last saturday

This morning I woke up and began to pack. I feel that I have acquired more clothes over the summer...I am going to make them all fit. After packing I met up with Chase and we went to the zoo, grabbed some food, and then walked around.

I met up with Jake and Kayla at about 5:30ish and they grabbed a burger and drinks. I had a Shirley Temple where they ate - I can honestly say I don't think I have had one since I was 12...

Then we decided that we would head to the Nats baseball game. Usually you can get a ticket to the Nats games for $10 or so...the cheapest one we could find was $75! They were completely sold out. They were playing the Phillies. I think more people from Philadelphia were attending than from DC.We sat and waited thinking that maybe we would get tickets...wrong. Oh well, it was fun to spend time with them.

I got back a little bit ago and helped April pack. She leaves tomorrow.

Last Day of Internship

Today was my last day at MAW. I worked on an itinerary for a little girl who will be traveling to Belize the second week of August. I decided I want to go to Belize someday. It looks beautiful. I also put together a Snapfish scrapbook for a little boy who wished to meet Spiderman. Then it was time for good-byes...

After work I met up with Diane and Rachel Smith and the rest of their family. They have been in DC for a few days now. We went out to eat and then did a night view tour. I felt bad for them because it was A LOT of walking. When I give tours, it is a BIG group and so they have a charter bus. They were troopers and barely complained, if at all.

This is my last weekend in DC and I am going to enjoy it as much as I can.

The first picture is of the WWII Memorial and the second is from the Vietnam Memorial.

I have probably been to all of the memorials at least 17 times...each time I find something different.

good bye interns

today was a "good-bye" day for the interns at maw. it was megan and randi's last day and mine is tomorrow. our supervisors took us out for lunch and then had ice cream for us in the afternoon. they are all great girls and i am so glad i got to work with them over the summer.

after work i had a night view tour. it was a group of international students from all over. they are here for 6 weeks through the department of state. they were all very attentive. we went to jefferson, fdr, and lincoln. i had to explain to one of the chaperones from nigeria four different times that george washington was our first president. i expanded on how he founded america and so that is why we have the "washington monument" and finally, it clicked and she replied " i will never forget it now"

it was an ahh-ha moment for her...

excited for the weekend! giving the smith family a night view tour tomorrow night! :) then 4 days til my momma and daddy pick me up from the airport! :)

kayaking!

i headed to work today at maw and worked on closing files.

after work i met up with april and jenni and a few of jenni's friends and we went kayaking on the Potomac river! i did it last year but must have been really brave that day. i was so scared and nervous for some reason today. BUT i did it and had a great time! this is "jack's boathouse"

there was a beautiful sunset while we were out!how can this not make you thankful for everything we have been blessed with?

here is a great prayer i read this week

Lord, let us not so much be concerned to be cared for as to care,
Not so much to be materially secure as to know that we are loved by You.
Let us not look to be served, but to place ourselves at the service of others.

gone for so long...

i have not been connected to the world for the past 46 hours. on sunday there was a tornado here that knocked the power out all over DC and Maryland.

we have had no air, no warm water, no where to plug our computers in, no Internet, no place to store our food, and no where to cook it. i have been roughing it - DC style.

i am SO appreciative for electricity.

in the midst of all of this i had to finish my online class. we went to barnes and noble last night and i camped out on the floor with a ton of other people. it is completed! yay!

on friday my cousin Desiree flew in from Phoenix. she is a flight attendant and had a 30 hour layover. on friday night we went out for dinner at matchbox, a restaurant i have been wanting to try. before we were seated i checked for my phone and it was no where to be found. the last thing i can remember is looking at a message i received on the metro. i had on a cotton dress with pockets and i think i must have put it in my pocket and it slipped out.

what a mess. verizon wireless stores are so confusing and they charge you so much money for phones. i loved my phone and they discontinued making it. i would have kept my phone for as long as i could.

saturday was the hottest day in the history of DC i believe..105 at one point. desiree and i were brave the went shopping at H&M and met up with my friend Jordan for some fro-zen-yo and five guys. we were so hot and sweaty. we headed back to the hotel early and sat around and talked. she is so fun to be around and can always put a smile on your face.

i know she is going to be mad that i post this picture..we attempted to take a few pictures but we tended to look unfortunate in them.
i think this one is funny...unfortunate...but funny

Amanda Jo!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful friend, Amanda!

