we are one!

And so the inaugural festivities begin!!

Obama, of course, is sworn into office tomorrow as you all surely know and this city is CRAZY! There are just so many tourists and so many people in general! And I haven't even gotten to the big event yet so that's just how crazy this all is! 

Yesterday Becca and I braved the early morning and river-freezing weather (the Potomac river outside our place is frozen over!) to attend the free public We Are One inauguration kick-off concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Yes, we arrived at 9:30 AM and the concert didn't start until 2:30. Yes, it was about 30 degrees and 20 with the wind chill factor. Yes, there were moments when we wondered what the hell we were doing there but it was SO worth it!! I know Mom and Dad watched the concert, but did anyone else? It was incredible. Famous actors and artists were there for speaking parts (all these really inspiring words and quotes from past presidents, as well as Obama) and musical performances. It was a truly star-studded event and it was totally free to the public! And of course the Obama family attended =) Here's a pic of Becca and me there:

The best part really was just how incredible the turn-out was. Hundreds of thousands of people all huddled together for warmth celebrating around the reflection pool. At one point Becca and I escaped the crowd to watch the rest of the concert on top of a hill nearby and looking at the crowd was awesome. Everyone was in such amazing spirits despite the temperature and hours spent standing. It made me even more excited for the actual inauguration because that will be similar but on an even bigger scale! Incredible. 

I feel so blessed to be a part of this whole thing. I can't believe I am here in DC for one of the most inspiring moments in American history! Very cheesy but couldn't be more true. I know a lot of people that didn't go to the concert because of the weather and just stayed in to watch it on TV. I will tell you I'm not missing one single moment of this!! Even if it means thawing out frozen limbs all next week. 

and here we go again...

Andddd I'm back! It's good to be back here. Nice to see everyone, nice to have my bed and room and apartment back...minus the fact that we went all day/night yesterday with no running water! Oh the joy of ancient apartment buildings. Pipes bursting, toilets refusing to flush, and the quaint and terrifying quirky sounds rattling through our echoey home throughout the night. Only slightly unsettling when you're home ALONE! My "Strangers" fears always seem to come back to me at the least opportune times...

School hasn't picked up too much yet but what I can tell you all about are my new clinical sites which I am fairly excited about! I had my first clinical this morning at INOVA Fairfax Hospital, which is obviously in Fairfax Virginia. This place is a freakin' palace compared to Georgetown Hospital!! They have a brand new fantastic cardiac center building and it looks Lilis times 12 or something (insider knowledge for the Ducks I guess...). And its huge and clean and nice and SO impressive! We got to tour the hospital and one place that was really fun, sad and inspiring to see was the Children's ER center. We get to pick our clinical site for our senior year and I'm definitely adding that to my list of considerations! Children's ER, Neonatology, and ? Lots of options and very little time to decide! Anyway I'm excited to be in a new site, but the unit will probably be similar to the old one with not a whole lot of exciting things going on. Mostly just caring for patients and making sure they're comfortable during a considerably long, medication-filled stay at the hospital. 

My OTHER clinical site is Holy Cross Hospital for my Women's Health location. I don't know too much about that one yet because it doesn't start until next Tuesday but what I DO know is that I will be seeing LOTS of babies being born. My clinical instructor (who is also the class professor which is REALLY good for me...and my other clinical instructor is the professor of the other class as well!) told me and my friend Jenny to come prepared because we will see births on the very first day of clinical. So I have a feeling that this rotation, if anything, will NOT be boring! 

And so starts a new semester for me! I know it will be rough and a test to my endurance, just like last semester, but hopefully my break refreshed me enough for another go at it all. Thanks everyone for such an amazing break I love you ALL and I loved seeing you all! I'm happy to be back but I will definitely be missing many people back in Oregon. 

Oh. And countdown to the social event of the decade, aka the inauguration, has begun and I cannot WAIT!