Journal Entry: Week 1

07/12/11

Day 2, complete.

A little less stressful but only slightly.

I almost got on the Senator's only elevator twice.

I get lost every almost every run and still feel like I don't belong.

Every step, I feel that I am breaking a rule, yet completing a task.

Friday is our test and I feel so unprepared.

Tomorrow I need to do flashcards.

Someone gave me some today and it made a huge difference.

I had dinner with Mom and Mrs. Paige tonight.

I really enjoyed it!

We ate at Pizzeria Uno.

It will be my last time seeing Mom for a month.

Today, we got off work at 4:30.

Tomorrow though, I work late shift and there are 2 votes.

I see maybe a 11 o'clock night in my future.

I hope that isn't the case.

Everybody has been really nice and I've enjoyed the company.

07/13/11

Day 3, complete and I'm utterly exhausted.

Today we were running the whole day.
On our way back from ethics training we got caught in the rain and we soaked by the time we made it to Hart.
Not that fun.
But we did go into the woman's bathroom and dry ourselves with the hand dryers.
That was a funny sight I'm sure.

The Senate adjourned early today so we left at about 5:15.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get off early and Friday, if they aren't in session, the same.

Tonight, after work, some of us went to Union Station to get dinner and went to Pizzeria Uno.
Good food and reasonably priced too.
We were walking around and someone asked what Bojangles was.
I was pretty much in shock.

It seems weird that every where doesn't have the same places that Alabama does.
But everybody seems open to trying and learning new things.

I'm learning too.
I'm finding that Huntsville is a lot smaller then I thought.
Also, that everybody is raised different then me.
Some, a lot differently.

They talk about things that I would never even think about and say things I wouldn't say.
I'm learning, talking isn't always necessary.
Being quite can help you.

Friday is our test, and with help of my amazing Republican coworkers, I'm going to ace it.
Some people are worried and I feel like I should be too.
But I'm not.

Home At Last

What a crazy fun month it has been.

The things I have learned, seen, heard, and tasted are indescribable.

So many firsts but not lasts.

Where to begin.

Well readers, if you didn't know, I was participating in the United States Page Program.

I was hydrating Senators, delivering Bills and Amendments and going places the average person can not go.

I met Senators, I "helped" solve the Debt Ceiling Crisis and essentially learned more about our government.

I spent most of my time between Webster Hall (my dorm), the Capitol, the Capitol Hill Super Market, and Union Station.

I met some awesome new people who were different then me.

I learned more about myself, my God, and our World.

Tomorrow, I start my journal entry blogs.

First week in DC

Hi everybody! Greetings from Washington DC!

By now most of you know where I am and what I'm doing.

Since I am working and I signed a contract I can't say specifically but if you go back a few blogs I bet you can figure it out.

I'm going to post a couple of journal entries for ya'll just so you can get a little slice of my life here.

07/10/11

I got checked in today and it has been constant rushing since.

Everyone has been very friendly since I got here.

I have 5 other girls in my room, they are from Maryland, California, Utah, Iowa and Oklahoma.

We all are in lofted bed with scary ladders and little railing.

I fear everytime I go up and down that I will fall and kill myself.

We have two showers which makes everything easier in the morning.

07/11/11

Today was our first day at work. 

The first part was a little boring but the rest was pretty busy.

We learned how to do everything and then my first job was to bring water to one of the Senators.

We ran letters and amendments and roll calls. 

Except we never run.

We walk with a purpose.

We found a letter from the girls who stayed in our room before us and then tonight they 6-way called us. 

Apparently there is a secret book that has been in our room for 30 years.

I'm sure it has amazing and interesting things I would love to read about.

They won't tell us were it is hidden but said they would call back next week.

The people are nice and the food in the cafeteria is decent enough.

Of course there is always that one girl who has a boyfriend back home that she calls every night.

That girl just so happens to be my roommate.

We get a kick out of listening to here.

Everybody is different and so I have my ears, heart, eye and mind open to enjoy every minute of it!

Day 2. Journal Entry 1

Saturday, July 09, 2011 7PM

Day 2 in DC,

 We got here with little to no trouble yesterday afternoon. Everything went fine with the plane.

We flew from home to Baltimore, from Baltimore we rode the Marc and then transferred to to the metro. Metro travel is a little interesting to say the least.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Georgetown with Mrs, Donnie, the boys, and Emily.

We went to explore and go to Georgetown Cupcakes. Georgetown Cupcakes was so good!

I got a chocolate mocha and mom a chocolate pb.

They were phenomenal.

We waited for about 20 minutes, but it was well worth it!

We put the boys in the strollers because it started raining a bit.

Let me just say that pushing 5 year olds in strollers on brick paved streets, with crazy people rushing by, is not the easiest.

I mistakenly wore flip-flops and by the time we got home, my feet were ready to fall off

It makes me happy that my work shoe are Dr. Scholls.

Last night we went to dinner with Katie and her mom, Mrs. Wendy.

We had a little miscommunication about meeting, due to the lack of directional skills of two teenage girls.

Once we got together, though, we had no problems.

