Hello again everyone! :-) Yes, I am still alive. I know, I have a lot of time to make up for! I kept telling myself I would write in this when I came home from work every night, but I usually get home around 6:30 or 7 (on days I don't have class until 9:30), then I eat, and then do a little homework or work out--I just run out of time. But you guys really don't want to her my excuses do you? Of course not, so I'll just begin the blogging.
Let's see... for the last 5 weeks I've had a visitor or I visited Indy. First it was Jay, then Steph, then mi familia, then I went to Indy, and last week Jay got to come again!
When Jay came the first time, it had been six weeks since I had seen anyone from home, so I was pretty excited. I had everything planned out probably 2 weeks in advance, and I had been checking the weather that long, too. I took him to see the Capitol and the National Mall (not the shopping kind-- the one where all the Smithsonian's are), and one night we had dinner in Georgetown at a nice little restaurant called
Paparazzi.
My family came the next weekend-- my immediate family on Friday and then my aunt and uncle and the kids on Saturday. I of course took them to the Capitol and National Mall. haha--I do this trip repeatedly because I work around there, so everyone gets to see that part
of town. We also went to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It was amazingly beautiful. Of course my parents had just been to Rome, so everything in the church was compared to St. Peter's, and every building in D.C. was compared to Italian architecture. As a joke, my brother was impersonating my dad, and going up to things like the vents on the wall and saying "Wow--this reminds me of Rome." On Sunday after my parents left, I got to go to Mt. Vernon with the other Shaw family. I had been there before in eighth grade, but it was funny how much I forgot. I had forgotten it was an entire plantation and not just George Washington's house. We walked around part of the plantation and even saw George Washington's tomb-- or the "death area" as John called it. :-) Then I got to go back to their hotel and Margie made chili. It was so comforting to sit and eat with family. We watched the Republican debate and had political discussions. My kind of night.
trying to get caught up on everything and relax a little. My roommate Johnna is actually leaving this week because she is a quarter student instead of a semester student. I will miss her, but I'm sure we'll hang out when we're both back in Cincinnati.
That's all for now. Hopefully I won't wait another 2 months to write again. ;-) I can't wait to see everyone for Thanksgiving! I miss and I love you all. Ciao!
P.S. I feel very silly...I have just realized that my blog title is sort of spelled wrong. "Capital" is supposed to be "Capitol" when you are talking about the Capitol building...so, while I work at the Capitol, I also work at the Capital of the U.S. I think I'll just leave it how it is, and you can choose whether or not you think I am a good speller. ;-)
P.P.S. I'm supposed to give a shout out to my good friends Lucy and Stephanie Rosoff-- so hey to the best neighbors ever! :-) See you on Grey's night!
Let's see... for the last 5 weeks I've had a visitor or I visited Indy. First it was Jay, then Steph, then mi familia, then I went to Indy, and last week Jay got to come again!When Jay came the first time, it had been six weeks since I had seen anyone from home, so I was pretty excited. I had everything planned out probably 2 weeks in advance, and I had been checking the weather that long, too. I took him to see the Capitol and the National Mall (not the shopping kind-- the one where all the Smithsonian's are), and one night we had dinner in Georgetown at a nice little restaurant called
Paparazzi.When Steph came, I also took her to see the Capitol and National Mall. There were actually a lot of Xavier kids who came to D.C. for the break, and I got to eat dinner at one of my fellow Muskie's house. We had fall soup. :-) On Saturday we went to Six Flags (which is not nearly as good as Kings Island or Ceder Point). The first picture of us is us pretending to be scared in a roller coaster. We also went to an exhibit called "Bodies" where they have real people that have been dissected in a way that you can see their muscles, bones, and organs the way
they would be if they were still alive. Stephy of course loved it since she's all about anatomy and science, but I really thought it was interesting, too. You have to have a strong stomach, I think. Other than spending time with her (which was totally awesome), it was also great to see Steph because it reminded me of Xavier times that I miss so much when I am here.
