Leaving the District

It's hard to believe, but the semester is done! The last few days were a lot of fun-getting in last minute adventures and talking with people-but we also had projects to finish and packing to do. One afternoon a few of us went to ride paddle boats on the tidal basin at the Jefferson Memorial. We also had our final progressive dinner on our floor which ended with improvisational competitive rapping by some people on my floor. Thursday night we had a banquet to celebrate the end of our semester. We dressed up, ate great food, and each took a turn being verbally affirmed by the others in the program. There was also a talent/entertainment portion of the evening including a guitar trio, an entertaining but not highly convincing magic show, and a movie I made about how our apartment had secretly stolen and held for ransom our friend John's life size cardboard cut out of Hillary Clinton (ask me for more details). We might be biased but we thought our video was probably the highlight of the night.


Yesterday morning it all concluded. The flight Eli and I were taking left at 9 am and we decided to have a cab pick us up at 7:00. Unfortunately, Eli's alarm didn't go off and I woke her up at 6:40-an hour and a half later than she wanted-and she had to get ready and finish her packing. The cab also came early and the driver seemed frustrated (possibly about the amount of luggage we had). Needless to say it was a little stressful! But once we got to the airport everything went smoothly, and by early afternoon we had landed in Omaha again.

It's been good being home so far, but I have already been noticing little things that I enjoyed about the city that Iowa doesn't offer. I'm sure it will take some adjusting. I've talked with several people so far who want to know about my semester, and it's definitely hard to describe in short. I have learned so much, experienced so much, and I think grown a lot too! I guess this signals the end of my blog-thanks for reading, and thanks for your prayers and support during the past four months!

It's hard to believe that this is my last week in DC. I've been trying to take advantage of the extra time we have now that internships have concluded and have crossed a few things off my DC to-do list. Last week I went to the National Aquarium with some friends. We had heard it wasn't too great, but thought we'd check it out anyway. The reviews were pretty accurate. We paid $7 and our most exciting moment was staring at the big snake trying to determine whether it was real or fake. Saturday we took a trip to the Smithsonian National Zoo. It was 90 degrees outside and the zoo was filled with children. The zoo is known for its pandas, which I didn't see. But we did see plenty of other animals.











Today has been a long day thus far. I woke up at 4:45 to go with two friends to see the sunrise from the Lincoln Memorial. The weather again was beautiful and we had a good time (that is after the bus we wanted was late and we ended up sprinting the last mile to make sure we got there before the sun came up). The view was beautiful! On the way back I stopped by the Supreme Court building to see if I could get into watch an hour long oral argument. I waited from 7:30 until 10am and found out there were no hour long seats left. I opted to stay in line a little longer for a chance to sit in the back for 5 minutes. It was a pretty neat experience and I saw all the judges sitting at the bench. Afterwards, I headed to the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center to do a service project. If you recall we did these at the beginning of the semester, and now we are wrapping up the semester by going back. Interestingly enough, we had to do the same type of work on a mailing as we did the first time-folding, stuffing, addressing envelopes, etc. I am currently working on a final paper for the semester. We have a few meetings and activities to attend this week before we begin our farewells Friday and Saturday. I am very excited to be returning home. Somewhere along the semester I have come to love DC, but don't really think it's a place to call home. I am not sure how much blogging I will have a chance to do this week, but I hope to write a few more times before wrapping this up!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We took advantage of the nice weather yesterday to attend a Washington Nationals game against the Florida Marlins. The stadium was fairly easy to get to-a 10 minute walk and a 5 minute bus ride. We bought $5 grandstand tickets-we were sitting 4 rows from the back. I guess you get what you pay for! Although the Nationals have a terrible record, we had high hopes for an exciting game after the Nats took a big league with a grand slam in the first inning. That's really about as exciting as it got. A couple of the guys and I decided to leave at the top of the 9th because the Nats were still up. Of course by the time we got down to the ground level the Marlins had somehow tied it up. We stayed for the remainder of the inning but left before the game went to 11 innings ending in a loss for the hometeam.

At night I crossed off an activity on my list of things I wanted to do in DC. I went to the see the monuments at night. They are all lit up and look pretty cool. We checked out the Washington, Lincoln, WW2, Vietnam, and Korean memorials before deciding to call it quits. Unfortunately, the metro we had taken to get to the area closed by the time we got back to it and we ended up walking all the way back-about 3 miles.

