Week 3!!!

Week three really is a blur for me. I can't separate the days from each other. Last week went by super fast, but I was pretty home sick too. I made a quick trip home so I could see Em and my parents, and I ended up going skiing :) so it was a great weekend. I'm reenergized now. Some days I was so busy I didn't have time to take lunch. I have decided that tax meetings may not bother me, but the Ag meetings are really hard for me to pay attention to and stay awake in. . . and I went to a lot of them. I wrote a lot of letters and did a lot of research, but I didn't enjoy it much. I was getting frustrated because I felt like what I was doing was hard for me and I didn't know if that was normal or if I was just bad at my job. But I talked to my papa and all he told we was, "Well, that means you're learning." That put it in a whole new light for me. Instead of me thinking, "I'm not very good at this" I started thinking "Yeah, I'm learning how to do hard things" :) after I realized that, work got a lot better. I still was trying to campaign a little bit for my dad too :) Friday night was the precinct meeting and I hurried to Pocatello to go to it, but just when I arrived in Pocatello I got a phone call that the meeting was over :( but my dad was in the number 1 seat!!! I can't wait for week 4 to unfold who gets district 31's senate seat!!!!!!!!!!

Week 2 in the Governor's Office

(Senator Geddes right after being appointed as chairman of the Tax Commission)

Week 2 in the Governor's Office has been great. I've started to pick up a little more on my responsibilities and I feel like I've started to earn respect with everyone I work with. So that's always nice. Here's a little about what has happened during the 2nd week of the 2011 Idaho Legislative Session:

~ I became the Governor's Photographer. Whenever he makes an appearance or there is an event going on, I'm there to capture the moment. About a month ago I watched a documentary on President Obama's photographer, and I'm sure glad I did now. A photographer has a very important job haha :)

~ Senator Geddes was appointed to the tax commission board. Which means District 31 now has an open senate seat. So. . . on my spare time, I've secretly been campaigning for my dad to get that seat. I would love to have him up here while I'm here.

~ Martin Luther King Junior day brought many Tea Partiers to the capitol for a long and very loud ceremony.

~ I answered many phone calls. Most were dealing with real concerns and real problems, like people calling, worried about the medicaid cuts or people disagreeing with the new education plan. However, some were a little out there. For ex. one guy called, saying that he wanted strip clubs to allow full nudity, and then said he was just a concerned citizen.

~ I got my picture taken with Governor Otter. We are currently designing a new Idaho website and they needed a picture of an intern with the governor for the intern link. So in about a week I should be up on the website.

~ I sat in on many meetings which I have discovered I love them. I find them very interesting, even if it is a two hour meeting about taxes.

I feel like this experience is really forcing me to analyze and think for myself and to come up with what I believe is the right way to handle an issue. And that is exactly why I came up here. Everyone in the office gives me things to read that they think I will really enjoy and learn a lot from, and then they tell me to come back and tell them what I think. So that is really forcing me to know what I'm talking about. It is most definitely a learning experience.

First Week in the Governor's Office

I am fortunate enough to be able to intern for the governor during the 61st Idaho Legislative Session, and so far so good! The staff has all been really great to work with. They are all very nice and very patient with me while I am trying to learn all the different jobs I have to do. I have been learning so much and I love that I am able to experience the government from the governor's side.