"Be who you were created to be and you will set the world on fire."- Saint Catherine of Sienna

I read this quote and it was the perfect thing to read. I've fallen into my usual, "why the heck am I not dating/getting married/having children?" mode. Yeah. Not pretty. The other day, after a freaking long day at work, I called my mom and told her I couldn't do this whole work 40 hours a week for the rest of my life thing and that I just wanted to be a mother. Plot twist much?

And then I had a freak out about how I maybe didn't want to go to law school. That was until I attended my office's District Judges Orientation and had the opportunity to listen to the best law professors in the country about awesome topics like pro se litigation, decision making, and subject matter jurisdiction (more on that later!).  And it made me realize that in order to save all the children I want to in the future, I need to have an education that will allow me the power to change their situation. Nelson Mandela once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." So I think law school is still a go.

I also set up to informational meetings with children advocacy groups, one in D.C. and one when I get back home so I can gain advice from people in the field I want to be in. Ever since our briefing today about gay marriage and the effects it has on children, I just want to go out and save all the children in the world. #realtalk

So after all of these thoughts, I've come to a conclusion: I'm still going to be me. And that means I'll...

• Not so secretly love Hillary Clinton's bossness while hating her politics.
• Be obsessive about President Uchtdorf talks,Taylor Swift songs,  Subway sandwiches and the color purple. 
• Eat too many cupcakes. And chips. And oatmeal cookie ice cream. 
• Absolutely love my religion and not apologize for it. 
• Go to bed at 10 every night. 
• Be a creeper... at least a little bit!
• Blare Josh Groban's "You are Loved" while driving in the mountains when I have a bad day. 
• Think that every time my throat hurts I have strep. 
• Stay up until 2 a.m. watching/crying over Grey's Anatomy.
• Laugh... or cackle. Whatever people want to call it. 
• Pretend to be a cynic about love and then secretly watch this scene and cry every two weeks:

And you know what? That's okay. And it's okay because I'm going to be a boss Mormon lawyer child advocate woman. Because like the quote taught me, if I become the person I am meant to be, I'll be doing what needs to be done that no one else can do as well as me. And that's a great reassurance. 

Now I'm off my pedestal and onto some cool things I did recently:

1. Library of Congress- For work, we went on a tour of the LOC AND IT WAS SO AWESOME! I got my Reader Registration card, which means I could walk into the main reading room where National Treasure was filmed. (as a side note, my picture for the ID card was gorgeous. I don't know what happened)  I just wanted to sit there the whole day. I LOVE LIBRARIES! And while we were walking, we randomly got let into the Senate and the House Reading Rooms... aka where the Senators/Representatives go to study. There is a possibility I sat where Hillary Clinton once studied. Anyways, it was great. Here are some pictures:

The inside of the LOC

I just want to live here!

I had to take a picture of this!

So gorgeous. 

2. I'll start with this quote: "A hero can be anyone doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know the world hasn't ended." -Batman

I have always loved that quote. I cried during that part of the movie because I love the whole idea of the power of one. That being said, I met one of my heroes...

MAYA ANGELOU!!!!! Look at how close I was:

She came to speak at the American Indian Museum. I stood in line for an hour in 19 degree weather, but it was totally worth it! SHE IS AMAZING. I cried. 

3.  I also toured the White House, which was kind of a disappointment. First of all, it looks tiny compared to all the HUGE buildings around it, but also the tour was very short. That being said, it was still cool! How often do you get to stand where so many presidents have danced/stood/talked? There are no pictures allowed so I stole from the internet:

This is the ballroom!

Dining room 

The Red room.

 Afterwards we went to get crepes because it was crepe day. And then a little later we went... to Bobby's Burgers! This place, established by Bobby Flay, is famous for their hamburgers infused with potato chips. And it was good. We then went to get cupcakes at a new place, Baked and Wired. Needless to say, I had enough food that day. 

4. My job. I LOVE IT HERE! All of my skills learned at the MBA office have made me a perfect employee here. This week we had an orientation for district judges and I got to help with that. I met many of the judges and sat in on lectures from really excellent professors. I also got to sit in on more conference calls with judges and I even got to meet Judge Fogel! (He is THE boss) and he was seriously the nicest person I've ever met. His whole ideology was lawyers need to be able to not only have integrity, but also listen more. He helped me realize, yet again, that I don't have to be a mean lawyer, but that I can do good in this world. I absolutely love my internship!

5. I also went to a Mat Kearney concert randomly and it was excellent. How many people can decide they want to go to a concert the next night and be able to walk there? This is why I love DC, there is always always something to do. 

6. On Friday, after our briefings, a few of us headed down to the National Gallery of Art and saw some pretty cool things, including several of the statues/paintings I learned about during my Humanities class last semester. I really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we passed the National Archives, so I had to take another picture! And then we were adventurous and tried a Indian restaurant, Merzi, which was kind of like fast food. We both had lamb naan and it was really good! Although, it definitely did NOT agree with my stomach! 

It looked like the Washington Monument was coming out of the dome!

National Archives

6. The Holocaust Museum. Yesterday I woke up with a really bad sore throat which was a massive bummer because I was supposed to go to Zaytinya, the number 5 restaurant here in DC, for restaurant week (the prices are WAY lower). I wasn't going to pay $20 for food I wouldn't enjoy, so I lounged around until 1 when I became stir crazy. I mean, I am only in DC for so long, right? I decided to go to the Holocaust Museum. I met up with Candace, one of the other interns at the FJC and all I can say is OH MY STARS. It is an amazing educational museum. For instance, I learned that it was not just Jews that were persecuted, but gypsies, homosexuals and people of other ethnic origins. I definitely cried during the children's exhibit. And the room where it had a huge pile of shoes recovered from the concentration camps. Note to self: Don't go to it when you are sick and emotional. 

Here's the picture that had the most impact on me: 

This is was the moment they were liberated from the trains that were headed towards a concentration camp. The rest of the pictures are just too sad to even put up on here. 

Outside of the Holocaust Museum

A portion of the children's tile wall. Children from today wrote words of encouragement to  portray the museum's theme: Never Again.

And then I found this poem, written on a wall in a concentration camp:

"I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love,
even when there's no one there.
And I believe in God,
even when he is silent.

I believe through any trial,
there is always a way
But sometimes in this suffering
and hopeless despair
My heart cries for shelter,
to know someone's there
But a voice rises within me, saying hold on
my child, I'll give you strength,
I'll give you hope. Just stay a little while.

I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love
even when there's no one there
But I believe in God
even when he is silent
I believe through any trial
there is always a way.

May there someday be sunshine
May there someday be happiness
May there someday be love
May there someday be peace...."

Can anyone say incredible? I now feel like I can never complain again about my circumstances. I LOVED this so much that I am going to print it out and put it on my wall as a great reminder. 

Also, as a random note, I just want to give a shout-out to my roomie Chels. I've never met someone that I instantly clicked with and she is it! Because we both have the same personality, INTJ (which is the rarest personality for women), we get along so well. I love the random adventures we've had like trying the fast food Indian food restaurant, walking all the way to Georgetown Cupcakes and then, realizing it's closed, eating shakes at Johnny Rockets. SHE IS THE BEST! It was seriously divinely inspired. And even now, when I feel like I'm dying of a sore throat, she made me soup.

Anyways, that was way longer than I intended so I'll just end by saying I am proud of who I am and where I am going and I LOVE IT HERE! You can never get bored here, even when you most likely have strep. (Yes, I know I'm a strep hypochondriac, but I totally have it for real this time because it's February!)

P.S. This is my new jam: (When you're sick, you find new music. Also it features Taylor!)