Week 4

Pictures:

D.C. Temple at night; I live 10 minutes away!

My roomates sister came in to town and they made California Cookies *which were amazing*

This next week will be week 4 of my internship so there is a lot of catching up to do.

The first week or so was mostly me just getting used to the routine of things. Getting on the metro, the walk to the office, doing things in the office (answering phones, mailing cards, making phone calls, and tying bows... ill explain that one) , finding things in georgetown to do over my lunch break or after work, discovering D.C. after work, jumping on the metro home and then passing out ha.

I think im finally getting the hang of things. I am currently home in new york for the weekend and, crazy as it sounds, really wish that I was in D.C. for the weekend especially considering it is Memorial Day. Im watching a PBS concert being held in the capitol and it makes me "homesick".

Some fun things I have done are:

Worked on a Luncheon - this is where the tying bows comes in, Im fairly certain I tied at least 100 bows for the gifts we gave out. it was a pretty high stress event and there was so much going on but it turned out SO great and Im excited to work on more events.

Attended a Congressional Hearing - I attended a hearing for the Ways and Means Committee on the legalization and taxation of internet gambling. It was hard to get through as I could barely hear most of the speakers but thanks to the wonders of YouTube I found video of the hearing and was able to go back and listen to it. Im really looking forward to being able to attend more of these hearings.

Explored Georgetown - One of my first Saturday nights my roomate Julie, her friend Chris and I went in to Georgetown and explored. We found this great little crepe place that isnt far from my office and I found a new favorite spot - down on the waterfront. There was a lot going on that night but we walked down a little and just sat down by the water... Seriously, so pretty.

Rockband - So what? Right... Thats what youre thinking? Well, hey, Im one of the more social interns in the ward (because I actually want to be here when I graduate so I need to find out if I like the people and social events in the area right?) So yes... I played RockBand the other night

I got lost - Another so what moment? Well, no. It was very fun. One friday after work I just decided to walk around. I ran in to a Borders and bought some books, and kept walking to try and find a metro... and it started storming and really raining hard but I still had fun just roaming around.

Lets see... I think thats about it. My goal is to post more frequently so Ill have a good record of the things I did... Ill work on that.

Im Alive

Ill update later. Work is good but keeps me busy and there is no time to update this thing. Hopefully Ill have some time soon.

First Sunday.

It started off with me rushing to get ready and then messing around thinking I had time to... and realizing I didnt. TomTom got me lost, but only a little bit. I was able to turn around and get going the right way. Im starting to recognize things, signs, buildings, landmarks but dont ask me to give up TomTom just yet. I got to church and it took me another 5 minutes or so to find parking. I ran into some girls on my short walk to the building who said that parking wasnt usually this good... I think Ill begin leaving earlier :)

Church was... different. The ward was very large, and it seems that its more 6:4 men to women where as SVU is 4:6 women to men (give or take). So hey, at least my chances are good. (and no I dont mean chance of marriage... I just get along with men better than women, so chances of having a fun summer are good). Sacrament meeting was very interesting. We had three speakers, all with really wonderful messages, and a musical number. After Sacrament I turned to the girl next to me to ask what happens next and the Bishop (who I havent met yet) starts talking about "Introductions" and I quickly realize... I now have to introduce myself to the entire ward (which probably consisted of 300 people... Yikes!) Apparently this is a common thing they do almost weekly due to their membership turnover rate. It was all new to me.

Next I went to a "New Members Class" where a bunch of us newbies met and introduced ourselves ...again. My roomate happened to be leading this class so I had at least one familiar face. There were maybe 5 girls, with the rest being security salesmen or pest control salesmen. We went outside to take photos, standard, and the photographer guy made us "hike" up this little path... Im wearing heels... My name is Gina... it goes without saying but I tripped. I didnt fully biff it but I was close, and lost my shoe in the process but one of the security/pest salesmen guys picked it up for me and I turned it into a joke.

On to Relief Society where I once again, introduced myself. This wasnt super eventful but we did get a new Relief Society President. I strolled around the "munch n mingle" and then hiked back to my car and headed home.

Time for a sunday nap, and maybe later tonight a drive up to the temple. :)

First Weekend in Maryland

"Ive arrived"

That is the message I sent to a few dear friends letting them know I had gotten to my apartment. By the time I arrived it was late but I got there without getting lost thanks to my dear TomTom. I met with my roomate, Becky, and she helped me unpack my car and gave me a little tour. So far, so good.

This morning Megan and I planned to meet up and find our offices. Hers being the Museum of Natural History and mine being The Barlow Center. It started off with me getting on the wrong metro and having to backtrack a bit. It was a long ride in and the train was packed, there was a baseball game today and track maintence... oh well.

I finally arrived at Metro Center to find a confused Megan (she thought Metro Center = Union Station) but we got back to our plan and headed off to find her museum. She has a nice stop and a short walk to her museum. Next stop was my office! I had gotten a tip from my bishop "Foggy Bottom... Turn Left" I should have listened. I turned left but then began to complicate things, we were crossing streets, getting distracted by Trader Joe's, and simply getting a little lost. I found a postal worker and asked her and she gave me directions. We were SO CLOSE without knowing it so I replied "Really?!" and she said "NO! You did not just say Really?!"

Lesson 1: When asking for directions, a simple reply of "Thank You" will suffice.

We found my office. Its the cutest thing on the outside. Its a small building with a church sign outside of it and near some nice little places I can go for lunch nearby. Im excited. Scared. Nervous.

I dont think I have ever had so many emotions at one time.

Megan and I went back to Foggy Bottom and caught our metros home. This time, I went the right way. I called Webster on my walk back to my apartment and we caught up on life. Its seriously great (and a blessing a lot of the time) to have a friend who is willing to spend 40 min listening to me list of my worries and then telling me to knock it off because I really have nothing to worry about and the concerns I do have are valid but "you're a new yorker, you're gina, you can do this".

Its now 126am sunday morning... Ive been sleeping all afternoon so I think ill unpack now.