(Amanda made this last year)

Amanda was one of the first people that I met my freshman year of college. I honestly don't know what I would do without her.

(Fall Classic at Arrowhead our freshman year)

She is a constant reminder in my life to have fun. Anytime I am having a bad day or stressed about something she knows exactly how to brighten my day. Her sense of humor can make anyone laugh.

I love Amanda for many reasons, but a few of my favorite reasons would be her constant reminder to...

let loose and have fun - to go out on weekdays - to make a fool of yourself - and to take chances

(Going out during the freezing cold Maryville winter)
I love you Amanda Jo! Happy Birthday!

Also, Amanda just found out she passed the C-Base! CONGRATULATIONS! I am so proud of you!

i love to laugh.

i have a project i want to do when i get back to iowa. i saw this pilow in a store and fell in love with it. however, they were asking way to much for it. i decided that i would be able to make it for a lot cheaper and with colors to match my room.

today i went to work at Make-A-Wish Foundation. i worked on an itinerary for a little guy going to hawaii. and a few other things..i honestly can't remember at the moment.

after work i met up with april and we went to pentagon city mall. i am still on the hunt for a wedding dress for my cousin's wedding in august. no luck.

the funniest thing happened on our way back from the mall. we had to transfer to the red line and i saw that a train was on the platform when i came around the stairs so i yelled ...

"april, lets run!"

we both started running, but she didn't run fast enough...the doors closed right in her face and she was left behind! it was hilarious! i know that sounds really mean, but if you would have seen her facial expressions you would be laughing as hard as i was. these three random guys and myself were laughing so hard that we were about to cry. they asked "is that your friend?" and i replied ...

"yes, she is my friend...and my roommate"

we just laughed and laughed for the next three stops. she had to wait 11 minutes til the next train. love you april.

when i got to FH i was greeted by some familiar faces. my Turkish friends i met a few nights ago. they said they were bored so we decided to play a game of sand volleyball at center. it was so much fun, even though we really didn't play by the rules or keep track of score. then we just sat around and visited. they also made me laugh hard!

you make me smile :)

I hope this picture makes you smile!This is the little boy I tutor on Tuesday nights. He is such a good little guy and is always willing to learn. This is week 4 of the tutoring program. He had to be tested tonight to see if he is comprehending the material and he passed! He was so proud of himself and announced he got 100%! It is was very reassuring to know that he is making progress.

I will say that I did get lucky. He is a very respectful little boy who will sit and listen to me. Some of the other children are just plain wild.He is what I look forward to every Tuesday night.

monday already?

I woke up this morning thinking it was Sunday...wrong. I got ready and then decided to go to monday morning mass. following mass i went to work at floc. i researched blogs for potential community outreach and worked on a few other things..

after work i met up with april and dru at guapos for mexican food! it was fun even though the waiters were creepy... :)
we came back and dru and i were going to do "work." she has evaluations that she has to complete and i have homework i need to work on for my online class. we sat around for about 20 minutes and were already sick of working. we then decided that a late night run to fro-zen-yo was in order. we jumped on the bus and headed to FH to grab some frozen yogurt. and then we found a water fountain and decided to toss a penny in and make a wish... this is my beautiful roomie, dru - who leaves on thursday :(

good night.

the weekend

saturday morning i went to DC Central Kitchen and helped prepare meals for the homeless shelters in the DC area. i did it last year for my internship as a team building activity and it was so much fun...so i signed myself and my friend chase up to volunteer for sat morning. it was a good time. i feel that experiences similar to this one make you much more appreciative of everything in your life.

following dc central kitchen we went to the national portrait gallery and looked at the exhibits. i thought this one was really neat. it is a map of the US. the tv's form the shape of the state and play action shots from the state.

interesting, huh?

in the evening i went to Rosslyn, VA to watch my friend Jordan (PA with me last summer) lead his closing ceremony for his leadership conference that he works for this year. it was so neat to see him in action. we used to lead a committee together last year and it brought back a lot of fun memories. the ceremony was upbeat and moving at the same time. his program this year focuses a lot on doing service work and they incorporated that into the closing ceremony.

this morning i woke up and met my friend Chase at FH. then we went to mass together. chase has an internship this summer in dc too. we met through the tutoring program we both volunteer for. after catholic mass we went to his church. the service was really nice and it was fun to learn about his religion. then we grabbed some food at Panera (i mean...St. Louis Bread Co. for all my Missouri friends... :) hung out and then went to the Washington DC Mormon Temple. it is huge. very beautiful both during the day and night.

the temple was actually out of the city . it was so nice to be in an open area with "nature" it made me excited to go back home with my daddy and help on the farm :)

before i was about to post this i opened up my e-mail and saw my weekly inspiration from a nun that i met at FOCUS in florida this past jan. it was the perfect way to end my day.

