Mr. President...

I know, I know. I'm very behind. But if you could just watch my life the past week (which would look a lot like a sitcom honestly) you would sympathize with me. First, before I attempt to catch you up... I want you to know the most important thing that happened to me, and probably ever will. Also, let me say, that if this gets cut short I'm sorry... but I'm the only intern in the office right now and I could get pulled away. Also, I probably shouldn't be blogging at work, but I doubt I'll get fired... and if I do... haha.

Yesterday morning I picked up the "Daily AM" which is a daily newspaper that's published on the hill and has a listing of all the Congressional Activity for the day. I was reading through the possible opportunities for the week and stumbled upon a ceremony awarding the 139th Congressional Gold Medal of Honor to Norman Borlaug. It said that it was in the Rotunda and Senator Reid (President Pro Tem), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House) and President George W. Bush would all be attending. I KNEW THAT I HAD TO BE THERE. So, Sarah and I started our quest to get access to this once-in-a-lifetime event. We made phone calls all day yesterday afternoon and went home under the assumption that we would not be seeing anyone important today... none-the-less... we woke up this morning and dressed in our best business attire.

It was a huge decision, I'm not going to lie, but I chose my pin-stripe pencil skirt and a white silk shirt. Sarah, ever the Republican, chose a red sweater under a navy business suit. We headed to the office scared to mention what we both hoped would come true.

As soon as we got in we continued the frenzy of phone calls with no success. We decided to head to the Rotunda and hope to at least hear the President's speech echo through the Capitol. There were capitol police and secret service agents EVERYWHERE. I felt like a spy.

We first approached the Rotunda where we were immediately stopped in our tracks and asked to show our tickets, which we of course did not have. The policeman nicely sent us to the appointments desk, and there we were sent to the Sargeant of Arms, who sent us to the HOUSE side S.ofA., who then sent us back to the appointments desk. We had to stop and ask for directions at least ten times. The ceremony was well underway. The worst part of all was that we could hear thunderous applause and sweet songs ringing through the entire capitol. We were almost in tears by the time we got back to the desk where three blue hairs sat, ready to answer anything. The lady, luckily, took pity on us, and after a disheartening explanation of the "correct process" and how hard it was to get tickets, she let us in on a little secret. She pulled out the sweetest sight I have ever seen from below her desk: two blue tickets with gold crests. They were beautiful. She gave them to us, along with an invitation (which she hoped would get our friend Claire in, if we were smooth) and instructed us to hide our intern badges and act important. Thank God for the woman. She is an angel (and she will get flowers within the week).

We rushed off. I could hardly breathe... I was beyond nervous.

I flashed my blue ticket at the guard and he ushered me in... Claire made it too.
We found seats and I really can't tell you how amazing the rest of it was. The United States Army Chorus sang and it was beautiful. Stenny Hoyer, Mitch McCullom, Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Reid, and the President all spoke, along with a lot of other people who are apparently important. All of this took place in the room that I am convinced is the most gorgeous EVER... I was seriously beside myself. I didn't have my camera... because I'm a dork, but Sarah got pictures, and you better believe that I'm going to claim them as mine whenever I get copies.

This sort of thing is exactly what I dreamed of when I took this job. I love it. I'm sure most of you already knew about this, because as soon as I got back to the office I texted approximately 56 people (sorry about the mass text, but I was just too excited).

I'm still floating on air. It doesn't matter what kind of menial task I'm assigend for the rest of my two weeks in the office, this morning made everything worth it. I know I still have to catch up from the past week, but I'll do that later. For now you know the important part: I SAW "W", and yes, he was just as handsome in person. I could have kissed him.