Well today was the closest to a normal day as we've experienced thus far. It began like any other - only I've decided to begin riding a bike to work each day. Work went fine for the both of us, Sean's began a bit earlier because of his monday morning meeting. Speaking of which, I learned at a DC United opening game viewing party/dealio, where our food tab was completely covered, that they'd appreciate me volunteering to help at their home games - meaning I also get in free and get the box seats with Sean!
Well continuing with the exciting day, I enjoyed a little Subway (thanks mom) and headed back to the room. We decided a nap was necessary, given our late night paper writing the night before. Waking up from the nap, we took off for class, which was in the Senate office building. We imagined the comparison to Dordt... Classroom building versus the Senate Offices... hmmmmm.
Following our meeting with a Legislative Fellow of Senator Feinstein, we walked through every level of the building, stopping by the offices of Obama, Lieberman, Cantwell and the Senators of Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. We stepped inside and held short but helpful interviews in six of the offices (including Lieberman and Obama), realizing that it was easier than we thought. We were also dressed in suits so everyone knew we were important.
Our evening ended with research, writing, lifting and hopefully sleeping. The days since the last post were exciting as well. I can't remember every day, but I recall that we found a place to get 12 wings for a dollar on Tuesday nights - so that will be our outing tomorrow. We also paid a visit to the Sierra Club and the American Petroleum Institution for some exciting classes. Saturday we went on a run... ya, it got above 60 degrees so now we may begin running once again... and we ended up at the National Gallery of Art. We viewed EVERY PIECE in the east and west buildings, even though the thousands of pieces began to look very similar. We then ran across the mall area to the Hirshorn Museum to conquer another Smithsonian, and stepped through the Smithsonian castle into the Museum of African Art, Sackler and Freer galleries. Although the feeling of accomplishment was at a maximum, our energy and food levels were low so we returned 'home', ate as much food as we could, then left for Virginia, where we played a little basketball and sat in a hot tub at a member of ASP's house.
Sunday we had an unexpected snowstorm. After church at Union Station we went to a free college-aged pizza event-thing. To make the day better, we had a snowball fight the mile and a half back to our apartment. Then we grabbed our shovels and got to work for three-plus hours. Wednesday we hope to visit the DOA and get Sean a bank account, then thursday is the DC United game, followed by another promising weekend. I feel I've covered it all. We're still waiting to see if we'll ever have a day to relax! Until then, the posts should stay interesting. Thanks for the cookies Mutyu!!! Goodnight all.
Tuesday, February 27
Monday, February 19
Pittsburgh
Well we just returned to the district... which was weird. We just find it odd that we were 'vacationing' in Pittsburgh, then left to go back 'home', which is neither Washington/Colorado or Dordt. The weekend was great, and definitely the relaxing time away from the busyness. We stayed at the Hilton on the edge of downtown Pittsburgh, which we'd both argue is the nicest place to be in Pittsburgh. Against our preconceived notions of this city, it was actually quite nice. The buildings were all HUGE and quite congested. Our hotel was at the point of three rivers, and our room - on the 20th floor - overlooked the water, PNC park (Pirates) and Heinz field (Steelers).
We spent our late evenings walking all over the city, being sure to cover the whole area - much simpler than conquering DC. We found a drugstore close by, and purchased our weekend meals of peanut butter, bread and chips - the water at the hotel was free (haha)! A lot of the people with us wanted us to go out to eat with them but they wouldn't pay for us so that idea ended as quickly as it was introduced. The praise and worship, guest speakers, and breakout sessions were very good. 1800 college students make singing a different experience.
We were on a charter bus with students from Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, American University, and our ASP member. There was lots of southern gospel singing on the drive home, which kept us entertained, along with the movies. The trip was a little over five hours in all. We got back to DC and watched the end of the All-Star game, then shoveled/threw down salt likely for the last time of the season. We're looking forward to some nicer weather - since the first practice for our church's flag football team is next saturday!