"God is everywhere, in the very air I breathe, yes everywhere, but in His Sacrament of the Altar He is as present actually and really as my soul within my
body; in His Sacrifice daily offered as really as once offered on the Cross."

Have a good week! It just started to thunder here...yikes! :)

what should i call this post?

april is one of my housemates this summer. she has an internship with USDA. she is absolutely amazing and completely honest at all times. she is also very blunt. i appreciate that in her. she has a bubbly personality and can talk to anyone about anything. tonight we went to chipotle and talked, and talked, and then walked around and continued to talk. i am so thankful that she was one of my housemates this summer and that we have gotten close over the past month. a trip to visit her in texas is definitely in the near future.

here are some pictures from the MAW office i work in. this is right when you get off the elevator. all the big photos hanging on the left hand side are wish children.
these huge pictures are hung up all around the office. they are so fun to look at. my favorite one is probably "I wish to see the birth of baby sea turtles." I will have to take a picture of that before the internship is over...it is adorable.

publicity approved!

the wish party i went to on saturday changed their mind and are now publicity approved! so i can share pictures!

she wished for a computer. we got her a lot of accessories to go along with her new macbook pro.

hope you enjoy! share the power of a wish.

wish world

they keep me so busy at my internship. most wish children travel in the summer. i spent a half an hour looking for plane tickets from DC to Hawaii for a family that has to leave August 6th due to a family issue.

we (the interns) also had a luncheon with the CEO and VP of finance and administration to talk about our experiences thus far.

after work i came home and attempted to do homework. i don't know why i am struggling so hard to finish this online class. then brad, April and i went to trader joe's to get groceries.
best grocery store ever.

eggo?

today i worked at floc from 1-5 and then tutored from 6-8. after tutoring it was pouring down rain and continued to sprinkle on my way home. when i got to center everything was dark. there wasn't a light on in the house i live in. april was sitting outside and i asked her what was going on..we lost power! so...the air wasn't on..uhh it was hot...and it wouldn't be back on til 4 AM...

i went and sat in the lobby of the main building at center and was greeted by some friendly faces from turkey. they are studying here for 6 weeks. we got talking and actually had some very interesting conversations! they asked what i did for hobbies and i told them scrapbooking, blogging, etc. then i showed them my blog and realized i didn't have a picture to post for the day so we took one quick! the one on the far left wanted to know if this would make him famous?!?! the other keep talking about eggo's... apparently that is years in Turkish...i told him that the only eggo's i know are waffles. anyways...i just love meeting people from all different backgrounds, races, religions, etc. -- it is so interesting to me and this wonderful city offers it!

the power came back on a little bit ago too :)

better is one day....

i have had the worst stomach ache for the past two days and haven't been able to eat anything. i just forced myself to eat some yogurt...

i worked at floc today. i am compling a list of all tutoring services offered in the dc area to give to families who don't qualify for floc.
tyler just took this picture of april and i sitting out on the porch. this is where you can usually find us on nice nights...listening to music and talking

wish party

I keep putting off writing this post because I can't post what I want. I had my first wish party yesterday and it was amazing! It was neat to see my work carried out and in action. I have a lot of neat pictures, but I can't share. Maybe the family will change their mind about being publicity approved and then I can...

After the wish party I met up with my friend, Chase. We went to Old Town Alexandria and walked around, went to a museum and grabbed some food. The town was celebrating its birthday and they had a concert by the Potomac River followed by fireworks. The concert was amazing! The US Army band played first followed by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. They played Star Wars, Harry Potter, LOTR, and even The Sound of Music. It was celebrating the fourth two weekends in a row. Only it was cold...I was freezing for some reason!

This first picture is of this guy who plays songs using water glasses. He was unbelievable. He plays songs that are recognizable too.

The second picture is of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.

