(Disclaimer: nothing said here is to “brag” about what I have been fortunate enough to experience.  I wrote this because I know some people like reading these types of posts.  Please feel free to click away at any time you wish).

My Trip To Washington, D.C.!

What’s up everyone?  I hope you’ve been doing well.  I know I’ve been happy to finally see some sunny days and warm weather, and I’m also happy because guess what?  I just got back from vacation!

I’ve wanted to do a travel post for so long now, but the problem was I didn’t travel anywhere.  UNTIL NOW.  So now I’m so excited to tell you all about where I went and what I did while I was there.  Being in high school, it’s a little harder to travel because of many factors, but I’m always thankful for every trip I’m able to go on.  One of my goals for in the future is to travel more (maybe visit another country someday?), so if you like this post please let me know if you’d like to see more travel posts in the future!

So without reading the title of the post (which you probably already have if you’ve made it this far), can you guess where I went?  If you said Washington, D.C., you win the prize (the joke’s on you though because there is no prize).  Anyway, yes I went to Washington, D.C. for the first time a few weeks ago with my family, for a few days.  I thought I’d spend today telling you about my experience there.

Day 1

So on the first full day there (Sunday), we had planned to spend the morning going around and visiting the monuments.  The problem, however, was that it was VERY windy (and just for the record, I’ve been to Chicago too and D.C. was the windiest place I’ve ever been in my life).  So instead, we went to the Museum of Modern History.  I have to say though, that for a Smithsonian, it definitely wasn’t the coolest museum I’ve ever been to.  It had some things that were interesting, but for me it was just another museum.

            After eating lunch there (we packed sack lunches every day we were there), we headed over to the National Archives.  For me it was a super cool experience to be able to see the founding documents.  Obviously I’ve read them in school, but it was a completely different experience to actually see the original documents and read the real handwriting.  We didn’t spend a lot of time in the rest of the building, but it was nothing special anyway.

            After that we spent the rest of the day going to the monuments that we were supposed to go to in the morning.  The weather was slightly better (and less windy) in the late afternoon.  Instead of walking, though, we rode the Metro bus around to each stop (which saved my poor legs a few steps). 

Day 2

            In the morning, we hit up the Museum of Natural History.  Again, I wasn’t too impressed.  I did like it better than the modern history one, however (probably because they had live fish).  We at lunch there then took a bit of a hike to the other side of town, where we got a glimpse of the White House.  It was pretty far away, but now at least I can say I’ve seen it.

            After that we went to what was probably the coolest place I’ve ever been on earth.  If you go to Washington, D.C., make sure you go to the Renwick Art Museum.  I’ve never been a huge fan of art museums in general, but the stuff in this place is unlike any art you’ll ever see.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking on this one….  

When we got done at the art museum, we went and ate at a restaurant called “Old Ebbitt Grill”.  10/10 would recommend eating there if you’re ever in the area.  I got the turkey burger (also would recommend) and it was delicious.  So that was about it for day two.

Day 3

Tuesday, on our last full day in D.C., we went to the Arlington National Cemetery in the morning.  While we were there, we got to watch the “changing of the guard” ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider (and if you don’t know what that is, I’d recommend looking it up online and watching a video of it).  There are so many soldiers buried at Arlington, many who have served in more than one of the wars.  It’s not the most “fun” or “exciting” thing to see in Washington, but it’s well worth the visit.

In the afternoon, we got to take a tour of the Capitol building.  This was super cool because even though we didn’t get to see all of it, we got to see the Rotunda, along with two other rooms.  The art and structure inside the building is extremely unique, and it’s something to definitely try to do if you’re planning a Washington, D.C. trip.  The tour is electronic, so it’s easy to hear the person talking, while looking around at the same time.

The last place we visited was the Library of Congress.  This was probably my second favorite part of the whole trip, because the inside of it is pretty cool.  You are even able to see part of Thomas Jefferson’s famous book collection, and (through glass) are able to see the main part of the building.

That about wraps up the summary of what we did in Washington, D.C..  While it wasn’t my favorite trip I’ve been on, it is well worth a visit once in your lifetime.  There is an extremely large amount of history held there, and we barely even saw a fraction of it.  But overall, I had a great time there and I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to go.

Think of the last time you held a baby.  Maybe it was your own child, grandchild, niece, or nephew.  Whoever it was, just think about it for a minute.  Now think about that child being taken out of your life.  Think about that baby not having a laugh or cry.  Not even a heartbeat.  Imagine a world without a baby’s laughter.  What would it be like? 

                In the year 2014, approximately 926,240 abortions took place in just the U.S. alone.  That’s thousands of lives being taken away before they even have a voice.  Thousands of innocent babies that could have had a whole life ahead of them.  In my opinion, killing anything with a heartbeat is murder.  No exceptions.  Not in any case should it be legal to murder.  Whether you can see the life being taken or not, it is still a life. 

                Some women will state that their pregnancy was an “accident”, though I think it would be unfair to consider consensual sex an “accident”.  If it was, then it would be an accident that could have been easily prevented and by no means am I referring to birth control.  I don’t believe in birth control, or any other form of what people these days consider “safe sex”.  You know when sex is safe?  When you have a ring on your finger, a roof over your head, and a job to provide you with the finances to care for a child.  It’s as simple as that.  Until you have those things, all it takes is the word “no”.

