God is my favorite person!! (Entry 2)
Ok team!
I survived finals (got all A's :D), spent a week in Nevada, and now I am writing to you from my comfortable kitchen in Dupont on a rainy relaxed cereal kind of Saturday morning. God has been so good to me.
if you don't have the time to read me wax on about each day, the highlight of my week was Monday when I met someone who works for NASA!!
Featured photo:
I'm going to attach pictures from the day at the end of it's section, and I'm going to size them down. If you want to see them bigger, click and they should get bigger and show all photos in order. If pictures aren't working for you just let me know & if anyone knows how to make videos work let me know :)
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Time in Nevada:
It was good to spend some time back in Nevada on the land and with my cat. I spent some time working outside and a lot of time playing string with Viola and dressing her up in her sweater and scarf. I also packed and sewed. It was lovely to spend some time at home.
Saturday, May 11:
I took a red eye flight from Vegas. I left at 9:30 pm (pst) and eventually got to DC at 9:30 am (est). It was rough...but I did spend a lay over in the cutest little airport in Cincinnati. The airport there has a mini library and a moose skeleton! How cool!! I arrived in my beautiful house in Dupont. I don't think you know this yet but when I went to DC my senior year with LCHS, The U had just announced they bought this house which they'd give to interns. I told everyone I would live there. Fast forward two years and there I was walking up to the beautiful Hatch House! God is too good sometimes. It is such a nice house.
Here is my Flying to DC Spotify playlist for those of you planning a trip sometime soon! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1TgqBc5fB67gy3rcjUvJ2f
Sunday, May 12:
Before church, a roommate and I had to run an errand. On our way there we saw a park on a street with rainbows painted on the road. Wizard of Oz vibes. There was a competitive game of some unknown sport going on and we were intrigued. I asked someone walking past what was going on and they said it was the Queer Kickball championship game. The context clues finally clicked. The game was fabulous.
My first week at church!! Everyone is great. It's a fairly small ward. Our Bishop's name is Danny Boyd, which sounds a lot like "Danny Boy" and I was veryyy confused.
After church, a guy came up to me and took out his phone and asked for my name. I thought he was trying to get my number and was surprised by the abruptness. Then he asked for my birthday, and realized I just accidentally transferred my records. I will let you know how soon I get a calling. My money is on 2 weeks.
Mother's Day in a Young Single Adult Ward is always a bit awkward, but at least we got flowers!!
Monday, May 13:
On Monday, the most mind blowing miracle of the century happened. Let me set up the scene:
My internship doesn't start until next Monday, so I slept in after my roommates went to work. I finally decided to go get my National Archives card for my internship.
I got to the National Archives at 3:30 and they tell me despite being open until 4:00 I should have come in before 3:00 if I wanted to get a card, so then I decide to just wander the mall? I didn't have anything to do but I had a full stomach and walking shoes. The streets were chalk full with tourists, lobbyists, and thousands of Police Officers in dress uniforms for Police Week. I was navigating all this. I got stopped a couple times by lobbyists because I seem to have the face that Bleeding Hearts like to stop on the street (as a woman who carries spray and sharp things, I'm not fond of being approached). Anyways, I got stopped a couple times which slowed me down. These tiny detours of time seemed to be part of God's perfect plan for me because when I arrive on the mall in a sea of cops, a local guy is walking somewhat parallel to me.
He says to me, "you're not a cop" as a sort of break the ice joke.
I say, "Haha no...just an intern." Which I try not to usually say to people so I started to beat myself up because I don't like telling unknown strangers details about myself. So I just ask, "what do you do?"
He says, "I work for NASA."
I do a tiny bird hop of surprise and excitement and go, "OH MY GOSH NO WAY ARE YOU JOKING THAT'S LIKE MY DREAM!!! What do you do for them???"
He is laughing and says, "I do administration work for them."
I am absolutely floored at this point because that's my dream job and I say, "can I keep walking with you?"
He says for sure. He's just getting his steps on because since covid, NASA does hybrid work, so he was working from home today. He was on his way back home.
