Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Holla Holla Woop!
I woke up after a little nap (I didn't go to bed till 7am!) and got excited again! HOLLA!!! Last night I watched the election in a bar which stayed open all night for those who wanted to watch the election. So nice of them! They catered pizza, and had tea and water out all night for us. I won't lie, I fell asleep for a while. But it was totally worth it to hear McCain concede, and Obama make his speech. Go America!!
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Yes We Can
Soo, yup, another political blog. Just what you wanted to see I'm sure. But this is the first time in my memory that I can honestly say I believe our president knows what it is like to be NORMAL. To not be born with a silver spoon in his mouth from day one. To understand what it is like to not know how you are going to pay for college. Or a place to live. Or food for your family. Or a backpack and pencils every September.
I am the third child of divorced parents, both liberal arts/music teachers. Both have worked 2-4 jobs for as long as I can remember. One was on disability due to extreme health conditions. I fully trust our future president can sympathize, and relate to these all too common circumstances. I fully trust that his contributions and changes to our government will help the common families who struggle on a day to day basis.
Financially, we have always squeaked by, but only on account that my parents raised us to be three extremely independent, hard working, and driven individuals. All different in personalities, but with the same core values. We have been encouraged and nurtured to take any path we choose: a youth and family of ministries director, a translator (to put it in simple terms...) and a wanderer waiting to get her feet wet. We have been encouraged to follow our hearts. Yet, as a whole, our generation has been denied this opportunity. We live in a world where twenty-somethings choose a job based on who will provide health insurance, and what will pay the bills. We are forced to choose a path at the age of 18 years old. Ask buisness majors, actuaries, accountant majors, etc. WHY they chose their major. The most common answer I've heard is because you can make a lot of money. I would be an art major, or musical performance major if I thought I could make a living doing anything but teaching. But, Communication Studies and Health and Sports Studies are "diverse" majors....hopefully providing me with the resources to find a substantial job, and become a productive member of society.
I graduate in six months. My largest goal in life is to find something I love to do for income. If health insurance is affordable, my doors open to a whole different shade of blue sky. Furthermore, there is no reason on earth for children in the United States of America not to have the healthcare they need. Healthcare is an extremely important platform for me, coming from a family who has needed it. Cancer, bone diseases, etc. down to me having strep throat or an ear infection once every 6 weeks until I was 12 years old. I can't imagine how my parents dealt with the constant co-pays, let alone how they would have dealt with it had I not been covered.
Words cannot describe the pride I felt for my country tonight (this morning...) when Obama made his heartfelt speech. Michelle and their two daughters' hands linked, swinging in tandum with each other as they exited the stage aloft a cheering crowd, chanting "Yes We Can." The tremendous pride I felt for the women in my chapter who have volunteered countless hours encouraging people to register to vote, setting up chairs at conventions, and doing anything that needed doing to help elect who will turn our country around. I was at Obama's first speech after he announced his running for president. I set up chairs. I held his microphone (scariest moment of my life) and I took down chairs. Nothing huge. But the heartfelt, genuine thanks I got from him, and his wife, was enough to convince me that this is a man who is honestly thankful for volunteers. I am not naive enough to believe that politicians don't realize they need to thank their volunteers, and all who helped them. But where was McCain's thanks to his commitee, individual volunteers, and those who donated five dollars to his campaign? There was none. Yet Obama realizes the reality that some people might not have $5 to give.
After the speech I volunteered at, Barack took time to talk to each individual volunteer about any questions we may have. I spoke to Michelle for a decent amount of time about teachers in our nation, and what she thought about the current pay scale. I'm sure there were days when they didn't want to get up in the morning and do anything more. But you could never tell it. Leading me to my next point:
I love how there is a THEY. Michelle Obama is an extraordinary woman. The Obamas are an extraordinary couple. Michelle has a way about speaking to the public which makes you want to speak back, and give her a hug. She isn't overbearing. She doesn't throw her children into the spotlight. I feel as if Cindy McCain does not have the poise, graciousness, and ability to relate to the public that Michelle Obama does.
