One way ticket on a west bound plane

Well I am writing this last post from my house in St. George, sitting here with my mom and sister. It is so crazy that it is over!! The last few weeks were like a dream. I had so much fun with my office, and I miss them so much! My friends and I went canoeing, rented a paddle-boat, saw the Cherry Blossom Festival Fireworks, and went to a Washington Nationals game. I also went to Mount Vernon by myself on Easter, which was a whole adventure within itself. First of all, after I got off the metro I waited an hour for a bus to come to take me there. Right as it was pulling out, I realized there was another bus stop specifically for tourists that left every ten minuets. So that was annoying haha. After I explored the estate, I went back to the bus stop at the time the bus was scheduled to arrive. Suddenly I see a bus drive past me and stop down the street so I run like a mad woman down to the bus stop. Turns out that's only where people are dropped off. The bus driver was trying to tell me to go back to the stop I was at because that is where he picked us up. He didn't speak English very well so I didn't understand. When I finally got back to the stop, I had to face all the people sitting on the benches that watched me run down the street. About an hour later I was back at the Barlow Center for Easter dinner.
All in all, the internship was an incredible experience. I really don't have words to describe it. I had so much fun and I got to do so many amazing things. It is hard to believe it is already over. Time flew so fast! There are those experiences and chances that only come once in a lifetime. If you don't take them, they are gone forever. I truly believe I was meant to go to Washington this semester, with the office I was with, and with the people I lived with. We all impacted each other in one way or another. I have grown up and become more secure with myself and who I am. It confirmed my career choice. I became tougher, a more independent individual. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to do this internship. There are friends I have made that I will never forget, and memories that will last a lifetime. Thanks to everyone who supported me during this, especially my family. Special thanks to my office and the Washington Seminar participants as well. Thanks for following this blog and being interested in what I was doing. For now, my next big adventure is going back to Provo to become a server. Who knows what will happen!? :)

I would love to share Tuesday. It was such an incredible experience! Hopefully if you are reading this you have heard that the Supreme Court was hearing Obamacare the first three days of this week. This is probably the biggest court case in our lifetimes. It WILL be in the history books. In 15 years I will be teaching my students about it, and I will be able to say that I was there. On Tuesday I got to go there for a press release my boss was doing. It was fun to watch him be interviewed by Fox News and be behind the scenes. While I was there, I got to meet Senator Lee. It was really cool! We got to chat for a little bit. Then Congressman Issa piled us all in the back of his car to drive back to the office. I had to lay across everyone in the back seat. He saw another congressman, so he pulled over and was like, "This isn't illegal. Brielle wave so they know you aren't a hostage." He is such a funny guy, and it was a fun ride. Then I got to give away a pass along card on the metro, all because we had a conversation about George Washington. It was a neat experience!

Philly Cheese Steak

This weekend we went to Philadelphia and we had a BLAST! The adventure started out with the Hunger Games at midnight with my girls. We got home, had three hours of sleep, then woke up and left on a bus to Philly. Lauren and I jammed out to 90s music 'til Suze and Emma woke up, then we all coordinated iPods and listened to the same song at the same time and had a "silent" dance party. We got to stay at the Freedoms Foundation, which was fun. I didn't get to stay in the same building as last time, however, and this wasn't even close to as nice. But Suze and I got the suite, with like five beds and a kitchen. So that was cool. We ate some lunch and then toured Valley Forge. It was pretty, but since I have been I decided to do a little exploring. I found a teepee that someone had built and decided to chill in there until the boring part of the tour was over. Then we went back to the campus and played sand volleyball until dinner. After dinner we had a hilarious presentation from a "african-american colonial soldier". It was hilarious because he turned part of our class into a brigade. We had a good time. When we got back to our room there were bugs all over the place! I was almost in tears because there were so many. I was afraid they were going to crawl into my nose and hair and mouth while I slept. Some of the other girls, braver than me, killed the bugs. Then we pushed three of the beds together and me, Suze, Lauren, and Emma all slept in the same bed.
The next day we went to Philadelphia to see Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Constitution Center. This was my third time so during free time Suze and I found these sweet necklaces. I got a spyglass and she got a harmonica. We walked a few blocks away from Independence Hall and then I would look at people through my spyglass and say, " I spy a customer!" then she would play her harmonica and we would dance for money. We actually made some too!
Later we went to dinner at a pizza place. It was good! Lauren made me laugh so hard that soda came out of my nose.

The Cherry Blossom

(I took all of these pictures with my phone. Except the top one)

This past weekend was probably my favorite of all the weekends I have had. We went to the zoo Friday morning. My favorite were the flamingos. They were pink and hilarious. Two of them got in a fight, and all of the other flamingos started squawking like, "fight! fight! fight!". Then the lions got in a fight, believe it or not! It was sweet, they were like growling at each other. The rest of the day was rainy so Emma and I watched a "scary" movie. It was called "Haunting on Soroity Row" and it was actually quite funny. Saturday was the best because I got to sleep in. Then I went running. It was a beautiful day! A group of us went to Arlington National Cemetary. It is probably one of my most favorite things to do in DC. It was so beautiful with all the blossoms. We saw JFK's grave and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unkown Solider. We also got to see a Changing of the Wreath Ceremony, which was cool. I always have loved the Arlington House, which is where Robert E. Lee lived before the Civil War. It is so beautiful. I was under construction so we didn't get to see a lot of it, and it got damaged in the earthquake, which is really sad. They are repairing it, though, so hopefully they will be able to restore it. I separated from my group and walked around by myself for a little bit. It was so peaceful and pretty. That night, Suze and I went on a Lincoln Assassination Walking Tour, which was so cool! Haha you would like it even if you don't LOVE history like I do. You basically relive that night, go through all the plots and plans, and end up at Ford's Theatre. It was at night and a lot of fun! Then we got yogurt. While we were eating, we remembered we had a free bike rental pass. So of course we rented bikes and road around the mall at night. It was beautiful!
Sunday I went with a group of friends to see the cherry blossoms in the tidal basin. They are so pretty and there are so many! It looked like it had snowed! I am excited for the cherry blossom festival, which I think is next week, possibly the next. Mostly I am just stoked for the fireworks that come with it! :)

Four Score and Seven Years Ago...