they would be if they were still alive. Stephy of course loved it since she's all about anatomy and science, but I really thought it was interesting, too. You have to have a strong stomach, I think. Other than spending time with her (which was totally awesome), it was also great to see Steph because it reminded me of Xavier times that I miss so much when I am here. My family came the next weekend-- my immediate family on Friday and then my aunt and uncle and the kids on Saturday. I of course took them to the Capitol and National Mall. haha--I do this trip repeatedly because I work around there, so everyone gets to see that part
of town. We also went to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It was amazingly beautiful. Of course my parents had just been to Rome, so everything in the church was compared to St. Peter's, and every building in D.C. was compared to Italian architecture. As a joke, my brother was impersonating my dad, and going up to things like the vents on the wall and saying "Wow--this reminds me of Rome." On Sunday after my parents left, I got to go to Mt. Vernon with the other Shaw family. I had been there before in eighth grade, but it was funny how much I forgot. I had forgotten it was an entire plantation and not just George Washington's house. We walked around part of the plantation and even saw George Washington's tomb-- or the "death area" as John called it. :-) Then I got to go back to their hotel and Margie made chili. It was so comforting to sit and eat with family. We watched the Republican debate and had political discussions. My kind of night.The next weekend I surprised Jay with a visit to 
IU for his regional soccer tournament. I made flight reservations for the trip about a month and a half or so before, so of course when he started talking about coming to visit me again, I tried to talk him out of it...it didn't really work, but we are both happy that we've gotten to see each other so much. Anyway-- when I got to Bloomington, I jumped in the room and said "Surprise!"... but I didn't really get the reaction I thought I would. Jay just stared at me and muttered "umm" for literally 10 seconds. So I seriously considered leaving. But then he
realized who I was and gave me a big hug. He said he kept thinking it was one of his other friends, but his mind wouldn't match my face to who he was thinking of. It was pretty funny. Whitney also came down to see me that weekend (with Bailee, of course :-) ), so it was a wonderful fall weekend in Indiana with two of the best people in the world.
IU for his regional soccer tournament. I made flight reservations for the trip about a month and a half or so before, so of course when he started talking about coming to visit me again, I tried to talk him out of it...it didn't really work, but we are both happy that we've gotten to see each other so much. Anyway-- when I got to Bloomington, I jumped in the room and said "Surprise!"... but I didn't really get the reaction I thought I would. Jay just stared at me and muttered "umm" for literally 10 seconds. So I seriously considered leaving. But then he
realized who I was and gave me a big hug. He said he kept thinking it was one of his other friends, but his mind wouldn't match my face to who he was thinking of. It was pretty funny. Whitney also came down to see me that weekend (with Bailee, of course :-) ), so it was a wonderful fall weekend in Indiana with two of the best people in the world.Then Jay came to see me again last weekend, and we went to the Air and Space museum (perfect for nerds like Jay) and saw the monuments at night, which was gorgeous.
So, here I am--my 10th week as a D.C. girl. This weekend has been pretty low key. I'm just
trying to get caught up on everything and relax a little. My roommate Johnna is actually leaving this week because she is a quarter student instead of a semester student. I will miss her, but I'm sure we'll hang out when we're both back in Cincinnati.I'm sure you're all dying to know about my life as a working girl. Well, I'm pretty used to it. I've written about 50 articles that have been published, I believe. Last week I saw Sen. Larry Craig. That was interesting. Especially because he got into a little argument with Sen. Barbara Boxer in a hearing about greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the most exciting things that has happened this semester is that I finally got to see George Will. I had actually given up hope on seeing him since his schedule was so busy, but I finally got the chance last week. We had a fifteen minute conversation in his private office in Georgetown. It was extremely intimidating because he is obviously an excellent writer, but I think it went very well. He even told me that if there was anything he could ever do to help me out, I should give him a call. I kind of expected him to be a stern man who didn’t have a lot of time for interns—especially because he was in the middle of writing a Washington Post column when I visited—but he ended up being very warm and kind to me. We discussed journalism, Washington, D.C., and his family. Once again, we met through Jan Huffman, the fantastic woman I babysit for. She knows his ex-wife and son through the Indiana Down Syndrome Foundation. His son, I found out, is an avid sports fan-- just like my sister. :-) I am so very grateful to
Jan! The meeting was truly one of the most beneficial experiences I think I will ever have. I really got a sense of how much you have to love writing to become successful. He said he regretted the weekends. That is how much he loves his job. If that’s not passion, I really don’t know what is.
Well, that is pretty much my life summed up in a few words. I still like D.C., though I am missing home a lot lately. I don't know if I could live this far away from all of my family and friends. I was beyond happy when I went back to Indiana. I can't even describe it. It's not that I'm having a bad time here, I'm actually having a great experience. I just miss the comfort of home and of Xavier. Even though I enjoy having the "adult" life--I know I'm not ready for it quite yet. I still want my last two years of college.
That's all for now. Hopefully I won't wait another 2 months to write again. ;-) I can't wait to see everyone for Thanksgiving! I miss and I love you all. Ciao!
P.P.S. I'm supposed to give a shout out to my good friends Lucy and Stephanie Rosoff-- so hey to the best neighbors ever! :-) See you on Grey's night!