In this election, I have witnessed more core, family values within the democratic party than the traditional family values of the conservative party. A month after Joe Biden was elected as the youngest U.S. Senate in the 20th century, the 5th youngest senator in history, his wife and daughter were killed in a car wreck by a drunk driver. Joe Biden rode in a train from Delaware to Washington D.C. every day in order to be at home to raise his sons. These are people with core, family values.
John McCain left his wife after she was disfigured in a car accident. After she had stood by him when he was a POW. He then married the political, money making machine, Cindy.
Sarah Palin has 5 children, and a grandchild on the way. All of them are under the age of 25, the youngest just a few months old, with special needs. What angers me is the fact that someone who supposedly has family values has thrust her children into the spotlight: The son who is deployed, the pregnant daughter, the down-syndrome baby. She has tried to use these antics as a way to "relate" to the common public. But all I see when I listen to her "personal" stories is that she has a BABY who would be raised by its father and a nanny the first four years of its life. She has a grandchild on the way, who she would see for family photographs, and in a frame on her desk, and that's it. Family Values?
It is with confidence, and trust that I welcome this breath of fresh air to America. To all who don't share my political views: I respect the hard work McCain and Palin have accomplished. I hope, as McCain spoke of, that there is middle ground which can be found between the two parties. I hope that we can work together to make this country stronger.
I am the third child of divorced parents, both liberal arts/music teachers. Both have worked 2-4 jobs for as long as I can remember. One was on disability due to extreme health conditions. I fully trust our future president can sympathize, and relate to these all too common circumstances. I fully trust that his contributions and changes to our government will help the common families who struggle on a day to day basis.
Financially, we have always squeaked by, but only on account that my parents raised us to be three extremely independent, hard working, and driven individuals. All different in personalities, but with the same core values. We have been encouraged and nurtured to take any path we choose: a youth and family of ministries director, a translator (to put it in simple terms...) and a wanderer waiting to get her feet wet. We have been encouraged to follow our hearts. Yet, as a whole, our generation has been denied this opportunity. We live in a world where twenty-somethings choose a job based on who will provide health insurance, and what will pay the bills. We are forced to choose a path at the age of 18 years old. Ask buisness majors, actuaries, accountant majors, etc. WHY they chose their major. The most common answer I've heard is because you can make a lot of money. I would be an art major, or musical performance major if I thought I could make a living doing anything but teaching. But, Communication Studies and Health and Sports Studies are "diverse" majors....hopefully providing me with the resources to find a substantial job, and become a productive member of society.
I graduate in six months. My largest goal in life is to find something I love to do for income. If health insurance is affordable, my doors open to a whole different shade of blue sky. Furthermore, there is no reason on earth for children in the United States of America not to have the healthcare they need. Healthcare is an extremely important platform for me, coming from a family who has needed it. Cancer, bone diseases, etc. down to me having strep throat or an ear infection once every 6 weeks until I was 12 years old. I can't imagine how my parents dealt with the constant co-pays, let alone how they would have dealt with it had I not been covered.
Words cannot describe the pride I felt for my country tonight (this morning...) when Obama made his heartfelt speech. Michelle and their two daughters' hands linked, swinging in tandum with each other as they exited the stage aloft a cheering crowd, chanting "Yes We Can." The tremendous pride I felt for the women in my chapter who have volunteered countless hours encouraging people to register to vote, setting up chairs at conventions, and doing anything that needed doing to help elect who will turn our country around. I was at Obama's first speech after he announced his running for president. I set up chairs. I held his microphone (scariest moment of my life) and I took down chairs. Nothing huge. But the heartfelt, genuine thanks I got from him, and his wife, was enough to convince me that this is a man who is honestly thankful for volunteers. I am not naive enough to believe that politicians don't realize they need to thank their volunteers, and all who helped them. But where was McCain's thanks to his commitee, individual volunteers, and those who donated five dollars to his campaign? There was none. Yet Obama realizes the reality that some people might not have $5 to give.