This weekend Eli and I also had to get our pictures taken for potential use in a Northwestern publication. The forecast was rain and we fought off a few raindrops for the first part of the "shoot," but fortunately the rain stopped and we only had to deal with some wind. I had my picture taken on the steps of the Supreme Court and Eli had hers by the Capitol. We almost had to stop the shoot before we started because a Supreme Court police officer told the photographer he had to have special permission to take pictures if it was going to be for a college magazine. So he had to stand on the sidewalk to take the pictures of me. Some creepy guy game up to Eli while we were there and gave her this paper doll to hold while he took a picture of her. It was a very interesting couple of hours. We're hoping photoshop will be able to do wonders with us!

Easter in the District

Even though I was away from home for Easter, I really had a pretty sweet weekend. I checked out some museums and sights but mostly spent time hanging out with some others who hadn't gone anywhere either. On Saturday night we had an impromptu supper on the roof, and watched the sunset. We had anticipated going to see the fireworks that signaled the end of the Cherry Blossom Festival, but decided to see if we could see them from the roof. Unfortunately we didn't take into account the large hospital that's across the street from us that blocked 95% of the fireworks.

Sunday morning some of my friends and I decided to go to the National Cathedral. The cathedral is in a very different part of the city and we had to wake up at 5:45 in order to catch a bus at 6:40 that would get us there in good time for the 8:00 service. Somehow it's never really hard to get up on Easter morning though. We got pretty good seats near to the front. I loved hearing a choir sing and it was interesting to see all the banners being carried and the clergy processing in. It was definitely a cool experience. However, when we first got their the first thing I noticed was a large American Flag in front of it...civil religion anyone?

By the time we got back from church it was around 11:30, and we were all pretty tired. I took a nap for awhile then many of us met up for an Easter Dinner for whoever was around. We each made some food to bring and we tried to make a semi formal dinner. There were probably about 25 people there and we had a really good time, and got extremely full! So it has been a long weekend, and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep!

And the Law School Winner is....

Creighton!

This week I decided I will be moving to Omaha this fall and attending Creighton School of Law. If I'm being honest, the decision was more of a pain in the butt than something that really stressed me out. Michigan State had a lot to offer and no matter how many pros and cons lists I made and how I tried to create scales and give the two schools numerical ratings it kept coming out even.

It's hard to say exactly what the deciding factors were, but they include quality of academics, great community I've heard about, and it's location. I have a friend to live with there and I am excited to live waters unchartered by Breens-living in the state of Nebraska.

As it stands right now, I am still on the wait list at the University of Iowa, and I really don't know what stress could attack me if I am offered a spot there, but I'll cross that bridge if I get to it. Thank you all for your prayers-this is probably the biggest decision I have had to make in my little life. I'm not sure how I feel about having to make adult decision like this!

Adventures in Anacostia

Yesterday instead of coming into my normal office, I went with an attorney to another location of our office in the SE (poorer) area of the city. I went because our NW location where I usually am is not taking any new clients this week. Thus traffic has been heavier in the SE and they needed some extra help making things work smoothly. My duties were to conduct the first part of the interviews with potential clients. If you remember, last week I sat in on some of these interviews so I had a handle on how they went. I took all the information down for people, collected their documents and got a handle on their legal problems before sending them into an attorney. Essentially I was the nurse before the doctor comes in. I am amazed at how much I understand now, compared to when I first came.

One problem was that I kept getting pushed out of rooms. Legal Aid just uses whatever rooms are available at the suite we rent space from in the Southeast. Twice I had to do interviews in the tiny computer control room which was about 85 degrees and where one person had to get out of the room before the other one could get up. I also made a new friend who "works" there and has come kind of cognitive disabilities but is very friendly and personally escorted me everywhere and took care of everything I need. He, and another kid-probably 13, seemed to take a shining to me. I'm not sure what that conveys...

Alex Trebek, Indian Dancers & FDR

Last weekend we had great weather to get out and enjoy more Cherry Blossom Festival Activities. On Saturday morning went to the parade. Alex Trebek was the Grand Marshall-so pretty much he sat in this car and waved. There were some pretty fun bands and groups to watch come through, but I wasn't really sure how they could have a parade without the streets being scrubbed first. And no one threw candy.

After the parade we had a picnic on the mall and flew a kite for a little while. Then we decided to make our way over to the Jefferson Memorial where the large tidal basin is surrounded by 1000 cherry trees. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones who had that idea. They had a stage set up at the memorial where different performances were being held all day. We saw a school of dancers performing Indian/Arabian music which was very fun.



Since none of us had been to the FDR memorial we thought it would be fun to check it out. I personally think it was the best of the memorials I have seen because it's like a park you walk through and there are plenty of fun statues to take pictures with. Someone threw out the idea of walking to the Iwo Jima memorial because it didn't seem too far away. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We had to walk back to the Lincoln memorial, over Memorial Bridge into Virgina and go around Arlington Cemetary-which for most you means nothing-but it more familar terms it means a long way...probably a couple miles. But depsite my tired feet and my severe and awkward sunburn lines, I really had a great day. The festival continues all this week and ends with fireworks on Saturday.

