“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? - it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

I found this quote the day before I was leaving DC and it was so applicable. Although I am very sad to not be in DC anymore, I am looking forward to the "next crazy adventure." I still can't believe that the semester went by so quickly!

My last few days of DC were incredible!

• Shakespeare theater. My boss won tickets to go see Coriolianus at the Shakespeare Theater but could not attend, so she gave the tickets to me. Although Chelsea and I accidentally showed up late (the tickets had the wrong time), it was a really sweet experience! I absolutely loved it. Since it was opening night, they also had free appetizers at Zaytinya, which was the restaurant I was supposed to eat at when I got the flu. We talked to some pretty impressive people and it was just one of those nights that could pretty much only happen in DC. 
• Night walk around the memorials. Chels is graduating so she had to work on her portfolio. However, around 9 on Wednesday I convinced her to walk around the monuments/memorials at night. We saw the Lincoln, WWII and the Washington Monument on our walk. We walked all the way to the Smithsonian and then headed up for our last time of getting Oreo Good Stuff Shakes. It was great! The monuments/memorials have obviously been a favorite of mine. 
• Friday night, the other Chelsea in our group (not my roommate) invited us to her parent's apartment which was legit! We ate delicious food and then went up to the roof where we had a gorgeous view of the Capitol and the Washington Monument. It was a great final night full of reminiscing AND we went to Paul for our last delicious french snacks. It was perfect because I got to say goodbye to one of my favorite places in DC: outside the Archives. The view there is just so beautiful. 
• My last morning was spent walking to the Lincoln memorial, blasting "Good Life" by OneRepublic while reading Condoleeza Rice's autobiography. Could it get any better? No. I always got to say goodbye to my future employer- the State Department. It turns out that the Borgias (one of the married couples in the program) were on my flight home, so it was really fun to chat with them and not feel awkward on the plane. They are fantastic! 
• Cherry blossoms! The cherry blossoms finally came out and I had the opportunity to see them both with Chelsea and Candace. They are soooo pretty!

I'm getting sad just looking at these pictures:

Lanae, me and Candace pose with our first official Boss Women Unite Logo! 

Lincoln at night!

Last day in DC!

My supervisor, Denise, and I on my last day!

Cherry blossoms!

Tidal basin!

I love this shot with the Jefferson memorial!

Alyse and I! Love this girl!

Chels and I!

#purplepower #bosswomenunite

Since I've been home, I went on a walk with Cassie, started my portfolio and loved the mountains. Sometimes I cannot believe I even left home! I definitely missed it. I also met with the director of DU's MA in Conflict Resolution and it was fantastic!!!! Not only would I be in the same school that Condi went to ( the Josef Korbel School of International Studies), but the program only accepts 15 people, so it's highly competitive. The director asked me to tell her my story. The second I mentioned I was studying at BYU, she was so excited. She (randomly!) taught two classes there (although she isn't a member) and absolutely loved her experience there with the students. She's been wanting a BYU student for a long time, so hopefully I will be able to get into the program. If I get into both Georgetown and DU, I'm not sure where I will decide to go because I loved both of them! Anyways, life has been good back in the 80127. I am going to lunch with one of my high school/middle school friends, Katie and then am headed up to my grandparent's house, so it'll be a good weekend. 

I felt like I should sum up exactly what I learned in DC, but that turned out to be way too complicated, so I made a short list:

1. Every city has a story. Treat it as such. You can be a "tourist" even in cities you've lived your whole life. 

2. Politicians, Democrat or Republican, are doing what they think is best for the country. Even if you don't agree with the other side, never assume that they are doing something to screw the country over.

3. Be assertive. If you don't speak your mind, your opinion doesn't get heard.

4. Take chances. Throw caution to the wind sometimes.  

5 I am proud to be an American. It's the best country to live in regardless of what happens politically. We are so blessed to live in this country! 

6. Eat at new places, they often turn out to be new favorites. 

7. Bloom where you're planted, even if you're only there for a few months. 

 8. History is alive through our actions. You need to know where you've been to now where you're headed. 

9. You can make a difference. The power of one exists!

10. Be flexible. Plans change, and people change. 

11. I understand now everybody has quirks and that's what makes us great! 

12. When you say yes to others, make sure you're not saying no to yourself. 

13. Be friends with your co-workers. 

14. Say hello or good morning to people in the hallway. 

15. Even if you fall in love with a city, you'll still be homesick. 

16.  You should go to a city where no one knows you at least once. You find out so much about yourself because there aren't people there telling you who you are/were. 

