Bumps Understood

I made a realization today about the annoying raised path near the edge of every Metro platform. It's important for me to note that I've complained aloud and grumbled to myself time and time again that this large bumpy strip hurts my feet when I speed walk across it in an attempt to breeze by those "tourist-pace" people between me and the exit. I never took the time to figure out why this pathway wasn't smooth like the rest of the platform, nor did it ever cross my mind that it served an important purpose.

Today after work, I witnessed a blind man navigating the Metro. While walking along the platform, he tapped and dragged his cane in rhythm to and from the smooth surface and the bumpy surface. Those annoying bumps to me were a matter of life and death to him. If they weren't there for his safety, he could very easily walk right off the platform and into the path of a moving train.

From this experience, I'm taking away two very important lessons:

1) My convenience isn't always the most important. Take a deep breath and slow your life down once in a while.

2) Cherish the gifts you have (such as sight), rather than dwelling on those you don't or those things that bring you down. Your joy in life relies on it.

Scheduler

This past week at work was quite intense. President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, FY 2010 appropriation request deadlines have been looming, and we have a handful of clients coming to Washington next week. I feel as though my job title may well have been "Scheduler" the past few weeks, as I've spent a great deal of time and energy making sure our clients get in to see everyone. But as hectic as things have been in my office, I still do my best to be as polite as possible whenever communicating with people outside my office. I'm continually shocked by the number of people who do not make an effort to do the same. 

The poor attitudes I've experienced are most likely caused by people working in a job that they don't enjoy, and this is something I constantly struggle with. After meeting up with my old senate gang for happy hour this week, I was reminded of the number of people that I know personally who are in the same boat. But with the current economy, job security is crucial. It definitely isn't the time to be quitting a job to find something you better enjoy; however, I think this is even more reason for everyone to make the best of their current jobs. I just wish people were a bit more optimistic, that's all.

With that said, my optimism continues to be tested. This week, my good friend Jenny made the decision to be admitted to the hospital. Symptoms from her first week of chemo proved to be too difficult to manage at home, and she felt like the hospital was the best place for her. It's hard for us to show Jenny support from so many miles away, but we do the best we can with what we have. Continue to keep her in your prayers, as her treatment road ahead may be long and hard considering how rough it has begun.

In such trying times, I am very thankful for the friends I have made out here and the church family I working on building. The girls in my small group all seem like great people, and I'm excited to get to know them better and have deeper discussions with them. More to follow on that later.

......I can't wait until spring/warm weather!! 

Love & Loss

To say work last week was crazy would be an understatement. By the time Friday afternoon rolled around, we all felt like we'd run a marathon. Not only was I trying to keep up with the ever-changing news on the stimulus, but I was also busy spending time with a friend who was visiting DC for a dental conference. This led to very little sleep and added stress to an already busy week. I couldn't have been more excited to leave the office and head to HH with Elizabeth.

We were in for a big surprise upon meeting her friends at a pool hall we'd never stepped foot in, and purposefully so. This place must have formerly been a truck stop. It was complete with men in cut-off shirts and a cigarette machine--do any of you readers know if this is still legal?--and I was completely out of place in my work attire. Nonetheless, Elizabeth and I made the best of the situation and enjoyed playing some pool, but I proved myself wrong in feeling even more excitement walking out of the pool hall than I felt leaving work.

Now for some love...Valentine's Day. I woke up and made heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes for myself and my roommate. It was cute and a fun way to start off our day. Cat and I then took off for Friendship Heights in a quest to find the perfect dress for her first official Valentine date. We spent hours searching and trying on dresses. I compared the experience to helping my sister find the perfect wedding dress, but actually found shopping for my 5 foot gf a whole new kind of challenging. Everything I would normally run from on a rack was exactly what she needed. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in finding her a new dress. As a last minute thought, I suggested we take a quick look at the shoes. I was immediately drawn to a purple pair of Jessica Simpson pumps that I insisted Cat buy to wear with a dress she had at home and our all-day shopping experience was validated with a five minute splurge shoe purchase.

I was forced to turn over my Valentine to her evening date, but I recruited a few guy friends to take Elizabeth and I out for dinner last minute. It would have been a shame to stay in on a Saturday evening just because nobody had asked to be my Valentine. The four of us had a great casual outing and then had Cat and Brock meet us for a few games of pool (a lot for one weekend, I know). Although my friends were much more competitive than Elizabeth's when it came to shooting pool, there was still a lot of love shared on Valentine's Day.

And now on loss...