As we walk and talk he tells me about his story and how he got to where he is. His name is Dr. Jean-Marie Jean-Pierre. He's the Service Integration Program Director for the Agency Communications Program. He works at NASA Goddard. He came from Haiti as a young man, speaking no English. He learned English and got lots of cool degrees in Public Administration flavored things (see his LinkedIn for details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jean-marie-jean-pierre-2275b3a/details/education/) and has worked very hard to get where he is now. He talked about how God has helped him on this journey. He is such a faithful guy. I know God didn't just place me but also timed him to be in the correct place and time to meet each other. He encouraged me to hold my faith and have discipline and I can get to where I want to go. He was such a cool and great guy. I was just flabbergasted. He gave me his personal number and LinkedIn. He said I could call him anytime, but especially when applying for NASA Internships and Graduate School.
How cool!!! Seriously. How cool. I'm so blessed to be connected to such cool people in physics and NASA.
After he walked to his apartment, I sat down at a bench in front of a fountain next to the Supreme Court and just cried gratitude tears. Even if nothing comes from that interaction, I just know God sees me and even when I think I'm being lazy sleeping in or become too lax in my prayers, God is perfectly timing my life and blessing me more than I could comprehend.
Tuesday, May 14:
Tuesday was just a day in the life, especially compared to Monday. I went grocery shopping. I'm trying to shake the Alamo buying in bulk mindset while also adjusting to not having a dining hall. It's interesting but easier than expected. Unfortunately it is also very expensive on the east coast.
I also went to the Library of Congress to get my library card. They took the worst ID picture, and it was awesome!!
At the Library of Congress this well intentioned lady told me I was too dressed up for the Library of Congress (in my blazer and slacks) and that carrying a purse was too precarious, so I needed a backpack or a cross body bag instead. Walking back I passed the FBI building and asked an FBI guard in tactical gear outside the building what he thought about cross body bags vs purses.
Looking back...just walking up to an FBI guy guarding the building to ask about my choice of bag was cool? unique? hilarious? I'm not really sure. Despite not liking being approached by strangers, I was raised to be able to talk to carefully screened strangers easily, so I had no qualms. But that is just definitely something I couldn't do in Nevada or Utah because people in FBI tactical gear aren't accessible there the way they are here. He was cool, we also had small talk like a normal interaction so it wasn't a big deal but it's just amusing looking back.
Wednesday, May 15:
On Wednesday, my social battery was drained. Being in a new city with lots of roommates drains you quickly. So I stayed in most of the day and did some sewing tailoring projects on the house rooftop listening to This American Life podcast. It was exactly the rest I need after 3 consecutive semesters of Calculus.
I also had to run to the grocery store again... I am starting to understand the hype about Trader Joes.
Thursday, May 16:
On Thursday, my roommate had to go to a senate hearing for her internship and she invited me along because I'm good at talking to people.
I got to hear Nevada Senator Cortez Masto talk about Nevadans who work for the Forest Service. She said that Nevada Wildlife Serviceman are all overworked, which I thought was a fun call out to all my friends & family working for Forest Service who are all very busy when there's work to do but also sit around most of the time waiting for assignments.
The hearing was really interesting. I had never watched one before, but they absolutely grilled Randy Moore - head of US Forest Service - which was simultaneously entertaining and intimidating. I did appreciate that they discussed preventative measures for forest fires. As the granddaughter of two volunteer firefighters and someone with asthma suffering from california's smoke every summer, it was very cool to be there and watch the conversation...or interrogation I should say.
Here's a link to the hearing. You can see my brown hair and silver barrette at minutes 51:53 and 1:14:15. Then at minute 1:40:07 I'm closing my ipad and standing up above the very right corner
Later that day, I tried a new place to work: Kogard Courtyard. It's the most gorgeous open space with this sunroof, plants, and tables. absolutely breath taking architecture. The courtyard is in between the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. Here's a picture from online because I keep forgetting to take a picture of it while I'm there: 
I love seeing the groups of students that come through because - though they're a bit loud - I was a middle school kid, once, visiting DC and that is the reason I am now working in this beautiful courtyard.
