Presidential Thoughts

Here's the deal. I don't care how you align yourself politically. Whether you are for McCain or Obama is up to you. My problem is when people decide they are either Republican or Democratic and vote accordingly without knowing where their candidate stands -- what is their platform? Even worse, is when people vote based on the popular thing. Recently McCain's campaign came out with an ad stating that Obama is just a celebrity. He's gotten a lot of heat for that. But, really, come on. No one can deny that. This election seems more of a high school popularity contest more than ever. I'm not meaning to offend anyone...but am I the only one who sees this? Before this ad came out, I watched the Obama family on Access Hollywood -- a tabloid news show. That was so weird to me. I would understand 20/20 or Dateline because those have a better reputation of being tv news journalism. But Access Hollywood?

At the Democratic National Convention, it was more of a party than a national convention. According to one journalist, "This seems to me the edgiest Democratic National Convention since 1988. ... his rock star performances are turning more voters off than on." Sheryl Crow performed, pumping up the audience for the main event. Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and Will.I.Am also performed. When interviewed, Fergie, yes, the Fergie who sings Fergilicious, stated that being at the convention was like being at the Super Bowl. Now, I'm glad that politics has her so jazzed, but really. Is she excited about the candidate, Barack (which interestingly enough means "peach" in Hungarian), or is she excited to participate in another part of a celebrity fiasco, in the name of politics? Jessica Alba was also interviewed and she too commented on the energy and excitement. Once again, if this because she is sincerely interested in Obama's platform, that's great, but I'm not convinced. I'm an Oprah fan, I am. But there is video of her crying at the convention. Crying?! Mary J. Blige is hugging her along with Oprah's life long friend, Gayle.

As far as I can tell, his platform on most issues is not that different from Hillary Clinton's, or even John Kerry, for that matter, who lost to George Bush, who wasn't all that popular at the time. So what is it with Obama? Is it because he's black? Is it because he conjures images of John F. Kennedy with his young age and young family? Because clearly, there is something more to the Obama frenzy than his traditional democratic platform.

I believe that Barack Obama is a good man. I believe he has good intentions -- which I didn't believe Hillary Clinton had. I think she wanted power and status. Barack, however, I believe wants to be President because he believes that our nation can be better and he wants to help lead us to that greatness. I also think he has a presidential look -- he is charismatic, distinguished, polished, articulate, and over all seems to be sharp. That is all good. But the manner in which we draw attention to ourselves reflects a bit of our personality, character, and general attitudes. I personally feel that actors and musicians supporting a candidate should hold very little weight against the real, everyday American voters. Who is this candidate anyway? Doesn't a voter want to believe that their president relates with and understands the average American? I don't relate to Hollywood. My life is anything but Hollywood and the flashing lights distract me from his message. I'm afraid it is distracting many Americans from his real message as well.

"Clearly the Obama campaign saw this speech as Step One in humanizing a candidate who, as I have referenced above, is seen as a cerebral prodigy, as an inspiring orator, as (in the views of some) the object of adoration of a cult—but not as a guy we feel we know as a human being." Perhaps people feel this way because of all the celebrity attention. This was the case before McCain mentioned it, and, in my opinion, it is even more the case now.

Vote for Obama if you feel he is the man best for the job. If you agree with his views on taxes, economy, health care, abortion, foreign policy, traditional marriage, and of course the war on Iraq (all of these I do have my own opinions on, but that is not the topic of this entry of course). Vote for him if you understand his policies and where he wants to take the country. The same is for McCain. But don't shout praises in the name of Obama simply because it's popular. Vote for him because you agree with him and because you believe, based on the facts, that the "change" he speaks of is for the better. Likewise, vote for McCain because you agree that his "country first" campaign really will put the state of our country in a better place.

Goodbye Part II

Before leaving Provo, we were able to spend some good quality time with family.

And on the drive to Spokane...while Samantha slept...

Callie smiled and squealed!

Time Left in Provo/Moving Out

The last week we were in Provo was rather strange. We were out of our apartment but staying with family friends. So, we were still in Provo, but we weren't there. It made it weird for us saying goodbye to our neighbors when we knew we would be bumping into them here and there throughout the week. Luckily we were able to say a real goodbye to them all before taking off. I do deeply regret that there were some people that I just physically could not see before we left. To you, I'm so sorry. Things were so hectic with final doctor appointments, moving, etc, and it just didn't happen. I'm sorry.

Moving out of our apartment was a trick. I had been packing boxes for a few months now, so a lot of that work was done already. Of course there was more to pack up, but that honestly wasn't too bad. All I can say is that I'm so glad that our families were in town.
Monday: Colin, Scotty, Bryan, and Lee Green -- my dad -- and Mark Catanzaro helped out with the loading. We were charged per foot on the trailer, so we tried to make it as tight as we could. I started to clean on Monday.
Tuesday: Dad, Marcus, and Colin (rest of the Greens headed back to CA) spent time rearranging the stuff in the trailer to make it fit even tighter in the trailer...and they succeeded. I continued to clean. ABF picked up the trailer that night.
Wednesday: Marcus and I cleaned.

