Holly's story

!!!!! I had a quiz today, too, before I left! So I was BUSY, so I even made sure to eat right before I left ;D

I left my dorm just after two, and I got to the shuttle stop JUST as the 2:10 shuttle came. The actual rally didn't start until 5, so I knew if I caught the 2:40 shuttle instead, I'd be fine time wise, but I was super happy to have that extra time cushion :).

The picture of me was when I was leaving lmao, I was kind of like, "holy cow wtf am i doing" but I was kind of excited, too!

I got off the metro at McPherson Square at about 3:15-ish. I had already mapped out where I could go chill to kill time if needed, so I walked two blocks to Starbucks :D, where I recharged my phone, drank coffee, and sat for thirty mins until 4.

I walked back to the General Lafayette Statue to be there in time to get a good spot to stand :) Also!!!!!!!!!!!! This was my first time seeing the white house :O

In the pictures, you'll gradually see the crowd get a LOT bigger, looooool.

I stood right in front of the camera line during the whole thing :)

There were easily three times as many people behind the cameras, so I got a REALLY awesome spot. There's a huge corporate media blackout on this thing, it really seems . . . except for independent media outlets, who have been reporting on the pipeline a lot.

There were 9 speakers. I knew who most of them were, most of them were either well known Native activists or well known general social justice activists. In the pictures I'm showing you is Tara Houska, who was Bernie's Native American adviser during his campaign, two of tribal leaders from the Kiowa Nation who performed a drum song in Kiowa about what's happening which was really cool, and Jasilyn Charger, who's a girl from the Standing Rock Reservation (where this is all happening), who was an AMAZING speaker, and then ofc Bernie.

And after the last speaker finished, we all walked like 30 feet to in front of the white house!!!

Look at allllllllllll the people :O

 

More pictures from in front of the white house. And then at about 6:30ish, I ducked out to get back home cuz I didn't know how bad rush-ish hour metro would be! But it wasn't bad and I got back on my shuttle before dark :)

I really like the last few pictures I took when I started to leave because you can really see how big the crowd was.

Finals week

Holly ended up getting enough snow between Sunday and Monday to shut campus down on Tuesday, which was supposed to be the first day of finals.  It wasn't that they got loads of snow, but it was cold and icy and made a mess of the roads.

The entire campus shut down, which included most of the food venues.  What the heck?  If the students are on campus, what are they supposed to EAT???  The big dining hall/cafeteria remained open. Holly hasn't eat there since the first week of school and called it "puke food." And Starbucks was open.

When the dining hall closed on Tuesday night, one on-campus restaurant opened with a "limited menu."  Guess where everyone went to get food?  It's right next door to Holly's dorm, and she checked it out an hour after opening, then gave up and went back to her warm room. 

On the plus side:
She has a good supply of food in her room.
Her RA made cookies for everyone.
Her final that was scheduled yesterday was rescheduled to Friday, so the shutdown won't affect the last day of finals next week.
Campus was open as usual, including all of the eateries, Wednesday morning.
She had Chik-Fil-A for lunch.
She got her Reflective Essay grade from her writing prof :  A!!
She had a really good Wednesday.

Miss McGowan Goes to Washington. Or at least close.

I woke up a bit teary yesterday morning but knew that if I cried, Holly would cry.  Foolishly, I even put on makeup, assuming I would look like a raccoon by the end of the day. But I held it together and was, well, fine.

My FB post in the morning read: 

"Be still and know that I am God."  Perfect verse this morning as we take Holly up for move in day. From the time we knew God was calling us to homeschool and everything He's brought us through, to showing His perfect hand for Holly to be at this school -- I might cry today, but I know with all my heart that THIS is HIS purpose for her, for now. Such an inexpressible comfort for which I am so grateful. ♥

We packed up the car.  "Packed" is perhaps not quite the right word.  There was a TON of stuff.  Robert worked and worked and worked at fitting each piece in like a puzzle until 1) he could close the trunk and 2) everyone could fit in the car.  I drove Robert crazy by asking him questions every three minutes, while Holly and Trevor wisely sat in the house and patiently waited.  ;)

At a rest stop along the way

The kids were surrounded in the back seat, Holly held things on her lap, and Robert even held things on his lap while I drove.

Holly's move in time was 12:30, but that was just the earliest time to be there.  She could come any time later.  We arrived at 1:30--which was perfect timing.  This is what it looked like at 12:30, the line for the elevators snaking down the sidewalk. With temps in the high 80s.

 

Photo from the Honors College FB page

Move in logistics went very well. About 1800 freshman moved on campus yesterday.  We easily found parking in the garage, and Holly and I went to check in while a volunteer helped Robert and Trevor unload the car.  This is what came out of the car, along with a box that Trevor carried.

 

Oh, Holly's building is SO nice!  The Honors College dorm is just four years old, with four students in a suite with one bathroom, and four suites sharing a common area, full kitchen, and study rooms.  

Her roommate had just recently arrived. We helped Holly make up her bed, and tucked other things away so she could unpack later.  We'd already planned to go off campus for lunch, and Allie came with us.  When we returned, Robert and Trevor hung out, and Holly and I grabbed an order from the bookstore, dropped a paper off at admissions, and found her classrooms.  We talked briefly about how much easier this had been than what we'd expected.  We met up with Robert and Trevor back at her dorm and said goodbye.  She got a bit teary, so we made it very quick.

It was all good.

Other than getting stuck in DC traffic (and then flying down the HOV lane!), we had an uneventful ride home. We texted back and forth with Holly a few times, who of course was doing very well and enjoying her group.  For me, at least, and I think for her, it was very good to plan out the next few times that we'll see each other.

LOL.