Successful Week in Richmond--Perfect Weekend in the District

Sorry for the delay in pictures and posts, I just literally haven't stopped and I am loving EVERY minute of it!

I gave my grandma Sunny a call yesterday, (Shout out: HI GRANDMA!) and she praised me on my blog, which was so nice, and I appreciate that! Then I knew that mom and dad were having dinner with the French grandparents, so I called them and Grandpa Dave answered...unlike my grandma Sunny, he told me I had to write in shorthand. I guess it was too much for him to take in....sorry gramps, I'm stayin busy up here and trying to record every bit that I can! Love ya though!

So as I mentioned earlier, I was in Richmond for a READesign. It was incredible! I got to meet a ton of the kids and they were the best, so excited for their new library which turned out perfect!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday it was our team of 6. John, the Project Manager, 4 other HOA employees and myself. Capitol One was our sponsor for this renovation...so on Thursday and Friday we had 40-50 employees help out and read to the children in their classrooms. It was a hectic week, but the overall final project was such a success! Heres some pictures from Tuesday and on....I wish I had my camera the first day so you could see how bad it was!

Believe it or not, this was SUCH an improvement from the day before

we painted all the walls

 and provided the school with over 15,000 new books

We had some Capitol One volunteers come and clean out their stage

Every student got to take home 5 books each to keep!

Some Capital One volunteers

Kathy and Katryna from HOA 

Marquis is THE man! Awesome guy and helped me get settled with this whole process

I have yellow paint on three shirts now! THREE 

Everyone loves a Dr. Seuss quote

All new furniture including chairs, desks, couches and bean bags

Jasmine-Hero of the Heart

Rodrigo- Hero of the Heart

 So at every school, we ask the teachers and principals to select a male and a female that show a passion for learning, helping others and just being an overall great person; a student who can represent their school in a positive manner. Greene Elementary chose Jasmine and Rodrigo. Rodrigo was very polite and shy, and Jasmine was such a sweetheart. She wants to be an astronaut when she grows up, I guess the poor thing doesn't know what a budget cut is yet.

They use an artist in Jacksonville!! The same artist paints something similar for every school

Those chairs were too comfy 

Marquis-John-Cynthia-Cathy-Katryna-Myself
The Richmond Team

NOW...Onwards to a weekend of greatness.

Today is only Wednesday, and it seems like this past weekend was forever ago!!!

So I got back late Friday night (when I say late, I mean 10:30pm...gosh I am a loser) and I was exhausted from a long week of work. Some of the other interns staying at AU called me and asked if I wanted to go out, I respectfully declined the offer; however, they did say that tomorrow morning (last Saturday) they were going to go to the top of the Washington Monument, which was something I was dying to do...the only catch is, you have to wait in line at 6:30 in the morning to get your ticket for that day. So there I was setting my alarm for 5:45....AM!!!!!
It was well worth the brutal awakening.

Such a beautiful reflection pond

I guess it won't be finished for another year, at least.
And when I say I guess, I mean thats what the Park Ranger said

The Jefferson Memorial-haven't made it there yet

Our tickets were good for noon that day. Naturally, we all went back and napped for an hour or two and made it back in time to catch the elevator that led us up just over 555 feet. 

All of these pictures are taken through the two glass windows on all four sides

I know, I know, it looks like we aren't friends, but I swear we are...I just didn't want to block "The" 

Our whole group after our trip to the top!

After this breathtaking view of D.C., which might I add, if you ever go back to DC, wake up at 5:45 and reserve your tickets, it was definitely worth it, we headed down to the National Asian Heritage Festival.

This was a rather interesting dance-off between the two dragons 

It was supposed to be a delicious shaved ice  dessert with fruit.
It was disgusting. I loved the shaved ice, but that was the chewiest fruit I've ever tasted.
And that purple stuff is paste...nasty!

I got the opportunity to ring a gong, try a spring roll, eat halo-halo, dance to K-PoP, Korean Pop, and meet some cool people along the way, it was great!

To keep the festivities rolling, we headed into Chinatown where he had some great Chinese (I had chicken lo mein) and then we saw Pirates of the Caribbean. I have to say, I was a little disappointed, and I am not a huge fan of Penelope Cruz.

The next morning, Erica and I checked out another church. Again, this one was walking distance, but it still didn't feel quite like home. There was about 15 people in the whole service, it was difficult to get out of there after, we met EVERY SINGLE person and were welcomed back about 50 times, but very very nice people!

We met up with our normal group and headed towards the Mall. We were going to check out some more Smithsonians!

We went to the Native American Museum first, and for some reason I lost the pictures I had from that hour. I was hoping to see more tangible items, but we got to meet some tribal dancers, and we ate downstairs for some "authentic" Native American food...it was over-priced and over-rated.

Following that, we headed to the Air and Space Museum which was INCREDIBLE! I took about 50 pictures of rockets and planes and propellors and anything and everything in that museum. We had an official tour guide, which loaded us with knowledge, it was great!

This is one of the four bikes that remain from Wright Brothers Cycles--What they built before they desired to fly.

An exact replica of the first official plane.
There were two smaller ones built before this one, but neither of them lasted over 9 seconds in the air.  

I just think it's funny that it says Beware of Blast

Interesting fact-this was a piece that flew on the first flight with the Wright Brothers,
and it made it to the first trip on the moon!

Good ole Amelia

After leaving the two hour tour and fascinating museum, we thought we would go venture to the memorials... First stop, Vietnam.

Washington Monument in the reflection of the Vietnam Memorial

 Nice little pond on the way to the Lincoln..

 Ahh...we made it. As everything, it was a long hike from our original point of departure, the capital, down to the Lincoln Memorial. (1.9 miles-without stopping at every possible distraction)

again, such a nice pond! 

So sophisticated, Lincoln. 

Soon after, we were at the Korean Memorial.

So peaceful

Thank you to all the men and women who put your life on the line for our country!

 Since we were all the way down at the end of the Mall, we figured we would march on in to Arlington and just hop on that Metro instead of walking back towards the Capital. I wanted to go to the Arlington Cemetery but my group said they had had enough....another time.

View from the bridge going over the Potomac of the Lincoln and Washington Monumnet

Well, I'm sure I lost half of you, sorry I know that was a lot, and late as well...but I had an amazing week followed by a terrific weekend. D.C. has treated me well so far, and I still feel like it has just begun!

Myself and 7 other interns are going to Philly for Memorial Day weekend, I can't wait! I haven't seen my cousin Jenny in such a long time!

Till next time,
God Bless