Catching Up on a Full Week!

Hello everyone!

It has been a while since I updated my blog. Mom and Memom (my grandmother) were here last week. Not only were they representing our county’s Farm Bureau, they were also getting to visit with me. I stayed with them in the hotel all week- a little get away from the Tech House.

Sun.: First stop, the National Mall & the Monuments. The mall was full of immigration protestors; we sure did stick out. The cherry blossoms around the monuments were outstanding.

Mon.: While I was at work, Mom and Memom explored the town. When I got off work, we would try a DC restaurant then hang out. It was so much fun! They visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History & Museum of Natural History

Tues.: I gave them a Capitol tour. We were fortunate enough to see the Prime Minister of Israel and Nancy Pelosi while touring while in the Capitol. Mom and Mem got to meet my whole office too. The picture with the guys are some of the people in my office. From left to right, Scott: Legislative Director; Paul: Legislative Assistant; and Matt: the other intern. We missed a photo-op with the girls. Later we had dinner with the Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureau invited the Tech CASNR interns to dinner (I added a picture of the five of us). We had a delicious meal and I really enjoyed meeting the Farm Bureau members that have contributed to my scholarships and made my internship possible.

Wed.: Mom and Memom went to the National Archives, Ford Theater, and the Library of Congress. They even went into the research dept. at the archives and did a little family genealogy.

Thurs.: They had a meeting and then we all went to the White House. That afternoon, they met with Congressman Conaway.

Fri.: I spent the whole day with my family. We went to the Holocaust Museum, the Smithsonian Castle, the Air and Space Museum, Georgetown and the Pentagon City Mall. The day flew by! Before we knew it, we were eating a late dinner at the Chinese food restaurant, Jackey.

Sat.: It came too fast. Mom and Memom left around 11:30 and I was back to the Tech House. That afternoon, a big group of us went to the Kite Festival. Earlier that week, I bought a kite, and I was able to join the crowd in flying. There were so many people and so many kites! After the kite flying, we threw the Frisbee around, and then headed to the mall. When we got to the mall, we went straight to Macy’s where Clinton Kelly from TLC’s What Not to Wear, was doing a fashion makeover. We caught the end and got to see him. It was so neat! He is much shorter than I thought!

I spent all of Sunday doing a little work. I updated software on my computer, updated my iTunes, watched 27 dresses, worked on more applications, wrote another batch of letters, worked on my summer and fall class schedules, and much more. I would say I had a productive, yet relaxing day.

Work on Monday was quite peaceful. Things weren’t too busy and I went to a Tech luncheon, where I met Meredith Mino. The office seemed so quite without the phone ringing off the hook. We’re in recess for these next two weeks, so things are a little bit slower.

I am also starting to mail things back to Texas. I am beginning to pack up my winter stuff and slowly get it out of the Tech House. It is exciting to know that I will be going back to Texas soon. I am starting to forget what it looks like haha. But I have really enjoyed being here. This has been a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am so lucky to be able to participate in this internship program.

Today, Matt was not in the office. I was in charge of all the intern duties. But since we are in recess, things weren’t too bad. The day flew! With giving two tours, I barely had time to do other things. I was hardly in the office!

I am really looking forward to this Friday and Saturday. The official Cherry Blossom Festival is this weekend! There are fireworks, performances, and more. It should be a lot of fun.

Until next time,
madelon

Family Arrived Today!

Since I have gotten back from New York, things have been going full throttle! It was spring break week for most of Texas. We were having about four tours a day! There was a lot of walking all week and a million phone calls, but it made the week go by fast.

Last week was also a big going out week. Angie and I went to Chili’s with a few other Tech interns. Another night, my favorite staff assistant, Rae-Lynn, and the staff assistant in Boozman’s office treated me to a great dinner at Tortilla Coast. It was the first office dinner I’ve had. It was fun having girl talk.

During the weekend I rested up and watched movies, saving all my energy for Mom and Mem’s visit. But Saturday was AMAZING! Angie’s staff LC invited us to go layout out on the roof of their apartment. It was so fun! We ordered pizza and enjoyed the great weather, while avoiding the thousands of health care protesters down by the Capitol.

The same afternoon, we decided to go to Good Stuff Eatery and enjoy their famous milkshakes. While we were outside, we were entertained by people watching. This one lady drove up in a convertible jaguar car with the top down. When she got close enough, she had “My Hero,” by Celine Dion blaring! It was hilarious!

