December 11, 2001

Its that time of year again...when I report to you what has changed. I haven't gotten letters out the past few years, but that was because nothing exciting had happened. Well, all that changed. I sit here gazing out the window of my new office overlooking the Supreme Court and the United StatesCapitol Building. I work in a building attached to the one in the news all the time for the Anthrax letters.

Yes, 'tis true, I picked up and moved. I left the wonderful city of Austin, Texas for our Nation's Capitol. Austin will always be home to me, it is the city in which I exerted my independence and achieved my goals. I can hardly believe that it has been two years since I graduated from The University of Texas. And someday I will return, but it is important to leave so that returning is an option.

This year I realized that by staying in Austin I was limiting my future, and so I began to think of where I might move to. I had two choices in mind. After realizing that I don't particularly care for the entertainment industry and the smog in LA would be bad for my asthma. I had one choice remaining: Washington DC. I have always enjoyed the political process and was quite involved throughout college. I then made plans to visit the area in August, staying with a friend, to find out if I liked DC, not just as a tourist, but as a place to live and work for several years. I began my job search and had several interviews, but no offers. In fact, I was in DC right before the Attack on America. I returned to Austin on September 9^th. I was thankful to be back home and safe from the pandemonium that ensued from the evacuation of all Federal Buildings and most other offices in the District and the surrounding areas. All this time, another young woman at First Evangelical Free Church in Austin was talking about moving to DC and we discussed the option of sharing the moving costs. She wanted to move in October, I was leery of moving up here without a job, but I continued to pray. I made the decision to jump ship from Tarlton Law Library with the blessing of my boss and contact information of those he has worked with in this area. My final day there was October 10^th. I was en route to DC when the Anthrax letters were discovered in the Hart Office Building. As some of you have heard, I dropped off many resumes in the House and Senate and had an interview in one Senate office the same day. It was kind of spooky how quickly things fell into place. I got an offer from them the same night and started here in Senator Peter Fitzgerald's (R-IL) office a couple days later.

It's been over a month now, and the only reason I find to stay under the covers is the cold temperatures in the morning. I love coming into work in the morning and am getting used to the weather, I have to admit that I am afraid of what our first winter storm will be like. Those of you in Texas beat us to it.

I am going to one of the oldest churches in our country. The Falls Church (Episcopal) was founded in 1732, George Washington was once a Deacon there. The young adult ministry, Kairos, is a wonderful mix of those in politics and other walks of life. It is a group that is oriented towards outreach, getting involved in one another's lives and making the world around us a better place.

So, until my next letter (I would say next year, but you never know), stay safe and God Bless!

"I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted." Job 42:2 (NIV)