A whole week without updates has gone by. But I didn't really do anything significant Tues. thru Thurs. anyway, so let's just say I went to work, toiled, returned and slept. Except for Tues. night when I had a fantastic dinner with Caitlin at Pizzeria Uno and we sat in the Secretary of State's booth. We're a lot alike, and it's exciting to begin to understand why God put us together - His plans are so intricate!
So on Friday, I was just about beat. People had mentioned going somewhere for a nice dinner, but no one had ever made any plans. Being the planner that I am, normally I would've stepped in and started researching, but when Caitlin asked if I wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory, I was grateful that she volunteered to take care of everything. Little did I know...
There was a big fiasco at work about how many hours a week we were supposed to be working. Originally some people were told it would be a 30-35 hour/week job (I wasn't told anything, I assumed 9-5 but its actually 9-6), and they had been keeping us there for 40+ hours a week. Its not that big of a deal if they could keep us busy, but a lot of times, many of us don't have anything to do. Its frustrating just sitting around all the time when you're unpaid anyway and not have the freedom to leave when you're done.
So someone brought it up with the Intern Coordinator this week and at about 4 PM on Friday he came around and started telling us we could go home. When my boss found out, he was ENRAGED. So then he came around telling people they had to stay if they weren't finished with their projects. Of course, on that particular day I was knee-deep in some filing project that wasn't going to be done anytime soon. So the Intern Coordinator told me that Tim and Caitlin had already left and that because I was meeting them for dinner that I could leave too, as to not be late. But my boss got really frustrated and told me to "Get the f--k out of here." I told him that actually I was planning on staying for awhile to tie up some loose ends and he said "That's the right answer."
So I stayed until 5, which wasn't a huge deal because I had stuff to do and dinner was schedule for 7 so its not like I was in danger of being late. It was a really uncomfortable situation to be in, though. I'll probably talk about it with my boss on Monday. I feel compelled.
But anyway, as it turns out, Jenna (friend at work) said she was coming to the Cheesecake Factory too for dinner. It came as a little surprise to me because Caitlin hadn't told me that she had invited anyone outside of our STP group. But I like Jenna, so it worked out. We Metro-ed up to Friendship Heights and spent awhile chilling in the mall. It was uber-complicated making reservations at the Cheesecake Factory because of a lot of things but eventually we all sat down. There were 9 of us there in all, Me, Jenna, Caitlin, Tim, Christa, Shannon, Stephen, Drew, and Alexis (from work, she came late).
I knew something was up when the waitress, after taking my order, asked me for my name. We ate our food, ordered cheesecake, and mine came out with a candle and singing employees. Apparently, the reason Caitlin wanted to plan everything was because my birthday is on Monday, and she wanted to have a nice dinner celebration. She's sweet like that :) I was totally surprised and overwhelmed by the love. It was a great dinner with great friends and great cheesecake. They bought my meal and Drew even got me a card that has President and Laura Bush on the front. Its hilarious and will serve nicely to decorate my cube at work.
After dinner, Tim had everything planned out to go to a Karaoke bar. Well, as it turned out, the place was very different that we thought it would be and we ended up leaving. But let me just tell you - it was decorated as though the person who designed it was on a righteous acid trip. There was a room that looked like an ice cave. I kept expecting Mr. Freeze to pop out of the corner. It was truly an adventure though, and pretty much hilarious.
So the good news is that God has placed me with people here that love to show me love. We all have a blast together and there are no tensions whatsoever. I'm really just enjoying every overwhelming minute. And this blog is helping me to externally process everything that's going on, which is important for me.
To all of you that support me financially, by your prayers and/or by having shown me love at some point or another, I truly thank you :)
I miss everyone at home - I think about all of you - not in a creepy way!
Love,
Jess
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
G-O-P! G-O-P! G-O-P!
Greetings and Salutations -
I just got back from the 46th annual Congressional Baseball Game, where members of Congress go head-to-head in a partisan duel to the death! Only one Senator played this year (the rest were members of the lower house) and it was none other than Senator John Ensign (R-NV and chairman of the NRSC) himself! He's a tremendous athlete and one heck of a guy. He also looks just like Peterman, Elaine's boss on Seinfeld.
Well, needless to say we kicked some liberal butt tonight, even though Nancy Pelosi did show up halfway through the game. However, it was too little, too late for the Dems. After a mid-field collision in the top of the 7th, their game was spent. Somebody get the oxygen tanks.
