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     Well I am officially back in Iowa for the summer.  My last week I went and saw a bathtub in the tunnels of the Capitol that has been there since the 1800s. DC was one of the best experiences ever and I learned so much! I plan on going back someday to hopefully live out there but until then I will be here in the Midwest. 

Em

Baseball and Concerts

     Last week I went to a Nationals Baseball game. They played the LA Dodgers in DC but lost the game. It was still really fun to go to the weather was great. On Monday this week I went to a Lady Gaga concert! It was so much fun and it was amazing to live! I have given a couple more tours but otherwise work has not been super exciting. The weather in DC has been super warm- yesterday it got up to 92 degrees, which is almost too warm.

Em

Nationals Game

On the Speaker's Balcony at the Captiol

Lady Gaga

Happy May!!

     It is officially May!! The flowers in DC are blooming all over and it is so nice outside. Last week it rained for three days straight with some flood warnings. The past two weeks I have been writing letters to constituents, helping the Banking Committee do different things, and attending a House Ways and Means Committee about Medicare. I also toured the Botanical Garden last week.

     On Tuesday I will be going to a Nationals Baseball game and attending a hearing about tourism this week.

Em

Flowers on West side of Capitol

Botanical Garden

Garfield Circle

Me with the new Iowa Statue

Easter Weekend

     This past weekend my mom came to visit me for Easter! On Friday we went to Georgetown and toured an old house that use to belong to the granddaughter of Martha Washington. We also waited in line for an hour to get cupcakes from DC Cupcakes!!

     On Saturday we went to the Air and Space Museum and tried to go to the National Archives but the line was just too long. We also went down to the Tidal Basin and went paddle boating for an hour-it's a great workout. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe and went to the play "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Ford's Theater. It was really funny and I would recommend it to anyone.

     Today we went to Easter service at the National Cathedral and went to brunch at IHOP. We also went to the Postal Museum and looked at all of the stamp collections.

Em

Georgetown Cupcake

Tudor Place

Ford's Theatre

Paddle Boating

Paddle boating

National Cathedral

Heat Heat Heat

     This past week I attended a Rules and Administration hearing about voter registration. There is a new program called Election Registration Information Center (ERIC) that is helping register voters online and make it easier for states to have updated information. The Capitol Rotunda is now shutdown for two weeks while they start working on the dome so we will be giving outdoor tours to constituents.

     This past weekend I participated in an event called the MP3 Experiment with some people from work. Hundreds of people gathered on the National Mall and we all listened to a music broadcast that gave us different instructions to do. Afterwards we walked to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. It has been 80-85 degrees all weekend.

Em

Click to watch the MP3 Experiment

MP3 Experiment

MP3 Experiment

MP3 Experiment

Cherry Blossoms

Interviewed about Pillows

     This week I attended a few Agriculture hearings but nothing too exciting. It has finally been nice out for an entire week! The memorials have water in them and the fountains are running now that it has been so nice. I have still been archiving and running errands for people. Starting next week the Capitol Rotunda will be shutdown for two weeks while they put up protective materials before they start redoing the dome. Today was National Pillow Fight Day and on the Washington Monument west lawn they had a giant pillow fight at 2:00. I just watched though and even got interviewed for the George Washington University newspaper about the event. :) I saw some guy walk away bleeding because a zipper on a pillow got him in the nose- it's a brutal event. Also the Cherry Blossoms are finally blooming which is making everyone around here so happy.

Em

Pillow Fight

Pillow Fight

World War II Memorial- finally has water in it

Finally spring time!

At the pillow fight

I Really Am Famous!

     National Ag Day was on Tuesday and I made it on television! I was on this week's episode of "This Week in AgriBusiness". I have given the link below- I appear at about minute 3:20. 

http://farmprogressamerica.com/video.aspx?vc=14

     I gave two tours this week and attended a judiciary hearing about satellite television as well as a health, education, labor, and pensions hearing on student loans. They talked about making the process easier for students to acquire loans rather than filling out so much paperwork. 

Em

This is me on TV!

National Ag Day

     Last week was very uneventful due to the Senate not being in session but so far this week has been pretty exciting. Yesterday I gave a tour to an older group of people. Two of them had just gotten smart phones so they sometimes needed my assistance in figuring out how to take photos on the tour.

