Week 3!

This week was a whole new experience. Congress is back in session so “the BOSS” is back… I haven’t seen him in person yet, but I’ve seen a lot of C-SPAN coverage of him on the floor arguing about budget problems. My staffer Hayden was also back and we have been very busy trying to get things put together. It was nice to be busy and have things to do. I think I’ve settled into my schedule, and I finally know what I’m doing. It is exciting to be involved in the hustle of the hill! This week there was a HUGE demonstration marking the anniversary of Roe v Wade and there were around 15,000 people marching around. It was CRAZY!

I’ve gotten to know the Capitol Building like the back of my hand, at least the parts I’m allowed to wander around in. I helped on my first tour, and I think I did pretty dang good. I know a lot about every room in the building, and it’s hard to edit what I know in order to fit the tour into the allotted time schedule. I even have some favorite statues at this point!

Ronald Reagan in the Rotunda..my favorite!

The weekend couldn’t come fast enough… the work week wears me out. We decided to go out to the Holocaust Museum on Saturday… SO SAD! It was depressing and deep, the fact that people did that to each other blows my mind! I went with my roommates that I love, so it was still a good experience. I would recommend everyone going there once in their lives. I don’t feel like I ever need to go back again.  We went out to dinner at what is quickly becoming my favorite place for a hamburger (besides my dads!)... Burgers Taps and Shakes!

Such a sad place

Me Kelli and Lauren

SO GOOD!

Today me, Lauren and Sadie went and checked out the Chinese New Year in Chinatown to help ring in the year of the Dragon! As I am a dragon, this year should be super good for me! It was crazy, there were so many people and firecrackers and noise!! It was super cool, there are so many different cultures out here. I love learning new things about them. Happy Sunday Everyone.  

Chinatown!

Year of the Dragon!

Romney for President!

I had one of the coolest experiences I've had in my whole life this weekend! I drove down to South Carolina with a super fun group of people and we worked on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. We were supposed to leave D.C. by 4:30 on Thursday so we didn't get there too late... Columbia South Carolina is an 8 hour drive away. We had a few hold ups in renting the van and getting out of here, so we ended up leaving at 6:30. The drive honestly wasn't too bad tho, even though we were driving through the night. Boyd was a champion and drove the whole 8 hours. We were given subsidized rooms in the Courtyard Marriott in Columbia. A donor to the Romney Campaign paid for most of the cost...super awesome! We got there around 2am and went straight to bed. The next morning, after being treated to a delicious southern style breakfast, we made our way to campaign headquarters to find out what they needed us to do.

Campaign Headquarters

 As soon as we got there, they got us loaded up with stickers and signs and sent us to a nearby Christmas tree farm where there was a rally in about a half hour. I was blown away... my first day in South Carolina and I might get to meet Mitt Romney?! I was so excited! I have liked Mitt Romney since the Olympics in Salt Lake City and have wanted to meet him ever since. My Grandpa Brent was also a huge fan and I wanted to meet Romney for my grampsy as well. We pulled up and there were already quite a few people there, and tons of press cameras. Boyd and I weaseled our way into the front and were literally 3 people back from the stage. I was so excited, we were bouncing up and down and chanting "Romney!" The old ladies around us really liked Boyd and were hitting on him while we were waiting, it was very entertaining.

The site of the rally

All the people lined up waiting

All of a sudden we heard the people behind us getting excited. I looked up, and there was Mitt Romney himself standing on a stage literally 10 feet in front of me. Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, was also there with him. She gave a short introduction, and then handed the microphone to Mitt. He was so relaxed and seemed so genuine just talking to all of us in the pouring rain. I couldn't make up my mind between snapping pictures and focusing on what he had to say. It was pretty much surreal. 2 weeks ago, I never would have imagined I would be this close to a man who could be the next President of the United States!

Mitt Romney

He talked to us for about 10 minutes, encouraging people to get out and vote for him and mostly taking shots at Obama. My favorite part was when he responded personally to Boyd. Boyd was yelling "I love you Mitt!" and right in the middle of his speech Mitt turned to Boyd and said "Now, that's only okay for Ann to say!" It was really funny. As soon as he was done speaking, Boyd and I ran over to the press lineup in front of Mitt's tour bus. We squeezed our way to the front and waited very patiently for him to come our way. I was so excited... I was hopefully going to shake his hand!! The first person down the line was Governor Haley. I smiled at her, but I was looking down the line and just waiting for Mr. Romney. Next thing I know, he is right in front of me, looking directly into my eyes and shaking my hand. My mind went completely blank and all I could say was "Hi!" Hahahaha just like in the movies... but it was real. He smiled and said "Thank you for coming" and moved on to the next person. I was still just thinking... OMG! I just shook his hand... and all I said was hi?! There are millions more eloquent things I could have said, some clever little thing, and all I had was hi! Ha needless to say, I was awestruck.

