I really wish I knew what week it was but I'm too busy to notice...

So sorry I've been MIA for the past few weeks, it has literally been so busy and exhausting with class, work and the extra programming we have! Not to mention that sleeping and eating takes a lot of my energy so there's that.... Anyway, the past few weeks have been business as usual at work, although after tomorrow I am not sure if I will say that but only time will tell. Programming and classes have been going good, I had my first big paper due for my class due last week so fingers crossed that my writing skills hold up here like they mostly did on campus. I have already started thinking about our next big paper (which is due next week), so forewarning if I go missing again at least now you have a reason as to where I am. I received my first care package last week from my sweet mother complete with a Texas flag for me to hang up in my room so that just in case there was any doubt as to where I was from, this would clear it up. Also, for some other fun news I ventrured to a flea shop two weekends ago with my roommate and spent some money getting some pretty things for my girls back home, as well as for myself:) Being the daring person that I am, I also tried a new food place last week called Five Guys and let me tell you, I missed having a good burger and fry. It was similar to the food style of Mooyah if anyone has ever been there but it was amazing, greasy food that was just what we all needed after a long day of work. Other than that I've got nothing too exciting to report, although give me another week or so and I may....;) Anyway, hope this was enough to let my parents know that I am not just holed up in my room all of the time, especially since the kitchen is outside of my room so I have to leave my bed eventually;);)

Until next time y'all. Whenever that will be...

"Yes, another Saturday in the city: Saturday 14, 2013"

Well after an unfortunate wake-up call early this morning I proceeded to go and have a pretty great experience meeting some WW2 veterans. We got to meet these great men as they entered the WW2 memorial and cheer and welcome them to their memorial. It was such a great and moving experience and the WW2 veterans we so appreciative. Anyway, after that we walked on and explored the Vietnam memorial, the Lincoln memorial and the Korean War veteran memorial before heading back home. I loved getting to see some of the other parts of history that are here in DC. For dinner we made another trip to Union Station where we had some good food for dinner: Chipotle:) Today was a pretty successful day and I believe the pictures I add will show that! The only thing that sucks about the weekends here is that the metro always has track work being done so the metro is always slow but at least we finally made it home to rest our feet after a long day of walking. Tomorrow will be dedicated to school work, laundry, and organization as all good Sundays should be.

Until next time y'all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"This week in review: Monday September 9- Friday September 13, 2013"

Well hello there again to all of my loyal followers! I am sure by now you have all sent out various amber alerts and police scouting parties to go and look for me but call them back because I am alive! This week definitely got away from me, one of the hassles of a working girl's life, but anyway I would say this week had some of the best and the worst times. For starters, on Monday I was getting ready in the dark for work and I rammed my baby toe into a bed post, proceeded to go into the closet, get lightheaded, fall over, get the chills and then get VERY nauseous. Thankfully it passed and I was able to go to work but I am pretty sure since my toe still hurts and is red and purple it is broken, but what are ya gonna do? I suppose this is another one of the hazards of living in DC! Anyway work this week went well, I had some projects that I got to help on, some meetings I got to attend. Fun fact: I went to a meeting in Greenbelt (no idea where that is) , but anyway it was at the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA office, so shout out to my daddy who works for South Texas HIDTA in San Antonio, I knew he would appreciate me being there. So I also made two very exciting sets of plans for the future this week however the details of the plans are currently on a need to know basis, therefore y'all will probably get the details of my fun adventures after the fact in these two instances;) This week's early morning's required a lot of diet coke and a pumpkin spice latte this morning, but I did it. I am really learning a lot and liking every experience I have at DEA so I can't wait to see what the rest of the semester has in store.

I definitely feel very loved since I got sweet cards from both of my grandmothers and they made me feel not so homesick. Also, my friends are the best and know how much a "just thinking of you" and a "miss you and wish you were here" text mean to me so major shout out to them for making me smile at least once a day this week. I turned in my first paper for my Thursday night class, so we will see how that goes but the readings (although a little long) are very interesting and I am excited to take away even more knowledge from this class. So now after cleaning my bathroom, washing the dishes from dinner and cleaning the kitchen and living room I am going to relax tonight as I am exhausted, stressed and still sad that my Horned Frogs lost last night:(

I did forget to mention though that my suitemates were amazing and got me a dinosaur donut (its a giant amazing donut) and I got French toast pie this week with some of the other people at DEA on the way home from a meeting, so I have had a very yummy week in terms of food.