That evening, we went out and played Frisbee on the National Mall, then watched movies all night.

This morning, the whole Tech House got up early and went to the House Gallery to watch the Heath Care Reform vote in person. At that time, the planned vote was at 2:00. As you can tell, that vote has been extended much later. I, of course, didn’t go and went to meet my mom and grandmother at the airport.

I was so excited to see them. They got checked in to the hotel, ate at Jackey’s (a hole in the wall Chinese Restaurant), and walked around the national mall. The weather was amazing! It was a perfect day to walk outside and see all the monuments. I definitely wore them out with all the sightseeing.

For the rest of the week, I will be with Mom and Mem. Not only are they here to see me, but they are here representing Farm Bureau. Tuesday, I have the privilege of giving them a Capitol tour, as well as going with them on a White House tour! I am so excited!

Until next time,
madelon

My Mini Spring Break

Because I have this internship, I do not get a week off for spring break. Instead, I got Monday off this week and made the most of my “mini-spring break.” Cullen came to see me in DC. He got here Friday evening. It was probably one of the most exciting spring breaks I have (Thirteen of my spring breaks growing up have been participating in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo). This year, I got to travel somewhere new!

Friday evening, I met Cullen at the airport. It was so excited to see him! After we picked up his luggage, we went back to the Tech house, dropped off his luggage, and toured the town. We ate at Matchbox for dinner. It is a really popular restaurant in Washington. Matchbox is known mostly for its homemade pizzas and mini burgers. I wanted Cullen to get the full experience, so we ordered both. We could barely move when we got out! After dinner, we headed back to the Tech house to pack for New York the next day and get some rest for our big adventure.

We left the tech house at 6:45 AM on Saturday and got on the Bolt Bus to New York at 8:30. The bus was nice, and the ride was very enjoyable. I was amazed that it took the same amount of time to get from Tech to my home in Menard as it does from DC to New York! That seems crazy!

When we arrived in NYC, we dropped off our luggage and went to walk about the big city. We were located a block from Times Square, two blocks from Rockefeller Plaza, and down the street from the Broadway show we planned to see. The only downer about Saturday…it rained the entire day. But we didn’t let that stop us. I had a raincoat and umbrella, and Cullen bought a sturdy raincoat. Even with all of the rain gear on, it rained so much that it started to go through our jackets. We finally had to go to the hotel for some dry clothes. But even with the rain, we went to the Hershey’s store, M&M World (they had every single color of M&Ms that you could imagine), a three story Toy’s R Us (with a Ferris wheel inside!), Times square, CBS station and store, saw where David Letterman is filmed, souvenir stores, and several other clothing shops and things that we just popped in and out to see what it looked like.

That evening, we got ready for our Broadway play, Lion King. We got dressed and headed over to eat at Planet Hollywood before hand. The food was pretty good. Cullen and I got Demi Moore’s chicken strips (she created the recipe herself) and blackened Mahi Mahi. The seafood is sooo good here!

We headed to Lion King after we ate. THE SHOW WAS INCREDIBLE!! I know I can speak for Cullen and myself when I say that we loved every bit of it! What was even more interesting was that several of the actors and actresses are from South Africa. The accent came naturally, and their performance was truly original and from the heart. There was so much color and life in the performance. The percussion was located on the side of the theater so we could watch them perform as well. All together the performance was spectacular.

After the show, we were worn out from all the walking and rain. We went to the deli right beside the hotel and got a little snack.

Sunday morning was an amazing day as well. First thing, we headed to an apple store. After the apple store, we saw that right beside the store was FAO Schwartz. It was enormous! We thought that the Toy’s R Us was big on Times Square, but this one was huge! Several levels and several different pathways were sectioned off by themes. Sections ranged from Harry Potter, Barbie, Clifford, Jungle Animals, Aircraft, and there was even a little pretend office and pretend nurses where little girls could adopt play babies. There was a nursery and everything. Makes me wish I visited FAO Schwartz when I was a little girl.

We got out of the toy store and noticed that we were right across the street from Central Park, so we decided to walk around there too. Before we began our long journey in the park, Cullen got us a Horse-Drawn carriage. It was so much fun, and we learned a lot from our carriage driver. For example, not one plant, soil, tree or grass is native to the park. It was all brought in 120 years ago. Throughout our ride, we saw Trump Tower, the ice-skating rink, the zoo, and several runners.