Day in Court

Monday I was able to spent my morning in the DC Superior Court room 113-a courtroom used for family law, particularly Civil Protection Orders. I arrived around 9:30 and the judge didn't enter the courtroom until well after 10:00. The room had probably 50 seats in it, and almost all of them were filled. And a collection of maybe 10 lawyers sat in the jury box and a cranky woman sat next to the judge printing out papers and trying to organize the circus of events that was to come. I think I was thinking the seats around me were filled with spectators or supporters like me, but no-these were people who were there to see the judge. By the time I left around 1:00 I had seen around 20 cases. Many of them were quick: asking the judge for extension of a CPO, mutual agreement of a CPO, requesting a CPO, etc. Many of the people were representing themselves and I wasn't sure what to think when people who had been sitting near me went up and were told the logistics of their new restraining orders--then came to sit next to me again while they waited for their paper work!

The most interesting thing I saw was an actual hearing where two women came forward and gave their own oral arguments about why they though a CPO was necessary or unnecessary. It reminded me a little of Judge Judy-only the judge was a man. The judge several times had to remind the women of the rules and was a bit terse with them. After he heard what they had to say he made up his mind on what should happen, in this case that a CPO should be granted. I know that's what a judge is supposed to do, but for some reason I was really taken by how the judge could just decide what he thought really happened and give a ruling. Maybe that's just because in college we often answer the question "what's right/wrong?" with "it depends" and don't often have to throw all our eggs in one basket. Some other cases were interesting too. In one, an interpreter was brought in, and when the case was done the wife asked if she could give her husband (the man who had been issued a CPO) some mail he would need and also gave him his bible. It just seemed funny to me. Another case requred a prisoner to be brought in who was handcuffed and in chains.

Seeing the court was a really good experience. It wasn't really glamorous and perfectly orchestrated. It was actually kind of noisy and the bailiff would have to confiscate cell phones and tell mothers to take their babies out. But I thought it was a lot of fun. These were real people with real problems-some more marginal than others-but nonetheless everyone agrees that what the judge says will be followed. I hope to have more chances to sit in on more cases, but I am thankful that each new experience I have here gets me excited about law. Phew! I'm still headed in the right direction!

Visiting Gettysburg

Yesterday Eli and I had the privilege of going to Gettysburg Pennsylvania with our new friend Mary Vander Maten (a daugher of some people from my church) who lives nearby. It took us close to two hours to get there. We perhaps didn't take the most direct route (perhaps accidentally) but we did get to see some pretty countryside and cows! Neither Eli or I had really seen any cows since we left Iowa and a strange excitement came over us. We spend the first part of our time at the brand new visitor center. The center's claim to fame is their cyclorama-a 360 degree painting with lights and special effects that is narrated to recount the battle of Gettysburg. We stood on a platform in the middle to watch. The experience was very cool, although we agreed the ambiance was weakened some by the museum employee who barked at us which way to turn to see things.

We drove back into the downtown area of Gettysburg for lunch and decided to eat at Lincoln's Cafe. There wasn't much Lincolnian about the restaurant besides the name, a sandwich named after him and I think I saw one other painting of him in the large restaurant.

We knew the weather forecast was not good, but we enjoyed great weather until after lunch. Heavy showers were intermittent during out "auto tour" where we followed a map and saw some of the landmarks around the battlefield. It was cool to see what the area looked like from the Union soldiers' side and then drive around and see what the terrain looked like for Confederate soldiers. The rain didn't permit great opportunities for picture taking.

We really had a great time and were thankful we got a chance to see something so cool that our classmates won't be able to!

The Cherry Blossom Festival Begins

Well the Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing here in DC and I've already been enjoying some of the activities. Saturday they had a kite festival at the Washington Monument. The weather was not ideal-a slow drizzle all day and very little wind. We saw quite a few kites out, but I'm guessing with some sun and wind it would have been even better.

The cherry trees were a gift given by the Japanese to the US so they try to incorporate some of the Japanese culture into the festival. Saturday afternoon we also went to the opening ceremonies where we saw an incredible dancer and watched a performance of a Japanese women's group doing a percussion and dancing routine-we loved it! Additionally we heard from some local dignitaries-none of which I had ever heard of, and the Japanese ambassador.

The trees are getting prettier each day and I hope to spend some more time outside getting some better pictures of them soon.