I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning. Sean's company chooses not to observe the dedicated work and vital importance of our nation's presidents, so he'll be heading off to work once again. This week will likely hold a few more interviews, and a lot of paper writing! Sounds exciting, I know, we'll talk later.
We spent our late evenings walking all over the city, being sure to cover the whole area - much simpler than conquering DC. We found a drugstore close by, and purchased our weekend meals of peanut butter, bread and chips - the water at the hotel was free (haha)! A lot of the people with us wanted us to go out to eat with them but they wouldn't pay for us so that idea ended as quickly as it was introduced. The praise and worship, guest speakers, and breakout sessions were very good. 1800 college students make singing a different experience.
We were on a charter bus with students from Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, American University, and our ASP member. There was lots of southern gospel singing on the drive home, which kept us entertained, along with the movies. The trip was a little over five hours in all. We got back to DC and watched the end of the All-Star game, then shoveled/threw down salt likely for the last time of the season. We're looking forward to some nicer weather - since the first practice for our church's flag football team is next saturday!
I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning. Sean's company chooses not to observe the dedicated work and vital importance of our nation's presidents, so he'll be heading off to work once again. This week will likely hold a few more interviews, and a lot of paper writing! Sounds exciting, I know, we'll talk later.
Friday, February 16
Oh the Busyness
We've been a little busy lately, so I'll quick give a rundown of the last couple days then I gotta get a little sleep. I guess we've done the typical work and class speel, but yesterday we had a snowstorm, so our class was cancelled (it was going to be in Virginia), and we didn't have work. SNOW DAY!!! However, we are the snow shovelers, so we were up at 7 to shovel. It was pure ice, and we HAD to get everything perfect... Just the two of us, and it is the street sidewalk, the walkways to the houses (there were four houses), then the back where there are four 2-4 car parking lots. We finished at 1:30.... We ate lunch/breakfast, then at 2:30 set up the tables for the valentines day dinner (as the 'kitchen crew'). Finished at 3, then sean took a nap til 5 and I drew some pictures on the whiteboard (in the room the dinner was). Then we went to the kitchen to start getting some food ready, served, ate, cleaned, and finished that at 9:00. We went to the weight room at 9:30 and lifted until 11:30. Rough day on the body, righteous on the wallet! Tonight we went out to eat with godmother Hand(?) at a cuban-puerto rican restaurant, which was very good! Then liften, showered, and here I sit - with lots of homework to do, packing, and leaving for Pittsburgh at 12:00 tomorrow (work at 9). So it's been busy, but it's still a lot of fun and a great experience.
We'll let you all know how Jubilee goes this weekend. We are both looking forward to it, simply 'getting away' for a bit. Happy day after Valentine's Day!
We'll let you all know how Jubilee goes this weekend. We are both looking forward to it, simply 'getting away' for a bit. Happy day after Valentine's Day!
Thursday, February 8
A REAL Journey
I have to say before I start that I'm ready for bed, and we'll both sleep one of the greatest sleeps ever tonight! Sleep has become an extremely cherished period of time, being that we're always SO busy with things. Take today for example. We woke up at 7am and shoveled snow/scattered salt for two hours (made $30), ate a quick breakfast, went back to sleep until 11:30, then dressed for a mild winter afternoon and took off for lunch. We decided to use one of our recently awarded free large pizzas from Papa Johns, and the 3.21 miles (mapquest) seemed well worth the trip. Being Brett and Sean, we walked instead of taking the metro. Florida Avenue is a diagonal street running almost directly into Papa Johns, but we kept zig-zagging, not knowing for sure if we were going the right way. Well, 6+ miles later we found Papa Johns, enjoyed the BEST pizza EVER (given the toil), and started home on the right path, which sensably took us half the time. Sean brought up how many of our DC experiences thus far will allow for future father-son "When I was a kid" stories, involving our ENDLESS walks in the cold weather. It isn't all roses here. After our 10 mile excursion, we were exhausted and hungry, so we made ourselves another meal and went to class. Being a wednesday, class was directly followed by setting the tables, eating, and 3 hours of dishwashing ($32 more). We FINALLY made it into our second home (the weight room), and managed to finish shortly before midnight. Following one last meal, we are both very excited for some sleep once again!