After working in the courtyard, I checked out a couple sections of the museums. They are just gorgeous architecture and gorgeous art!! The Amish Quilts were breathtaking and reminded me of my grandma. Then I saw a painting that I swear looks just like Pioche, Nevada.
In the evening, I went over to Iwo Jima to read. Arlington/Iwo Jima area is right near where Lincoln County always stays when we visited, so all the memories with my friends makes it feel a bit more like home than other parts of DC.
After that, I took the metro to Institute at BYU's Barlow Center! We had dinner and an amazing lesson. Everyone here is so impressive and has such strong testimonies.
Friday, May 17:
Though The U's Hatch House is amazing and 2,000 miles from Salt Lake, the fire alarm system is the same. Just like the dorms on campus, the fire alarm goes off just by steam from a shower. At least it's been nice to meet other people in the building, even at 1 am on work days.
During the fire alarm mingle, I met the other intern in ACNSL. We babbled for a bit, and apparently we have the sameish life story? Both born in University of Chicago around the same years, moved out west around the same years, and parents got divorced around the same years. Funny how the world is not just small but repetitive. He seems cool and I'm grateful for that because we're going to spend plenty of time together this summer working for ACNSL.
In the daytime on Friday, we went to Kogard Courtyard and worked. He was finishing an old internship project from last semester in London, and I was working on code for my research lab.
We also stopped by the National Archives to get our credentials for our internship.
On the way home I kept running into BYU interns. I hollered "hey BYU kids!!" to get their attention and they thought that I recognized their Holy Ghost glow....but I actually met them the day before at institute. They just didn't recognize me without my glasses lol
Saturday, May 18:
Saturday morning has been picture perfect. I woke up earlier than everyone with hangovers did, ate my cereal, and am writing my blog. I'll let you know how the rest of today and tomorrow pans out!
Coming back to finishing the blog:
Later in the day, a group of us went to a couple museums. We explored these house museums and old underground metro stations that were converted into museums. The underground metro museum was cool. It was smaller than you imagine, just a section of the tunnel. There were these beautiful, modern spray paint murals on the tunnel walls, like Spiderman Spiderverse.
We also went to one called the O Museum. It was...eclectic. We weren't able to spend much time there, but it allegedly has a hundred secret rooms. It was filled to the brink with trinkets and artifacts: historical and random.
There was another called the Heurick House Museum. It was this gorgeous and old mansion build by German immigrant and brewer Christian Heurick. In the back of the house there was a Chinese Dragon dance that had a connection to a Chinese art exhibit on the concept of luck that was inside the house.
After those, we went to the Smithsonian of American History. My favorites were CP30 & R2D2, Lin Manuel Miranda's Hamilton costume, and the gorgeous inaugural gowns from all the first ladies. My roommate and I both got emotional when we got to the Sesame Street puppets; we both looked at each other with tears in our eyes and started laughing.
After museums, everyone went grocery shopping. It seems like we all ran out of food on the same day. The walk to groceries is so peaceful. Everything is green, and there's usually a light rain because of May. I walk past all the embassies and tall brick town houses with teeny gardens out front. I love eastern architecture. I'm very blessed to be in such a nice neighborhood to be able to enjoy the beauty.
Sunday, May 19:
On Sunday I went to church! It was a really beautiful and light Sunday. Perfect weather, and a baptism! Right after church ended we had the baptism service. We had brownies and walked home. I loved it. It was just a beautiful Sunday. I'm writing to you from my laundry room while I prepare my clothes for the week to come.
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But also ps shoutout to Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Department album because I have been listening to that everyday since it was released and it got me through finals, packing, and settling into a new lovely environment.
& also my curly hair & lungs are absolutely loving the humidity :) 
Many more adventures to come!! I hope you are doing well!! <3
~ Sunny Joy
