Mitt & Me

Following is a letter I intend to send to Mitt Romney relating a dream I had last night.  Let me know if you think I should send it.

Dear Mr. Romney:

Hope the campaign's going well.  I had an interesting dream last night, that I figured I should share with you.  In the dream, you were coming to Arlington, VA, for a campaign event, and asked that the Arlington 2nd Ward help put together a BBQ for you.  Since I'm in the Elders' Quorum Presidency, that meant that I had to go out and help you round up supplies.  So we hopped in my car and drove out to some local farms to pick up everything.

We managed to gather all the meat and vegetables we needed, and had a rather amazing experience at the last farm.  I noticed that a chicken egg was about to hatch, so we gathered together to watch it happen.  There we were, on all fours, me in my jeans, and you in your suit, as we peered into the nest to watch the miracle of life.  The baby chicken burst out, turned into a tiny rabbit, and then we helped him find his mother.  What a great experience.

After that, we made it back to Arlington in time for the potluck dinner at the church.  For some reason you and I decided to buy about three tons of neapolitan ice cream, so we had trouble convincing people they needed to keep eating it so it wouldn't all melt.  Good times.  Anyway, you seemed pretty cool in my dream last night, so I wish you the best on the campaign.

Sincerely,

Ryan Peterson 

Summer in DC

Over the last couple weeks, we have been trying to take advantage of all the events going on around DC in the summer.  We kicked it off by going to the Annual DC BBQ Festival, with our friends the Nielsens.

I had the rib tips, which were pretty tasty, and Sarah got an amazing pulled pork sandwich.

I was a bit distraught I had already eaten before I came across this guy's setup, however.

We also went to the Congressional Baseball Game, where members of the Democrats and Republicans slug it out on the baseball diamond.  As you can see, it's not the most well-attended event, but we had a good time.

We had a great time, great seats, and I got a chili dog from Ben's Chili Bowl, so I had fun even though the Republicans got completely trounced.  That's Nancy Pelosi gloating down in the bottom right corner.

We had to sit in the Democrat section, which made me a little nervous, but fortunately, I had Sarah with me.

The shirts we were wearing seemed to help as well. 

A Couple of Weeks in Arlington

Hey everyone!  Sorry I haven't been able to post in a while.  As a result, here is a week in review to go over some of the stuff we have been up to here in Arlington.  A Peterson potpurri, if you will.  Also, be sure to check out Sarah's travelogue of her adventures further below.

 

First off, it's become a tradition in our household for me to make some sort of baked good whenever Sarah comes home from a work trip.  This time it was chocolate coca-cola cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.  Sounds odd, but they were pretty tasty.

A week after Sarah's trip to the high altitudes of Bolivia, she was still able to run with me in the Lawyers Have Heart 10K Race in Georgetown.  Sorry I don't have better pictures than these shots in the parking garage.  You'll just have to take my word for it that we actually ran in the race.

We finished in 1 hour, 4 minutes, which isn't too shabby for 6.2 miles.

We also had a Mexican food night last week, where we made roasted corn, guacamole, and deep-fried chicken flautas.

They actually weren't as complicated as I thought, and frying stuff is always an adventure.  

For dessert, we whipped up a tres leches cake.  Look at how moist and delicious it is.  I assure you that Sarah and I stick to a pretty rigorous no-carb diet during the week, so we manage to eat this stuff on the weekends without getting (too) fat. 

Speaking of carbs, a few nights ago we also made our way to a D.C. favorite, Amsterdam Falafel.  Falafel is essentially fried chickpea balls stuffed in a pita with all sorts of toppings.  It's exactly as amazing as it sounds. 

Pictured above: awesomeness.

Finally, the garden I planted on the balcony a few weeks ago, is looking pretty good.  I've got rosemary, parsley, basil, and cilantro, along with some flowers.  So there you have it, a random sampling of our quaint little lives.  Hope you're all doing well.

Sarah's Goes Tripping !?!

Hey everyone!  We interrupt our regularly scheduled boring blog post by Ryan to bring you a special report from the front lines.  This is Sarah Peterson reporting, with more of her amazing adventures around the globe.  First stop, the majestic City by the Bay, San Francisco.

  

I had a great time in San Francisco even though I had to be there for a work conference.  This was my first time to San Fran and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. 

I spent part of my time hanging out with the sea lions at Pier 39.  I am not ashamed to say that this picture is one of about thirty that I took of these cute little guys.

My friend and I decided the best way to see the bay was to bike from Fisherman's Wharf across the bridge and back.  I know I look particularly fetching in my awesome bike helmet. I am proud to have done my part to demonstrate that bike helmets are a necessary and vital accessory that one should always wear when riding a bike. 

 Back at the Wharf we decided to try some of the city's famous sourdough bread at Boudin Bakery.  I can always appreciate a bakery that decides to make loaves that look like crocodiles, bears, and crabs (?).

During the weekend I got to head over to Treasure Island for a flea market.  The market was awesome and the view of the city from the 'island' was fantastic.  My friend joked that she could never lose me while I was wearing my canary yellow pea coat. 

If you thought to yourself "What is that? That does not look like San Francisco", then you would be right.  I got a rare opportunity to head down to La Paz, Bolivia immediately after I got home from San Francisco.  La Paz was a fascinating city.  It has the rare distinction of being above 13000 ft!  I had to take some awful medicine (called Diamox) to help adjust to the altitude but it was such an awesome experience.  This picture (I apologize for the blurriness) is of a traditional Bolivian 'Chola,' a Bolivian woman wearing a bowler hat, shawl, and full length skirt.