Sean begins his work week tomorrow. Sadly, he had to take monday and tuesday off, since he must take an all-inclusive business trip to Richmond, Virginia - simply meaning free travel and food. In my first weekend alone, I'm excited to say I'll be able to get lots of reading done! We just got our syllabus for the next five weeks and there aren't many words to describe it. At this we discussed switching to pass/fail, which really isn't possible but was exciting to imagine. Last Sunday we attended church in the lower level of Union Station which was VERY good, and will likely be our church "home" for the next few months. Monday night we sadly watched the greatest NBA team of '07 lose a tough battle to a worthy opponent. We had some tickets to see the Sonics take on the Wizards, which was a decent game until the Wizards realized who they were playing in the 4th quarter and took away any remaining hope. And that about sums up our week thus far. We're excited for our trip to Pittsburgh next weekend, and another free pizza for dinner tomorrow night. We'll try to take a few more pictures, thanks for the comments!
Sean begins his work week tomorrow. Sadly, he had to take monday and tuesday off, since he must take an all-inclusive business trip to Richmond, Virginia - simply meaning free travel and food. In my first weekend alone, I'm excited to say I'll be able to get lots of reading done! We just got our syllabus for the next five weeks and there aren't many words to describe it. At this we discussed switching to pass/fail, which really isn't possible but was exciting to imagine. Last Sunday we attended church in the lower level of Union Station which was VERY good, and will likely be our church "home" for the next few months. Monday night we sadly watched the greatest NBA team of '07 lose a tough battle to a worthy opponent. We had some tickets to see the Sonics take on the Wizards, which was a decent game until the Wizards realized who they were playing in the 4th quarter and took away any remaining hope. And that about sums up our week thus far. We're excited for our trip to Pittsburgh next weekend, and another free pizza for dinner tomorrow night. We'll try to take a few more pictures, thanks for the comments!
Saturday, February 3
Quick note of how to live in the city:
Well, after work, lifting and class - we immediately started our night of serving. The people attending were from Ghana, St. Petersberg, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Bolivia... and a few more places. In the middle of the dinner, which included plenty of filet mignon, our leader from the program introduced Sean and I to the 'foreigners' and asked us to describe what we had learned, and how it is affecting us. The impromtu went better than expected, and we received several compliments from the attendees. I believe we're guarenteed A's as well, or that's what the CCU President (of the whole group - worldwide) told our leader.
Well after serving we loaded our plates with as much filet mignon as we could, stuffed it down (and have TONS of leftovers that the cook put in tupaware for us to have), then she drove us to meet the presidents at the theater by the Verizon Center, which was rented out to see 'Amazing Grace'. We're supposed to spread the word and get people to go see it. It comes out February 21 and we were both VERY impressed. So this isn't simply a sales pitch! Well we got out of that one quite late, walked around a bit, watched another movie, and just got back to ASP (it's 3:30). So we gotta get going on our 3 hrs of clean up, but hey, we're getting paid - paying the bills (donations are readily acceptable and actually encouraged). BYE!
Well after serving we loaded our plates with as much filet mignon as we could, stuffed it down (and have TONS of leftovers that the cook put in tupaware for us to have), then she drove us to meet the presidents at the theater by the Verizon Center, which was rented out to see 'Amazing Grace'. We're supposed to spread the word and get people to go see it. It comes out February 21 and we were both VERY impressed. So this isn't simply a sales pitch! Well we got out of that one quite late, walked around a bit, watched another movie, and just got back to ASP (it's 3:30). So we gotta get going on our 3 hrs of clean up, but hey, we're getting paid - paying the bills (donations are readily acceptable and actually encouraged). BYE!
Thursday, February 1
Another week of events
Well now we have some news to share. We've both decided that there will be PLENTY of things to keep us busy here for the next three months! Having wednesdays off of work has been a good break in the middle of the week, and hard as it is to believe, we didn't even sleep in this week! We went to 'conquer' a number of museums, but ended up covering just half of the air and space museum! It's the number one most-visited museum in the world, kind of amazing. So that's where we'll be starting this Saturday, but hopefully we'll get a bit more done.
