A small miracle has occurred. Our email is staying connected long enough for me to get onto the blog site and give a brief update. I apologize for not commenting much on others' blogs. I am reading them, our internet is just so slow that I can't always get the comment pages to load. But I love you all!

First of all, a HUGE THANK YOU to Candy and Tony for letting us visit them last weekend and showing us all the great things in Philly! We have a lot of pictures and things to say, so as soon as I can get to the library to use the internet there, you'll see them. We had SUCH a great time!

Besides the trip, we are trying to make the most of our last week here. On Monday we went to lunch together and I did some dress shopping in the city (no luck there).Yesterday I spend the day at the mall doing more dress shopping and found a store called Tall Girl--I LOVE IT! Their pants are all so long that I'll have to hem them--that's right, Jenn, no more flood pants for me! They had so much great stuff that I went a little crazy. I got some really nice outfits and dress pants that will be great to wear to work next year and finally a cute dress that has sleeves and is long enough! It is now my new favorite store. Then we both got our hair cut.

Today we are going to a fancy restaurant for dinner. So, I'm off to shop for some shoes to go with my new dress so I can wear it tonight! Hopefully tomorrow I can put up some pictures.

Nick’s Day at the White House

The firm planned a private tour of the White House for the summer associates. They did the West Wing tour. I will provide pictures and small captions, with a little bit of information that Nick shared with me. However, since I did not go on the tour, I will leave it to him to update with any additional anecdotes later on (or correct the mistakes I'm bound to make)!

Here is a beautiful view of the front of the White House.

Nick with the other Summer Associates in front of the West Wing entrance.

You've all seen this room before . . . if not, you really should watch the news sometime!!!
In the press room, there are a TON of cameras set up in the back and each chair is labeled with the station representative that sits there.

Nick said this is the Rose Garden. It is one of several pictures he took and it is a really beautiful place! I want to have a picnic there someday when Nick is President (hee hee!)

Nick liked this shot of the sniper standing up on the roof by the flag.

(Nick's updates) Each branch of the military provides some service to the President. For example, the Air Force runs Air Force One. The Marines? Marine One (helicopter). The Army takes care of the Presidential motorcade. So what is left for the Navy? The mess! That's right, the Navy runs a restaurant in the basement of the White House. It won awards in 2004 and 2005. For President Clinton, the mess was set up for people to eat buffet style. President Bush had the mess set up as a full-service sit-down restaurant. The Navy also handles some communications needs for the President

Across the hall from the mess, is the "Situation Room," where intelligence is compiled and monitored 24/7. We didn't get to see the room on our tour, but our guide says it looks something like a scene out of the TV show "24"--there are computer screens and flashing lights everywhere. Each morning, the President has an intelligence briefing there. Former presidents can also sign up to receive the daily intelligence reports. (How is that for news coverage? Who needs the Wall Street Journal and New York Times if they can get the President's daily intelligence report!) The Situation Room (yes, the plaque above the door really says that) began operating during the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Apparently there was significant outcry because the JFK wasn't up to date about the details of the Bay of Pigs invasion, so he and his administration set up the Situation Room to keep from being caught off gaurd (or accused of being lazy about intelligence).

In the oval office there is a very nice desk made from the wood of the HMS Resolute. The British ship became trapped in ice during an arctic expedition and was abandoned. The USA found the ship, made some repairs, and returned it to England. It served in the British navy for another 20 years. After it was decommissioned, some of the wood was used to make two desks; one for the queen and one for the President of the USA (Hayes) in 1880. The seal of the eagle holding olive branches and arrows is on the front. Although the seal is now always made with the eagle's head facing the olive branch (symbolizing that America will look for peace first), the eagle on the desk faces the arrows. In the 60's or 70's, one of the Presidents had a hard time using the desk because he was so tall--he couldn't get his legs under it--so his administration had the desk propped up on 2-3 inch pieces of wood. You can see the desk and see the extensions on the wikipedia site for "HMS Resolute."