After the speech I volunteered at, Barack took time to talk to each individual volunteer about any questions we may have. I spoke to Michelle for a decent amount of time about teachers in our nation, and what she thought about the current pay scale. I'm sure there were days when they didn't want to get up in the morning and do anything more. But you could never tell it. Leading me to my next point:
I love how there is a THEY. Michelle Obama is an extraordinary woman. The Obamas are an extraordinary couple. Michelle has a way about speaking to the public which makes you want to speak back, and give her a hug. She isn't overbearing. She doesn't throw her children into the spotlight. I feel as if Cindy McCain does not have the poise, graciousness, and ability to relate to the public that Michelle Obama does.
In this election, I have witnessed more core, family values within the democratic party than the traditional family values of the conservative party. A month after Joe Biden was elected as the youngest U.S. Senate in the 20th century, the 5th youngest senator in history, his wife and daughter were killed in a car wreck by a drunk driver. Joe Biden rode in a train from Delaware to Washington D.C. every day in order to be at home to raise his sons. These are people with core, family values.
John McCain left his wife after she was disfigured in a car accident. After she had stood by him when he was a POW. He then married the political, money making machine, Cindy.
Sarah Palin has 5 children, and a grandchild on the way. All of them are under the age of 25, the youngest just a few months old, with special needs. What angers me is the fact that someone who supposedly has family values has thrust her children into the spotlight: The son who is deployed, the pregnant daughter, the down-syndrome baby. She has tried to use these antics as a way to "relate" to the common public. But all I see when I listen to her "personal" stories is that she has a BABY who would be raised by its father and a nanny the first four years of its life. She has a grandchild on the way, who she would see for family photographs, and in a frame on her desk, and that's it. Family Values?
It is with confidence, and trust that I welcome this breath of fresh air to America. To all who don't share my political views: I respect the hard work McCain and Palin have accomplished. I hope, as McCain spoke of, that there is middle ground which can be found between the two parties. I hope that we can work together to make this country stronger.
I hope I don't have to jump off the Bridge to Nowhere...
In the spirit of the election, watch these:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iiJbs-JS3XQ
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TRWmEmxkGDM&NR=1
I hate when people write kids off.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iiJbs-JS3XQ
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TRWmEmxkGDM&NR=1
I hate when people write kids off.
Monday, 3 November 2008
Toe Update!
Just to update you all family, my toe is now vertical again because I splinted it to my other toes. I have a wicked bruise on the bottom but can walk fine when its splinted :)
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Fun Week
I don't think I could have asked for a more amazing week. It started out with the 12 mile hike from last Sunday. Monday was a really fun circuit training class which made me sweat and feel productive. Late Tuesday night I got to pick up Ashley from the train station...Needless to say her visit pretty much made me the happiest person in the world. For those of you who don't know, she is one of my best friends. She is a Classics major, and studying in Athens. Last year we were pretty much joined at the hip. We went to a Halloween party on Wednesday night. I was Sarah Palin, and had a McCain to go with. For actual Halloween, I was Palin again, but Ashley was Bristol. It was pretty much amazing.
It astounds me how aware British citizens are of American politics. Most everyone I have met over here is pro-Obama. I have only spoken to two Brits who support McCain, and sadly enough, they only support him because he is white. I Baracked the vote this week. Most Americans studying here are planning on staying up all night to watch the election. Sweet! So back to the week...
Tuesday night was spent staying up until 6:30 am on Wednesday morning catching up. Wednesday was a fantastic Halloween night out. Thursday, Ash and I just hung around town. It must have been a monumentous day because I don't remember anything we did on Thursday.
Friday was just a fantastic day in general. We walked from campus to Mumbles. It was chilly and windy, but there was a blue sky, which completely makes up for the lack of warmth. We played on the pier (yup, we of course went down the dinosaur slide), ate a great lunch, went to the castle, and just had fun girl catch up time. Friday night we went out for Halloween. Fun times!
Today we just bummed around the city and around the flat. We ordered Chinese.