New Experiences

Yesterday I had a new experience at work. I asked if I could sit in on an intake interview. An intake interview is what I tell people to come in for when I talk to them on the phone and think they have the right kind of legal problem. So I sat in on two interviews with David one of the lawyers at Legal Aid Society. It was very cool to see the next step of the process and see how lawyers interact with people. One of the interviewees was actually someone I had spoken with a few hours earlier on the phone. After we went through getting basic information, the person would tell us their story and then we would go speak with some other attorneys who specialize in the desired area of law and report back on whether we might be able to help them or if they should seek aid at another location. I almost broke out in laughter during one of the interviews because the woman was talking nonstop and announced to us she was menopausal and was having a hot flash, and she spit when she talked. David did an excellent job dealing. On Monday I will get to see another step of the legal process when I go to court with a lawyer! I'm guessing it will not be anything like the Matlock experience I dream of.

This week I also got another chance to talk to Trish and found out she's a Christian....at least she reads the Bible. We talked a bit and she told me she is collecting money because she needs to buy new bandages for her legs that usually cost about $20 when she goes to buy them. I told her sometime soon I would like to go with her and buy them for her and she seemed interested. I'm more curious about her than ever now that I found out she reads the bible. I hope my being a Christian will make her trust me more and be willing to accept help from me. We'll see!

Yay for Family!

I've finally regained my energy after a full weekend with my family. My parents, Uncle Ken, Tim, Tami and Jericho came on Thursday and left Monday. We did a lot of sight seeing. Friday went to the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court. I had never been in the Supreme Court before and we got to sit in the actual courtroom and hear a short speech about it. I found out anyone can go to hear oral arguments so I will have to check that out before I leave. In the afternoon I had class and sent my family off to a museum, where they got a parking ticket and nearly had the van towed.

Saturday we spent the morning at Arlington Cemetary and saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In the afternoon we took a drive out to Mt. Vernon even though we knew we were not going to pay the $15 to go through the whole exhibit. We got remarkably far into the grounds though and were even able to walk outside some and try to "get the essence" of Washington's old stomping grounds.

Sunday we went to my church...well part of it. Knowing full well the Baptists are longwinded, we decided to leave after the first hour. We visited the National Archives, had lunch at Union Station and made a brief stop at the Air and Space Museum. The last big thing we did was checking out the memorials and monuments. Unfortunately we chose arguably the worst parking spot in the city and had to walk ridiculously far to get to where we wanted to be. Even though it was tiring I think we all had fun, and were glad that Jericho behaved pretty well.

Today I am working only a half day instead of a whole day because my family is arriving today. I'm not sure what we will be doing today-the weather is once again rainy. This morning part of my duties were to run an errand to another part of down to pick up something from a company that serves legal documents professionally-like subpoenas and child support papers. I really like getting to go around the city to do things like that.

Yesterday I had another chat with Trish the homeless woman. I want to find out a more about her story but I figured it would be weird to go up to her and ask her all my questions in a row-so now I work on getting bits and pieces. She told me she has been homeless for a long time, many years, and that she doesn't have any family. Supposedly, her social worker is working on getting her a place to stay and it should be soon. I wasn't sure whether that is true or if it's something she just keeps telling herself. It would be great if she could get someplace to stay.

Tonight one of my friends and I are trying to gather a small group together to talk and pray with each other. We're not sure if it will turn into a Bible study or if people will even want to come, but we hope so!

I can see I've been neglecting my duties of enlightening everyone to the marginally fascinating life I lead in our nation's capital. Inclement weather has prevented us from taking full advantage of city life lately. We've been having rain for the past five days, but tomorrow we hope to see the sun again.

Last week was fairly slow, not many academic responsibilties. We heard from a panel about gender in the workplace, which quickly ignited discussion among some of my roomates about men and women-a topic frequently discussed in the apartment. I am now learning to keep my non-feminist opinion to myself.

I made a solo trip to the Smithsonian Postal Museum on Friday morning-I couldn't convince from anyone else to accompany me to learn about the greatness of the postal service. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The museum was not very busy (is anyone surpised at that?) and I got the idea this was a low security threat: I caught one of the security guards ambling through a dimly lit exhibit sending text messages on her phone. Saturday we spent some time at the Museum of American History, but learned rainy days are not good days to go to museums-it was incredibly busy. We were only able to see maybe half of the musuem, including an exibit on the presidents, one on the first ladies, the Ruby Red slippers from Wizard of Oz, original Kermit the frog and Oscar the Grouch puppets, and my favorite-the one that displayed the "Puffy Shirt" worn by Jerry Seinfeld haha.
The other hours of the weekend were filled with exploring new areas and restaurants with friends, going to church, eating, and napping.