We then grabbed a taxi and headed over to Ground Zero, the location of the Twin Towers. Once we arrived, the feeling was so strange. To know that something that big happened right where we stood was quite a thought. They are currently building a memorial on the site. It is going to be this kind of fountain. The plans look really pretty.

Across the way from Ground Zero was one of the oldest churches in the area. I believe it was called St. Paul’s. The church was where wounded and severely injured people stayed for a while after the attack. All of these city badges were just piled up. Old hats and uniforms that were worn by those who served were still in the church. It was very interesting and emotional.

Cullen and I grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to see the Statue of Liberty. We chose to walk there, just so we could see things along the way. We didn’t actually go to the Statue of Liberty; we just got to the edge of the water. Since it was still kind of rainy all day, the place was quite foggy, but we could still see everything!

Once our pictures were done, we walked over to the Navy Memorial in Battery Park. I got a picture made with a person pretending to be the Statue of Liberty. It was pretty funny. He would tell me to do things, but his lips wouldn’t move because he was wearing a mask. After seeing so many cool things, we decided to continue walking, and ended up seeing the enormous Wall Street Bull.

We then grabbed a taxi and headed over to Chinatown, walked around, then decided to rest. Our little break got us re-energized, and then we were off to Rockefeller Plaza. We were going to ice skate, but it crowded, so we went to the NBC store. Almost every show on NBC was represented there. We then went to see where the TODAY show was produces, so we could scope it out for Monday morning.

With the rain finally over, we went back over to Times Square. We stopped at Roxy’s Diner and split the same enormous sandwich I got on the first trip. It was still just as delicious. We had to get some cheesecake to go too, because you can’t go to New York without some New York Cheesecake. At the end of the day we could hardly move from all the walking.

We got up really early Monday to head to the TODAY show. We left the hotel at 6:45, grabbed some breakfast, and made our way down to the set. Cullen and I made it on the show! It was great! We were outside looking through the window behind Al at one time. The other was when Al was outside visiting everyone before the “weather in our neighborhood.” I got to shake his hand, and Cullen and Meredith waved and smiled at each other- it made our morning. It was so cold that day that we left a bit early. We took a taxi to Madison Square Garden and Macy’s, and finally left on the bus back to DC. The trip went by fairly fast because we slept most of the way.

We got back to DC mid-afternoon. For the rest of the day, Cullen and I toured the National Mall. We saw the Capitol, Library of Congress, Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, and White House. We then ate at a burger joint called Henry’s, which had delicious burgers.

Before I knew it, Cullen was leaving to go back to Lubbock.

Today has gone by very quickly. I don’t know what I did this morning to make it go by so fast. At 1:00 I gave a tour to an enthusiastic group, and fought our way through the large groups of tourists. It is spring break for most people right now, so there a quite a few visitors. After my tour, there was an amazing surprise for me. Rae-Lynn was so sweet and bought me some strawberry frozen yogurt. My staff assistant just makes my day. The rest of the afternoon flew by. Five of us when to Chili’s to eat some American food after work. It was to help us get ready for the long week of tours ahead. I am planning to go to bed early tonight. I need to give my legs and feet some rest because my grandmother and mom will be coming on Sunday!

Until next time,
madelon

Becoming a Professional Power Walker

Tuesday:

The intern finally came back! I am sure glad too, because we had meetings non-stop. It was a little hectic in the main office with so many people in one room and nowhere to go. But the day went on and everything settled down.

The power went out in the Longworth Building. Intern Matthew just returned with his tour group, and right before they left the office, the power went out. Strangely enough, the house phones still continued to ring. When the power finally came back on, the tour group left, and Matthew and I treated ourselves to some ice cream from downstairs.

After I left the office day, I met Matt (the Tech intern) and Angie at the metro stop to head over to the NBA basketball game. It was the Wizards vs. the Rockets in the Verizon Center. What an experience! While we were waiting to get into the game, we watched a great street show. These two guys had a bunch of buckets upside down and used them as drums (I took a picture of them). They were so good! I really wanted to join in.

After the game, we were worn out from the long day. It was a Tech intern, Shelbi’s, birthday, so we all went home and ate some birthday cake.