It was a lovely, sweltering evening at RFK Stadium, one that will not soon be forgotten.
On that note, I bid you adeiu for the evening. Love you all!
Jess
PS. Today I had the best hair day on record. It was absolutely stunning, like in a Tresemme commercial. I only wish you could have seen it.
I just got back from the 46th annual Congressional Baseball Game, where members of Congress go head-to-head in a partisan duel to the death! Only one Senator played this year (the rest were members of the lower house) and it was none other than Senator John Ensign (R-NV and chairman of the NRSC) himself! He's a tremendous athlete and one heck of a guy. He also looks just like Peterman, Elaine's boss on Seinfeld.
Well, needless to say we kicked some liberal butt tonight, even though Nancy Pelosi did show up halfway through the game. However, it was too little, too late for the Dems. After a mid-field collision in the top of the 7th, their game was spent. Somebody get the oxygen tanks.
It was a lovely, sweltering evening at RFK Stadium, one that will not soon be forgotten.
On that note, I bid you adeiu for the evening. Love you all!
Jess
PS. Today I had the best hair day on record. It was absolutely stunning, like in a Tresemme commercial. I only wish you could have seen it.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sundays with Anthony Kiedis
It's Sunday eve, and we're kicking it laid back in our room, eating Mexican food, brownies, and mint chocolate chip ice cream listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, talking about personality tests and predestination.
You know, normal stuff.
"Can't Stop" was playing and Amy (one of our program leaders, early thirties) came in to borrow a marker. She ended up staying through the song and doing the robot most impressively. I love how comfortable we are with each other :)
Nothing too exciting to report otherwise for the day. I'm just enjoying the moment, to be honest :)
So I'm going to go enjoy the moment now.
Night!
Jess
You know, normal stuff.
"Can't Stop" was playing and Amy (one of our program leaders, early thirties) came in to borrow a marker. She ended up staying through the song and doing the robot most impressively. I love how comfortable we are with each other :)
Nothing too exciting to report otherwise for the day. I'm just enjoying the moment, to be honest :)
So I'm going to go enjoy the moment now.
Night!
Jess
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Another beautiful weekend!
Hello friends, family, and internet stalkers!
Just another great day in the city - today I decided to return my phone calls while sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Its sunny and about 80 degrees - absolutely gorgeous! After the phone calls I walked along the reflecting pool towards the WWII memorial and eventually on past the Washington Monument. It was neat to see all the families from all over the world visiting the memorials. You know, there's really nothing super-significant about Washington DC, historically-speaking. Its just a place where we decided to put all of the memorials. It lacks the feeling of hallowed-ground, the feeling that I've gotten at Gettysburg, Boston, etc. But the monuments are still pretty impressive, especially when viewed at night. A few weeks ago, Dan, Drew, Zach and I went to see them after dark, and they're really beautiful.
After the Washington Monument I stopped in at the Smithsonian visitor center to orient myself and to find out where the art museum was. I took the Metro a few blocks north to the Portrait Gallery. Lots of cool portraits of important people, it was fun going through and mentally travelling back to AP US History class to recall just exactly who these people were and why they were important enough to warrant a giant portrait.
I went to Trader Joe's on the way back to buy some lunch and some wine. They didn't even card me :( Oh well, I guess that's just part of being a grown-up.
So here I am, in front of my computer eating sushi and drinking red wine (I may regret the combination later...). I get to use my new President's Dinner glass though, and that makes the $4 buck chuck from Trader Joe's taste just a little better.
More on the Pres. Dinner at a later date, its certainly an interesting story, but as for right now, I'm going to enlighten Stephen as to the events of my fantastic day. Hope your Saturday is as sunny as mine!
Love,
Jess
Just another great day in the city - today I decided to return my phone calls while sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Its sunny and about 80 degrees - absolutely gorgeous! After the phone calls I walked along the reflecting pool towards the WWII memorial and eventually on past the Washington Monument. It was neat to see all the families from all over the world visiting the memorials. You know, there's really nothing super-significant about Washington DC, historically-speaking. Its just a place where we decided to put all of the memorials. It lacks the feeling of hallowed-ground, the feeling that I've gotten at Gettysburg, Boston, etc. But the monuments are still pretty impressive, especially when viewed at night. A few weeks ago, Dan, Drew, Zach and I went to see them after dark, and they're really beautiful.
