Springtime in the City

Happy Easter!  (Yes, we wore pastels...)

Few things make me happier than waking up when it is warm and light outside.  This is why I love spring so much.  Everything is just so much happier:  you can wear skirts and sandals, it's not freezing when you get out of the shower, and you can eat dinner outside every night.  Sterling moved our kitchen table outside on our porch, so we really have been eating outside every night for the past few weeks.  Last night was a little chilly, so we just snuggled up in a blanket to eat our artichokes and quinoa.  Getting the table back inside requires taking apart the table and reassembling it so it will fit through the door frame, so needless to say, we are committed to eating outside for the next few months.  I love it.

This morning I woke up with Sterling, made him lunch, showered, did some other stuff and then found myself utterly exhausted by 8:00 am.  So, I went back to bed.  Until 10:00.  Is that bad?  This whole pregnancy thing makes me tired sometimes.  I am feeling much better now, but I decided to e-mail my boss and let her know I'd be working from home today.  It just seemed like the better option for, oh, so many reasons :)  And now I'm blogging?  Nice.  Either way, I am officially in the third trimester now and we can't wait for our little girl to show up sometime in July. 

Here is a lovely, glamorous photo of us at the LDS Cannery in Maryland.  For those of you that are Mormon, you probably have worn a similar apron and packed 10 dozen large cans of dehydrated potato pearls yourself.  But!  For those of you who are wondering what in the world this place is, let me tell you:

Packin' it up and lookin' good at the dry pack cannery in Maryland. 

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ have been counseled by a living prophet to become self-reliant.  This includes saving money, being prepared for natural disasters, and building up a storage of food.  No, we are not paranoid that the world is going to come to an end any second, but I do believe in listening to God and being prepared for whatever comes. In the case that we do lose our jobs, won't it be so wonderful to know that we have food to eat during that time we are unemployed?  Or what about that crazy snow storm in DC a few years ago when all of the stores were literally out of food?  In the case of a disaster, I want to be in the position where my family is taken care of, so we have the energy and health to help others.  When I was telling my boss about going to the cannery, she asked, "Are you worried about that stuff?"  (Perhaps wondering if I was one of those crazys that has a silo of grain and watches for Russian missiles on a daily basis.)  I assured her I wasn't, but I don't know if she believes me :)  This next weekend we are going to Wal-Mart to get stuff like Band-Aids and medicine for our first aid kits.  

Sterling and I actually had so much fun at the cannery.  We learned so much about oats, wheat, and different kinds of dried beans.  It was like entering this whole other world I knew nothing about before!  Somehow we ended up with way more dried apple slices than we meant to, so if you find yourself in a bind, natural disaster or not, come on over to the Larsen's.  We'll feed you! 

Living in DC has many benefits, including seeing the cherry blossoms.  On the opening day of the Cherry Blossom Festival, we went with our friends, Broc and Natalie Buttars downtown.  

Broc, Natalie, Sterling, and me at the Cherry Blossom Festival

Broc Natalie, me, and Sterling at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

 By 11:00 am it was totally rainy and the wind had blown off all of the blossoms.  I felt bad for the festival planners.  No more blossoms.  We were cold and it was raining, so we went to a really awesome exhibit to finish off the morning.  There is a lesser-known gallery called the International Gallery in the Ripley Center (underground between the Freer-Sackler, the Castle, and African Art).  I had heard that there was this really cool, interactive science and math exhibit.  Turns out, it really was amazing.  For any of you out there coming to DC, check it out.  The whole exhibit is essentially really cool video games and interactives that teach you about fancy science stuff.   

Here's Sterling and Broc playing this biking game that teaches you about how graphs work.

I love this photo of Sterling.  Pure joy.

What else is going on here in DC?  Sterling is playing soccer on a work team tonight.  I am going to work from home, probably go to the gym, sew a little, and cook dinner for "the boys", as I call them.  (I cook dinner for a house of bachelor's three nights a week to earn a little extra money and practice my culinary skills.  It's actually not too bad of a gig.)  Happy April!