Gettysburg. On Saturday, we woke up at the butt crack of dawn (a.k.a. 7:00 am) and drove an hour and a half to Gettysburg, PA. We went to the museum there and toured the battlefield. It was an amazing experience!! Being there feels so real. It's hard to put into words, but it is a really cool experience. We learned so many interesting things about the battle that you could only learn if you went there, and that would only make sense if you were there. Some of the houses still have artillery shells in them. Our guide said you can still find bullets in the grass and trees. He said that not even all of the bodies have been found. It is interesting to stand on Little Round Top and look at over the battfield and imagine what it must have been like, what it must have looked like, covered in bodies. More men were killed at Gettysburg, a three-day battle, than the Vietnam War, a 15-year war. Suze and I found a little cave on top of the hill made out of rocks, with a perfect hole to shoot from but not get shot. I am sure one or two soldiers hid in that cave during the battle. It is so sad, but an almost haunting experience, as if those men are still there. We stood where Pickett's Charge took place, which is still hailed as one of the greatest military attacks in history. We got to see where Lincoln stood when he gave the Gettysburg address. It was a neat experience.
Yesterday decided we wanted to go to the Theodore Roosevelt Island Wildlife Preserve. We hadn't even taken five steps when it turned into one of the funniest adventures we have had yet in DC. We had a battle, Jillian and her Blackberry vs. me and my iPhone. If it wasn't for me misreading the directions, I would have won. However, we ended up on the other side of the freeway from where we were supposed to be. We ended up jumping over the side of the freeway barrier, taking a sketchy trail, jumping through a hole in the fence, going under the bridge on the bank of the Potomac, and ended up on Roosevelt Island. It was so much fun!!

Selfish, Impatient, and a little Insecure...

I haven't posted in a long time. Mostly because nothing exciting has happened. Don't get me wrong, living here is still a blast. But for a while I haven't done anything that I felt like was worth posting. I have been reflecting on things I have learned while I have been here though. Aside from the obvious, there have been many small lessons I have learned in between the big ones. First of all, if you are having a bad day, the best way to remedy this is service. Even though I experience the corruption every day, and every day something bad happens, I see so much beauty and service outside the walls of the government buildings. For example, people offering their seat on a crowded metro to a pregnant woman or an old man. People dropping change into a homeless man's paper cup. People holding the door open for others or bonding as they wait for an inevitably late and slow metro. People like this are worth knowing. Acts of service like this are worth doing. The smallest thing can change someone's day. Yesterday I was on my way home from work. It had been a good day. A guy sat down next to me, and all he said was "Hello!" and smiled. It took a simple gesture like this to change my day from good to great. He didn't know what I was going through. I could've been dealing with something really difficult, and the fact that he took the time to say hello meant a lot. I know service works because I put it to the test without really even knowing. Last week, I was on my way to the grocery store. The sun was down and it was raining. I had my umbrella with me (the one I bought after losing my first one on the metro). I noticed an old man standing at the corner, waiting to cross the street. He didn't look homeless or poor, but he was quite wet. Without even thinking I offered my umbrella to him. He gratefully accepted it. As I continued my walk to the store, I momentarily regretted it. Now I was getting soaked, and I didn't have enough cash with me to buy a new umbrella at the store. I felt dumb because he wasn't homeless or anything, and he probably didn't need it. On my way back however, I thought of all those people who always like to be in the rain. I thought," Why do I care about getting wet so much? It isn't even cold. I just need to let the rain wash all my stress away." After I stopped caring, I was able to enjoy life. I was able to enjoy the fact that I was walking down a street in Washington DC in the rain with no umbrella and a gallon of milk in my hand. (I go through milk so fast it is ridiculous...all that cereal!) Anyway, the lesson I have learned from all of this: Enjoy the small things in life. Do service for others. If you aren't happy in your current job or life situation, it is because you are choosing to be unhappy. Do service and recognize the simple blessings, and your life will change. Guarantee.
"We must learn to be happy by choice because we will seldom have the opportunity to be happy by circumstance."-Lavetta Sue Wegmen

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Today I got myself a tour of the White House. It was beautiful inside, but all in all the tour was a little boring. It's basically just a walk-through of the first floor. It was cool to see where certain things happened and certain events were held, though. But let's just say it's nothing compared to a tour of the Capitol building given by yours truly. After that we visited the Crime and Punishment museum. It goes through different time periods and different methods of punishment and things like that. It was a really fun museum. I learn things like the fact that Al Capone decorated his cell in prison, which is one of the reasons he was transferred to Alcatraz. I also learned that a major con artist traveled the country passing himself off as different things...and getting paid! He forged a law degree from Harvard and got a job at Louisiana. He also passed as a doctor...and the most interesting part...a professor at BYU. He worked there for a whole semester before moving on to his next scheme. Isn't that crazy!? Haha I would have loved to be in his class. It would be so surprising when you saw your professor go to prison. As you can see from the pictures above, I was arrested and went to jail. But don't worry, I escaped through a hole in the wall. Like Michael Scoffield. And then we got married.