T.J. and Purple Cabs

So, guess who came out to visit me this past week? (Seriously guess...) Oh my gosh that was SO close, haha my little 16 year old awesome sister Laurissa!! She got here Monday evening at about 6:30, needless to say we made the hugest scene at the airport. If you think one Boatwright is loud and hyper, imagine two Boatwright's who haven't seen each other in 3 months! We both squealed, ran, and jumped up and down repeatedly, everyone was staring but I could have cared less. To the left you see us the next morning waiting at the metro station for our ride to adventures GALORE (lore, lore, lore)

We went to the American History Museum (home of the one and only ruby red slippers from Wizard of Oz, and the original Star Spangled Banner), it is also where a large picture of Thomas Jefferson (Or T.J which we like to call him) and exhibit exists. Yes he's blushing from Laurissas kiss, she just has that affect on Presidents. We hit up the Natural History Museum (where the HUGEST sloth in history resides, seriously its the size of a dinosaur with fangs and feet), and the National Archives (which has the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights- located in the Rotunda) where you are not allowed to take pictures inside ANYWHERE. Trust me, I asked.

Throughout the week we also went to the Air and Space museum, where we touched a piece of the moon (no, I am not kidding), went to all the memorials and basked in the light of the Cherry Blossoms (its they're 100th anniversary this year, Japan donated them to the US and they only bloom for a few weeks out of the year!). It was awesome!

After all the touristy stuff was hit we went to Old Town Alexandria! We ate frozen yogurt, had lunch at Cafe Madeleine and walked the water front. Than later on we hit 701 for dinner (fancy restaurant, I had the most amazing duck with date sauce EVER) and than Georgetown. Here we got free cupcakes from Sprinkles which were ok and than we bought some AWESOME cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (Chocolate Peanut Butter swirl!! AMAZING!), these were cleverly hidden inside of my purse to be devoured during the midnight showing of (wait for it....) HUNGER GAMES! While we waited we hit up Serendipity for a frozen hot chocolate to split, played card games, and drank as much Dr.Pepper as we could. The movie rocked, totally followed the plot of the books and sucked me in. Although it was darker than I expected, it was realistic and I loved it. Afterwards we panicked because the metro was closed, but than rejoiced upon finding a purple cab to ride in instead! Much faster and cooler.

The day after we slept in, went to Arlington Cemetery, and went to the DC temple to do baptisms. It was restful, and peaceful. After the temple we hit up Johnny Rockers for dinner and (surprise surprise) went back to Georgetown Cupcakes (lemon blossom, chocolate pb chip, and choc mint crunch...best pb frosting I have ever tasted in my life!). Before she left DC we did brunch at the Hamilton (its a quintessential DC thing) and than she left my life...no I didn't cry! But I was definitely holding back tears as I hugged her goodbye. It was an awesome week and I'm soooo glad she came.

UPDATE: I passed my teaching audition! I am now eligible for hire in DC, and have been placed into the highly effective teacher pool. I should be getting information on teaching events, and job availability within DC, as well as job offers, soon. Cross your fingers ladies and gents, my dreams about to come true!

Room PAINTIN!

Hey everyone! I passed my in person interview with DC Public Schools, and have a teaching audition end of this month:) I'll be teaching in a 1st or 2nd grade classroom for 30 minutes with real live students (HURRAY! No more teaching adults). If I pass I'll be placed into a pool of highly effective educators for Principals to view when they have teaching positions open.

On a less businessy note, I redid my room!!! It's now decorated, painted and I have a new all white comfy comforter (Thanks to my lovely roomie Haley who happened to have an extra that I bought off of her). See:

Me in all my painting glory (lovely paint on my shirt)

My room all done!!!! (above and below)

All that's left is I have to get some curtains to cover that huuuuuge window! I mean I like to people watch as much as the next person but I get a little too much of a view from that window if ya know what I mean...