     Today was National Ag Day! A new Iowa Statue was dedicated in National Statuary Hall. The Norman Borlaug statue. He will replace the statue of James Harlan. I watched the unveiling on TV at work. It was cool to see everyone speak and the "Iowa Corn Song" was sung. I didn't even know we had a corn song. I also attended a luncheon today being emceed by Orion Samuelson, the Ag broadcaster. He introduced some people who were being inducted into the Outstanding Farmers Association and Senator Boozman spoke at it as well. Several FFA members were also in attendance.

     I have a Judiciary committee, Health Education Labor Pensions, and several more tours this week. 

Em

Norman Borlaug

Orion Samuelson

Sunshine and Walking

     Monday I gave the family an official Emily tour of the Capitol and Senate buildings. In the afternoon I gave a tour to a couple and one was from Turkey so there had to be some translating back and forth. Yesterday I took the day off and we went to Mt Vernon and toured the estate. It was about 70 degrees. Then last night we did a walking tour of some of the memorials at night. We have been averaging about 9 miles of walking a day. Today I went to a HELP Committee hearing on raising the minimum wage. Different people gave testimony regarding studies done on how it will change the job market. My family leaves tomorrow early and I have an agriculture hearing in the morning. It has been really nice for the past week but now its looking to be 30ish degrees tomorrow.

Em

The Wharf at Mt Vernon

Mt Vernon

Lincoln at night

Backside of Mt Vernon

Mt Vernon

Optical Illusions

     Day 2 with the family--We toured the Holocaust Museum this morning. On the way we saw the US Department of Agriculture building so that will have to be a stop later in the week. In the afternoon we did a walking tour of the memorials: Washington, World War II, Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, Martin Luther King Jr., Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson. Today we walked about 8.5 miles :) It was about 50 degrees today, a little cooler than yesterday's 65 degrees. We have also decided everything is an optical illusion on how far things actually are. They don't look far away but when you start walking to them you realize they are a ways away. 

Em

Korean War Memorial

Jefferson memorial

Vietnam Memorial

FDR memorial

Jumping at the Lincoln memorial

MLK Jr Memorial

12 Miles Strong

     Well my family officially got here yesterday!! We walked around last night and went out to eat at a nearby pizza place.

     Today we toured the White House in the morning and walked around the area near it. This afternoon we went to Arlington Cemetery. We watched the Changing of the Guard ceremony and saw the Kennedy family graves as well as touring other parts. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe and walked back to our apartment as the sun was setting in DC. We walked a total of 12 miles today and can now join the next marathon walking group :)

Em

Sun Setting

Kennedy Graves

Changing of the Guard

At the White House

Arlington Cemetery 

The Dalai Lama and Aging

     Today the Dalai Lama was at the Capitol for various meetings! A few of the other interns just got a picture of his back but it was still pretty cool knowing he was in the building. Yesterday I rode the Senate Subway with Senator Carper from Delaware and he was chatting with me about my life, getting jobs in DC, and other things. It was pretty cool talking to him. Otherwise the week has been pretty normal. I've just been running errands to the Capitol and other buildings, answering phones, taking news clips, and archiving. I attended an Aging Committee hearing discussing senior citizens in poverty. Tomorrow the family comes for a week so I am definitely looking forward to that. :)

Em

Famous by Association

     Last week I attended a Judiciary hearing on the wireless market and how mobile devices have grown into a large industry. The US uses 5x more mobile devices as Europe. I also attended a hearing about making college more accessible for disabled citizens. It was really interesting hearing from students about how colleges have made it easier for disabled citizens to attend and what more can be done. I also saw Ben Affleck last week too!! This makes me famous by association! He was testifying for Foreign Relations committee and I took a picture of him coming out of the hearing.

     Today we did not work because of a mass amount of snow. Hopefully tomorrow it is nicer and by the end of the week it is supposed to be 50 degrees!!

Em

Ben Affleck!

Air and Space

     This past weekend the weather has been really nice! It's been like 60 degrees for the past 4 days. The Senate has been in recess this past week so the office has been pretty slow. Over the weekend I went to the Air and Space museum. It has been so nice out.

Em