After the Washington Monument I stopped in at the Smithsonian visitor center to orient myself and to find out where the art museum was. I took the Metro a few blocks north to the Portrait Gallery. Lots of cool portraits of important people, it was fun going through and mentally travelling back to AP US History class to recall just exactly who these people were and why they were important enough to warrant a giant portrait.
I went to Trader Joe's on the way back to buy some lunch and some wine. They didn't even card me :( Oh well, I guess that's just part of being a grown-up.
So here I am, in front of my computer eating sushi and drinking red wine (I may regret the combination later...). I get to use my new President's Dinner glass though, and that makes the $4 buck chuck from Trader Joe's taste just a little better.
More on the Pres. Dinner at a later date, its certainly an interesting story, but as for right now, I'm going to enlighten Stephen as to the events of my fantastic day. Hope your Saturday is as sunny as mine!
Love,
Jess
Friday, June 22, 2007
"It's like these people worship Ronald Reagan"
I talked a little about the program in last night's post, so today I'll let you all in on some of the daily goings-on concerning my job at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (or the NRSC for short).
Basically the purpose of our organization is to raise funds in order to support Republicans up for election or re-election in the Senate. Most of the people who work here are in their early twenties and have only been around for 6 months to a year. I work in Finance (which has relatively little to do with actual numbers) and most of my jobs center around "investigating" potential donors to our noble cause. They actually call it "prospecting", but its really just glorified internet stalking. Give me the last name, first initial and zip code of any Republican and I can have them on the phone in 10 minutes with their biography, donor history and most likely their picture in front of you. Occasionally people ask (rather accusatorily at times) "How did you get this number??", and I laugh and say, "It's called the internet."
This should be creeping you out. It creeps me out.
So we prospect, then we send them invitations to events, and usually they don't respond, so we call them and ask them personally to come to events, they tell us that if the immigration bill passes they'll never vote republican again and how their family has voted republican every major election since Abraham Lincoln and we assure them that we don't deal with policy, we're strictly fundraising and occasionally you actually get someone who wants to pay $1,000 for a ticket to an event, and at that point you jump up and down and savor the moment because you never know when it might happen again.
Kind of sounds like fundraising for Nav staff, except minus the whole immigration bill stuff.
There are 22 interns here, most of us split between research and finance. Tim works in research, and his job requires him to take field trips to the library of Congress about once a week. I wish someone would send me to the library of Congress. I haven't even been to the Capitol building yet. Its work work work from 9-6 M-F, and on the weekends the last thing you want to do is fight your way through the tourists. Tim arranged for a White House tour on Wednesday, though, and I'm really looking forward to that (even though its at 7:30 AM).
As far as my time, its split pretty evenly between work and the STP (summer training program) stuff. We have team dinners on Mondays, weekly seminars on Thursday evenings, usually hang out with team members on the weekends, church on Sunday and Bible Study afterwards.
We all live in the same building, in three-person one-bedroom apartments that have kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms and desk areas. At night we all iron our work clothes together and talk about random stuff. I've had some good conversations with people about gender roles in the church, dating, doctrine, leadership, and just about anything you can think of. Most of the guys on our team are really good leaders, and its cool to see them enjoying that role. I feel like I can have dinner with any or all of them and be completely comfortable. The girls are opening up more slowly, so its required more patience and more small talk. Christa and I have had good talks and have challenged each other in seeing different points of view.
One thing I didn't realize until I came here was how conservative (spiritually/religiously/doctrinally) I am. I am thankful to the Purdue Navs for encouraging and cultivating a discipline for time in the Word and the desire to seek ultimate truth. I've encountered a lot of post-modern subjectivism here, even in the ministry. It's made me evaluate why my beliefs are so polar in some areas and its caused me to have to be more loving of people who think differently than I do. It doesn't mean I'm changing my views on absolute truth, though - you know its going to take more than a few post-modernists to rock this boat :)
Some things God is teaching me:
-I can't plan for everything (duh), and sometimes what I didn't expect to learn is what God meant to teach me all along
-That He wants to take care of me and protect me, even and especially when I think I'm doing a great job of protecting myself (lie lie lie)
-That He wants to be my comfort, and that He truly cares for me when I hurt
So slowly but surely I'm becoming acclimated to my new environment. I can honestly say (4 weeks into the program), that I'm absolutely loving it here, that I feel that God is growing me in amazing ways, and that I feel that God is using me in the lives of others. And, my friends, there is no greater feeling than that.
