White House Adviser David Axelrod called today the “journalistic equivalent of a Hallmark holiday,” which may be true but it’s still a good way to take the pulse of the new administration. It’s been a momentous time for America and our new president, who has restored the faith of many in our nation and our government. Here are my personal picks for the top 10 moments from the first 100 days in office:

Honorable mentions:

Advocating for a High Speed Rail system.

(Jurveston's Flickr Photostream/Creative Commons)

The emergence of sports as an integral part of the daily regime. Tossing footballs around the oval office, picking the UNC Tar Heels as the winner of the NCAA tourney, and perfecting his short game on the White House putting green, among others.

And the list:

10. Gifting an iPod to the Queen of England. The Obamas are officially the hippest couple to ever occupy the White House. Nevermind that the First Lady put her arm around the queen (gasp!).

9. Setting a date for troop withdrawal from Iraq: Aug. 31, 2010. Enough said.

8. Appointing people who know what they’re doing to the administration. See: Nobel Prize winner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu;  Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (a third attempt to fill the seat, but nonetheless a great choice); Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; et al.

7. Encouraging Americans to participate in their government, including opening up both the White House and the office of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for questions. For the first time in a long while, the administration is actually is paying attention to what the nation has to say.

President Barack Obama speaking in Berlin, Germany. (Matthais Winkermann's Flickr Photosteram/Creative Commons)

6. Visiting foreign nations.  (Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, France, Germany, Turkey, etc.) It’s so great to see the mostly positive response when Obama travels abroad. Oh, Canada, too. How could I forget Canada?

5. Pledging 3 percent of the GDP for science R&D.

4. Bo the dog. This cute little Portuguese Water Dog garnered more press coverage than nearly everything else on this list.

3. Economic Stimulation, to the tune of $787 billion, with $55 billion designated for the Green Sector.

2. Signing an executive order mandating that the CIA close Gitmo within the next year.

1. January 20, 2009. Quite possibly the best day of my 25 years alive. Here’s an excerpt from an email my father sent me on Inauguration Day that I think sums up the cross-generational significance of this inauguration:

“For those of us that are slightly older and lived through the sixties it also has a extremely profound meaning that is becoming clearer.  Being of the age you are now, we watched many of our youthful heroes like JFK and Bobby, and especially Dr. King, be taken from us at their peak. They were the ones who we thought could make the changes we knew were so necessary and overdue.  It was obviously so wrong for all those years that people were discriminated against for their color and always so unacceptable. But the absolute finality of the success of  the civil rights movement never really came until Tuesday night. It is like the wait/weight of all those years has finally been lifted and the greatness of humankind has once again been revealed. The election of Barack Obama is so much greater than even the man himself. It really is the goodness and greatness of the human spirit coming through. It proves once again that we are the greatest nation, the most free, and the most self-correcting even though at times it takes so long.  For people all over the world we represent opportunity and hope.”

What are your favorite moments from the first 100 days? Let us know in the comments section.