Governor Nikki Haley

Right after I shook his hand!!

After we all got over the initial shock of meeting the man himself, we piled back into the van and headed off to lunch. We ate at a little hole in the wall BBQ joint, and it was honestly some of the best pork sandwiches I have ever had. It looked a little scary, but it was delicious.

Pulled pork and mac n cheese

After we all ate and got full, we headed off to go and knock doors. We were given the names and addresses of registered Republicans in the neighborhoods around Columbia. We had a list of questions to ask them and some signs and fliers to hand out. I was worried they were going to hate us and be mad for disturbing them... we don't answer door to door people at my house... but the people were so nice! Southern hospitality is alive and well, and it was amazing to see. No one was rude to us, and everyone talked to us about who they felt was the best candidate. I had to bite my tongue when they said they were voting for Newt.... but other than that it was good.

Me, Maren, Brooke, Bryan and Emily

Out knocking doors

I totally understand what my brother does on his mission every day now. Approaching people with something you're passionate about is scary, but when people are receptive it is totally worth it. After a long day of knocking, we were exhausted. We fell into bed and went straight to sleep around 10. The next morning we woke up and headed back to headquarters. We were assigned to the phones, and spent our morning calling people and reminding them to vote. A lot of people were super unhappy, apparently their phones have been blowing up all week long. It reminded me of my telemarketing days... ha not my favorite. It was for a good cause tho, and we tried to have fun with it.

After lunch at Bo*Jangles (Boberry Biscuits are AMAZING!), we were asked to go outside and hold huge signs that said "Mitt Romney for President". Funny thing... it was pouring rain. The heavens were open and they were dumping water, with thunder crashing and lightning flashing. Ha but we were there to help Mitt win, so we went without complaint. Boyd and I ended up standing directly in front of the South Carolina Capitol Building, and a statue of a Confederate Soldier. It was actually really fun... Boyd was singing and dancing like a crazy man. Cars were honking, some were smiling and giving us thumbs up, others were flying the bird and yelling. It was definitely an adventure. We also had some Ron Paul supporters come and try to one up us with their numbers. Our signs were WAY bigger than theirs were... and they weren't very nice. We just ignored them and tried to get people to pay more attention to us.

Capitol of South Carolina

Boyd was so entertaining!

When it was dark and there was only an hour left in the primaries, we sloshed our way back to the campaign headquarters. I was soaked to the bone...my hair was a disaster... and we were off to the Victory Party. Unfortunately we found out soon after arriving that despite our hard work, it wasn't going to be a victory party after all. Ha that didn't make it any less cool though! I ended up standing directly behind Mitt Romney... I thought I would be hidden from view. Nope, I am very clearly visible standing right over his shoulder throughout most of the concession speech. If you want a good laugh... go watch the speech on youtube. Ha I obviously had no idea you could see me that well.

You can totally see me taking this picture with my phone if you watch the video of the speech... ha. Overall, it was an amazing experience, once in a lifetime. We left right after the speech and got home around 4:30 in the morning. I am exhausted, but happy. Its not everyday that you get to make great friends, travel around the East Coast, and meet the possible future President of the United States. Romney for President!

I'm not in Logan anymore!

I've been keeping a list of observations about the differences between Logan and Washington D.C.

I go here every day :)

1. People aren't friendly. AT ALL. No one is smiling at each other while passing on the sidewalk, no one says excuse me or sorry if they bump into you, no one has a personal bubble or respects other peoples bubbles, and no one offers a helpful hand to those who look like they're lost. (Me all the time haha) I miss Logan's cheerful smiles and friendliness of strangers! Ha a running joke between me and my roomates is the zombie apocalypse could start here, and no one would know until they got bitten. Haha no difference between the zombies and the humans walking around here.

2. There is hardly any color ANYWHERE! Everyone wears black and grey. I understand the need to be professional... but really people?! One of my goals is to bring color back to the Capitol!