Homemaking Skillzzzz and OatCoconut Cookies

I recently got a job opportunity through the temp agency I've been using (Hurray for no more stressful job decisions!!) and have been a receptionist at Volunteers of America for the last week or so. It's been going great. I spend my days answering phone calls, transferring people, and reading in my down time. (I'm burning through books like crazy so if you have an suggestions please let me know!!) When I finally get home my brains a buzzing with excess energy so I've been trying out different recipes I've found on pinterest for both baking and cooking dinner. These recipes have included Oatmeal Coconut Cookies (my roommate Haley had me add some chocolate chips to one batch that made them to die for!)

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, (I used 1 stick butter and 1/2 cup shortening) softened to cool room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup quick oats

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream together the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or lined (silpat or parchment) baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes, until the cookies are set but not overly browned (bake a few minutes longer for a crispier version).

They were so good! Turned out fantastic and were gone in less than two days (my roomies obviously helped). I am officially a convert of the half butter and half shortening cookie. They turn out PERFECT and delicious everytime. Me and my roomie Miss Haley made some delicious caramel corn this last weekend as well, it took like 10 minutes and was SO YUMMY!! (Pictured to the left and Haley's above) I wanna try adding some coconut and melted chocolate chips to it!

Oh and last but not least these stuffed pizza rolls I got from Six Sisters Stuff (GREAT SITE!!) They were so easy! I just took crescent rolls and filled them with whatever pizza toppings I wanted (cheese, bacon and tomatoes in this instance) wrapped them up, tucked them in a pan seam down, and seasoned the tops with Italian Seasoning, Garlic Salt and Parmesan cheese (I didn't put nearly as much seasoning as they did on theirs, which is the picture you see on the right). Put them in the oven on 350 for 15-20 minutes and they were done!! I dipped mine in tomato sauce and ranch. Fast, easy and DELICIOUS!

In addition to improving my awesome baking, cooking, homemakin skillzzz I FINALLY put some pictures up on the walls in my room and will be painting this weekend to make it a little more homey, both picture collage-dillys are pictured below! Imagine it with a light grey paint behind it.

In order to bring in some extra cash I've been babysitting on weekends. One of the families I watch has four kids under the age of 5 (can you say CRAZY household!), three boys and the youngest is an 8 month old little girl. Attention all future parents, boys are WAY different than girls. One moment their playing with cars and the next their climbing on the counters reaching for a knife to open up a bag of candy they shouldn't have. We've had some fun escapades too however, including playing Chalk Monster and "football".

Last but certainly not least, I have an interview this upcoming Wednesday with DC Public Schools, one of the many steps in the application process. At the end I will be put into the pool of highly qualified educators for Principals to look through when positions at their school open up. Wish me luck!!

The Immigrant Called Heather...

Well ladies and gents I have officially been out in Arlington, VA for 3 weeks and 3 days and I am learning a ton. To begin with substitute teaching fell through, the amount of time that it was going to take to process my background check and than substitute teaching license (about 3 months) was just not worth the time, effort and money I'd need to put into it. So I turned to other job options, mainly temp agencies and babysitting/nannying jobs- I had no idea what I was in for.

For those of you that know me, you know that I am an extremely indecisive person. I mean when I was in high school I could never decide who to hang out with so I said yes to everyone, and you can guess how that turned out (Sorry to everyone who was a victim of that stage in my life!). You CANNOT do that with temp jobs and babysitting jobs. Its a whole new way of thinking, you have to prioritize which jobs are right for which days- whats the most cost beneficial, hourly rate, travel/distance, how are they paying, who is giving the job etc IT'S INSANE! I've made more decisions the past two weeks than I have in my entire life and at first I was not very good at it.

Exhibit A
The other day I got off the metro heading to a job, got a call from a temp agency offering me a different one. I almost had a mental breakdown, I just kept thinking- which job? Usually when this happens I just call someone and talk it through until I know what I should do, but it was 8:30 am my time! Way to early to call anyone in Utah or Ca, and everyone I know out here was at work. I almost had a mental breakdown trying to decide which job I should go to (literally I sat in indecision on a bench in the middle of the metro for a good 5 minutes watching trains go by) and than it hit me. I have now learned (Thanks to my lovely roommate Haley and that thing we like to call life) that

It's ok to say, "No".

That might be obvious to almost everyone else in the world but it's definitely a new experience for me. Besides saying no to drugs anyways, that's an easy one but saying no to jobs? To an employer? I have never done that in my life...until now. That's right I called the temp agency and said I couldn't take the job.