Anyway, until next time y'all. Whenever that is:)

"Sunday funday: September 8, 2013"

Well today was a very relaxing Sunday indeed. I woke up and headed to the gym for a light workout and then went to the back patio with my suitemates for a lunch provided by our RA of sorts here. We were able to eat some delicious Potbelly sandwiches and meet the rest of the people that live on our floor. Then one of my suitemates decided today wouldn't be complete without some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Afterwards I went downstairs to print off all of the articles I need to read for my class for the rest of the semester at .10 cents a print (but don't worry they take credit cards) and then finished getting myself organized while watching some Harry Potter. After a delicious  homemade dinner of nachos, I will do my reading for the week and hopefully have an early evening as I have an early week this week with my days starting at 7am. Tomorrow is my first day of programming for Politics and Public Policy, so ill leave the office around noon time and have a good two hours of programming back here at the RAF until I am done for the day. Hopefully, this week (although an early one) will be a good one at work, at class, at programming and with my new friends. Hopefully I will get some more sights seen this coming weekend and get to know some new areas of DC.

Until next time y'all.

"Another weekend in DC: Friday September 7 and Saturday September 8, 2013"

So sorry about the delay on the blog postings, but I have a good reason,  I promise. So last night all of the roommates and I had a girls night in, I'm talking a great dinner together, a night of chick flicks (obviously Mean Girls was one of them) basically, a good time with new friends.  Then this morning (another late one, since real people work has been starting so early), we woke up and relaxed all day and then went to have some yummy Chinese food at the lovely....Union Station metro stop which surprisingly has a whole mall thing inside. Luckily enough I was able to watch the second half of the TCU game today seeing as it took me almost the whole length of the game to find out where it was being broadcast on TV....ugh, these northern stations don't appreciate college football like us southerners do. Anyway, since the game was on I decided to wait until next weekend to go hang out with my Veteran friends (especially since the metro lines I needed were not working, typical DC lol).

So last night was hard and I'm still kinda bummed about it, not being able to be there to celebrate big/lil reveal with all of my sisters...I knew seeing the pictures from last night was going to be hard but geez that was rough. I am usually at every event, in every picture (well okay that's a stretch) but missing out on those moments, with those girls really sucks. Those girls, well they remind me who I am and make me laugh until I cry, they have been there for the past two years almost all of the time, so it's just hard being here missing them and missing EVERYTHING there!! I feel so disconnected to my life and friends back in Texas and I am always worried about being forgotten about up here in the north aka my Texas friends and I often forget there is life outside of our amazing state. Don't get me wrong, being here, getting to be an adult at my awesome internship, having my first apartment, meeting some really great girls who have already become great friends and who I get the pleasure of living with is amazing. Seeing history and culture every single day make me remember why it is that I want to do what I want to do. 

Speaking of which, Friday was a very interesting work day, I got to finalize my first short project that I worked on earlier in the week so I got my first piece of DEA official work accomplished. I have only been there a week and I already know SO much more about drugs and what the DEA actually does than I ever have before. Being a DEA kid, you think you know everything about what your Dad does, I mean my Dad was like THE SPECIAL AGENT to me, and I always knew he was one of the greats fighting the War against Drugs but I never knew how much time and knowledge surrounded investigations, intelligence gathering and the processing of the agency. So Dad, now I do really appreciate some of the late nights that you had to be a part of when I was a kid, I know it was for a good cause:)

Anyway in other news, this week starts my programming, my meetings, my first class assignments due, another week of firsts (it's never ending) and also I have to be in at 7am this week...those of you who know me know that will be quite the struggle but with the help of some more diet coke, I will survive, hopefully. So the good things are that I have gotten to talk on the phone to my always wise roomz from back home, skyped with one of my closest friends (also a sister), one of the most accommodating girls I know (also a sister) and my little a little bit, so I have had some good contact with my girlies back home this week.