Metro Woes

For the second day this week, the orange line on the Metro from DC is shut down. Apparently the heat has been doing weird things to certain parts of the tracks. On Monday a car derailed, and today a driver saw something that didn't look right, so they shut down while they checked it out. When it's down, things start to pile up and you realize how many people use the Metro to get around.

On Monday, Nick had to jump between 4 different Metro lines before he got to a bus stop that would bring him back home. Then, he barely missed the bus and had to run for a block and a half to chase it down. Finally it stopped at a long light and the driver let him in when he knocked on the door. Sounds like a scene from a movie, right? I'm hoping tonight he'll find a bus sooner.

As for me, I did a little snack shopping at Trader Joe's. It is a big adjustment not having a 'normal' grocery store to shop at. The products are all things I've never seen and they don't have most of the things I'm used to buying. Seriously, $4.00 for 12 gourmet vanilla marshmellows and no cereals, but three rows of wine and coffee (no hot cocoa)--come on people!!!

Next door to Trader Joe's is a Famous Footwear. I had some fun trying on shoes, but found some that I wanted to buy--I'm trying to hold back!

Nick's Retreat

Last weekend Nick flew out to Colorado on a retreat for all of the summer associates from the FR offices across the country. On Thursday they had some presentations and panel discussions. On Friday, they had a GPS scavenger hunt, white water rafting and a LONG (4 ½ hour) 6-course dinner. Saturday meant more presentations and flying home. He really enjoyed the experience, learned a lot, and got to know the summer associates better.

They stayed at the beautiful St. Julien Hotel & Spa in Boulder. The firm had a nice little goody bag ready for everyone in their room. There was a nice thermos, a rain jacket and lots of great treats. One of our favorites was the beautifully presented chocolates that had the firm’s logo painted on them. Yummy!

Rain Rain Rain

Today is the first day since I got here that it hasn’t rained. Yesterday was particularly fun! I saw the clouds building, so I thought I’d better run across the street to pick up some dry cleaning before it rained. Well, half-way back across the street the sky opened and DUMPED! The lightening was flashing all over and the thunder was shaking the ground. All I could do was run back to the apartment, where I found that the power had gone out. So, soaking wet, I took the stairs to the 11th floor and sat totally bored for the next 5-6 hours. Luckily the dry cleaning survived!

Sadly, Nick met a similar fate on his way home from work. The power was out at the metro on this end, so he had to get off at a different stop. They were supposedly sending shuttles to take people the rest of the way, but there were so many people that he decided to just walk. Again, the sky DUMPED and DUMPED and DUMPED! When he made it back I took his shoes from him and poured out the water in the bathtub. They are still drying after dripping all night in the dishwasher!

Although I do enjoy the rain, without a rain jacket or umbrella, it’s hard to get out much when it might rain. So I’m glad the weather is getting better.

Finally! We’re both together in Virginia : )

The last week of school went pretty well. The kids were so cute in their Wizard of Oz dance! It feels good to know that I actually made it through the year, but I’m sure glad that it’s over!

The flight on Saturday was exciting—and longer than expected. A big thunderstorm rolled into DC and stopped all incoming planes. We circled over Kentucky for a while, then circled over West Virginia for a while. Then, at about the time we were supposed to be landing in DC, we ran low on fuel and landed in Cincinnati to fill back up.

Back on the ground, Nick was walking back from the library when he got hit by the rain storm. After getting home and changing into dry clothes, he headed to the metro station where he waited and waited and waited. As it happened, the metro was undergoing maintenance that weekend, so he ended up finding another bus that would take him closer. He figured he would be really late picking me up, but as it turns out, he had plenty of time!

Other than that exciting day, things have been going well. We went to choir practice after church on Sunday (which was fun) and I ran into a girl that I graduated from BYU with. The ward here is great. It isn’t always easy to get places without a car, but everyone has been great to give us rides whenever we’ve needed them.

After a long month apart, it’s sure good to be back together again!