“For what it’s worth … it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”-Eric Roth

So I love the above quote (which has been wrongly attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald). But I love it, because it's how I feel about life here! I LOVE IT HERE! To those who are reading this, I wish you could hear me say that because this has been the best 3 weeks of my life. For me, DC is all about discovering who I really am as a person away from my close niche of friends and thus far, I still like myself! And I absolutely love discovering all these incredible things! 

Anyways, I usually write SO SO SO much that today I decided to be my new professional political writing self and write less (well less than I normally would. It's still a lot because my life is so incredible). I'm going to use the quote to help guide my thoughts! (yes, I know I'm an English major) 

Things that startle me:

• Seeing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in real life. I've been waiting to see those since I was ten! And it happened!(I wish I had a picture, but there's no photography allowed) 
• The church choir in the National Cathedral. I so wish that we could have the choral arrangements that Catholic churches have because it was absolutely stunning!
• Being in 3 different states- Our church is technically right on the border of Maryland, so I walked over. And Virginia is one stop away. SO FLIPPING COOL! Especially for my travel bug self. 
• Blueberry buckwheat at Eastern Market. Chels and I went for breakfast on Saturday and it was incredibly delicious. They're famous for a reason!
• Hearing Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce perform live at the inauguration. 
• The amazing people here. Yes, many of them are the insane A type personality, but most of them are entirely incredible people who are going to change the world. I'm so lucky that my roommate Chelsea is also insanely awesome (it might be because we're both INTJs)
• Having Elder L. Tom Perry come to my ward. He was here for inauguration  and I shook his hand! He's the first apostle I've had the opportunity to shake hands with, so he'll always be one of my favorites now!
• Seeing so many cool things in museums: The Hope diamond, Hillary Clinton's inaugural dress/suit for when she announced she was running for president, , the Wright brother's first plane, Dorothy's red slippers, a piece of the Berlin Wall, a Nauvoo sun stone, the moon suit from the moon landing, and the original Kermit the frog puppet. It's so cool to see all these pieces of history. 
• Having 'class' as briefings with incredible speakers and attending a lecture at the Newsuem. Although difficult because I am not a poly sci major, I LOVE class. Yes, you read that right. It's probably because everything about it is not a traditional way of thinking. 
• The Capitol, especially the rotunda. It's gorgeous and just makes you feel so proud to be an American. 
• How nice all of my bosses are. Seriously, I LOVE it here. Also, I got to meet the newly nominated district judges which was pretty sweet.
• The amazing love of this sweet boy for his brother: 

Yeah, I cried hard core. I only wish I can impact one person that way as much as he has for his brother. It also made me realize how much I want to be a child advocate. In fact, my boss encouraged me to set up an informational meeting with a child advocacy agency and she send me a link to the Children's Defense Fund. I looked up where it was and it's less than a block from my work!(Does that not sound like a sign that I am on the right path. Also, Hillary Clinton worked here in her early days... so yeah. I think I'll go check that out!)

Things I've never felt before:

•  intense patriotism- Yeah, I've always loved America, but when you're here, it's impossible not to just be so grateful/proud to be an American. All of the statues/memorials/museums are pretty much all focused on the great people that have made up our great nation and I'm just so grateful I grew up in a country where I can do what I want. 
• reverence for the military/thankfulness for freedom- I felt this hit me for the first time at the Arlington Cemetery. It's HUGE! When you get to the top of the hill and look at all those lives that died protecting your freedom, you would have to be a robot to not feel the emotion. But in a weird way, it reminded me of all the good in the world fighting evil and it again made me feel so grateful for the military/my freedom. 

People with a different point of view:

•  Obama- I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Inauguration. Although I don't support Obama's policies, I have come to respect him because he is still the president. I really respect how good of a father/husband he seems to be, which is one of the best qualities a person can have. Being at the inauguration for me wasn't about political parties or agendas, it was about the pride and the hope associated with being an American. It was such an incredible opportunity to be a part of history! 
• National Cathedral- Today I had the opportunity to attend a Catholic service at the National Cathedral. Since I've never had the the opportunity to do so, I was really excited. It's amazing how different, yet how similar the ideologies were and the music was GORGEOUS. It made me realize that I need to get out of my Mormon bubble and experience more religions because it's not only interesting, but highly spiritual.  
• Hillary Clinton- Yeah, I know what you're thinking. She's crazy. But she's really not in her personal life. Fun fact: She was a child advocate after she graduated from YALE (meaning she could have gone anywhere to practice law). She was a child advocacy champion and for that, I admire her. She is just such a boss regardless of her politics. She is definitely her own dog and gets incredible things done. As such, I asked my boss if I could attend her House hearing on the Benghazi tragedy. I walked my cute little self there, waited for an hour and then was only 20 people away from getting in. I was a little sad, but I saw her in person while I was walking past the door to go back to work. Ever since creeping extensively on her Wikipedia page, I may have a slight obsession with her. 

Live a life you're proud of:

One of the reasons I love this quote is that it's so hopeful. No matter how bad your life currently seems to be going, something epic is just around the corner. It also helped me come up with some goals for this year and re-evaluate what kind of a person I am. One of our institute classes was about finding the perfect wife and Elder/Sister Brown talked about the qualities to look for in a wife. After reviewing some of them, I want to execute some of these so I can be the best person I can while waiting for my future spouse. I want to be able to have my judgment and review all of my accomplishments with a smile instead of a grimace. 

Now onto some pictures of "things that startled me": 

The Archives! I finally saw the founding documents in real life!!

Chels and I at the Capitol!

In front of the reflecting pond! 

The moon suits from the 1969 moon landing! 

Capitol rotunda 

I successfully went to Virginia (to go to Costco!)

National Zoo!

Arlington Cemetery- JFK memorial 

National Zoo with Chels

Arlington Cemetery 

Chels and I at Arlington Cemetery. 

Inauguration! 

Pieces of the actual Berlin Wall

The Capitol+Pro life march! So cool!

They had a newspaper from every year going back to the 1700s.  This is the Columbine one. 

They have a sun stone in the American History exhibit!

National Cathedral!

Part of the group at National Cathedral!

So yeah. LIFE IS FLIPPING AWESOME! My life is crazy busy between working 32 hours, class, institute, FHE, working out and socializing, but I love it here. Also, as if life isn't already insanely amazing, Maya Angelou is speaking at the Smithsonian. Yeah, just one of my top 5 people to see in real life! We're also going on our tour of the White House on Saturday. #maybeI'llseethepresident I hope you understand the depth of my love for D.C. I'm not sure I ever want to leave! :) To close, I'll quote my favorite couple missionaries, Elder and Sister Brown: "Brothers and sisters, the gospel is true, and so are you!"