Tomorrow I have a brunch with my floor and I will probably knock out some reading that I have due for my class on Thursday, oh the life of a TWC intern, so glamorous.

Again I apologize to all of you for the delay in posting these blogs (again sorry Daddy, but I gave you a nice little shout out so that should make up for it), like I said I am new to the whole blogger life.

Until next time y'all, whenever that may be.

"First Day of Class: September 5, 2013"

I knew this whole blogging thing was going to get complex at some point, so while I would love to tell y'all about my day today, I am just about ready to pass out so instead I am going to do a double blog post tomorrow for Thursday and Friday! Hope you aren't too disappointed although again, I'm sure it's just my parents reading and they can just call and yell at me if they are annoyed.

Anyway, to be continued...tomorrow.....

"Work Day 2: September 4, 2013"

Sorry to all of you out there who have been waiting for me to post on my blog (although i's fairly certain most of the views are from my family aka hi mom and dad but that's fine). Anyway, the day just seemed to get away from me a little bit. The good news is this morning I arrived at the right DEA building by way of the TWC shuttle (which is about as unreliable as the weather back home in Texas but in all fairness it is hard to accommodate like 400 students schedules) to Union Station and then arrived in good old Chinatown for some 8:30am to 5:00pm work. The full day working life definitely is different from having 1-4 hours of class a day in college. I do enjoy being able to dress nicely (even though having to get up early every morning is not my favorite thing in the world) and do real people work. Doing real people work is intimidating, thinking that you are not just doing some random assignment and that people actually need to use your work is scary crazy.  So today I was able to jump right in an work on some research regarding PCP and also see how the evidence room operates a little bit at DEA. I have to say these are experiences I am so grateful to be able to have because they definitely don't have any hard core evidence rooms at TCU, unless you count the library which an evidence room of what time of year it is (middle of the semester you will find an empty library, finals week you won't even find a chair to sit in at that library).

I am definitely getting my bearings a little bit more and learning my way around at least the areas that I have already been to once. I have my once a week class tomorrow night from 6:30om-9:30pm, so needless to say my vacation from class is over somewhat and I will be hitting the books again starting tomorrow night. I am excited to see what the class has in store as it is about Criminal Justice and Policy Wars and focuses on two of my favorite Policy Wars: the War on Terror and the War on Drugs (only PoliSci nerds will openly admit that they actually have favorite policy wars, at least this one will since my senior thesis is about National Security threat perceptions and being a DEA kid my whole life and now a DEA intern, the War on Drugs holds a certain fascination in my heart). Hopefully, I will be able to gain some interesting new insights and meet some more TWC students all at the same time. The other good news is I got the civic engagement I wanted: Veterans!!! I have a special place in my heart for this Civic Engagement since I have several veterans in my family and respect the service that these men and women give to their country. I actually think I have my first opportunity at direct service this Saturday, so hopefully I can make it to the WWII memorial and get to hang out with people who have shown their love for their country in the biggest way possible.

I am starting to get more and more emails regarding appointments and meetings that I have for the semester for my programming, so hopefully I can get some time this weekend to get everything updated so I can have all of my ducks in a row before embarking on next week. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself, this week isn't even through yet. My sorority formal is happening soon, my friends back home are buying dresses and finding dates to hang out with for a night of fun and I'm sad to say I won't be there, also I finished the cupcakes I was sent today so that's kind of just a double bummer. And I just realized I am missing one of a sororities most coveted traditions on Friday, Big and Little Diamond Sister Reveal. Hopefully, the good times I have here will distract me from the events I am missing at home with my friends, it doesn't make me miss them or being there any less but it'll take my mind of the main force of it.

Here's to getting through the rest of this first week of work.

Until next time y'all.