Wednesday:

That day consisted of a lot of walking. I went downstairs to pick up, deliver, and drop-off, several times. I even walked down the street to a FedEx because the package was too big to send in a box. But somehow in the mix of things, I managed to make a rubber band ball out of all the rubber bands we receive from the mail every morning. While waiting for my computer to load, I would just add a rubber band or two. Now, every morning, Matthew and I just immediately add the rubber bands from the mail to the ball. I can’t wait to see what it will look like by the time I leave.

I also had the honor of getting to post a blog on Conaway’s website. It is titled, “Inside with an Intern,” and was posted March 10th. Feel free to view it on conawayblog.com. An intern gets to post a blog every term, so you will see several blogs under that titled, just look for the day it was posted.

With all of the traveling, the day zoomed by! I almost forgot to eat lunch! Angie was very sweet that day and brought me a little treat that afternoon. Poor thing, she has been really sick lately and was sweet enough to bring me a goodie.

When the day was over, I was planning on going to a few receptions. But, I was so tired when I got off that I went home, ate dinner, and was in bed by 9:00 pm.

Thursday:

The office day was normal and nothing was out of the ordinary.
That evening, one of CASNR’s (College of Agricultural Resources and Natural Resources) Congressional Scholarship Donors, Shelly Nutt from the Peanut Producers Board treated the CASNR interns (five of us) to an amazing dinner at Grill Fish. It was delicious! I really enjoyed getting to know more about Ms. Nutt and the fellow peanut producers. And the peanut butter cake for dessert was so good!


Today, Cullen is coming to see me for his spring break. He should be arriving around 5:30. Hopefully his plane isn’t delayed! I will catch you all up on my blog probably Tuesday, after Cullen leaves. Get excited for tons of pictures!

Until next time,
madelon

Catching Up!

This week has been so fun! I have been so busy with Texas Tech days here on the Hill, that I forgot to write my blog!

Wednesday was a great day, especially for our office. As you probably know, Congressman Conaway won the primaries. I am pretty sure that everyone was in an excellent mood that day. To make the day brighter, I brought my homemade brownies to the office- they were a hit! My brownies were wiped out when the official staff from Texas Tech University came into our office.

I let the other intern, Matthew, take over my tour that day so I wouldn’t miss Chancellor Hance, President Bailey, Ms. Mary Diaz and Dr. Taylor Eighmy from Texas Tech. That hour was pretty cool. A large group of about ten people came in the office for a meeting with Congressman Conway. They were all from Texas Tech or ASU. I was greeted with smiling faces and tons of hugs. Before the group left, I was invited to take a picture with Chancellor Hance, Congressman Conaway, and Texas Tech President Bailey. It was a great moment!!!

That evening, I helped and attended the Texas Tech Reception on the Hill. The Tech alumni on the hill, interns, and all of the Texas Tech visitors were invited. There was ton of food and Tech things there. I met quite a few people, and caught up with some Tech students that had come for the week. It was great.

Thursday went by fast. The other office intern got sick, so I was alone for most of the day. At lunch, Tech had one last get-together. There was pizza, the group of Tech kids, President Bailey, and Chancellor Hance. We had one last goodbye with the group before they all went back to Texas, and we continued our semester internship.

I gave some tours, and the rest of the day was a blur. I was worn out from the busy week with Tech visiting. In fact, when I got home after work, everyone was barely moving.

I was excited about the visitors from Texas. My sorority little sister, Haleigh, had family up here for the week. Her mom, Jill, and her sister Hannah, came with Hannah’s school for a week-long adventure in DC. I was so excited to visit and catch up with them! Though I couldn’t stay long because I was the only one working in the front office, it was quite wonderful seeing familiar faces. It made my week complete.

Congressman Conaway left for the weekend, and the rest of the office left soon after. When I got home Friday evening, the Tech group went into two different directions. Half of us went to see Alice in Wonderland, 3-D, and the other group went to Tortilla Coast for some chips and hot sauce. I went with the Tortilla Coast group. It was very relaxing and enjoyable.

When I got back from dinner, I found that I had a surprise package from Chi Omega, my sorority. My sisters sent Angie and me a wonderful care package! It was filled with office appropriate food, a Chi O shirt, photos, and little fun treats. It made me so happy! I love to get mail, but when it’s an unexpected package- it’s even more amazing!

After my “mini Christmas,” I caught up on all my regular TV shows- getting ready for the week to come.