Its not just about jobs either, its about interviews. Choosing which ones for which days, which ones are ok to reschedule, which you should stay committed too. I've decided, interviews are like small talk but with possible employers! Luckily I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, I now belong to two temp agencies and two babysitting websites. As a result this week I've had one side job (stuffing envelopes with immigrants from Congo and Mongolia, wicked awesome.), two temp jobs (one of which included being a receptionist at a bilingual school- I am not bilingual so I spent most of the day butchering the Spanish language and asking "Who would you like to talk to? Nombre? Nombre?), and two babysitting jobs (YAY!!), and I have three more interviews on Saturday with other families.

While its been a scheduling/decision insanity fest, I feel really grateful to be getting work and making money so quickly. I am also growing as a person, in that I can now say no to a job and not feel bad (although to be honest I'm not perfect at that yet, I'm putting off saying no to a babysitting job right now...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'm a jerk.) AND I am having super cool experiences, and meeting tons of people I would never meet otherwise. So while life is crazy right now, I wouldn't change it for anything.

A little different...

So, this blog entry is going to be a little different than my usual. Instead of updating you all on my life I am going to share a revelation I had tonight. As you know, I am currently living in DC (more specifically Arlington, VA) and searching for a job. This has given me plenty of time to be home and, lets be honest, on Facebook. Don't get me wrong, I am still applying for jobs like mad but tonight something happened that changed my perspective on something.

An old friend from high school messaged me on Facebook and said "I just wanted to remind you how amazing you are". WOW! Holy unexpected, but what was even more unexpected was how even though this guy has a girlfriend and there's nothing there between us, it made my heart almost leap. Now that little thing having that much affect on me might reveal a little more than I'd like it too about my personal life and dating, BUT it also showed me something.

Women crave appreciation.

That's it. We, as in the entire female sex, want men to recognize us in a positive light. Whether the words are small but meaningful, lavish poems of love (which, as far as I know, I am not a fan of), or a simple thanks for being awesome we love it. It's a fact, we yearn for it without realizing we need it.

Now I would pose a question, is it because of that unrecognized need for appreciation that women will date almost anyone who says "Yer pertty"!? Think about it, how many guys have you dated, or been with, or even thought about being with and why that was. What made you consider (even for a moment) the nerdy guy in your Health class with bad B.O., acne and greasy long hair? Or on the flip side, besides looks, what made you stay with the attractive but lazy guy who uses you for rides or occasional hook ups? Women crave appreciation, and they mistakenly place the guy that's using them under the idea of (drum roll please because we've all said this...) "He needs me..." BAM! Right there. We need to be needed and we'll look for it anywhere.

I think I have just discovered the key to getting a girl (too bad I haven't discovered the key to getting a man yet huh? Sorry ladies). Men you want a girl to like you? Appreciate her in the most gentlemanly, sweet, considerate, INDEPENDENT way possible.

Cali, It was good to be home:)

Well after I finished my Student Teaching this last semester I went home to California for 4 weeks. It was wonderful. Because so much happened over break I've decided to put up pictures of my favorite moments.

This was Miss Natalie Mae's Birthday. She requested a red velvet cake with vanilla frosting:) On December 21, 2011 she turned 9 years old.
Than of course we have Christmas!! Here's everyone waiting for mom and dad to come down (SUPER excited to open presents of course), than all dressed up in their Christmas gifts, Natalie and Dad playing with their remote control cars in the kitchen and than there's my mom asleep on the tigers nest in the midst of the chaos. (She had a long night!)

After Christmas we had the BEST DISNEYLAND ADVENTURE ever! WARNING: The following photos may take you on a ride you have never experienced before. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea and insane excitement.About to leave on the Indiana Jones Ride (da na na na, dun da da, da na na na, DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH!!) Honorary Bugs for life SUCKAS! Haha (Inside of Its A Bugs Life) Awaiting Peter Pans Flight (AMAZING!!)