It's not like our apartment was super messy or dirty. It really was in good shape in fact. But with 2 kids, I couldn't get all the cleaning done. I wanted to finish it Tuesday. Originally we were going to load the boxes on Monday and the furniture on Tuesday. Boy am I glad we changed those plans. We got a ton loaded Monday afternoon. I can't imagine if that hadn't of been taken care of so quickly. I thought we'd be out of the apartment Tuesday night. My mom helped by cleaning the bedrooms and watching the kids, but Samantha was having a rough time, they needed naps and had nowhere to sleep since the crib was loaded up...it was just really hard, and I'm NOT looking forward to doing that again, alone, in 12 months. We'll be even more alone because our parents won't be there most likely. They were just in Utah because we had been sealed. So, 3 days to move out of the place, but it was done. Horrible, but done.

While we waited for ABF to get our stuff to Spokane, we stayed with some family friends who live up by the Provo Temple. We were able to spend some time with them and my mom and dad...as they were staying there too. Wednesday night, Samantha threw up a few times (maybe that's why she had been having such a hard time while we were moving) and so we laid low and I held her a lot. Thursday, she seemed to be doing better, so we went to This Is the Place Park in SLC. I thought it was really nice. I think it's worth seeing. Friday we ran some last minute errands, Marcus met up with some old college buddies, and we finished the 3rd season of 24. (We have to find a way to get our hands of the 4th season out here in Spokane -- especially since we aren't getting cable this year.) Saturday was spent at Thanksgiving Point at the Museum of Ancient Life. Holy cow! This was impressive. At the time I didn't realize it was the biggest dinosaur museum in the world. Samantha was still not feeling all that well but made it through the IMAX movie. In the evenings, while my parents went to the mall, distribution center, and all over the place, we hung out with family.

We did have one dilemma...our car started falling apart and some things stopped working. This panicked me greatly since we would be driving roughly 900 miles north, and if our car didn't work, I wasn't sure how that was going to happen. We made some quick phone calls, got into a shop the next morning, and they had it ready that evening for us. Panic gone. Kind of. I was in a very stressful mode the entire week. There was so much to do, things kept going wrong, my kids were sick (Callie started having diarrhea the next day after Samantha threw up), and we were leaving our comfort zone. I was very stressed.

But, all in all, our last few days left in Provo were great.

We Have Arrived

I always told Marcus when we had an apartment with a dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer, we will have "arrived". Well, we aren't quite there yet, but we are here in Spokane with a dishwasher, and this is our 100th post (which is strangely some kind of milestone in the blogging world. Remember that Scotty.) So, I guess we're close to "arrival" of some kind. I feel like I have soooo much I want to write, and since my blog is used partly for me as a way to journal, I have decided I will break all my many thoughts/experiences down into smaller posts. That way, when I have time here and there, it'll eventually get done. Just as a way for me to remember what I want to write about...

1) Time Left in Provo
2) Leaving Provo (goodbyes, moving out)
3) Traveling
4) Entering Spokane Life (first impressions, apartment, moving in, etc)
5) Politics -- my take on Obama and McCain -- I normally wouldn't do this, but so many people have been posting on the current political news -- and instead of commenting on theirs and potentially offending them, I've decided to just post my own thoughts

I will get pictures up when I find the camera cord. That plastic bag with all the cords are around here somewhere. Until then....

Callie is ours...

forever. There's no ifs ands or buts. Not only did we receive the official legal paperwork stating she is ours, but on Saturday morning she was sealed to us in the Provo Temple. I can't explain how wonderful it is to know that it is official. Now, I think Callie is super cute. And when I got her dressed in her little white dress, I thought she was cute, of course. But when my mom brought her in to the sealing room....she looked gorgeous. There was a little glow around her. She was beautiful. It's a little strange; after a 1 minute ceremony she is eternally ours. I remember feeling the same way when we got married. It's just a short ceremony, and that's it. We're married. And it was the same with Callie's sealing. She was such a little angel during it. Oh, what a sweet sweet girl. Marcus's Aunt Holly has adopted 2 kids and has been through 2 sealings like ours. To celebrate that experience, she makes them a white cake with white frosting on their sealing day. I love that. I'm going to do that for Callie. August 16 -- what a wonderful day. We had to wait to give Callie her baby blessing until she was sealed to us, so today Marcus was able to bless her. It's just been an all around wonderful weekend. I don't have pictures yet -- we'll get some posted soon. (This small one is the only one we have right now.)

Mountain Solo by Jeanette Ingold

Mountain Solo by Jeanette Ingold

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thought this was an excellent YA novel. I enjoyed the writing style and appreciated the fact that it was very clean. It tackled a very real YA issue -- feeling like you aren't in control of your life -- and she approached it in a unique way. I recommend it.


View all my reviews.

Saying Goodbye

I know we aren't officially leaving for about a week and a half, but today I got together for one of the last times with some great friends of mine -- yes, at Cabela's. Marci and Reagan were my roommates at BYU up until I left for my mission. Those 3 years with them were so great. I never thought I'd be able to meet friends that I felt as close to as I felt with them. Luckily, the Lord has placed other fabulous people in my path and I feel so blessed to have an abundance of great great people in my social sphere that I call my friends. Now that Marci and Reagan have moved back to Utah, we're leaving. Life can be cruel. (Becky and Arielle, still need to get together with you girls! And Danette, not sure if I can get another run in, but maybe I'll be able to stop by before we move?)

Sidenote: I got my haircut and colored (thanks Kristen). I decided to go with bangs to change it up a bit. I'm not sure what I think yet. I go back and forth. I was leery to do thick bangs, so they are thin...which means they don't really stay in place. But, that's ok with me. I can sweep them to the side, have them down, or pin them back. That gives me a lot of variety which I like. Anyway -- Heather, here you go. This is the only picture of my new cut that I have.