This week I am especially excited because my Dad/Mom, Brother/Sister/Nephew, and Uncle are coming to visit. I will attempt to play tour guide for the weekend to show them as much as possible during their brief stay (as well as take full advantage of the use of a vehicle and a larger cash reserve).

Back in Washington

My week break in Michigan had to come to a close, but I didn't really it want to. Yesterday and today it was back to Legal Aid for me and both days were fairly busy. Today I spent most of my day travelling around the city, including to the Southeast quadrant of the city which is known to be home to most of the poor in the city. I guess its the "hood" of DC. I only came across one rather shady character with a Jamaican like hat aimlessly wandering around with a tall squeegee.

I also had another encounter with Trish, my homeless friend. A couple of weeks ago I had asked her if there was anything I could do for her or get for her. She thought maybe some sweatpants and a shirt. Unfortunately, my trip to Michigan prevented me from getting anything to her last week. I happened to get in on a good deal at a West Michigan Walgreens and picked up some sweatpants and sweatshirts for really cheap. So I brought them back and yesterday I was able to give them to Trish. The ironic thing was that it was about 65 degrees when I brought her all that warm clothes. She was very appreciative and said she would wear them anyway. I learned a little bit more about Trish, she said she had some surgery done on her legs because she had cancer. In order for her legs to heal she is supposed to wear loose fitting pants like sweatpants. She seemed kind of hesitant to tell me about it, but I hope to find out more soon.

Family, Friends and PIZZA RANCH!

I have really enjoyed the past couple of days here in Michigan. Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day. Tami and I went shopping in the morning and at night we had a Breen Bash at the Veldkamps'. Typically these get togethers are quite loud and boisterous and last night was no exception. Many of us cousins enjoyed a rousing game of telephone pictionary which was only enhanced by the colorful (though at times mildly inappropriate) vocabulary of some of my cousins.

Today I got to see two very good friends. I had breakfast with my friend Katie from Camp Geneva and this aftenoon I met up with my high school friend Stephanie from Calvin. I had a lot of fun catching up with them.

Something I have been missing being away from Northwestern is working at Pizza Ranch. Believe me, no one is more suprised than I. Tonight, at long last, I had my first taste of Pizza Ranch since January. Thank goodness for the Hudsonville PR! It was so good! (But it pales greatly in comparison to its Northwest Iowa counterparts. Particularly in the clientele-as I drove in, some police officers zoomed up to some exiting patrons and got out their handcuffs to arrest the men.)

Tomorrow I have to head back to DC. I suppose it's time, but I have really enjoyed a week away from the city!

Visiting MSU

Today was my visit day at Michigan State College of Law. Last night I drove to East Lansing, which is about 90 miles from Tim and Tami's in Hudsonville. I stayed with my friend Abbey from Camp Geneva who goes to MSU. It was very fun to see her sleep on her air mattress and hang out with Zac Efron.

I really liked MSU a lot. It was fun to be an admitted candidate they are trying to cater to, rather than just someone who is applying but might not get in. I enjoyed getting lots of free things (or "SWAG" for my Office fans) like this bag and water bottle and pens, and chocolates and other delicious food. They won me over right there. We did the usual visit day acvitities-hearing from faculty, attending a mock class, listening to a student panel, taking a tour, talking financial aid, etc. I really liked the emphasis MSU put on community and the quality of teaching students recieve. The students also talked about how law school is not as scary as people often say and that there is definitely time for fun. MSU law students also enjoy season tickets to sporting events and have a designated area on the 30 yard line at football games. I figured the males in my family would be especially supportive of me if I became a Spartan for that reason alone.

The low point of the day was when I went back to the car to drive home and discovered a ticket on the windshield, despite a clearly displayed parking permit I'd been sent in the mail. I went back in to the law building and complained that they parking directions I had been given were terribly vague and that I just followed the signs to visitor parking. I guess kicking worked because they took my ticket and said they'd take care of it.

But despite the parking fiasco, I had a great day. I'm not making any decisions yet though. I'm avoiding that as long as possible.

Beauty Through Pain

A lot has happened since last I wrote, and I apologize this post may be long. Last Friday my Grandpa Harold Roedema passed away. So rather than waiting until Wednesday to fly to Michigan (as I was planning for my law school visit), I flew in to Grand Rapids Saturday. I’m so thankful that everyone was so flexible with me. I had a great experience on one of my flights. I sat next to two women who were Christians, Brenda and Nina. Nina Fuller is an author of some books about children with special needs and also speaks at conferences. We talked about life and faith and my grandpa’s death for almost the whole flight. After getting off the plane they wanted to pray with me.

