"Obama doesn't do drugs"

Back at the start of October I mentioned to Nathan that we had better hurry up and register to vote. Since the last election,I've gotten married,changed my name and moved. Nathan informed me that he had already looked in to it, and we had missed the deadline by just a few days. I felt terrible.

I had voted for John Kerry four years ago as a college student. I remember paying a little bit of attention to the debates and trying my best (at the time) to make what I thought was the right decision... I wish more people had agreed with my presidential pick. Oh well.

This election I watched every debate. If I missed it, I would watch it on youtube. I was one of those "undecideds". Initially I thought for sure I'd vote for the Democratic nominee (whoever that turned out to be). As the candidates were chosen, I felt sure I would be voting for "change [I] can believe in." As time passed however, my surety started to erode. I don't care to go into any detail about the reasons why, as I don't really care to hear anyone else's opinions or rebuttals on the matters.

Election day finally arrived. I was still bummed that I couldn't vote but I'd already gotten over most of the disappointment. However, as my students repeatedly asked me who I was voting for, I felt like a total fraud. Here I am, educating and setting the example for our country's future voters- and I'm not voting. I slyly maneuvered my way out of their interrogation by shifting the focus to who they would vote for.

I had the class close their eyes. Then by show of hands they indicated their choice for president. Obama won by a landslide. I did not reveal the results of our impromptu election. However we did discuss the pros and cons that each candidate had.

Pros for Obama: He is a nice guy. He cares about people. He doesn't do drugs. (???)
Cons for Obama: He is not a nice guy. He hangs out with evil people.

Pros for McCain: He cares about people. He is a nice guy. He is a hero.
Cons for McCain: He only cares about rich people. He wants to have a war forever.

(It was so interesting to hear how these 9 year olds digest the information they hear from their parents)

Well I ended our little discussion by threatening them. :) I pointed out to them that during our talk about pros and cons each of them prefaced their opinions by saying "Well I've heard that..." I told them that if I ever run into them when I'm an old lady and they are voting based on who their friends are voting for, I would whack them on the head. They enjoyed that. Not to mention, when I said the part about me being a little old lady they said "eww". I don't know how I feel about that.

Anyway I finally made it home. I turned on the t.v. Oprah was on. She was doing a pre-election special. The part that I saw featured several new citizens of the U.S. talking about what a tremendous feeling it was to be able to vote for the first time ever in their lives. It went on and on, and as it did I felt worse and worse about not being able to have a say in the election.

If there is one thing I've learned in life, it's that when you are feeling bad, work to see if you can change what is making you feel bad. So I got online and went to the county voter's registration site. Then I made a phone call to the office (only 20mins before they closed for the day.) I explained how I had voted in Travis county four years ago but that since then I lived in a different house with a new name. She informed me that all I had to do was take proof of my name change to the precinct I had voted in last time. What?? Are you telling me I CAN actually vote? I jumped in the car and went on my way. When I got there- an hour and a half before the polls were to close- they didn't even ask to see my name change documents. I was so glad that I had double checked my ability to vote!

And I'm pretty sure that the guy I voted for doesn't do drugs either. :)

More fun than you can shake a stick at!

I could've titled this post about a million ways; "the hooter hider and other phenomena" "the never ending scandal" "the bet" or "the trip of dreams". Those were just a few contenders.

Titles aside, it has been about a month since my reunion trip to Utah so I am now ready to write about it. Some background. Let's travel back in time to the summer of 2004. To my best girlfriends (Erin, Rebekah and Stephanie) and I, this would come to be known as the "summer of dreams". We were each in our final stretches of college at UT. Our biggest worries were what to wear out on a Friday night. Despite being involved in the social scene and having a lot to do, our best times were when it was just us, eating smores, cookies (insert assorted junk food here)and discussing the previous week's exploits.

The summer came to an end. Another semester started, our friendship grew. In a matter of months I got engaged, we each graduated and got moving on with life still keeping in touch. Erin and Stephanie moved to Utah, Rebekah to Virginia. Eventually Rebekah decided to serve a mission and got called to the Mesa AZ visitors center. And so for about 1.5-2 years communication between the four of us pretty much got cut down to emails, letters, facebook messages and occasional phone calls.

When Rebekah got off her mission she told me she thought she'd go to her mission reunion in Salt Lake at the beginning of October. A plan was hatched. I would go with her to Utah and the four of us would be REUNITED!

I was a little nervous after we got our flights. Reason being that Rebekah said this trip would determine if I would be a good travel buddy for future trips. :) I felt it went pretty well, aside from the fact that I kept abandoning her so that I could get in line in the proper number order.

Steph picked us up from the SLC airport around midnight. A lot of screaming and hugging ensued. It was good to see the chemistry was still there (can you say that about friends?) and we picked up where we left off. We met her baby, Bella, when we got to her house. So cute!

The next day the four of us (3 adults, 1 baby) headed down to meet up with Erin and her new baby,Sophie, at Cafe Rio. So I may have been the only one who wanted to go to Cafe Rio, but I figured since I paid all that money to fly up there, I might as well be able to eat some of that delicious tortilla soup. Though I had intentions of getting hundreds of pictures over the weekend, I only got a couple while at Cafe Rio and even some of these are donated from Rebekah.

The highlight was probably Saturday because that's when the four of us were able to spend the most time together. I think that when we all meet in the after life, it will be very much similar...minus the occasional scandalous conversation quips.

All in all it was fabulous. I even won a bet, the details of which could probably be it's own post. It's good to see everyone growing up. Steph and Erin are great moms. It is still weird to think that I have a friend who drives a mini-van... and enjoys it! :) Rebekah and I are moving on in the working world, contemplating what our next steps will be.

A few things I learned: Rebekah is a great travel buddy but does not like being abandoned in line. Babies eat a lot. There's a contraption called a "hooter hider"- i think that's weird. And finally, the "Reunion Trip" 2009 can't come soon enough!