We ate at the Old Ebbitt Grille.

I had the crab cake and mom had the canntelloni and the seafood was sooooooooooo good!

I've had Southern seafood and it is nothing compared to New England seafood!

After we left, we tried to go see the White house but since they are trying to 'refurbish the grass' we could get there very fast.

We decided to go see where I am going to stay, Webster Hall, but it was pretty dark so we turned around and head back to the metro.

This morning, we left the hotel right after I woke up and then we walked over, with our luggage, to the Anderson's appartment.

After we put all of our stuff up, we went to the Eastern Market.

It was very hipster there.

You can find alot of different thngs there.

We were pretty hungry so we found this interesting resturant, Tunnicliff Cavern.

We shopped around for bit and I bought a couple of things and then I found a pellhat.

The boys got tired, so the Anderson's went home and we went to the American History Musuem.

We went for the First Ladies' dresses and other items.

After that we came home and now we are eating meatloaf for dinner.

The boys are playing with the planes that Mom and I bought them in the Smithsonian.

Tomorrow Mom drops me off at Webster Hall.

My adventure starts soon.

_____________________________________________________

Food Ratings:

Au Bon Pain - Crystal City: ** 1/2  (2 and 1/2 stars)

Good salad, fast to-go service, fairly affordable. Perfect for a quick and easy lunch that provides variety.

Old Ebbitt Grille - Near the White House: **** (4 stars)

Amazing seafood, amazing crabcakes. Great chocolate brownie desert. Pretty good service but very loud.

Tunnicliff Cavern - Eastern Market: ** (2 stars)

Slow service, onlycomes when passing by. Food is great. Burgers and fries are pretty great but the salads are pretty mediocrea.

Orange Cow - Eastern Market Truck: *** (3 stars)

Yummy, inexpensive ice cream. They were sold out of peanut butter cup and from what the cashier guy said, it was sold out the hour they are opened.

Georgetown Cupcakes - Georgetown: **** (4 stars)

Cupcakes are to die for. The Mocha was devine, lemon was dreamy, and the chocolate pb was by far the best! The icing tasted like peanut butter fudge.

The big day is here!

It's here.

The big day!

in 14 minutes we are supposed to be leaving for the airport.

Not to sound like a little Alabama girl or anything but,

this is me first plane ride.

And the first of many I'm sure.

It seems crazy that it is here all of a sudden.

It seems like it came all too fast and not fast enough at the same time.

Funny how things happen like that.

Words can not be placed to my excitement, fear, stress, hope, and happiness!

Going with no computer, this might be my last blog for a bit.

Maybe a week, maybe 5 weeks.

But trust me, I'm keeping a journal.

Everything I see, feel, hear, taste, is going in the journal and I'll report back to here when I get home!

Wow that is months of blogs!

Yes!!

So for now, as always,

Alex

One last blog before DC

It crazy to think that tomorrow is the day before I leave.

24 hours.

1,440 minutes.

86,400 seconds.

That is what is standing in between me and a plane.

A plane that is going to take me to a place that can change me.

Change me in a  good way...

or a bad way if I let it.

I have chosen to submerge myself in a world that is completely not of my own.

A world of black suits, and elections.

Of hard stone buildings and hard hearts.

A world outside the protection of my family and friends who love me and help me when I fall.

As the seconds, minutes, and hours fall away, slowly but surely does my confidence falls too.

Anxiety and fear have begun to creep in.

I'm leaving Alabama, my home.

The place where I grew up and where everything is comfortable.

I'm going to Washington DC, a foreign territory.

The place where I'm going to have to deal with things I never have before.

So I will submerge myself.

Take a breathe and jump.

Surround myself in the peace of God.

"For I can do ALL things, through CHRIST who strengthens me!"

Playing a little Catch-up

4 days.

15 hours

44 minutes

and 

40 seconds

until I board the plane to DC.

Kind of lame, counting down, I know.

A lot of stuff has happened since I blogged 16 days ago.

We are *finally* getting our roof fixed from the tornado back in April.

This is the mess that has been happening since Friday:

Shingles in the front yard

Dumpster full of mess!

I am so over being woken up by hammering at 5 in the morning.

Also, this puppy,

turned 1!

And this girl,

Spent almost 2 weeks in Nashville practicing "Annie in a nutshell". 

It was Annie the musical shortened.

And on Monday I received this;

in the mail along with an orientation book and a letter.

The letter informed me - 13 days before orientation - that I am to know the names and how they are spelled and be able to recognized the faces of 535 senators and representatives.

13 days!

So immediately I started.

Then I realized that some of these names I can not pronounce, such as this name

or this one

or this one

So I googled  and found a website that told me that this name,

is pronounced

Fah - la - o - mah - vu - en - gah

and this name

is pronounced

Sehn - sehn - bren - na

and this name

is pronounced

A - kah - kah

But some names I did know, and some I thought I knew.

Like this name

Sewell, easy enough.

You would think it would be pronounced

See - well.....

See - well, that isn't how it is pronounced.

This name is said like

Seal.

Crazy right!

I guess that is just the business of working in politics, learning funny names.