Typical Amy story: The Chinese delivery guy was banging on the door. I, in a typical Amy fashion, got extremely excited at the prospect of food (shocking!) and sprinted out my room door to welcome the delivery man. Mid-flight I caught my baby toe in the door. It hurt, but food outweighed pain. Enter kitchen: I look down and see my baby toe pointing at an almost 90 degree angle away from my body. Pretty sure I broke it.
Yes, my toes look gross. This is after the toe got pushed back a little. In my roommate's words, "It looks like a fat sausage..."
I've always been amazed at people who say they haven't broken anything before. This is coming from the mouth of the girl who has accomplished all of the following:
Age 1.5: Scene: Shoots and Ladders, a huge jungle gym complex with a 3 story tall metal slide. My dad takes me down on wax paper. It resulted in him doing a flip off the end and me breaking his rib. I was not hurt, but I like to think of this as the start of my injuries.
Age 3: "Dad, rememer when I was little and used to do flips off of the couch like this?" Flip. Scream. Broken elbow.
Age 8: I was a chubby child, resulting in my lack of excellence in gymnastics (the lack of excellence in gymnastics continues). When practicing cartwheels in the front yard I land wrong and roll my wrist. I remember my mom saying it wasn't broken, but I also remember it being pretty sore for a long time.
Age 12: When hanging off the end off of my then best friend's bed, the bed fell on my face. Broken nose, broken ego.
Age 12: Rollerbladed down my elementary school's loading dock on a new pair of rollerblades. Resulted in a cellulite looking like scar on my left thigh. Sometimes I blame the rest of the cellulite on rollerblading too......
Age 13: When swing dancing with the same friend, I did a flip over her back. The flip was great, the landing was rocky. Leave it to me to miss all of the pillows we had so carefully placed to ensure our safety. Strained neck muscles/tendons pulled. Neck brace for 4 weeks.
Age 15: Rollerblading injury #2. Result: 8 in abrasion on left leg, 4 inch abrasion on right leg. Scars visible still.
Age 19: Rollerblading injury #3. Result: 4 inch deep cuts/abrasions on both knees, jarred wrists. Scars still huge. This was the week before sorority recruitment at Iowa, where you wear dresses/skirts all week. I'm sure we were "The house with the girl with the bandaged knees...."
Lifelong: I fall. All the time. Anyone who knows me will tell you that gravity and I are best pals. I always have bruises from bumping into things. It is strange to me however, because I am not a very daring person physically. I enjoy the same workouts. I don't like jumping off of things. I am a very cautious person. Ironic.
In case you were wondering, the Chinese food was totally worth the pain. Yum.
Ashley left tonight, which made me sad. But, I just booked a plane ticket to Greece the last weekend in November. I can't wait to see her! We also are going to meet in Paris in a few weeks. This week is Barcelona! Hopefully during our dead week, I can get up to Edinborough (SP?) Four countries in one month....crazy.
Ashley has most of the Mumbles pictures on her camera, but here are some of Halloween.
Whoa Nelly, I am soooo ready to lead this country. You Betcha Joe Six-Pack!
I would like to clarify that Ashley is not really pregnant....
My pins read:
Look! There's Russia!
Hello: My name is Hockey Mom
A McCain/Palin pin
An American Flag
I also carried a shot gun with me...you know...in case I saw an mooses I wanted to kill.
Bristol's pins read:
Obama/Biden '08
I wouldn't be pregnant if my mom was pro-choice
Hello, my name is Bristol
And a pin with a picture of Palin and her daughter which reads, "Sorry Honey, Mommy's a little busy right now taking away your rights as a woman."
Well all, time to put some frozen peas on my foot and call it a night.
-A
It astounds me how aware British citizens are of American politics. Most everyone I have met over here is pro-Obama. I have only spoken to two Brits who support McCain, and sadly enough, they only support him because he is white. I Baracked the vote this week. Most Americans studying here are planning on staying up all night to watch the election. Sweet! So back to the week...
Tuesday night was spent staying up until 6:30 am on Wednesday morning catching up. Wednesday was a fantastic Halloween night out. Thursday, Ash and I just hung around town. It must have been a monumentous day because I don't remember anything we did on Thursday.