"First Day of Work: September 3, 2013"

Well, I'm going to try and keep today's post short and sweet and to the point since I am pretty exhausted after my first day of semi-real people work at the DEA. It turns out that I will actually be working at the WDO (Washington Division Office) and not at DEA headquarters so I will have lovely Chinatown to explore while on my way to and from work. The first day was pretty good and I think I will learn a lot and gain a good deal of experience and knowledge working for this intel group at the DEA WDO. I will be doing a good deal of researching, reading and writing, which as it turns out is what I really enjoy doing (yes I am a nerd and love to research and write papers) so I think this will be a great environment for me to learn in and expand on all of those wonderful things I have been paying them to teach me at TCU!

I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone today, finding a new address in DC, meeting so many new people and having thai food for lunch. It was surprisingly good, and that is another plus about working in Chinatown-there is great food and a lot of different food options to choose from, which I am definitely not complaining about. All in all, my first day had an eventful start with the change in location, but I am really excited to see what kind of work this semester at DEA WDO has in store for me.

No pictures today, I was in a rush to get out the door and on to the metro this morning so I didn't snap a first day of work picture but maybe i'll get a second day of work picture to make up for it!

Until next time y'all.

"Labor Day Monday: September 2, 2013"

Sooooo, another somewhat late morning for me but I finally found a key ring on which to put my TWC ID and keys on so I feel like I have my life a little bit more together than I did before. I decided to venture to the gym downstairs because I ate a burger from TD Burgers across the street last night(great food, obviously pricey but very good if you are in a pinch for food), and one of the delicious cupcakes my sisters sent me so I felt like this morning called for a workout! The workout facility here is fairly nice, three treadmills and an assortment of other workout machines so it was definitely nice to get a workout in.
Then I headed to the metro solo so I could do a practice run of using the metro to get to the DEA office at Pentagon City, all in all I have to say I was very impressed that I didn't mess up getting there since I had to switch lines and it took me about 32 minutes total to get to the Pentagon City stop. Tomorrow I was planning on allowing for an hour to get to work, just so I made sure I got there early and had time to freshen up before I went in for my first day of work. I feel fairly confident about using the metro system, and just in case I have an application on my phone for the DCmetro so I can find my way if I need to. Also, being the type A personality that I am, I am going to review the metro map in detail and all the stops so I can feel confident in my public transit skills. I am not gonna lie though, taking the metro solo freaked me out....and that was during the daytime so I know that I will never EVER take the metro by myself at night (so now my pepper spray is definitely in my purse just to make myself feel safer).

Now, I just have to struggle for the rest of the day to try and find the perfect first day of work outfit, I want to look professional, stylish, serious and be comfortable. I am probably going to wear heels, but carry them and wear flip flops until I get to the metro, even though 3 years of recruitment have prepared me for spending a long time in heels but I just have to figure out what first impression I want to make tomorrow. Hopefully while I am picking out my first day of work outfit I can pick out my outfits for the rest of the week so I am not so stressed out later trying to figure out what to wear. I have some laundry that needs to be done later today and then I need to make sure and set my alarm for 6:30am tomorrow morning. Well, the butterflies have set in and the nerves have arrived for this week of starting my internship, starting my class here and starting my programming and life here in DC. I guess only time will tell how this week, and the rest of the semester will go.

Until next time y'all.

"First Sunday in DC: September 1, 2013"

It's hard to believe that it has been a week since I said goodbye to my sisters and friends back home in good old Texas....I am definitely having Texas withdrawals y'all, but everyday I am settling in a bit more. Oh so for a fun side note, for those of you thinking of doing this internship as 20 year olds, be advised that bars DO NOT let you in, even if say you just wanted to watch the TCU vs. LSU game last night! They don't even offer to put X's on your hands or anything to show you are under 21 like bars in Texas do because apparently they only allow those that are 21 in because it's such a hassle for the bartenders here to have to check ID's! So needless to say I will be watching the rest of the season's TCU football games from the comfort of my own apartment as I will be living the 20 year old life until November 10th.