Space Mountain. Best ride hands down!! SO AWESOME!
The Sleeping Beauty Castle (this is also the mote where I lost my phone a couple years before)
The grizzly river run! SO MUCH FUN! (as long as its during the day haha)Waiting outside the Haunted Mansion, ooooooooo!

After Disneyland we went to Jenn and Simons to spend new years AND I have no pictures (I used Dad's camera pretty much the whole time) It was great though, had a little LOTR marathon, ate some onion dip (delicious!!!) and played games. We also did some hiking out in the desert, it was BEAUTIFUL!!

The next milestone of my trip home was going to the BEACH! I only got to go once (even tho I tried to get a group together probably like 6 times) and it was with Sierra and Alyssa!! (THANKS GUYS!!) We saw whales, explored, ate fish and chips and had salt water taffy. It was a delicious day of firsts!
And finally we have my last night in Cali, my wonderful padre took us all out to Olive Garden and than Akio joined us later for X-Men!!
It was a GREAT four weeks at home:) I had a blast!

Back in DC BABY!!

(The picture above is of me, my sisters and brother-in-law over Christmas Break which was awesome but will have to be covered in a different blog entry. I just didn't want to post a blog without a picture in it)
All right so coming out to a new place can be freaky right? I mean even though I lived out here last semester its different now. I'm living in a house and renting a private room, with roommates I've never met, in a place where, lets be honest, I know almost no one. BUT I have never felt more sure that this is the place where I need to be right now. If I had any doubt in my mind about that fact before I came here its gone now (just 72 hours after moving in). Let me give you a run-down of everything that has happened to me since I was dropped off at the airport in California.

First I get to the airport late and miss my flight but magically there's another one I can take that leaves 3 hours later. Than I check my wallet for my Drivers License, but its disappeared (WHHAAT?! I know I was shocked too)- however apparently a school ID and an insurance card are good enough to get me through security. Than I board a series of planes throughout the day that get me into DC at about 11:00pm (looong day but at least I got there right?), my first worry is that the buses won't be running anymore. I metro to the bus stop and arrive at about 11:30, where the last bus of the evening picks me up and takes me to my humble abode. (Just in time!)

The next morning I know church starts at 8am but how to get there I have no clue, and I have no internet to help me figure it out so I decide to get dressed and start walking to a bus stop so that I can bus to where I used to live and walk from there. On my way a mysterious woman with a green scarf walks by, "She looks dressed for church" I said to myself and so I decide to follow her. A few minutes after I have made this decision she disappears, just moments after I have lost her a car pulls over and asks if I want a ride to church. I recognized the girls from my ward and hopped in. Church was wonderful, it was good to see familiar faces and catch up a little with everyone. At this point however I have almost nothing at my house, I left most of my stuff in DC at two separate locations and I had no way of getting it to my place. I decided I was going to have to just bus to each location and carry it home. But wait! A girl in my ward guesses at my plight (shes wonderful) and offers to drive me to said locations (MIRACLE!).

Now at this point almost all of my problems are solved except for the fact that because I had arrived late the evening before I wasn't able to buy food before Sunday. I decided that I would pay my tithing and fast offering and than just fast for the rest of the day. BUT WAIT I arrive home and meet one of my roommates, Haley, who is going to a friends house for dinner and after talking for quite awhile, and without me telling her I'm in need of food, she invites me along (BEST BURGERS I have ever tasted in my life, they were from Omaha, Nebraska? I guess their known for their steaks and burgers).

So now I'm fed, been to church, have all my stuff, but still no job AND THAN a couple girls at church helped me figure out how to apply to different temp agencies. So I still don't have a job but everything's working out really well. The topping on the cake was reaching into my purse and finding the piece that connects my computer to the internet after it had been lost for months.

In conclusion, I'm meant to be here and I love it here. I live in a private room in a brick duplex (5 bedroom 3 bath), my room is tiny but cozy and I have 4 roommates. I've met all of them and they are fantastic. All very nice, one of which is a nurse so if I'm feeling sick or anything crazy happens health wise I'll have someone I can call on. I am currently just applying for jobs on all fronts (Elementary School positions, my substitute teacher license is on its way to being processed, and I've applied to 4 different temp agencies as well as jobs within those agencies), and am getting settled in. It feels good to be back:)