3. There are 2 lanes on an escalator. The right side is for people who stand and ride the escalator, like normal people. The left side is for people who are in the biggest hurry of their lives wherever they go (see difference #1 if you forgot what these people are like). I have literally been yelled at from 8 inches away from my ear for standing in the fast lane. SHE WAS JUST TRYING TO GET HOME... ha funny thing was, so was I.

These are my observations thus far, they all seem negative, but that's just because I am slow to adjust to changes. Ha it is just a different kind of living out here.


The other cool thing that I have to tell..... tomorrow I am going to South Carolina to work on Mitt Romney's Presidential Campaign. I am so excited! We are going to be doing the grunt work of handing out fliers and getting people into the polls to vote. I am excited to be involved! I am planning on taking lots of pictures and will post about it on Sunday. GO ROMNEY!

I live in Minas Tirith!

As all of you know, I am a Lord of the Rings junkie. I love anything and everything to do with it, and I have the movies basically memorized. As I have been walking around D.C. this week, I have realized that my world looks very similar to the mighty city of Minas Tirith. Everything is made of marble, and right now all the trees are in hibernation. Tree in hibernation against a marble building = instant LOTR scenes flowing through my head. I know, I'm the biggest nerd you know.

You can see the similarites, yes?

Anyways... I survived my first week! It was really long and full of lengthy trainings on how to be the best intern I can be. Luckily, I survived and am now enjoying a 3 day weekend. Tomorrow is my roomate Sadie's birthday, and so today we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. WOW! Super cool place, so many little children running around with their parents being so excited about everything made me even more excited to be there. One of my favorite things were the elephant in the front entryway!

The elephant in the rotunda!

It has been a fulfilling week- we killed our first bug in the apartment, with much screaming and hopping around. We discovered that our windows all rattle in the wind and spent a sleepless night staring at the ceiling (the rattle has since been remedied by stuffing toilet paper into the cracks, thank you dad!!) The metro has been crazy all day today, due to maintenance and apparently a fire between one of the stations. It took me and my roomie about an hour and half to get home from only 4 stops away (which should have taken around 20 mins tops). It has been a week of new things!

My roomies- Kelly, Lauren, and Sadie

I'm really lucky to have roomies I love, it is fun to come home and just laugh about how crazy our days have been. When I am overwhelmed, its good to come home and hang with people who are going through the exact same thing I am going through. I am lucky!



Washington Monument at dusk

Regardless of the growing pains, I am living in one of the most historic cities in the world. I pass this monument to and from work each day, and it always brings a smile.

Ash goes to Washington

As everyone knows, I recently moved to Washington D.C. and began an internship with Senator Hatch. It has been a crazy, life changing event. I've never moved out before, and now I am all the way across the country. It is a growing up experience, that's for sure.

Mom and I on the Metro

I was lucky enough to have my mom come out with me and get me all settled in. We had some adventures on the metro! It is crazy that I ride it every day to and from work. It has taken a lot of getting used to! I have to transfer between lines both ways, which means I have to get off one train and hop onto another one. Its been a little stressful, but I think I have it down now.

Me and my mom went and saw the Jefferson Memorial. It currently ranks as my favorite memorial. Its a beautiful building to a pretty spectacular man. We also went to Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was shot, and the house across the street where he died. Both places were super interesting, and quite morbid. I felt weird standing in the room where one of our greatest presidents was brutally murdered by a coward. From there we went to the National Portrait Gallery where they keep all the portraits of past presidents. It was a really cool place, and we had fun wandering around and looking at all the paintings.



The box where Lincoln was shot

<>

THE gun that killed Lincoln



The house where Lincoln died

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and my momma had to go home. Not gonna lie, that day sucked way bad. I explored Georgetown with some friends on that day, just jetting all around D.C!
Monday was the first day of work, and it was a whirlwind of information. It's been really cool and I like my job. Giving tours of the Capitol building will be awesome!

Today me and a few of the interns got some free time to walk around the Capitol after hours. I am already in love with the Capitol Building. The historical events that have happened inside and the amazing people who have walked the same halls I get to walk ... its just mindblowing. I find myself just standing and thinking how lucky I am that I can even be there! I am filled with National Pride ladies and gents, all the way to my ears. The Capitol Building is inspirational, and I can't wait to continue exploring it and become a master tour guide!!

The ceiling of the Rotunda




Me standing alone in the middle of the Rotunda

 I am so lucky to be able to walk past these things to and from work and walk inside on a frequent basis. Tonight, I count myself luck to be out here in the capitol city of the United States, and I am very proud to be an American!