                But what about circumstances such as rape?  Surprisingly, only 5% of the 957 women who provided a reason for their abortion were rape victims.  That’s a small amount compared to the 25% who said they just weren’t ready for a child.  But again, I bring back my point that it should never be legal to murder under any circumstances.  Whether you were ready or not, killing is never the answer to your problem.

                There is, however, a healthier alternative for both the pregnant woman and the unborn child.  There are many couples in the world that would love to have a child but are physically unable to because of diseases such as Chlamydia that cause sterility in both male and female reproductive organs.  This is why it may be a wise choice for pregnant women to put their baby up for adoption after it is born.  Young children usually get adopted quickly and go to a loving home.  Doesn’t that sound like a much better alternative to abortion?

                Considering that most women said that they just weren’t ready for a child, ultimately the best decision would be to not even make it a possibility.  It’s that easy, and the safest, healthiest way to prevent pregnancy and women will never have to even face the decision of abortion.  As I stated before, taking birth control can minimize the chances of pregnancy but it is not 100% guaranteed, and often includes side effects such as headaches, weight gain, and can even increase the chances of a heart attack.  Not to mention that forgetting to take it will not allow it to work at all.

                As we are entering 2017, the numbers of pregnancies of young women ages 15-19 are growing, which means that the numbers of teen abortions are growing as well.  While the abortion rates are the highest in women ages 20-25, teen abortion and unplanned pregnancy is still an issue.  Most teens will drop out of school and never graduate because of parenthood.  It’s saddening to think that young girls just entering High School will have to raise a child (most of the time without the support of the father of the child).  If the awareness of abortion and teen pregnancy can reach girls and women before they have to face the issue, just think of how many abortions can be prevented just by talking about it.

                In most of the stories I’ve heard about women who chose to abort their unborn child, most of them regretted the decision after it was too late.  Then for the rest of their lives they had to live with the guilt of killing an innocent life.  Besides guilt, abortion can also result in depression for the woman who will live the rest of her life remembering what she did.  No one wants to live like that, so why even make it a choice?  And for the women, why make that decision?

                One thing many people argue is that abortion protects women’s rights.  Well, what about the rights of the unborn child who doesn’t even have a voice to make his or her own choices?  Shouldn’t that be considered as well?  Wouldn’t the rights of a baby be just as, or even more, important as the woman’s rights? 

                If there’s one positive thing that comes from unplanned pregnancy, it’s the fact that it teaches the importance of dealing with consequences.  As humans we all make mistakes, and we must deal with the consequences that come from making that mistake.  If abortion is just a way to prevent a consequence, then it would be okay to assume that making that mistake wasn’t a big deal because you’ve gotten around the consequence.  How are we ever going to learn from our mistakes if there aren’t any consequences to deal with?

                To sum things up, abortion is wrong, killing an innocent life is wrong, and anyone who supports abortion needs to spend a few Sundays in church.  It’s sickening to think that there are so many supporters of this hurtful crime, and hopefully one day we will live in a world where it is no longer legal to murder an unborn life.

Today I wanted to touch on somewhat of a lighter topic than my previous posts.  I realize that I can be a very dark and emotional person (because 99.9% of the time I am), and not everyone likes to read that stuff, so today I want to talk about the freedom we have.

            The inspiration of this post comes from the fact that I just finished my World History lesson for the day, which has been growing more and more depressing by the day.  Today I read about the Great Terror (for those who aren’t familiar, the Great Terror took went down in 1937 and 1938 in Russia under the rule of Joseph Stalin who followed the ideas of Communism and punished anyone who dared to go against him.  Similar to Adolf Hitler’s persecution of the Jews in Germany).   And I couldn’t help but think about the wonderful freedom we have here in America.

            Going back to the Great Terror (I might ramble about it because I’m a big History person), it’s hard to believe that millions of innocent people died in what was called the Gulag System, a prison labor camp where millions were worked to death with little or no food and water, not to mention the freezing conditions in Siberia where most of these camps were located.  Some of these people had a right to be there.  They were real criminals who had committed crimes such as murder and deserved to be there.  But most were innocent people such as farmers who wouldn’t give their crops to the government as Stalin had demanded.  They barely had enough food to provide for their families and were not about to give it up to the government.

            Why am I telling you all this sad and depressing History?  Well, I would hope that you already were thankful to live in a free country like America, but if you weren’t, I hope that this information makes you even more grateful.  Now obviously America, just like any other country, has experienced hardships as well, but none nowhere as near as bad as Russia, Germany, and many others.  We have been given rights here in America, such as the freedom of speech and the freedom for each person to choose their religion.

            Tomorrow (Friday, January 20) is Inauguration Day, the second reason why I chose to write about this.  Donald J. Trump will take the oath of office and become the next President of the United States.  I’m not going to go into politics right now because I’m so done with talking about it and if you know me, you already know my opinion (but let me know if you want another post on politics because I’d be more than happy to write it).  Anyway, back to what I was saying.  Some people are upset about the results of the election, but please remember that we are still a country.  We are still united under the Constitution and no president can ever change that.

            History shapes us.  It makes us who we are today.  We as humans are meant to make mistakes, and also to learn something from them.  I say this all the time, but there IS a reason for everything.  Things don’t just happen with no explanation.  Sometimes it is meant for us to know the explanation, other times we will never know.  All I can say is that the future of this country is not in the hands of the President.  Our country was founded on the grounds of Christianity.  Whether you choose to believe or not is something only you can decide, but Christians know that God has a plan for this country, as well as every other country on Earth and no person can ever change that.