Just call me CJ Craig...

Today was THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! One of the CHIP alumni works for the Office of Management and Budget so he offered a group of us a tour of the WEST WING! It was AMAZING...I basically cried the entire tour...but anyway, I'll start at the beginning b/c this definitely deserves a long post (pictures included...it was a good time!)

So we arrived for our 5pm tour and had to go through our 1st security checkpoint. We were concerned b/c my housemate Chelsey's name wasn't going through, but we ended up finding out that her name was put in backwards...it was kinda funny. We then had to go through a metal detector and got some sweet badges to wear too! Oh PS-we couldn't take any pictures inside (except when we went to the press room) so everything is outside...

the staff entrance into the west wing
We went through the staff entrance to get inside the West Wing, and was instantly bombarded by pictures of the President and First Lady...some of them were new pictures from their trip to Africa-very cool. We then went to see the hallway to the VP's office, which was covered in pictures of the VP (and his dog, oddly enough)...we then went and saw the White House Mess Hall (gorgeous)...and okay, as I was peering into said mess hall, my friend tapped me on the shoulder and told me to turn around...I did, and saw the door to the Situation Room...I almost passed out (I didn't) but I was in shock...we couldn't go into the Situation Room, but to see the door was enough!

Okay the next part requires pictures...we got to go outside to the Rose Garden and see the Oval Office from the outside and capture every view we could of the rest of the White House...it was so cool!

So those pictures were of my housemates and I in the Rose Garden, the Oval Office from the outside, one of the views of the rest of the White House, and the view of the Washington Monument from the garden...it was sweeeeet (and I have like, 290324083249 more pictures too)

The next part was my favorite, and perhaps the most memorable of my life-we got to see the Oval Office!!!! We stood in the doorway and got to see the whole thing...its actually a lot smaller than one would think...but amazing nonetheless...the desk was so cool, and the way G.W. decorated it was very stylish...we also got to see the Roosevelt room (also amazing), the cabinet meeting room and about 100 Norman Rockwell paintings/drawings (again, so cool)...on our way out to the press room we got to see the painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware"...had a similar reaction to the one when I saw the Situation Room...basically passed out...

The press room was very neat-we got to take pictures there too so here goes...it was a lot smaller than I thought (I think that was the theme for the day...the West Wing itself was very small, with very low ceilings and narrow hallways)

It was fun...the first picture is the official "front" of the West Wing where they receive diplomats, famous people and such...the rest are of the press room, which I'm sure you all recognize from the frequent C-SPAN watching you all do (ha just kidding)

We then walked around to the front lawn and took some more pictures (seen below) then we decided to stop in to the Eisenhower Executive Office building to see what it looked like...it was so pretty...very old and a lot of gorgeous architecture!

So the next few pictures are of the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Building...

and one last picture, taken by my housemates, that I figure about 99% of you would appreciate...maybe a future career as press secretary?? I don't know, you tell me

Haha so as you can see, this day was amazing...I hope this memory lasts with me forever and that the next time I come visit, I can stay awhile (as in 4 years)...I miss you all and wish that you could be here to experience this with me!

PS-It was my dad's 50th birthday today...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!