As always, shoot me a line if you're not bust or give me a call - weekends are best. I love and miss you all!
Ephesians 1:15-19!
Jess
Basically the purpose of our organization is to raise funds in order to support Republicans up for election or re-election in the Senate. Most of the people who work here are in their early twenties and have only been around for 6 months to a year. I work in Finance (which has relatively little to do with actual numbers) and most of my jobs center around "investigating" potential donors to our noble cause. They actually call it "prospecting", but its really just glorified internet stalking. Give me the last name, first initial and zip code of any Republican and I can have them on the phone in 10 minutes with their biography, donor history and most likely their picture in front of you. Occasionally people ask (rather accusatorily at times) "How did you get this number??", and I laugh and say, "It's called the internet."
This should be creeping you out. It creeps me out.
So we prospect, then we send them invitations to events, and usually they don't respond, so we call them and ask them personally to come to events, they tell us that if the immigration bill passes they'll never vote republican again and how their family has voted republican every major election since Abraham Lincoln and we assure them that we don't deal with policy, we're strictly fundraising and occasionally you actually get someone who wants to pay $1,000 for a ticket to an event, and at that point you jump up and down and savor the moment because you never know when it might happen again.
Kind of sounds like fundraising for Nav staff, except minus the whole immigration bill stuff.
There are 22 interns here, most of us split between research and finance. Tim works in research, and his job requires him to take field trips to the library of Congress about once a week. I wish someone would send me to the library of Congress. I haven't even been to the Capitol building yet. Its work work work from 9-6 M-F, and on the weekends the last thing you want to do is fight your way through the tourists. Tim arranged for a White House tour on Wednesday, though, and I'm really looking forward to that (even though its at 7:30 AM).
As far as my time, its split pretty evenly between work and the STP (summer training program) stuff. We have team dinners on Mondays, weekly seminars on Thursday evenings, usually hang out with team members on the weekends, church on Sunday and Bible Study afterwards.
We all live in the same building, in three-person one-bedroom apartments that have kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms and desk areas. At night we all iron our work clothes together and talk about random stuff. I've had some good conversations with people about gender roles in the church, dating, doctrine, leadership, and just about anything you can think of. Most of the guys on our team are really good leaders, and its cool to see them enjoying that role. I feel like I can have dinner with any or all of them and be completely comfortable. The girls are opening up more slowly, so its required more patience and more small talk. Christa and I have had good talks and have challenged each other in seeing different points of view.
One thing I didn't realize until I came here was how conservative (spiritually/religiously/doctrinally) I am. I am thankful to the Purdue Navs for encouraging and cultivating a discipline for time in the Word and the desire to seek ultimate truth. I've encountered a lot of post-modern subjectivism here, even in the ministry. It's made me evaluate why my beliefs are so polar in some areas and its caused me to have to be more loving of people who think differently than I do. It doesn't mean I'm changing my views on absolute truth, though - you know its going to take more than a few post-modernists to rock this boat :)
Some things God is teaching me:
-I can't plan for everything (duh), and sometimes what I didn't expect to learn is what God meant to teach me all along
-That He wants to take care of me and protect me, even and especially when I think I'm doing a great job of protecting myself (lie lie lie)
-That He wants to be my comfort, and that He truly cares for me when I hurt
So slowly but surely I'm becoming acclimated to my new environment. I can honestly say (4 weeks into the program), that I'm absolutely loving it here, that I feel that God is growing me in amazing ways, and that I feel that God is using me in the lives of others. And, my friends, there is no greater feeling than that.
As always, shoot me a line if you're not bust or give me a call - weekends are best. I love and miss you all!
Ephesians 1:15-19!
Jess
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Hey - a blog! Cool!
Hey all!
A blog - what a novel idea. Thanks to all of you that lobbied for its existence. Some may argue that, like Facebook, a blog is an impersonal way to keep those you call friends up to date on your goings on. I would agree, and state that in no way should this blog replace personal communication. I'll try to keep up with the phone calls, but I'm three calls behind at the moment, so for the time being, this blog will serve nicely to keep you all informed.
That being said, let's give an update of my first week here in DC (I realize that I've been here now for nearly 4 weeks, but let's be honest - I don't have all night to expound upon my adventures in great detail, so you only get week one tonight).
