Too dang hot!

One of the minuses about living on the top floor with no insulation, only small wall units for cool air in the bedrooms and living room, and large windows facing the sun in the afternoon... is the heat. And it was the worst in the kitchen because there was no window unit in there and it was separate from the rest of house. Who wants to cook when you're dripping with sweat?? It became miserable trying to cook (with frequent breaks to stand in front of the cooler in the living room) and then sit in the, also uncooled, dining room to eat the dinner. Some of our friends loaned us their window unit they weren't using; but our windows were too big and we didn't want it falling 16 floors. I kept begging Barrett to make it work somehow, but he said it just wouldn't fit. Finally, after continually pestering I reminded him that he was an engineer (little ego boost :)) and that he loved finding solutions to things like this and if he actually thought about it I knew he could figure it out. Within minutes he was walking around the house looking for supplies. I laughed, happy that I had finally convinced him to make the kitchen bearable for me. And this is the redneck solution he figured out.

I didn't care what it looked like. I could cook again without dying.

Sadly, the only thing comparable to the suffocating summer heat in our apartment was the increasing cold in the winter. I started leaving the hairdryer plugged in in the living room so when it got too cold Lily and I would cover ourselves in a blanket and turn it on until we warmed up.

After our extremely high bill in our still freezing apartment, we decided to move apartments after getting back after Christmas. So at the beginning of January we moved to the 4th floor. It was SO worth it.  Not only is it well insulated, but it has carpet throughout. The city view was pretty, but the even temperature is better. Here is a picture to document a normal morning bundled up.

We decided maybe we shouldn't look so happy about being cold so here is how we really felt, ha ha.

A few funny pictures of Lily while moving. It's a little harder moving with a 1-year-old. 

Our first visitor

As soon as we found out we were moving to Baltimore, my brother Jeff bought a ticket for the week he had off in July. I was so excited to know that we would at least see some family shortly after we moved. 

 

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is one of the main places to see here. And it's not just a small aquarium where you see a few fish, it takes about 3 hours to see dolphin shows, the jelly fish exhibit, the amazing shark tank, a 300-pound turtle in the black tip reef tank, spitting fish in the Australia exhibit,  plus all the cool fish (we even saw and octopus moving around one time). Barrett and I went before he started school and immediately bought a year pass because we knew we would want to go anytime we had visitors. So of course we took Jeff :). 

He was here for the 4th of July so he joined in our activities. We went to our ward breakfast in the morning.

Then we headed to Washington, D.C. to show Jeff around. We try to switch up what we see each time, so this time we went to the National Air and Space Museum.

 Lily's 4th of July outfit. It shows of her chub thighs, ha ha. I was really wishing I could wear her outfit that day because it was SO hot and humid walking around D.C.

We came back home for fireworks since we knew traffic would be crazy. And since we live on the 16th floor of a high-rise, we decided to just watch the fireworks around the city from the roof. We invited some friends over, put the kids to bed, and ate food while we watched. 

 Fireworks from the rooftop wasn't nearly as exciting as we thought it would be. They were far away and fireworks really just aren't the same without the big booms. So here are the pictures I attempted to get while kind of watching them. See those little lights way off in the distance? Yeah, that's them.

Jeff went golfing (in the rain) and we saw a few more places around our area before he went home. It was so fun to have him here for a few days!

A few adventures from the beginning of life in Baltimore

 A trip to the Baltimore zoo. When we first moved in a ward member was kind enough to take us to the zoo for free with her pass. Lily was still too young to really care about the animals, but she did well in the stroller and it was great to get out in the sun.

We found the most amazing place with gelati's (Italian ice layered with frozen custard) at a place called Rita's. We thought it was a one-of-a-kind place at Inner Harbor, only to find out they are scattered all over and one even opened up in Sandy, ha ha. But it is still the best summer treat out there. It really is like "ordering happiness".

Although I dread grocery shopping and finding a spot to park on the street, there are a few perks about living in the city. One is that there are always events close by, many close enough to walk to. This picture was from an annual craft/concert day we found.

We found a "flying bike" at an art festival downtown. I had to try it out.

After church one day we decided to check out a beautiful neighborhood across the street from our building. At the end of the neighborhood we found Loch Raven Reservoir. It is gorgeous. They close the road on Saturdays and Sundays so people can walk/bike/run without worrying about cars. So we went back on another weekend to walk around.

We went on our first trip to Washington D.C. before Barrett started classes. Washington, D.C. wasn't on the top of my list of places to visit in my life, so I was surprised by how much I liked it. The main monuments and buildings you always see pictures of, really are amazing to see in person. And with each subsequent visit I am more amazed at how interesting the museums are. Here are the sights we saw.

 We started off at the Capitol. It is huge. Well, all the buildings are huge, but this really is as big as you think it should be.

The Washington Monument.
The last time we went the scaffolding was only at the bottom, but for the first few times it was always covered like in this picture.

If you're walking to all the sites, there really is only time to fully look at one museum. We chose to go to the Holocaust Museum. You can't take pictures in the museum, although it is a must see. Lily fell asleep while we were there so I took this cute picture walking to the next floor.

The Lincoln Memorial. 

I think this was/is my favorite site. Since Lily was in a stroller we had to take the elevator up so I didn't get to gradually come up to the statue of Abraham Lincoln. When I came out of the elevator I was floored at how big it is.

 Plus, the view looking across the National Mall is beautiful. The view of the Potomac on the backside is gorgeous too.

The path walking from the World War II monument to Lincoln Memorial.

Vietnam Memorial. 

This is another one of those sites you see a lot of pictures of so it was fun to see it in person.

The White House

Compared to all the all other buildings we saw all day, the White House seemed small in comparison.  It was very neat to see in person. Now that we have been several times, I am lucky that the first time I saw it was rather peaceful. There is an area with lots of trees and benches facing this side and we sat for awhile taking it all in. Every time we've gone since there have been noisy protestors and it takes away from the beauty.

I was exhausted by the time we got back to our car, and am exhausted each time we go; but it is worth it so others can see our nation's capital. It sounds cheesy, but I really do feel blessed to live in America and going to Washington, D.C. frequently has increased my pride in our country.

Last, but not least, our first trip to the Washington, D.C. temple.
Barrett has a friend from his ward growing up that is in medical school in Pennsylvania. When his mom went to visit them in July she offered to watch the children while we went to a session. It was so nice not to have to find a babysitter, and to enjoy time with friends from back home.

With our friends Mark, Jenna, and Lucas.