Three Day Weekend

     Well last week I went to a hearing about Bangladesh and their workers' rights. They have really horrible rights...as in like none. On Wednesday I gave my first tour to a couple on their honeymoon. Thursday we had a snow day so I did not have to work!! Friday we started two hours late!

     Today I went for a walk and went to the Natural History and American History Smithsonian Museums as well as the Smithsonian Sculpture garden. Tomorrow I do not have to work because it is President's Day. I've been keeping busy with watching the Olympics.

Em

Sculpture

Giraffe 

Michelle Obama's 2nd Inauguration dress

Estherville Meteorite

The White House

     This week has been a little slow. On Tuesday I watched the Senate vote on the Farm Bill and it passed. Today I went on a tour of the White House! I even got to see the Obama Family dogs and a recipe from the White House kitchen. No pictures were allowed inside though. I had the pleasure of being stalled at security because their spelling of my last name did not match my ID. I had to have my background check again and be re-cleared through security. I did find that one of the White House workers is originally from Iowa. 

     The Olympics have started so now I will be watching those constantly :)

Em

Obama family dogs

Obama family dogs

At the White House

Weekend

     This weekend it was 50 degrees on Saturday and 60 degrees today!! I went on a walk/run both days and watched people play soccer on the National Mall. Today my roommates and I went to an art gallery in Dupont Circle and then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and watched the pregame show for the Superbowl. One of my roommates is from Seattle so she was super excited for the game! 

     I have a few committee meetings coming up this week and on Friday I have a tour at the White House!!!

Em

Afternoon walk

Ghandi Statue

Building in Dupont Circle

Morning Run

Fountain 

 

Update

     Last Friday I went to the Senate Health Fair and got my bone density tested- which is good by the way! At the fair you could get blood pressure checked, hearing tested, and all sorts of other things. They also had free gym bags. 

     Today I went to a Judiciary Committee hearing regarding nominations for District Court Judges in Arizona. It was really interesting hearing everyone's successes and and how qualified they were for the potential judge position. Six candidates were nominated. I also received a tour of the Senate Library today. I officially have a library card and can check out books. The tour was really cool seeing all of the collections and books they have. 

     Tonight is the State of the Union address!! I will be watching it and following along with the transcript online. The news channels have been covering it for the last two days and its been so exciting. 

Em

     

Snow

     Well my nice 55 degree weather has disappeared. It started snowing on Tuesday around 11am. Although apparently DC is not as tough with the snow because at 7am on Tuesday all federal offices were shut down due to potential snow. Wednesday all federal offices started two hours late so I didn't have to go to work until 11am. Waiting to see if I had work or not was like waiting for snow days in high school!

     The office has been pretty slow this week because the Senate is in recess so there have not been any committee hearings but this will change next week when they are back in session. Although it is March for Life week in DC so there have been tons of students going into other Senate offices getting tours of the Capitol so the visitor traffic in the buildings has been pretty heavy.

Em

The Weekend

     So the last couple days have been pretty chill. Friday I walked around the Capitol in the afternoon to get acquainted so I can start giving tours sometime soon. Saturday I just worked on some of my homework.

     On Sunday my roommates and I went to Eastern Market. It is an 18th Century Farmer's Market. There are tons of different vendors and there are some flea market vendors too. This time of year most of the flea market stuff was old furniture and handmade scarves or other winter items such as hats. I bought some homemade mini donuts there. There is a bookstore that has 3 floors and just has so many books! It is a maze inside the store trying to find your way around and they have books on every single subject.

     I swear that everyone in DC exercises 24/7. Everyone is either running or walking their dogs. Well today I joined the club! I went on a run around the Capitol and surrounding buildings. It was 50 degrees but it is supposed to be 25 on Wednesday.

Em

Out for a run

Brumidi Corridors of the Capitol

Capitol Rotunda

Bookstore at Eastern Market

Excitement!!

     So today was pretty exciting!! I have been assigned to work on archiving some of the Senator's material, (cassettes, vcr, papers) since his office will be closing at the end of the year because he is retiring. I am so excited to help archive the material because I just love archiving and being in archives!!

     Also today I was in the Capitol working on getting used to things so I can start giving Capitol tours and the Speaker of the House-John Boehner walked through the room and looked at me and gave me the head nod!!! Obviously I gave him a head nod back because that's how I say hi to people. It was so exciting!!! I was within touching distance but he had security and staff with him. It was a pretty eventful day!!

Em