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
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