So for today's adventure it starts with a me deciding that I would sleep in till 10:00am (only 9:00am Texas time I might add) and then heading off with 2 of the roommates to Chinatown in DC. We made a pit stop at the National Portrait Gallery, and then headed off to our main point of interest for the day, the International Spy Museum. The portraits at the National Portrait Gallery were beautiful the had painted and photographed pieces as well as sculptures and other artistic creations. We only had time to cover the first floor today, as the gallery is massive, but it is free so we figured we'd make another trip back out there to see the other two floors. I ended up having a blast at the Spy museum, they have everything from James Bond spy paraphernalia to the historic accounts of some real life spies (a lot of whom were Russian aka KGB, go figure?)  I would definitely say set aside a good two hours to get through the Spy museum, and get ready to be overwhelmed with spy gadgets and gizmos from history as well as the spy gear used in the Bond films to recreate a mysterious lifestyle. I have to say I enjoyed the Spy museum gift shop immensely (sooooo I ended up spending $20 there, sorry Dad but the good news for him is I didn't get a keychain too so that's a plus). I got some shot glasses for me and my bestie back in Texas, so when we turn 21 we can celebrate in style from the Spy museum, and a cute set of mustached sunglasses for the roomz back home. (I offered to get her a fedora since a 5ft girl in a fedora would look super cute, but she said no and what she says goes haha) I also found some sorority related spy materials at the Spy museum, such as two signs that are shown below talking about "Sisterhood of Spies" during the Civil War, not that I'm surprised, sororities are secret societies. Speaking of secret societies, as my sorority was the first secret society for women I had to take a picture of a James Bond movie poster with the caption "Diamonds are Forever", representing ADPi's diamond sign<>. All in all it was a productive and tiring day, so much so that we decided to splurge and eat out for dinner, and skip a tour of the monuments led by TWC that was tonight at 7. I'm sure all of the TWC tours are fantastic, but I have a feeling I will be seeing a lot of DC and all that it has to offer with smaller groups (my suitemates) and a tour guide with a voice that I never mind listening to (me!). I'm not surprised since that's how I do everything in my life, never the easy way, in my own time and following my own path to get me to have an experience that is uniquely my own.

My first Sunday in DC, second Sunday without a Sorority meeting and first day really realizing how separate my life here is from my life in Texas (my inbox is missing the ADPi emails I have grown accustomed to getting everyday of my life). Toto's I don't think we are in Texas anymore. Here's to enjoying the moments I have here in DC, and missing the moments I would be making in Texas, I wouldn't be me if I didn't acknowledge both.

Until next time y'all.

"First Saturday in DC: August 31, 2013"

When I woke up this morning in my DC apartment I had full intentions of going on a tour of the Capitol with two of my suitemates that was being led by the Washington Center, however; after looking at the details of the tour more closely I saw that we were supposed to RSVP if we were going on the tour...whoopsie! (good to know for later TWC events and also you future interns can take note of this) Anyway, we changed plans and made our way to the metro and then to the Pentagon City Mall for a shopping day. I have been looking for a professional looking bigger sized purse, and managed to find one, but the price was a little expensive for a poor college student intern from Texas with no income in one of the most expensive cities ever! Hopefully, I can get the parentals to splurge on the beautiful TCU purple Kate Spade bag I want for my 21st birthday on November 10th, but we shall see;).  I did manage to find a new work dress at my favorite store Francesca's so all in all it was a successful shopping trip!                                                                                         

 

  

 

Now on to the highlight of my day. My sorority sisters are literally my second family, and without them by my side here in DC I have been pretty lost (literally and metaphorically as I am awful with directions and always need my sisters to tell me which way to go). Today is the first day of the College football season for my school the TCU Horned Frogs #purplereign #GOFROGS, and needless to say I am so sad that I won't get to be there this season for any of the games:( My sisters, knowing me so well and being so amazing, sent me cupcakes from my favorite cupcake shop in DC, DC Georgetown Cupcakes! If that wasn't enough, they had the cupcakes decorated with TCU logos and American flags and included the sweetest note ever that said "Hello baby! We're missing you at the game and thought we'd send you a little love! Good luck this week! Ashley, Maddie, Kristin and Katie." Theses girls are without a doubt my closest friends and sisters and the fact that they would spend their money to send me TCU cupcakes and a sweet note means the world to me! I can't wait until I get to see them again and I know they will have so much fun at the games this semester and I will definitely be there in spirit with them cheering on my Horned Frogs!!!  Words can't express how thankful I am not only for this package from them, but also just to have them in my life! I got the best/sweetest present in the world from two of my BEST friends, my LITTLE and the B. DAVIS to my Haley James Scott, I am beyond blessed and I know my suitemates were in awe of the love that I have for these girls and the love they have for me! It's funny how even from so far away, they are still as much a part of my life as ever and that's because they are my sisters and We live for each other!