I received a phone call from my sister last night. She had news that someone we both knew fairly well died while in labor with her third child. The baby also did not survive. This news was very saddening and difficult to wrap my mind around. I can't imagine how this father is to deal with the loss of an expected baby, the death of his lifelong mate, and the newness of being a single parent all at once. My heart breaks for him and those closest to their family, as I know their struggles are more than ten-fold of those I am feeling. This situation, along with the recurrence of my great friend Jenny's cancer, really makes me ask why such good people are forced to handle such difficult situations. Although I've witnessed the effects of everything happening for a reason, it doesn't make it any easier to digest.

Tonight I am attending a small group gathering of females in their mid-twenties from my church out here. I'm excited to meet some new people and to attempt growing in my personal relationship with the Lord. Fingers crossed this will be a good fit for me!

 

Movie Date + Church Date = Dating Expert

My Sunday began with making pancakes for breakfast after a fun night of bowling on Saturday night. Let's just say, the Bethesda bowling alley put Iowa bowling alleys to shame.

Then Cat and I met Elizabeth in Arlington to see "He's Just Not That Into You." Although we had heard the movie wasn't getting the best reviews, we decided to go anyway. The film critics may have taken issue with the fact that the movie didn't fully develop the characters or that stereotypes ran the show, but I felt like the movie offered a little bit of truth for everyone in the audience (which was about 98% female). The only issue I take with the film is that those women in the audience with significant others are left doubting whether their man really is into them. The last thing women need is another reason to question our relationships, because we are all guilty of analyzing (and even over analyzing) them until we are blue in the face. Currently, I do not have a relationship to do just that over, but Cat and Elizabeth are worried enough for all three of us. I'm doing the best damage control possible!

After the movie, the three of us grabbed a bite to eat before heading to church. Last week, John (one of the younger members of the staff) started a two week series on dating. The first message was meant to be all about finding the right person. Although John had a number of valuable things to share, the main thing I took from that message was you need to make yourself the best person you can be in order to prepare yourself for meeting that right person. Ok, I've heard this once or twice before. This week's message was focused on how to go about the actual dating after you find that potential someone. John's words this week were, hands down, one of the best sermons I have ever heard.

The key phrase Todd shared was this...The holier you are, the happier you'll be. He said this phrase holds true with respect to more than just dating, but discussed it specifically with respect to dating. And then he said the one thing you need to establish to have a good dating relationship is "clarity." As with many religious themes, there were three parts to this clarity: clarity in communication, clarity in boundaries, and clarity in community. I'll leave my summary at that, but I strongly encourage you to visit http://www.frontlinedc.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=712 and listed to John's message. Hopefully you will benefit from his words even half as much I have, because I know it will be well worth your time. 

 

Still Alive and Kicking

Hello, hello!

As it's nearly been three months since my last entry, I apologize for my extended hiatus. I'm sure my faithful readers are wondering what I've been up to since November. I'll do my best to get you up-to-date in this entry.

Thanksgiving was spent with my "DC Family." One of my friend's mom's came out to visit and helped us prepare a full Thanksgiving feast for 25, even though there were only 6 of us. Although it was difficult to be away from my immediate family for the holiday, I knew I would get to spend quality time with them over Christmas.

Much to my dismay, I had the opportunity to see my family much sooner than planned. The day after Thanksgiving, one of my cousins got in a terrible car accident. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, was miraculously revived, but then died in the hospital over the weekend. This news was very shocking, and I had a difficult time handling it out here alone. Doug's funeral was planned for two weekends after the accident, giving us all the opportunity to take off work and book our tickets to Denver. Although death of a loved one is the last possible situation you would want to bring your family together for, I did enjoy seeing nearly all of my extended family and felt extremely fortunate to be able to be there for Doug's immediate family, especially his daughter Hannah. We all struggled to understand why it was his time to join the Lord in heaven, but I know from personal experience that the loss of a father at such a young age is life-changing. My family in Colorado remains in my prayers, and I hope they are continuing to feel a little better each day.

The weekend after my Denver trip was the beginning of my Christmas adventures in the Midwest. When I woke up the morning of my flight, I had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong. I had Ben (a close friend, at the time) take me to the airport early, but everything went smoothly until Omaha. My luggage did not make it to my second airplane, leaving me to manage with clothing still in my room at the farm for the next several days, as I went straight to Des Moines later that evening to spend time with friends from college. I couldn't have been more excited to go to Amanda and Miranda's new apartment for a Christmas gathering with a group of my closest friends, but unfortunately lost luggage wasn't the cause of that feeling I'd had in the morning. 