17. Things will always work out.

18. Always go the extra mile in every aspect of your life. It is always worth it. 

19. Find a mentor. My supervisor taught me invaluable information. 

20.  Collect moments. 

Anyways, it's impossible to encapsulate all that I learned during my time in DC. I am sooo thankful for the opportunity to intern where I did, have the best boss, meet incredible people, and fall in love with an unfamiliar city.I had the opportunity to see Hillary Clinton, Maya Angelou,the Supreme Court Justices, and Madeleine Albright all speak in person. How often does that happen?!  I hope to at least visit in the future, but hopefully live there. This was a life-changing experience and I cannot believe I had the opportunity to do it. LOVED IT! But now it's onto my next adventure: returning to my fabulous job in Provo, making new friends and blaring this fantastic new song of JT's:

"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."-Christopher Reeve

Oh Nelly. So many of my 'impossible' dreams came true this week. Seriously. I know that I say pretty much every day that this was 'the best day ever,' but that's because honestly, every day here has been the best. Living in DC is just such a incredible experience that it is hard to encapsulate in words.

I chose this quote because I am pretty sure that most people think all the things I want to do (i.e. be Secretary of State, meet Hillary and President Uchtdorf, etc.) are mostly jokes. But here's the thing: I have learned that dreams don't work unless you do, and I am determined to make the rest of my dreams come true even if it takes my whole life. 

 So now onto the awesome things that happened:

• Gettysburg- In the Washington Seminar, we had a donor donate the money for another excursion to Gettysburg. We went to the visitor center where I heard the Gettysburg address. What a neat experience. We then had um a 'lunch' at this buffet place. Let's just say the main people there were from the retirement center. We then went on this two and half hour bus tour around the grounds which was really neat. I am so glad that I finally had the opportunity to come here. I really wish that I had learned more about Gettysburg before I had gone, but it was really cool to see it. 
• Global Leadership Awards- I woke up on Tuesday thinking this day was just like any other. I Googled Hillary Clinton (like pretty much every morning. I also always creep on Taylor Swift, President Uchtdorf and Kelly Clarkson) and discovered she had just confirmed she was going to be presenting an award at the Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center that night. People: the Kennedy Center is literally like 8 blocks from my house. I immediately ran to tell my boss that Hillary Clinton was speaking at an event in town. She told me that I was required to spend 45 minutes trying to get tickets. I made Candace (one of the other interns here!) call the box office. I then called the ticket office and got on their waiting list as well. I found out that all tickets were $100. YOWZA. I was a little deterred by that number, but persisted through all the avenues I could think of. I finally found a sister partner of the event that had tickets and Candace and I bought them!!!!!!!!!!! We showed up and got our tickets, when to our surprise, we saw we got the buffet dinner tickets. The tickets to that event were supposed to be $350... So yeah, it was exciting. We mixed and mingled for a bit then headed into the Opera House expecting to have seats far away. Imagine our surprise when we walked in and was on the Orchestra (Ground) level!!!!!! On the side of the microphone!!!!!! I literally was freaking out. The awards show was incredible. All of these boss women were rewarded for being so boss. Then Hillary Clinton came out and gave this rousing speech and I was just in awe. The program really encouraged me to do more with women's rights work. America Ferrera was also there and Joe Biden was the finally presenter. He was surprisingly funny. Afterwards, even though I was in shock that I had seen Hillary Clinton in real life, we headed upstairs to the dinner. We talked with some pretty boss people. and then mingled outside when Joe Biden walked out. Candace loves him and ended up getting a picture with him. It was crazy. After Biden came out. we were both convinced that Hillary would come out, so we stayed for another two hours by the door he came out to no avail. But it totally didn't matter. I cannot wait to be such a boss that I have so many women's rights charities. We also got to mingle with all of the women who received the awards. So basically. it was literally the best night. It's hard to explain in words, but it was an invaluable experience and I still cannot believe that we bought tickets the DAY OF and got to sit where we sat. My dream of finally seeing Hillary came true, and I cannot wait to get more involved. 
• Boss Women Unite- So the day after the awards show, Candace made my name plaque say "AKA Hillary" and we were talking about how, someday in the near future, we are going to start a non-profit organization for women. She came up with the title Boss Women Unite, because we both use the term boss. People probably think we're kidding about that too, but we already made an official sign and looked up how to start a non-profit, so you know we mean business. 
• Today! Today Chels and I woke up, and since General Conference does not start until noon, Chels made pancakes and we ate them with the crapton of strawberries we bought yesterday on sale. We then went downstairs and watched conference with all the Barlow people! It's so much more fun to watch conference with a bunch of people! I may or may not have cried during Uchtdorf's talk... During the break, Brennan, Mitch, Ethan and I walked down by the Lincoln Memorial and it was so much fun. It was one of those random moments that is just randomly perfect. Love them all. I also have a new appreciation for ducks. We then finished conference and are going to do a "Potstickers and Lincoln" night where we watch Lincoln all together. Have I mentioned that I am going to be so sad when I leave all these people? Well consider it said. 
• Easter Sunday- Easter was our last Sunday in church because of General Conference. It might have been more sad if I had actually gotten to know people in the ward. #whoops. But nonetheless, I did get a little sad I would no longer have church in that beautiful chapel. Sister Brown ended up making this huge meal for us and we all brought sides. Chels and I decided to make rolls. Yep, you read that right. I helped make homemade rolls! It was so fun and definitely made me feel less homesick. 
• Career change- Recently I've been wishy-washy on the whole law school thing. For some reason, it just kept on not feeling right. To that end, I've been looking into so many different options that I honestly have had a headache for the last week. I finally found a program that seemed perfect for me: A MA in Conflict Resolution and Negotiation. Um yeah. Who even knew this existed? This all stemmed from one of my friends here Jeremy, who told me I should look into mediation because I could always see both sides of the issue. I realized that all my life I've been the "special sauce" that always helps keep people together. It really took me a long time to realize that I had a skill that was fairly unique and that I needed to find a boss degree program to complete.  I looked and found out that the program that seemed the best was Georgetown's. Being the new person I am, I called  the head of the admissions and set up an appointment to talk with her. Okay, I know this is weird, but it is seriously was the best. She had majored in English as well and the whole program just has all these really random elements that are hard to explain that are perfect for me. I won't waste your time, just believe me. Their top recruiters are the State Department. So yeah, just another reason I loved it. I am also going to visit DU's program as well. It's completely weird how different my life's direction is after living here, but I feel confident that, at least right now, this is what I should be doing. Who knew that 
• The State Department- Last Friday, Chels and I woke up and sang our hearts out to N*Sync before our briefing. So much fun. Then, for one of our briefings, we headed to the State Department to speak with one of Hillary Clinton's former speechwriters. Although I cannot disclose any other information than that, let's just say that a. I want to be a speechwriter. b. I walked the same halls Hillz did and c. I shook the hand that has shook the hand of Hillary Clinton. It also inspired me to want to work there, hence the whole freakout over law school. Chels and I then walked around tidal basin and went to Serendipity for dinner. We then went to see the Host, which I really enjoyed. So yeah, it was a great Friday. 
• Cherry Blossoms/Crazy Weekend- This weekend we only had class for an hour and then we headed to Chelsea's exhibit she has worked on the whole time at the African Art Museum. (Which I could only see a little bit because I went to that meeting at Georgetown. I saw it later and it was awesome! So proud of that girl!) I met Chels and we sat on the Mall, ate at Nando's (seriously THE best garlic bread I've ever had) and got our snacks at Paul. I then headed out to our BBQ party that Professor Jacoby's friends threw. Let me just say that I learned a valuable lesson there: Marry a Harvard Law graduate #butseriously. Their house was HUGE. I had fun tough because his wife reminded me so much of my mom. Also, Alyse was there and she is one of my favorite people. We def had fun on the metro! :) The guy who drove the Metro came out and said hello to us, which has never happened, so that was pretty funny.  Saturday Chels and I woke up, got crepes at our place by the White House and wandered to the Jefferson memorial to get a good look at the Cherry Blossoms. We saw Candace for a few minutes and then headed there. They are not fully in bloom, but were still gorgeous nonetheless. We took oodles of pictures then headed to see Chels' exhibit. Afterwards, we came home because we had our final paper due. We finished, and celebrated because it was her last paper EVER (so jealous) and then I realized I had accidentally deleted most of my pictures on my camera! It was super tragic. I had kept having this prompting to check my bank account and I finally did, and to my horror, saw a $300 withdrawal from an ATM in New York from earlier that day. Luckily, because I caught it so quickly, my bank is going to take care of it. Lesson learned: Always always always listen to those promptings. 