Saturday I finally caught up on my sleep from the past week. When we all got up and moving, our whole floor took a trip to Georgetown for some street shopping. For those who have not been to Georgetown, it is a lot like Fredericksburg, Texas. On one long street, it is full of stores back to back. But these stores are boutiques, restaurants, and fun stores. The weather was beautiful and sunny. It was the perfect day for shopping. Two of the pictures on this blog are from Georgetown. The one of me looking at the flowers is from a cute market that was on the corner of the street. It looked like one of those markets that would be in a movie. It was really neat, but the food was way expensive. The other place, I am deciding whether or not to try on the neat 80s tights. I chose not to…they sure were wild. That whole store was full of 80s themed wear. I know where I will be going for my next 80s prom!

That evening, we enjoyed our night at home playing different card games.

Sunday was very eventful. I got a brand new haircut. I got five and a half inches cut off, going for a new look. I really like it, and I know that it is going to be a fun do for this spring and summer.

After my haircut, I went running with Lori. The weather was amazing again! When I went running, I actually wore shorts for the first time here! It was crazy! The evening was spent with the floor all watching the 82nd Academy Awards. It is fun to see the dresses.

Today at work was normal again. Matthew, the other intern, is still sick. The office was a little slow, with no meetings and few guests. But we got caught up on the mail. I gave a tour today. It was really fun! They were from around my home town, and the family of four was full of questions and excited to see everything. Those are some of my favorite groups to lead.

I spent the evening doing laundry and doing a little cleaning. I also am attempting to plan my summer and fall schedule for classes at Tech when I get back.

As far as I know, the rest of the week is not very full. But this weekend, my boyfriend, Cullen, is visiting for his spring break. It will be very exciting- my first visitor!!

Until next time,
madelon

Texas in DC for the Week

Hello all!

It is getting a little crazy in DC right now. Things are getting busy, more visitors than ever, and work is non-stop. It’s kind of fun and feels like a rush! Rae-Lynn gave us for-warning about this month. It is known as the big visitor month: several tours a week, several meetings, and several receptions with free meals. This week is Texas Tech Days up on the Hill. We are getting three different meals paid for this week, and get to hang out with the President and Chancellor of Texas Tech University.

Here’s a re-cap of these last few days:

I went Texas Independence Party Saturday. It was so much fun! With the food, people, and a real house, I definitely got a little Texas fix. I actually had some real spicy food, and everyone spoke just like me- felt like home. The picture with me in my red coat is from the party. The woman in the black dress with the blue lace is Haley, the hostess of the party. She was so sweet. She even gave us a full pan of sour cream beef enchiladas that were left over.

Sunday, I went for a jog all by myself. It was very calming. When I got back, it was cleaning time at the Tech house. With this week being the official “Texas Tech Week,” we will be having several at the Tech house, and we needed to have the place looking nice. We even switched all our calendars on our calendar wall to March, and that took time. We have quite a collection now.

After the 3rd floor was clean, I went with Lauren to the supermarket. I got some ingredients for some homemade brownies. I know that I will need to make them soon for my office.

That evening, the floor all got together and watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics. It is such a great performance, and I hope I can go see it live one day.

Monday was a very busy day. We were all getting back in the routine for the week, and were preparing ourselves for several events. There wasn’t a lot of mail, so I helped other people with smaller tasks.

Before I knew it, the work day was done, and I was off to dinner at Chef Geoff’s Downtown with President Bailey, Ms. Mary Diaz and Dr. Taylor Eighmy, all from Texas Tech University. Five of us left for the metro at 6:00 because we didn’t know how long it would take to get there. We ended up getting there thirty minutes early, a record for the interns. So while we were waiting, our table took some pictures. I also have a picture with President Bailey and my friend Lori, another Tech intern. The dinner was good!

Tuesday: Happy Texas Independence Day! True Texans were seen today wearing boots, cowboy hats and Texas ties. It made my regular office day quite more enjoyable. There are several dinners and parties tonight at Texas-owned places in town. We will see if anyone goes tonight.

My office day was the same, but tomorrow will be much more eventful. A group from Texas Tech is having a meeting with Congressman Conaway in our office tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to visit with everyone. I am also making some brownies for the office. I know that we will all need a little sugar rush at about 3:00 tomorrow with all the visitors.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures! I am starting to feel like a mom, taking pictures everywhere I go. You would be proud Mom and Memom-haha.

Until next time,
madelon