 

 

                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

 

And now for tonight, I will be cheering on my frogs from either a TCU alumni watch party at a bar somewhere in DC or from the comfort of my own apartment! Either way I will be wearing my purple, yelling for my team and missing my sisters like crazy! Thank you again so much Ashley, Maddie, Kristin and Katie, y'all made me cry(in a good way) and made me feel so special and loved just like I hope y'all know that you are so special to me and loved by me!! Love y'all!!

Until next time y'all. PS GO FROGS BEAT LSU!

 

 

"Orientation Day 2: August 30, 2013"

Well, now that Orientation has come to a close and all of the TWC information has been packed in my head I am relaxing in my new apartment for a bit. Hopefully, I will venture out later  with the suitemates to Pentagon City Mall to use the Metro and also to shop around for a bit for a professional looking purse as I didn't bring one with me. So for the evaluation of today, the Politics and Public Policy program seems like it will be a good fit and I really like all of the people I have met so far in the program. I will definitely be a busy bee this semester, but that'll be a good thing, I'll be doing things I have a passion for and building up my confidence as a professional, even so my heart will still be breaking for all of the TCU football games I will be missing.

On another note, we rearranged the common area furniture last night before watching a movie and now we have even more open space than we had before. Hopefully, we will find a few more decorations or knick-knacks to add to the space to make it more homey. I am excited to start my internship next Tuesday and get this semester started, the class, the internship and the service components should all be interesting, tiring and great experiences. Most of my time here I have felt like I fit in with all of the other political minded thinkers like myself and have loved getting the opportunity to learn more about who I can be in the future, there are some times though when I miss the cowboy boots, amazing Mexican food and the Texas Flags flowing in the air from back home. It is an adjustment but everyday DC and this program are getting more and more exciting so I hope that continues throughout the semester.

               

                                                                         



Until next time y'all!!

"Orientation Day 1: August 29, 2013"

So to start off I would just like to say that the hour time difference makes a world of difference when you have to be up in professional looking clothes by 9am. Today we had official orientation programming from 9-10am and then the rest of the day we had unofficial orientation programming which basically meant we went to the meetings that applied to us. We sat through 4 information sessions about the civic engagement programs and my top two were 1) Veterans and 2) Homeless, so we will see which one I end up with since I already filled out the selection survey.

Oh so my roommate finally showed up late last night, and understandably so as she came from Puerto Rico. Anyway, a fun adventure my roommates and I had today was emailing the maintenance people because our ice machine in our fridge made it start leaking water everywhere...we turned off the machine but word of caution to all of those future interns who think that making ice is a good idea, if you wanna live on the edge I say go ahead and make ice here using your TWC fridge, if you wanna play it safe, say suck it up and just put your drinks in the fridge.
We also decided to venture two blocks down to the Giant today (aka one of the grocery stores here) to get some more groceries because food here is so expensive!! If you are ever thinking of sending me anything while I am here send food please, thank you in advance for saving me from bankruptcy or starvation hahaha, but really food prices are so high here. Also, I have asked my mom to send me a Texas flag for my wall but I have still yet to hear back if that will ever get here to me. The good news is that we are done with programming for the day and we have an ice cream social in the building to get a chance to meet everyone and eat yummy ice cream! So, after this post I am off to eat some ice cream and then relax in my bed for the rest of the night before orientation round 2 tomorrow. Fun Fact: We had a floor meeting last night and got the low down on rules and on the guest policy, aka any of my friends please feel free to come visit me if you can:) (PS I still really miss everyone...)

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy some ice cream so on that note I would just like to give a shout out to my daddy on his birthday today!! Love you daddy! Until, next time y'all!