Now onto the picture portion of my adventures: 

One of the full-timers made these for the interns. They have capes that say "Super Intern." 

Found the best items EVER in an Urban in Chinatown. 

Yep, now people at work have jumped on the Hillary wagon. 

Made rolls with Chels for Easter Sunday dinner. 

Instagram picture of the cherry blossoms with the Washington Monument in the background!

Hillary Clinton at the Global Leadership Awards(!!!!!!!!)

Gettysburg! Little Roundtop!

Finally made it here!

Jefferson memorial with cherry blossom buds!

My Global Leadership Award tickets (still cannot believe it happened!0

WE WERE SO CLOSE!

Chels and I at the Tidal Basin

I love the Jefferson!

Pretty magnolias outside the Smithsonian African Art Museum. 

Cherry blossoms!

Before the Global Leadership Awards started!

Candace and I outside the Opera House. 

I was that close to Hillz!

You can't really tell, but the woman on the left in white is Hillary. 

If you rub his nose, it's lucky!

Walked the same halls as Madeline, Condoleeza and Hillary. #futureemployer

More magnolias!

The fields of Gettysburg. 

The beginnings of some cherry blossoms!

And so I end another blog post, probably the last one written in the District... How sad! I cannot believe that my time here is almost done. But don't worry, I am going out with a bang.

Love love love you all!

P.S. This is my new song of the week: (Kinda cheesy, but so great!)