Friday was just a fantastic day in general. We walked from campus to Mumbles. It was chilly and windy, but there was a blue sky, which completely makes up for the lack of warmth. We played on the pier (yup, we of course went down the dinosaur slide), ate a great lunch, went to the castle, and just had fun girl catch up time. Friday night we went out for Halloween. Fun times!
Today we just bummed around the city and around the flat. We ordered Chinese.
Typical Amy story: The Chinese delivery guy was banging on the door. I, in a typical Amy fashion, got extremely excited at the prospect of food (shocking!) and sprinted out my room door to welcome the delivery man. Mid-flight I caught my baby toe in the door. It hurt, but food outweighed pain. Enter kitchen: I look down and see my baby toe pointing at an almost 90 degree angle away from my body. Pretty sure I broke it.
Yes, my toes look gross. This is after the toe got pushed back a little. In my roommate's words, "It looks like a fat sausage..."
I've always been amazed at people who say they haven't broken anything before. This is coming from the mouth of the girl who has accomplished all of the following:
Age 1.5: Scene: Shoots and Ladders, a huge jungle gym complex with a 3 story tall metal slide. My dad takes me down on wax paper. It resulted in him doing a flip off the end and me breaking his rib. I was not hurt, but I like to think of this as the start of my injuries.
Age 3: "Dad, rememer when I was little and used to do flips off of the couch like this?" Flip. Scream. Broken elbow.
Age 8: I was a chubby child, resulting in my lack of excellence in gymnastics (the lack of excellence in gymnastics continues). When practicing cartwheels in the front yard I land wrong and roll my wrist. I remember my mom saying it wasn't broken, but I also remember it being pretty sore for a long time.
Age 12: When hanging off the end off of my then best friend's bed, the bed fell on my face. Broken nose, broken ego.
Age 12: Rollerbladed down my elementary school's loading dock on a new pair of rollerblades. Resulted in a cellulite looking like scar on my left thigh. Sometimes I blame the rest of the cellulite on rollerblading too......
Age 13: When swing dancing with the same friend, I did a flip over her back. The flip was great, the landing was rocky. Leave it to me to miss all of the pillows we had so carefully placed to ensure our safety. Strained neck muscles/tendons pulled. Neck brace for 4 weeks.
Age 15: Rollerblading injury #2. Result: 8 in abrasion on left leg, 4 inch abrasion on right leg. Scars visible still.
Age 19: Rollerblading injury #3. Result: 4 inch deep cuts/abrasions on both knees, jarred wrists. Scars still huge. This was the week before sorority recruitment at Iowa, where you wear dresses/skirts all week. I'm sure we were "The house with the girl with the bandaged knees...."
Lifelong: I fall. All the time. Anyone who knows me will tell you that gravity and I are best pals. I always have bruises from bumping into things. It is strange to me however, because I am not a very daring person physically. I enjoy the same workouts. I don't like jumping off of things. I am a very cautious person. Ironic.
In case you were wondering, the Chinese food was totally worth the pain. Yum.
Ashley left tonight, which made me sad. But, I just booked a plane ticket to Greece the last weekend in November. I can't wait to see her! We also are going to meet in Paris in a few weeks. This week is Barcelona! Hopefully during our dead week, I can get up to Edinborough (SP?) Four countries in one month....crazy.
Ashley has most of the Mumbles pictures on her camera, but here are some of Halloween.
Whoa Nelly, I am soooo ready to lead this country. You Betcha Joe Six-Pack!
I would like to clarify that Ashley is not really pregnant....
My pins read:Look! There's Russia!
Hello: My name is Hockey Mom
A McCain/Palin pin
An American Flag
I also carried a shot gun with me...you know...in case I saw an mooses I wanted to kill.
Bristol's pins read:
Obama/Biden '08
I wouldn't be pregnant if my mom was pro-choice
Hello, my name is Bristol
And a pin with a picture of Palin and her daughter which reads, "Sorry Honey, Mommy's a little busy right now taking away your rights as a woman."
Well all, time to put some frozen peas on my foot and call it a night.
-A
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