01 July 2014

Our Wild and Wonderful White House Visit

(Lance)

Yesterday was one of the most epic days of our lives.  A couple of weeks ago, we received an invitation from the President (yes, really) to attend the LGBT Pride Month reception at the White House. We truly have no idea where this invite originated, but accepted nonetheless! Not only was this an opportunity to visit the President's home, but Barack and Michelle Obama both attended the event.

 One of the most beautiful views in DC



Upon arrival, we sweated our way through the doors (it was quite a hot summer day), and quickly found the food and drinks.  If there is one thing you should know about us, it is that we LOVE to eat! The scene was something out of The Hunger Games, when Peeta and Katniss are surprised by the opulent offerings of The Capitol--yes, we're those people. After scarfing down several cookies, cakes, quiches, and cocktails, we meandered to the East Room where we listened to a great story of an Illinois couple who just became legally wed after 53 years of being in a committed, monogamous relationship. How many others can say that?


YUMMM


That couple then introduced POTUS, who spoke about the progress our country has made in regards to LGBT rights. He also initiated an executive order banning discrimination based on gender identity among federal employees. History continues to be made!


Truly Speechless!

(Kyle)

The Obamas then shook a few hands--including ours! Mr. Obama said, "Hey--thank you two for being here. And thank you [Kyle] for serving us! Glad you boys could come." There's the plain 'ole 'thank you for your service' and then there's 'THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE' from your Commander-in-Chief... this was pretty cool!

Michelle (clearly the crowd favorite) took a little bit longer to get through her crowd of fan-girls. When we finally saw her, she looked at each of us and smirked. 

     "Are you two... [insert two index fingers pointed toward each other in a fifth-grade manner, complete with a kissy-face]?" 
     "Yes, ma'am," Kyle replied with a big smile [Lance is actually, genuinely speechless at this point. He is FLOTUS' biggest fan.]
     "Well... I didn't want to assume, but.... [another big smile]."
     "With this one [pulling Lance close], I'm proud for you to assume, ma'am!"
     "Well, welcome! So glad you could come to my crib," she finished. 
The last couple words might be an approximation, as we couldn't remember exactly what she said due to our starstruck status.




(Lance)

Some of our impressions of the Obama family:

  • They are hilarious! They seemed to make joke after joke, including Barack responding to a furiously crying baby (at a time when he was talking about congress' inaction), saying "I know! It's terrible!" He also suggested his pastry chef put "crack" in the White House pies (because they are so addicting). Michelle wasn't a fan of his comment, and gave a clear look that said, 'Fox News will have you pegged as an addict within the hour.'
  • They are extremely down to Earth.  They speak with such humble voices and deep concern that I felt a million different emotions during their speeches. They're not perfect people, by any means. Just the same, we do have a huge amount of respect for them and were honored to be there.
  • They know how to throw a great party!  We met many people yesterday, including Sam Champion (GMA), Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black), and Amanda Simpson (first trans woman appointed to public office)... oh yeah, and POTUS/FLOTUS.

We are truly blessed and cannot thank the White House folks enough for their hospitality and graciousness.  It will be a moment that we never forget.


Perusing the Obama's library, I found TONS of this! Barack loves Missouri!



4 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading this, what a once in a lifetime experience!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So cool!! Congrats and what an honor!

    ReplyDelete