Livin' the Dream: September 2012

8 September 2012

Yesterday morning I went to a Women for Mitt Rally! It was held at the Twin Oaks Riding Academy, in Leesburg, VA. Ann Romney was the featured speaker. Other speakers included women who are county officials, as well as some wives of state-wide candidates for office. (i.e. Susan Allen, wife of Senator [and former Governor of VA] George Allen, and others.)

Ann Romney looked great and spoke well at the rally for her husband, Mitt.

Pictured here is our bishop, Randall Smith, and his wife Nancy. Nancy owns the Twin Oaks Riding Academy where this event was held. I saw her a couple of days before this and she was so excited! Said she was just called out of the blue and asked if she would host the event at her riding stables. She said, "Sure" . . . and the rest is history. They got a few VIP minutes with Ann Romney before her speech.

Candice Jones (left), also in our ward, is shown here with Susan Allen.

Here's Candice with Ann Romney.

And, as is happens, we have two Nancy Smiths in our stake. This Nancy Smith (in green, center front) is someone I see each week in Scripture Study Class. Her husband is on the high council. There were several others there I knew from church, as well.

My Soapbox: Tonight, Bob and I went to see the movie "2016." Now I am more concerned than ever. (I used to think there were other events that might qualify to fill the prophesy that our Constitution would one day be hanging by a thread. But, now, I believe our current situation is what was meant.)

This election is the most pivotal one in my lifetime! Our very liberties and who we are as a nation are at stake. I pray every day for Mitt Romney. I am alarmed and heartsick at the thought of Barack Obama being reelected.

I used to think that the financial crisis Obama has led us into was because of his ineptness. Now I realize he has done it, and continues to do it, on purpose. I am very worried for our country.

I pray, pray, pray that people will see past Obama's rhetoric and will vote for Mitt Romney in November.

September 1–3, 2012

We loved, loved, loved our short trip to Philadelphia. (One of the advantages to living in Northern Virginia is that Philly is only a 3-hour drive away; NYC is 5 hours; Hershey, PA is 2 hours; Baltimore is 1 hour; and we're only 5–6 hours from most of our children and grandchildren.)

We gained a renewed appreciation for the founding of our nation and love America and our constitution more than ever! We took tons of pics, but I can only post a few. . .

Outside one of the entrances to Reading Terminal Market

Inside Reading Terminal Market. We ate a great lunch at Tootsie's.

Independence Hall

Front of Betsy Ross House

This Betsy Ross reenactor— in her upholstery shop — was the best!

Me with one of the reenactors at the visitors center.

Alleyway entrance to apartment where Ben Franklin once lived,
and also rented to others

Ben Franklin's post office

above and below—Streets along Society Hill

Congress Hall - in 1797, in this very place, is where the first peaceful transference of power, from George Washington to John Adams, took place.
(At that time, Philadelphia was the nation's capitol.)

This is the room where the delegates from the 13 colonies met, in Independence Hall

This is the kitchen of John and Dolley Todd (she later became Dolley Madison) They had two sons and, for a time, two of Dolley's sisters also lived with them along with a servant and a law clerk who worked for John Todd. Dolley's husband and one son died in the Yellow Fever epidemic in the early 1790's. Later, Aaron Burr introduced Dolley to James Madison, and they married in 1794. Madison became the fourth President of the U.S. in 1809. (Dolley is credited as being the first hostess to serve cake and ice cream for dessert in the White House — a tradition which spread quickly.)

The guest bedroom — and a place for ironing and mending. (The furnishings in the Todd home are reproductions or period items such as they likely had. Because Dolley's one surviving son had a gambling habit, the Madisons ultimately sold nearly everything in order to cover his mounting debt.)

The formal sitting room, where she was most likely courted by James Madison.
He was 43 and she was 26 when they married. Dolley was a Quaker, but when
she married Madison, a non-Quaker, she was expelled from the Society of Friends.

This is the family dining room for The Most Reverend William White, the first
Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal church, first Bishop of Pennsylvania, and second
U.S. Senate Chaplain. He was Bishop of Christ Church in Philadelphia. Though the Todd and White homes were not far from each other, it's unlikely they would have
been in each other's homes or participated in the same social circles.
Nearly all the furnishings in the White home are original items used by the family.

Immediately upon entering this home, the contrast between it
and the Todd house are apparent.

The opulent dining room of the White home. The open doors on either side,
behind the fireplace show where servants could keep food warm before dinner.
Many famous people dined at this table. Among them were George Washington
and the Marquis de LaFayette.

A sideboard in the formal dining room of Bishop White's house.

Would love to have a pantry this size in my kitchen!

The White kitchen

The kitchen table—where the servants and the children ate.

A playroom and study room for Bishop White's 11 grandchildren
who lived there for a time.

Carpenter's Hall

It was interesting to hear the story of forging the Liberty Bell

Another view of Independence Hall

We enjoyed a great dinner at the City Tavern — restored to resemble what it
might have been during the time Philadelphia was the nation's capitol.

Elfreth's Alley—America's oldest continuously residential street.
Homes here are over 300 years old. Two of the houses here have become museums,
but they were closed Labor Day (when we were there.)