." Every other week, they pick a different country and make food and learn about the country. We went to Laos when I was home and it was so good. and fun. I'm sad I missed out on the previous ones: Hungry, Australia and Morroco.

Now I'm back in UT and I'm just trying to work as much as I can and get my papers in! (I went to the doctor today and got TWO shots. and I'm going to the dentist tomorrow) I'm moving home in less than a month! Which is so weird. But good.

Over the river and through the woods.

Nothing beats fresh wildflowers on a nice, cool Friday morning. I always feel so much happier and relaxed after going to my Grandma's house.




I hope everyone has a nice day and a great 4th of July weekend!
Love rachel

p.s. I've been painting. It's wonderful. I want to play with watercolors for the rest of my life, I think. I'll show you what I've been working on in a couple of days. It's kind of a surprise...