I got to spend a day up on Tiahuanaco, an ancient Incan ruin about two hours outside of La Paz.  The site is above 14000 ft!  The sky at the ruins was so bright and so close it felt like I was on top of the world.

One of the strangest parts of the ruins was a giant pit that was surrounded by a wall full of these carved faces.  It kind of reminded me of the plot of that latest Indiana Jones movie....

This guy definitely looks like an alien....

No trip to the Andes would be complete without a llama sighting!  My companions and I were most enthralled to find these guys up on the Altiplano.  They were a bit startled by our enthusiasm and I admit I was concerned that they would love an excuse to spit at us. (Yes, llamas, like camels, love to spit at people.)

During our excursion we also got the opportunity to make it up to Lake Titicaca   The lake is absolutely beautiful.  I am sad to report that I did not see any of the famous straw boats, or the floating village islands of straw, but I was happy enough to see the lake.

So after many adventures, many fun treats, and way too much shopping (sorry Ryan!) I finally came home. 

Tennessee Road Trip

Hey all, sorry it's been a while since the last post, but Sarah and I have been pretty busy.  As it turns out, she is actually in San Francisco this week for a work conference.  She comes home Monday (Memorial Day) for approximately 20 hours, and then jets off to Bolivia for another week.  Meanwhile, I'm catsitting, so that's cool.  On the plus side, we did have a rather exciting trip to Tennessee a few weeks ago!

Our trip started off the way many Petersons trips do, by digging through a bunch of weird junk at scary thrift stores.  Sadly, no gems were found.

Once we arrived in Memphis, we had a fun day running around seeing the sights.  Then we went to the main event, the Beale Street Music Festival, to watch Florence and the Machine melt some faces.  Seriously though, they played a good set.

The next day we started off at Graceland, which was a lot of fun.  It was actually much less gaudy than we expected, and it's actually pretty small.

Some parts actually looked really normal.

Other parts, not so much.  Here's the Jungle Room.

 

 

One of my favorite stops was Sun Studios, where musicians like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins got their start.  The "Million Dollar Quartet" actually performed in the room below.

Elvis Presley recorded his first hits at this exact microphone.  I couldn't believe they let you touch it and swing it around.  They're not too keen about you taking it out and putting it in your trunk, however.

After a few more stops around Memphis (including the very cool Civil Rights Museum), we made our way to Nashville and the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Here's a picture of Sarah and my thumb at the entrance.

This museum had some amazing stuff, including Carl Perkins' blue suede shoes, Elvis' gold piano, and lots and lots of guitars.

Here's main street in Nashville.

Here's where we got run off the road by a crazy driver who wasn't paying attention.  Don't worry, we're OK.

This is the ditch the card ended up in.  We had to have a tow truck pull us out and take off the front bumper, but we were still able to drive home.  Don't worry, Jean (that's the car's name) is back in top condition.  Believe it or not, this is the fourth bumper I've had on this car.

But enough with sights and car accidents; I went to Tennessee for one thing and one thing only... food.

Fried shrimp with hush puppies.

Burgers and sweet potato fries.

Bread pudding made out of KRISPY KREME DONUTS.  This is currently leading the pack in the 2012 "Best Things Ryan Has Ever Put in His Mouth" Awards. 

World-famous biscuits at the Loveless Cafe.

Spicy fried chicken and a bunch of other stuff (pulled pork, ribs, entire cow, etc).  So there you have it.  That was our road (and partially off-road) trip through Tennessee.  Good times!

New Pet for the Petersons!

It looks like we get to bring another memory from Australia home with us! When Sarah and I were in Cairns up by the Great Barrier Reef, we went to a koala park where we met Tyra. She was a sweet koala who seemed to take a liking to Sarah.

She had a pretty amazing story. She was caught in the middle of a local wildfire back in 2009, but some firefighters found her and nursed her back to health. She's doing great now; well enough, in fact, that the Australian government has put her up for a form of international adoption. The government was running a sweepstakes to raise awareness about koalas, and the winner gets to take her home to their home country.

Sarah and I put our names in sort of as a joke, but we couldn't believe it when we got a call from Australia over the weekend. They said we've been selected out of the thousands of applicants they had! They'll be sending her to us in a couple of months, once we get all the customs forms taken care of. And it looks like it shouldn't be too much work taking care of her anyways. We just need to put up some eucalyptus branches in our spare room. She'll sleep twenty hours a day anyway.

We're so excited to have our very own koala! The Australian government tells us in time we may be able to display her at public events, and train her to go on walks and maybe even ride a tiny tricycle they'll be sending along with her. Plus, they say we may even be able to train her to do simple chores around the house, like our very own little koala butler. We'll be sure to keep you guys posted!!!

Sarah's Half-Marathon

Hey all! Sarah ran a half marathon this weekend! After 12 long weeks of training through the cold Virginia winter, Sarah was finally able to show what she's made of in the Washington DC Rock & Roll Half Marathon.Look at that icy stare of determination.

Here she is post-race (although she remarkably looks exactly like she did at the beginning of the race). She ran the race in 2:12:48. Some of you may be wondering "where was Ryan during all this?" Unfortunately, I injured my knee two weeks ago and the doctor told me I should not be running in the half marathon under any circumstances. So instead I get to go to physical therapy for the next month; but hopefully after that, we'll be back training for our next run. Hooray for Sarah!