I arrived here on May 27th (the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). It was the first time that I've flown by myself, and it went as well as could be expected. I'm still amused when I do things that make me feel like a "grown-up". I was the first one to arrive, and was picked up by none other than Mr. Ted Yeats, who is probably the most cordial man I've ever met. He hosted lunch at his place in Virginia where we had wild Alaskan salmon personally caught by Ted and Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO). The rest of the day was spent getting to know my teammates - there are 12 of us in all, from all parts of this great nation. A brief extrapolation:
~Christa - Rutgers U, one of the younger ones, from NJ, working for the HELP Committee
~Tara - Colorado State, looking to stay in DC full time, working for Committee on Small Business
~Shannon - Florida U, working on the House side for one of her FL Congressmen
~Katy - Univ of CO at CO Springs (UCCS), one of the most sincere people I've ever met, working for Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO)
~Caitlin - Penn State, working with me at the NRSC in the Executive Office
~Stephen - UCCS, we share a love of Brian Regan, also working for Senator Allard (R-CO)
~Danny - Penn State, headed to vet school in the fall, working for Senator Arlen Spector (R-PA)
~Drew - U of Illinois, speaks Spanish which is fun, also working for the HELP Committee
~Daniel - CalState Long Beach, LOVES Ultimate Frisbee, working for the HELP Committee
~Zach - U of Arkansas, VERY southern, calls Ted "Mr. Ted", working for Senator Pryor (D-AR)
~Tim - U of Arizona, makes Metro rides in the morning slightly more bearable, working at the NRSC in the Research Dept.
I realize that means nothing to you, because you've never met and will probably never meet these people. But remember - this blog is just as much for my personal records as for your enjoyment :) I won't have this stellar memory forever, you know.
So that's the first post. Look for further installments soon, I hope I can get into the habit of posting daily. My mom would like that an awful lot. But until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, my friends.
Love,
Jess
A blog - what a novel idea. Thanks to all of you that lobbied for its existence. Some may argue that, like Facebook, a blog is an impersonal way to keep those you call friends up to date on your goings on. I would agree, and state that in no way should this blog replace personal communication. I'll try to keep up with the phone calls, but I'm three calls behind at the moment, so for the time being, this blog will serve nicely to keep you all informed.
That being said, let's give an update of my first week here in DC (I realize that I've been here now for nearly 4 weeks, but let's be honest - I don't have all night to expound upon my adventures in great detail, so you only get week one tonight).
I arrived here on May 27th (the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). It was the first time that I've flown by myself, and it went as well as could be expected. I'm still amused when I do things that make me feel like a "grown-up". I was the first one to arrive, and was picked up by none other than Mr. Ted Yeats, who is probably the most cordial man I've ever met. He hosted lunch at his place in Virginia where we had wild Alaskan salmon personally caught by Ted and Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO). The rest of the day was spent getting to know my teammates - there are 12 of us in all, from all parts of this great nation. A brief extrapolation:
~Christa - Rutgers U, one of the younger ones, from NJ, working for the HELP Committee
~Tara - Colorado State, looking to stay in DC full time, working for Committee on Small Business
~Shannon - Florida U, working on the House side for one of her FL Congressmen
~Katy - Univ of CO at CO Springs (UCCS), one of the most sincere people I've ever met, working for Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO)
~Caitlin - Penn State, working with me at the NRSC in the Executive Office
~Stephen - UCCS, we share a love of Brian Regan, also working for Senator Allard (R-CO)
~Danny - Penn State, headed to vet school in the fall, working for Senator Arlen Spector (R-PA)
~Drew - U of Illinois, speaks Spanish which is fun, also working for the HELP Committee
~Daniel - CalState Long Beach, LOVES Ultimate Frisbee, working for the HELP Committee
~Zach - U of Arkansas, VERY southern, calls Ted "Mr. Ted", working for Senator Pryor (D-AR)
~Tim - U of Arizona, makes Metro rides in the morning slightly more bearable, working at the NRSC in the Research Dept.
I realize that means nothing to you, because you've never met and will probably never meet these people. But remember - this blog is just as much for my personal records as for your enjoyment :) I won't have this stellar memory forever, you know.
So that's the first post. Look for further installments soon, I hope I can get into the habit of posting daily. My mom would like that an awful lot. But until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, my friends.
Love,
Jess
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