Our family definitely experienced sadness in these past days. This was the first time my parents and brothers have lost anyone close, so it was a learning experience for all of us. We spent plenty of time crying and hugging one another. We spent most of Sunday at the funeral home and then yesterday was the funeral. I had the privilege of singing with two of my cousins. We sang “There is a Fountain”, a song Grandpa had wanted at his funeral. Though I was nervous about singing at a funeral and did not want to start crying, everything went very well and I was even able to look at my family and my grandma without crying. It was probably one of the most meaningful performances I have ever done. My brother and Dad also took part in the service and everything was beautiful.

Despite the sadness, our family experienced much joy over the past days. We were able to have our whole Breen family together, and almost every member of our extended family. I met Jericho for the first time and to have my parents, brothers and sisters, and babies together all at once was so wonderful! My grandma got to meet Jacob and Faith for the first time too.

The fact that Grandpa was no longer suffering was wonderful for us to know. He had such a strong faith and every time I talked to him he said he told me he prayed for me every night. I think he was always a little nervous about my interest in politics and talked about how corrupt it all was (though he had very specific political views of his own). The last time at Christmas when I was talking to him though, I told him how I was interested in doing family law and helping people in need. He seemed much more excited about that. I admired him for so many reasons and hope that when I am his age my faith will still be the most important thing in my life and that it will be evident to others.

So it’s been a roller coaster of emotions over the past couple of days. Most of the family has gone home now. I have the rest of the week here with Tim and Tami, so I’m going to try to rest, spend time with family and friends and check out a law school.

A familiar face

This week there were guests visiting ASP from CCCU schools. One of them was my professor/advisor Dr. Jeff Van Der Werff. He thought it would be good to visit Eli and I, and he also came through this program in the 80s. It was nice to see someone I knew from Iowa. Eli and I even got to go out to eat on the CCCU's tab. We went with another visitor from Canada and two ASP students Jeremy and Fred. We decided on the Banana Cafe-a Cuban/Puerto Rican/Mexican place that is also known for it's piano bar, but we didn't get to see any live piano playing.

Lent in the City

I've been reminded in the past week how many people are reading my blog-it's so cool and makes me think the sweet opportunity I have to share things and but also the responsibility to be careful of what I say!

I would say I am now done with transitioning into a new place and job and am now falling into a routine. I guess that's a good thing, but it doesn't make for really exciting stories all the time.

So maybe I'll share something I've been learning...it has been very different for me to be living in a place with others who have different values and beliefs than me. Not a day goes by that there isn't some discussion or disagreement about political beliefs, the church, views of men and women, or something else. While I am always up for a good discussion, it is somewhat frustrating that I have found very few people here who share most of my core beliefs, despite our commonly proclaimed faith. I have really been forced to think about what I believe and why I believe it. My mind is constantly going back to past conversations and thinking about what I truly believe to be a Christian response. And how do I properly respond to both Christians and non-Christians I disagree with without making God look bad? I know it is good for me to be grappling with such issues, but it isn't always fun.

Washington often seems to me a pretty godless city. This morning as I walked to work I saw a few people with ash crosses on their forehead and it made me think about how each person may not be able to change the world with their faith, but can be a light/show their cross to the people they encounter on the streets or in their offices.

Last night I was asking my roommates if they were giving anything up for Lent. A couple of my roommates said they didn't really get the point of it, or they weren't Catholic, or it just didn't seem very important to them. I don't believe it's necessary to do anything different for Lent, but I have enjoyed taking on different ways of observing Lent over the past years. For me, the thing that probably competes most with God in my life is the obsession of time and feeling like I have total control of time. So this year, as I did last year, I am trying to memorize a book of the Bible-Ephesians. I recognize this will take time out of my schedule daily but I hope will benefit me as I defend my faith in daily discussions, and will help me focus on being a light to city, or at least the few people I interact with.

I don't know if any of you do anything for Lent, but it really is a cool experience. Don't just give up sweets because you think it will help your diet, and don't give up Facebook just because you want to appear holy. Think of areas of your life that are competing with God for your faithfulness and go from there!

Okay, that may have sounded like a sermon. But I suppose there is more to my semester than visiting musuems. Oh-And stay tuned for some updates on my homeless friend Patricia!

A dinosaur is going to eat my head!

I don't know that anything too exciting has happened in DC since I last wrote, but I can try to scrounge for a couple new things. I've been a little sick and am just starting to get over it-mostly cold and headache-so I guess most of my free time has been spent sleeping.