Today I woke up at about 8 and went to church, came back and then took a 3 hour nap...I'm still tired too...

hearts in the sand

Last year, when I went with the Newman Center on Alternative Spring Break to NOLA I drew a heart in the sand and tagged my sisters in it on Facebook. I decided to do the same in the Dominican Republic and at Rehoboth Beach. I hope to eventually make a collage of pictures or something neat. Check back in a few years :)

Today at MAW I did just about everything. We had a rush wish come through and so I had to pull up files and make an itinerary, etc. Then I went with my fellow intern, Randi to Chinatown to grab some food and then I met up with my friends Jake & Kayla at Open City in Adams Morgan.

wrapping wishes

Today at work I prepared about 40 thank you letters for people/businesses/organizations who have given either time or monetary donations to our wish kiddos.

and then.....Randi (MAW intern from GA - she is so much fun) and I got to wrap up a little kiddo's macbook pro and all of the other gifts the wish kid is receiving!!! It felt as if it were Christmas in the intern room!

I actually will be giving the wish child the gifts this coming Saturday. It will be my first wish party - can't wait!!! I wish I could tell you more about the little kiddo, but it is a no publicity wish. :(

After work I went and helped with group tutoring at FLOC.

Have a happy Friday! :)

This is a picture I took at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday. It is absolutely beautiful there.

I miss not having a car and being able to go to the grocery store and buying a FULL watermelon! (I crave watermelon in the summer! It is my favorite food, but I can't take a full melon on the bus ride home with me...) Mom...please have watermelon waiting upon my arrival. :)

This morning I went on my White House tour. It took about ten minutes. Saw a few rooms and was headed back. It wasn't anything too special, but now I can say "I have been to the White House." Then I worked from 1-5 and tutored from 6-8.

Off to plan wishes tomorrow :)

Where do I even begin?

On Thursday my friend, Ryan flew in from St. Louis to visit me. His plane was supposed to arrive at 5:55 PM. Earlier that morning (around 10 AM) I was asked if I would be willing to give a night view tour to a group who had a last minute request. I told them I couldn't because my friend was flying in and they asked me if I would be able to do it if they pushed the tour back to 7 PM instead of 6:30 PM. So, I agreed and I figured I would be able to pick up Ryan and quickly hurry back the the center in an hour. Ryan's plane landed a little bit early...but then they sat on the runway for about 20 minutes because there was no open gate. I waited and waited and realized that if I didn't leave NOW I wouldn't make it back to center. Luckily, I had brought my friend Jordan with me. He stayed and I left. So, I didn't get to greet Ryan :( But thankfully Jordan stayed and waited for him and then met up with my group and I on our tour.

On Friday Ryan and I went to Arlington National Cemetery followed by Georgetown. We had the famous Georgetown Cupcakes and walked around. Later that night we went to Mary Poppins at the Kennedy Center. It was AMAZING! The "Step in Time" scene was unbelievable - people walked on the walls and the ceiling. Unbelievable.
On Saturday Ryan and I headed to Eastern Market, grabbed brunch at my favorite restaurant and wandered around the various booths. Then we went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for mass followed by dinner at Union Station. We met up with people I live with and we went to the rehearsal of the 4th of July concert on the Capitol Lawn. Not all of the performers were there, but Reba was! On Sunday we celebrated the fourth!! We went to the parade in the early morning, followed by lunch and Old Ebitt Grill and then a trip to the top of the tower at Old Post Office. We decided to watch the fireworks at Iwo Jima. We got there early in order to get seats, but we didn't bring a blanket. The grass was itchy and I actually began to break out in a rash, so Dru and I ripped up a bag and sat on it. The fireworks were fantastic! From our view we saw the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the Capitol. It was an unbelievable sight. This morning we woke up and walked to Trader Joe's. Ryan had never been to one and I had to show him before he headed back to the Midwest.

It was great to have Ryan here. Although I am a little homesick now. It was hard to say good-bye because I wasn't going back to good ole' Missouri with him. I am so thankful that he was able to come here and visit though.

On another note, Happy Birthday to my wonderful mommy! I wish more than anything in the world to be sitting next to you right now. Only a month mom and we can spend lots of time together. I can't wait to see you. Love you and miss you and dad so much.

Have a great week! I have an early morning tomorrow...White House Tour @ 8:30 AM