About 20 minutes from my destination, I was forced to stop on the Interstate for an unknown reason over the next hill. About 20 minutes after being stopped I realized there must have been a serious accident as a several police cars and three ambulances passed by me on the shoulder. An hour after stopping, I assumed the accident was nearly cleared from the road and I'd be moving shortly. If only. Four and half hours and two cries later, I finally got to continue on my way. I drove past a semi-trailer still on fire and detached from it's cab and another semi-trailer with damage to it's back door. For my first time behind the wheel in 6 months, this experience was traumatizing enough to make me never want to drive again.

I got past that feeling and drove the final few miles to see my friends, who were all of course asleep by the time I arrived. Fortunately, I was able to get a smaller group of people together for lunch the following day and got to spend a few quality days with my Rach. Although we both wanted that time to be a few weeks instead of a few hours, we had a great time together as always.

This brings us to Dec. 23, when I had the opportunity to pick up a friend from the KC airport with another one of my college friends. All of this drive time was a bit nerve-wracking after my first driving experience, but everything went smoothly and I made it back to the farm late that evening in time to begin Christmas celebrations with my family. I was back and forth between Harlan and Omaha for the remainder of my visit, seeing great friends from high school and friends from my internship program out here. Although spending time with everyone I love so dearly was great, I headed to the airport anticipating a move upon returning back to DC.

I ran into more trouble as my flight was delayed and overbooked, forcing me to reschedule my flight for the following day, New Year's Eve. I flew through Dallas to DCA and arrived in Bethesda at 3pm. My new roommate (details on this later) Cat helped me pack up my apartment and we made it to her place with a full carload by 6pm, just in time to get ready for the night's festivities and head out. We spent the evening with kickball friends, but were a little distracted because our friend Jenny was unable to make it back to DC.

Sadness, take 2. Our good friend Jenny found out that her bone cancer had come back after over 6 years in remission, and she had immediate surgery to remove the greater part of one of her ribs. The surgery went well, but the road to follow will be long and hard. Jenny was able to return to DC the night before the Inauguration to enjoy that with us. She had several consultations out here and made the decision to go forward with a 6 month chemo treatment back home in St. Louis. She packed up her room and left Tuesday morning this week. My housing troubles apparently were for this reason, as I am now living with Cat in Jenny's old room. We are hopeful that Jenny's treatment will go well the next few months and she will be able to come back *home* to us soon and finish her treatment out here. Please keep her in your prayers for me.

***INAUGURAL TIME***

I couldn't have been more excited to be in the nation's capital for one of the most historic Presidential Inaugurations. Everyone here thought the time would never come, but we were all thrilled when it finally got here! Cat and I joined several thousand of our closest friends on The Mall for the "We Are One" concert the Sunday before Inauguration. On our way to the concert, we just so happened to run into the Obama's outside the Blair House. Michelle waved to Cat and I from the motorcade!!! This was definitely the highlight of our experience, as not too many people are able to say this happened to them. We continued on to The Mall and got to see handfuls of famous musicians and Hollywood personalities. This day will be the memory of a lifetime, and I look forward to sharing it with people as I get older. I loved being with so many people and getting excited with them about the new direction our nation will embark upon.

Inauguration day was absolutely freezing, and we decided that it would be in all of our best interests to watch the swearing in and parade from the comfort and warmth of a coffee shop just outside of were the millions of people lined The Mall and the streets. We cheered and laughed with a large group of people and then enjoyed several hours of an all you can drink Mimosas and Bloody Marys at a bar down the street. There were people EVERYWHERE, but our day turned out to be amazing. Several of my close friends had the opportunity to attend Inaugural Balls, but they turned out to be a bit over-rated. All in all, it was a fabulous experience :)

Finally, a little about work. The stimulus bill has been a HUGE topic of interest for us, as there is a lot of money at stake for our cities. We have been having a handful of client visits/appointments on the Hill. I was fortunate enough to meet one of our new mayors and someone I speak to on the phone on a regular basis. It's good to put a face with the name, and I look forward to doing the same with more of our clients in the future. Appropriation time is also upon us, and I have been busy filling out those forms for a few of our cities. I feel like the contributions I have been making to our office are significant, and I look forward to continuing my work. Although I don't always appreciate staying at work up to an hour late, I do enjoy keeping busy.

I am now off to unpack my things and get settled in here. Hopefully you won't have to wait too long to hear from me again!

All my love,

amyjo