Friday night I had another enthic food "first"-Greek food. It was okay, but I think I'll always prefer chicken strips and fries. Yesterday I went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. This was probably my favorite Smithsonian so far, probably because it had a lot of things about animals in it and had a lot to look at. We also caught a glimpse of the Hope Diamond. I guess I didn't realize how big 45 karats was going to be. I was expecting it to be like the size of a fist, but it was only about one square inch from the top....I was kind of disappointed. I went to the museum with a group of guys and I learned a lesson-never do that again. We were through most of the museum in under and hour...a little faster than I was hoping for. Consequently, I learned very little.

Today was a fairly busy day. I went to church at Capitol Hill Baptist again-the service lasted 2 hours! Tonight I went to a praise and worship service at Ebenezers, which is a coffee house started by a pretty big church in DC. It was nice to have some kind of worship twice in one day, and it reminded me of being back at NW.

Despite many happy times, we had some sadness here. This weekend we found out one of our good friends is leaving the program for the rest of the semester and it has been pretty hard on everyone here because he was such a great guy and we will miss him. So we could all use your prayers.

Dutch Bingo at the Capitol

I have once again been reminded of the incredible things being at ASP has to offer me. Yesterday I got out of work a little early and decide to take a walk by the White House. I had only seen it from the back side and thought it might be fun to walk all the way around it. There were so many tourists around and I couldn't help but think how excited these people were to get one glance at the White House, and I could see it everyday if I wanted to.

Then today we had class at the Capitol, and sat in Nancy Pelosi's meeting room and talked with her secretary Wendall Primus. After going around and introducing ourselves and where we were from, Mr. Primus told us that he is originally from Iowa and has an aunt and uncle who live in Orange City! I didn't get a chance to ask him their names, but here I was in the Capitol building and the secretary to the Speaker of the House was using the Orange City hospital as an example in talking about healthcare. I'm sure if we would have found on their names we would have known them. If I would have talked to him more he probably would have told me he used to live in Middleburg...that's usually how it goes.

Still cooler than that, one of our professors told us today that he is working on scheduling a briefing at the White House for next Friday! Seriously, how freaking cool would that be-to have class in the White House?

Well, I'm soon getting ready for the weekly progressive dinner that's held on my floor. Each apartment makes something and we travel from one apartment to the next eating-it usually makes for a very entertaining evening and allows us to build some community too.

Last night was a great night of random fun. After supper, some my roommates and I were pretty bored and didn't want to spend any money. So I recycled an idea from my NW days and slowly got my roommates into the idea. Soon enough we were pulling our mattresses off our beds, lining them up down the stairs and sliding down! It soon became the hotspot as people came in and out checking out what was going on. We also enjoyed getting one roommate Andrea ready to go 80s dancing, and then convincing her to create a music video to the song Cereal Girl from Sesame Street, a parody of Material Girl by Madonna. Andrea eats cereal all the time and her outfit made the production absolutely necessary. She's also very willing to pull our her dance moves and ex-cheerleader moves on demand.

This morning we had a special treat. Our neighbor Chad cooked us a special Valentine's breakfast. Although my roommates weren't too pleased about being awakened (psh, it was already 10:30) we all enjoyed getting to eat eggs, waffles, and bacon.

Oh! And yesterday I got a pretty fun surprise when I received flowers from my parents. They were tulips and they are beautiful-I have been missing the Dutchness of Orange City so they make me very happy!

New Experiences as Work

On Thursday at work I got a break from the norm of phone calling, but only because I was in the right place at the right time. I met one of my coworkers in the elevator and found out she was going to do a home inspection. I said it sounded like fun, and the next thing you know I was on a bus headed to an apartment. My cooworker Theresa took pictures of potential healthcode violations-I think there were lots of them, and there were bugs all over. The woman only spoke in Spanish, but I understood most of what she said. I enjoyed the experience because I have talked to so many people on the phone about their landlord-tenant complaints, and now I have a better understanding of what they are experiencing.

On the bus ride home, Theresa and I were talking and the conversation somehow turned to faith. She told me she grew up in the church but was didn't feel people were genuine and things just didn't make sense to her. Church never answered the questions she had. It was interesting to talk with her about why she had decided to leave the church. I had mentioned my dad was a pastor and she asked me why it was I believed in God. I think that's the question that's so scary for Christians to be asked. And right away I started thinking about I Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." I didn't want to mess up the answer to that question, but I tried to speak from my heart and beyond that I couldn't do more. I don't know whether Theresa will remember that conversation at all, but I pray she will, and I pray that I will have more opportunities to talk to coworkers like this too.

Her name is Patricia

I think I half heartedly prayed for it, because I wasn't really sure if I wanted what I was praying for. I'm coming to see that if you "kind-of" pray something to God that, if answered affirmatively, will result in you being challenged, he usually gives it to you. I think that's what happening to me. Before I left for DC, I mentioned to a few people that I thought it would be cool if God put a homeless person in my path to my internship that I could befriend and bless. I even kind of prayed for it. And now I think it's coming true.

