all the baby elephants in this room

First, I’d like to welcome all my LJ friends who are looking at this!!!

This is a long time coming, I know, but here’s the awesome (and very visually pleasing!) account of my trip to WJMC (wuhjuhmuck, we were told to call it) at DC.

We begin with my flight up! My first solo flight, and I took advantage of it.

It was a rather uneventful flight (and I’ve had some eventful flights…but that’s a bunch of stories for another day). I sat by two people who slept most of the way, though the nice guy leaned back and let me take pictures out the window. I’m pretty sure he thought I was a ditz, but I think I made him laugh, so it’s all good.

Here’s me waiting for the bus in Washington.

The view I got when I first got on the bus!!! I was way too enthusiastic. 😛

Clearly illustrated with this picture. I haven’t had a camera in a while…can’t you tell? 😛 It was actually my sister’s camera. I broke mine over Christmas.

Now, let’s show some of the lovely sights of George Mason University, where this conference took place.

I came up with ways of getting myself into pictures so I could tag myself on Facebook. Possible diagnosis: big attention hog? Or maybe I’m just crazy.

The rules…which I found a little questionable. What is this mystery we call college? Does anyone really know unless they go? I doubt it.

My press badge…a must for a reporter. *squeal*

George Mason…the big man on campus, apparently. People like to dress him up.

Magical fountains…if you run through them before your exam, you’re supposed to get good grades. 😀 I would have run through them for a few bucks, but alas, I my good side got the better of me. 😛

Morning dawns on DC…much more beautiful morning than Houston. The temperature’s actually in the 60’s and 70’s…a mere dream at this point.

I took the opportunity on this trip to try and master the self-picture. I got carried away, of course. I do love feathers.

We took a trip to the Newseum (GO IF YOU CAN. IT’S AMAZING). My dress matched the piece of the Berlin Wall. I should probably be embarassed, but I thought it was pretty cool.

While we were there, we walked out on the roof and found an AMAZING view of the city.

This was more of an artsy picture…I kind of fell in love with the DC sky.

This is my favorite picture. I met such amazing people at this conference.

They had an exhibit on Obama. I took a bunch of pictures of pictures, but I think this one was the most interesting. I know this is really picture-heavy, so I’m cutting down a bit.

I found a rather peculiar wax figure that made me confused.

Now, let’s rock out the trip to the Capitol.

Not the Capitol…I just got this shot on the way.

The ticket in…but I did have quite a bit of fun waiting outside. Turned out we got there early, but we couldn’t exactly wait on the bus because they’re really big on security (understandable), so we hung out outside a little. And though the mornings in DC were heavenly, it got pretty hot during the day.

A DC tour bus…the most colorful thing I saw the whole trip!!!

And then…I decided to become an explorer!!! Which led to the following three shots:

Capitol security!!!

Reporters taping!!! LOVE IT.

The Capitol dome was amazing…it was painted like a cathedral or something crazy.

We waited quite a bit for the bus, so I lay down on the Capitol steps.

Then we had a group picture taken!!! Easier said than done, definitely. But it got done, which is what matters. 😀

So, we head back to the bus, where I got a little silly from the heat.

Pentagon Mall picture!!! I got a little Myspace-y in it. Don’t worry. I don’t have any more like that. 😛

Okay…we now head for the evening tour of DC!!!

We now interrupt this picspam post to bring you a DC sunset!!!

FDR Memorial! I didn’t even know that existed. 😛 Everything in DC is a memorial, it seems. It’s kind of cool.

I can’t see myself ever working for USA Today, but man, it would almost be worth it just to work in that office building. It’s all crystal-y and gorgeous!!! 😀

Inside, we had a real press conference with a deputy White House press secretary. His name was Josh. He definitely had the makings of a press secretary, but I’d say his skills weren’t fully developed yet.

I’m a big fan of The West Wing. CJ Cregg is one of my idols. And then when Annabeth Schott came in to refine Toby as the press secretary to take over, I took mental notes.

Well, it couldn’t have all been completely false. 😛

Still, I was in Press Conference Wonderland.

And now we have THE DANCE.

T-Py (our lovely faculty advisor) had us get her shoes.

I went for the Spanish dancer look. 😛

P.S. Only cool kids get to have their dances at the National Geographic.

The speaker of the night was Hugh Fink, officially one of the coolest people EVER. He used to write for SNL and told us about news and bias. (Oh CNN, I did ever want to believe that you were spared, but I was wrong. *dramatic gesture)

Dean Flagel got down with a little Cupid’s Shuffle. One of the better dances I’ve been to, in my opinion.

This brings us to the closing ceremony.

T-Py’s group…aka Best Group Ever.

Our closing speaker was Helen Thomas, and I got a picture with her!!! Definitely towards the top of the list of Most Epic Moments in Kylee’s Life.

She talked, and you could feel the passion she had for her work. I hope that I’m like that when I’m older…all courageous and spirited and passionate.

College credit!!! I have some now!!! 😀

And now we have views from the window of the flight home!!!

And…just because I have it, here’s a picture of the chocolate cup my sister and I ordered when we went out to dinner after I landed (Mom came too!)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this!!!

Tags: holiday/vacation, picspam