Day One.

So it's official: I'm an intern at RNS! I have my own desk, my own computer and even my own extension! It's pretty exciting. I definitely didn't have these perks when I worked at Coast Magazine.

Chris and I got on the 8:07 bus this morning and took the half-hour drive over to the RNS offices. We were a little early, so we spent a bit of time walking around the streets and getting snowed on. The snow was absolutely perfect, by the way. It was the type with really big snowflakes that sticks to your hair and your clothes but melts once it hits the ground ... Perfect!

The first thing we did this morning was struggle alongside Adelle, the associate editor, to set up each of our voicemails, which took much longer than you might think ... But once I had the phone figured out, the toughest part of the day was done! Chris and I were then assigned to different online publications to check first thing every morning, and we're supposed to pass along any religion or ethical news to Kevin, the editor-in-chief. I then began making some calls for my article (which I will discuss in a bit), and I have to say, I was really, really excited about the ear/mouth piece I got to wear while talking on the phone! I had never used one like that before, and it makes typing notes while talking to someone SO much easier. We had an editorial meeting around noon and after that I grabbed some pizza with Chris at a hole-in-the-wall place up the street.

Then I really got to work on my article. I won't lie, the topic is not one that I would have chosen for myself. But I've learned over the last few years that you can make just about any subject interesting if you invest yourself in it and try to put yourself in the shoes of those who the story is about or those who will be impacted by it. In a weird way, it's almost a certain level of selflessness that I try to achieve.

The U.S. Postal Office made a proposal to Congress last week to have permission to only deliver mail five days out of the week instead of six. The decision is still pending, but some members of smaller publications have voiced concerns. Larger publications have deals worked out with the national post office, but smaller ones have to deal with the local post offices, which can apparently be really frustrating and result in late deliveries.

I talked to a bunch of people, either involved in publications for churches or pastors who receive such publications, to get their stories and insights on this topic. I also talked to the manager of media relations for the U.S. Postal Service who, after listening to my work voicemail ("Hello, this is Karin Hamilton with RNS. I am either away from my desk or on the other line. I am in the office Tuesday through Thursday. For emergencies, dial 0"), had a laugh attack on the phone with me because he thought that the idea of an emergency for religion or ethics was funny. He kept asking me what an example of such would be. And it was a little funny. But definitely not as funny as he thought it was.

Anyways, I spent the entire afternoon/early evening either on the phone, waiting for one of a million people to call me back, researching, and writing, writing and re-writing this article. I finally finished it, all 600 words, around 5:30. And so I emailed my first story to Kevin! Now I'm just waiting for him to tear it to shreds ... Then Chris and I left and literally missed the bus by a matter of seconds (just like Friday!!) and had to wait for probably 20 minutes for the next one. And it was cold. It wasn't snowing anymore. But it was very cold. And I was in a skirt. It was cold. But overall, it was a great first day! I absolutely love the editors, and I'm so excited about the material covered. And I love that they let us dive right into reporting. I'm excited to see what tomorrow holds!

Fun, random event of the evening: I tend to get horrible cravings for ice cream, and even though it is freezing here, these cravings have magnified since moving to DC! So I brought up that I wanted ice cream tonight (like I do nearly every night), and Rachelle said she wanted some too ... and then so did Kati ... and Chris didn't know it, but he must have too since he found us on the way out ... anyways, we made a run to the 7-11 up the street (I looked like a hobo in my horribly mis-matched cut-off sweats, black pea coat, and work flats, haha!) in the cold to buy ice cream and bring it back. I got Cherry Garcia -- mmmmmm! What a sweet ending to day one.