Crawfish, Oysters and Alligator:

Since the semester began there has been a fair amount of new and interesting stories.  When I returned for the semester in mid January, one would expect to see a fair amount of snow; however the ground was bare.  It wasn't until the end of January that we first began to have snow.

On the first Friday in February, our Model United Nations team hosted the Swiss Miss Sock Hop dance as a fundraiser.  Everyone was encouraged to sport the craziest socks they could find.  We had a wonderful evening of dancing swing and traditional 50's songs.  After the dance was over, my roommates and I along with another friend discovered a new restaurant, The Greene Turtle.  I tried a crab pizza which was wonderfully delicious.  :)
  

The day following the dance Sara and I prepared an elaborate breakfast for our wing.  We spent the morning cooking in a friend's apartment.  By far the smallest kitchen I have ever worked in, especially for two people.  Within two hours and with limited counter space, we had cooked strawberry french toast, two pounds of bacon, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry scones, mocha punch and yogurt parfaits.  We even had the table decorated with rose petals.  By noon our whole wing and some extra friends had arrived for a grant total of 17.  Brunch was delectable. :)

Valentine's Day was quite an adventure.  In the late afternoon Sara and I decided to go to a spa.  We had a lovely time getting our nails done.  Early that evening it started to snow heavily, but thankfully it wasn't too bad.  For dinner we decided to try something new (at least for me) authentic Cajun.  Between dinner and appetizers I had tried Crawfish, fried oysters and fried alligator.  It was amazing!!  This particular restaurant was located in a historic house, probably from the Civil War.  Truly a neat experience.  After dinner went shopping at my favorite place, White House | Black Market.  Despite having a lazy morning, the rest of our day was fabulous.

Two weeks later on a Wednesday, Sara and I and a couple of friends played Poker Hide n' Seek.  Sara is in the Strategic Intelligence intro class.  As part of an exercise, the class was divided into three teams.  The teams were responsible for recruiting additional team members.  I was recruited along with some friends.  Late that evening in one of the main buildings the three teams each had a dozen poker chips for which they had to hide anywhere except the workout room.  Over the course of thirty minutes, I was searched three floors from top to bottom.  During my search I found 5 chips.  They were anywhere such as underneath door stops, behind posters on the bulletin board and in the soil of fake flower pots.  Since I was not in the SI class, I could only find the chips.  Once you found a chip you had to text a member of your group who could retrieve it.  Besides seeing who could find the most chips this was an exercise in looking for secret information in a spy like manner.  Last week I found out that our group won the exercise! :)
I've had many exciting adventures which have expanded my horizons.  :)
  

Federal Bureau of Investigations:

Can anything be more exciting than a field trip to the FBI?  I don't think so. :) 

Yesterday (Thursday), a small group of potential Strategic Intelligence students awoke before the sun even dared to open its eyes.  Because I am not in the SI track, I did not officially make the list.  I was an alternate.  Even on the morning of, I was still not sure if I would get to go.  So I decided to take my chances that someone had forgotten to set their alarm and woke up at 5:30.  Fortunately, three people did not show up and I was admitted.

While at the FBI headquarters we got to listen and question some agents, analysts and the deputy of the Counter Intelligence division.  I even got to shake the deputy's hand.  :) Awesome.  After the discussion time, we got to see live demonstrations of past and present firearms in the indoor range.  Then we had time to mosey around the 9/11 and other related operations of the FBI in their own museum.  There was an abundance of cool artifacts and gifts from their various investigations.  

Before the bus headed back to campus, our group went searching for potential restaurants for lunch.  Sara and I settled on the Hard Rock Cafe.  It was a quaint place.  We got a table next to the window.  I ordered a hickory and bacon cheeseburger.  The most amazing burger ever!  

While I loved exploring the various aspects of the FBI and meeting wonderful people, this is not a job for me.  I am so grateful for the sacrificial men and women we have protecting us.