Last week Saturday, as you read, we went to the Capitols game, which ended up being well worth the wait. Sean and I asked a lady, while we were in line (#13 and # 14 or 400+) if they had any jerseys to give away and she went inside and came out with the last two. So our free items of the night were the tickets, a large pizza, jerseys, shirts, posters, autographs/pictures with players, hot chocolate, and seats 8 rows from the glass - although the rest of the 'free-ticket-holders' made their way to the 4th level (we're good). We went extra early to the game to make sure we'd get tickets, and ended up going to the Georgetown vs. Cincinatti NCAA bball game first for $4 each - bought from 'some guy' interested in getting rid of them.
Sunday we visited the Washington Community Fellowship which was good but long. Next week we're checking out a church in the lower level of Union Station - should be interesting. The rest of the day was spent finishing our papers, which are now turned in and 'forgotten about'.
This week has been quite typical, with work, lifting and cleaning dishes (and touring yesterday). At work today I got the invite (to bring Sean as well) to play some basketball at a gym a guy from work is renting saturday. So that adds to our weekend plans. Tomorrow night we'll be serving a bunch of college presidents coming in for a formal dinner of some sort - part of our kitchen job. After that we're going to a free movie showing (the presidents rented a theater showing of a flick I forgot...).
The final excitement I told many of you about. But we had to go on our rooftop deck to watch a helicopter circling a house a block and a half away, while 35-40 police cars barricaded the streets off and were running all over the place. It was a robbery, shooting, stolen vehicle - went on to hit a bicyclist, and standoff. 3 of the 4 suspects were arrested while the 4th barricaded himself in a house until midnight when the cops busted in and arrested him. I can tell you more if interested but it was pretty crazy.
Well congrats if you made it to the bottom. We'll try to live interesting lives here so there's something to share with the rest of you. BIG day tomorrow so it's time for a little sleep. Snow is expected so we'll have to get up a little earlier to shovel... hasta luego.
Last week Saturday, as you read, we went to the Capitols game, which ended up being well worth the wait. Sean and I asked a lady, while we were in line (#13 and # 14 or 400+) if they had any jerseys to give away and she went inside and came out with the last two. So our free items of the night were the tickets, a large pizza, jerseys, shirts, posters, autographs/pictures with players, hot chocolate, and seats 8 rows from the glass - although the rest of the 'free-ticket-holders' made their way to the 4th level (we're good). We went extra early to the game to make sure we'd get tickets, and ended up going to the Georgetown vs. Cincinatti NCAA bball game first for $4 each - bought from 'some guy' interested in getting rid of them.
Sunday we visited the Washington Community Fellowship which was good but long. Next week we're checking out a church in the lower level of Union Station - should be interesting. The rest of the day was spent finishing our papers, which are now turned in and 'forgotten about'.
This week has been quite typical, with work, lifting and cleaning dishes (and touring yesterday). At work today I got the invite (to bring Sean as well) to play some basketball at a gym a guy from work is renting saturday. So that adds to our weekend plans. Tomorrow night we'll be serving a bunch of college presidents coming in for a formal dinner of some sort - part of our kitchen job. After that we're going to a free movie showing (the presidents rented a theater showing of a flick I forgot...).
The final excitement I told many of you about. But we had to go on our rooftop deck to watch a helicopter circling a house a block and a half away, while 35-40 police cars barricaded the streets off and were running all over the place. It was a robbery, shooting, stolen vehicle - went on to hit a bicyclist, and standoff. 3 of the 4 suspects were arrested while the 4th barricaded himself in a house until midnight when the cops busted in and arrested him. I can tell you more if interested but it was pretty crazy.
Well congrats if you made it to the bottom. We'll try to live interesting lives here so there's something to share with the rest of you. BIG day tomorrow so it's time for a little sleep. Snow is expected so we'll have to get up a little earlier to shovel... hasta luego.
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