The first time I saw her was when I went to visit my internship a couple weeks ago. I remember because I was kind of lost and wasn't even on the right street and when I saw her. Now I see her often. She's a tiny woman, probably in her seventies. She usually sits on a milk crate about a block from the Legal Aid Society, wrapped in a shawl, holding a sign saying she's homeless and would like money. I'm not sure about giving homeless people money, but I thought maybe I could bring her some food sometime. People walk by her all the time and just look the other way. It kind of reminds me of the story of the good Samaritan.

I had planned on bringing her a granola bar yesterday, but I forgot. I went to Subway with a friend for lunch and decided to bring her a cookie back, but she wasn't there anymore. Today I went back with the cookie and a granola bar. I was excited as I left my internship and saw her sitting on the milkcrate. So I went over to her, told her the story about the cookie-it must have sounded lame. I asked her if she was hungry and she said not really. But when I told her I had some food with me she eagerly took it. I introduced myself and she told me her name is Patricia, but that people call her Trish. She was very sweet. I'm not really sure what God has in mind for this situation, but it would be sweet if I could get to know Patricia more, and find ways to bless her. I'm not going to be stupid, and I have no idea what will happen next, but I'm kind of excited to see!

Heading to Michigan in a couple of weeks!

This past weekend I requested a stipened from Michigan State to attend one of their visit days. Last night I received confirmation that they will give me the amount I requested which will cover my whole flight! I am excited for a number of reasons. At this point I have only been accepted at two law schools and I have already visited Creighton, so I feel it is incredibly important for me to visit and get a feel for MSU and the area. I also have a friend from Camp Geneva who attends MSU who is willing to let me stay with her for the night, so not only will I have a free place to stay but will get to see someone I love a heck of a lot. I am also looking forward to having a break from DC and seeing some familiar faces. Probably the most exciting thing is that Tim and Tami will be able to get me from Lansing and I can stay with them for a couple days and see my nephew baby Jericho!!! I will have to miss a day of class and a day of my internship but it will be totally worth it.

Back to the present, it's my second week at my internship and I'm getting more comfortable with my duties. This afternoon I went on my very first solo "court run." I went to the DC Superior Court buildings to bring documents to be filed, get copies of files, stuff like that. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it's kind of a complex process and I was very nervous I would mess up...but it all went pretty smoothly. I've also been doing some "legal" writing of sorts-I have written a few summaries that are being sent to other organizations about cases we are unable to take. I'm not really sure if what I am doing is important, but I'm just going to try to do a good job. My Dutchness mixed with the lovely weather led me to abandon the costs of public transportation in favor of walking home from my internship. I think the internet told me it's about 2.7 miles but it took me about as long as it would to take the bus home. Don't worry mom, I'm being careful.

Pretty Smells and Old Documents

Last night I had my first experience with Ethiopian cuisine. It wasn't my first choice, but I went with the crowd. We went with about 12 of us, and when they brought the food out, we were all a little confused at first. Everyone's order was on this big round plate. The waitress had to go around and tell which piles belonged to which person. We were also given this bread like substance-it was like a tortilla but kind of spongy-and that's what you ate with. This picture shows what the food looked like. Oh, did I mention none of this was my order? I found pasta on the menu and went with that-and was pretty satisfied too. I tried other peoples piles of varying color and consistency, it was okay.

This morning was glorious. The weather was in the 50s and for the first time I ran outside by the Capitol. It's still hard for me to believe that I'm here and all the amazing buildings are at my disposal. I could hardly keep from smiling as I circled around the Capitol and thought of how this is a nice change from running around OC and cornfields.

After lunch we headed West of the Capitol and to the Botanical Gardens and the National Archives. The gardens were pretty cool, it smelled wonderful in there. They had some pretty neat kinds of plants in there, like endanged plants, medicinal plants, and flowers and fruit producing plants. And what also made it so great was that it only took like 20 minutes to go through it all! Here are a couple pictures from inside.

The National Archives were pretty cool. It's hard to imagine that these are the documents that define us as a nation. As I looked at the Consitution especially I thought about how it has stayed relatively unchanged since it was written, while other nations have gone through many constitutions. I thought I'd try to snap a photo of me with the Constitution, but without a flash it didn't turn out great. So this is the best I have.

Okay, I know this is a long post, but I thought I'd also put up a picture of me and my roommates, I don't think I've put one up yet. Here we are in front of the Capitol. From left, me, Andrea, Mandi, Shanley, Christine, Eli.