One year..

I'm sitting here trying to figure out exactly what I want to say to commemorate this monumental occasion. It's been one year since President Obama was elected as the first African American president. One year since all of the chaos, crazy shenanigans, and not being able to sleep from all the excitement of election day. I know there will always be questions such as, "Is this really the change we hoped for? Is he doing enough?" But I don't care about any of that right now.

A year ago was much more than the story of one extraordinary man who defied all the odds to become the leader of the United States; it was the story of hundreds of thousands of people who came together to demand change and devoted their lives to fulfilling that goal. I met more wonderful people on the campaign trail than in any other point in my life. I will be forever grateful to President Obama for introducing me to such wonderful people. As our state director often said, there are few times in life when you find yourself surrounded with people who share the same ideals, goals, and hopes that you do. From the outside, people (eh-hem, Republicans) might view it as a cult mentality or simply a bunch of kids doing the "hip" thing and working for then-Senator Obama. I guarantee you there is nothing "hip" about working 14+ hour days, 7 days a week. Regardless of your politics, you can't deny the dedication and sacrifice shown by the thousands of staffers and volunteers who worked tirelessly for change.


There are so many memories, important life lessons, and just overall crazy times I will forever hold in my heart. The campaign was a time of immense personal growth for me, it showed me what I could do and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The campaign forced me out of my comfort zone and I will be forever grateful. Because of the extreme working conditions, my fellow staffers instantly became family and although I don't speak to most of them as often as I should, I would drop anything in a heartbeat if they needed it.

I will always be proud to carry the title, Obama Field Organizer/Volunteer Coordinator, and I am blessed that I met so many people who share the same badge. Congratulations to you all. Team Granola forever!
Pictures (from top): Senator Obama and me after the debate in Austin; County Convention in Austin; View from our office in Clarksburg, WV; Taking down the West Virginia Headquarters sign after our loss; Team Granola at the Democratic National Convention.

Halloween and such..

This weekend turned out to be very fun and eventful. We spent most of Saturday with Gene's family celebrating the baptism of one of his little nieces. All of the family was there, including Gene's 3 sisters, their 7 kids, and a bunch of cousins with their kiddos. It was a good time hanging out with his family and seeing his cousins who I don't see that often aside from when we run in to each other at comedy shows (his cousin E is a HILARIOUS comic who performs at comedy shows all across Denver). Any-who, my favorite was hanging out with his little niece, Cindy Lou Hoo who only ever wants to eat (we have this in common). I looked over from the living room and saw the little two-year old on her tippy toes trying to get a handful of chips off the counter. I made it there before she dumped the whole bowl on her head.

After hanging out with Gene's family we went over to P and A's house for some Halloween cocktails. Ever the perfect hostess, P had created some awesome cocktails complete with dry ice and orange food coloring. She even dressed up her incredibly pissed off cats, one was tigger, the other was a devil. Tigger was pretty hilarious to watch because whenever the hood with tigger's head on it was placed over his head he freaked out and starting running backwards to escape. He also sat in the corner for some time peering out of the corner of his eye at the tigger head that had fallen across his shoulder. Poor thing, he was convinced he had somehow grown a head over night. The devil kitty just sat completely still and refused to move, until of course Lola (their golden retriever) would walk by and then she'd swat the crap out of her. She seemed to like me which Gene thought was hysterical because I am not a fan of cats (they scare the poo out of me, you never know what they're going to do and all of sudden they attack your face--true story, and no, I don't want to talk about it). I think she liked me because I had a really sweet cat costume on. Pictures to come.

After P and A's we headed off to our Devotchka concert at the Boulder Theater. It was a lot of fun and a great show. My favorite costume was the guy dressed up as lego man. Gene half-assed the costume portion of the evening, all I could convince him to wear was a pair of mouse ears to go with my much more elaborate cat costume. Oh, well.

Sunday we spent most of the day watching football (Boo Broncos, Yay Vikings) and just relaxing. Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

R.I.P. Easy Bake 2.0

Well, that didn't last long. Last night Gene was toasting some tortillas for our dinner and I heard a very loud, "Sh#t, Sh#t, Sh#t" coming from the kitchen. I rush in, immediately thinking he had chopped off a finger or maimed himself when I saw our beloved new easy bake engulfed in flames. Okay, maybe this part was a slight exaggeration, but the easy bake was definitely flame-filled and our poor tortillas were reduced to ash. As I stood there trying to comprehend exactly what was going on, Gene said, "Open the balcony door, quickly!" He carried the exploding oven to the porch and I just kept thinking, I'm not sure if this is a smart idea.. Anyways, after a few intense seconds the fire was extinguished and the apartment complex did not go up in flames, whew. As we walked back in to the apartment Gene asked, "Can I have my old oven back? It never did that." So, we're back to using the grease-covered easy bake of old. However, this incident made me grateful that I bought way too much renter's insurance. You never know when you're easy bake is going to explode..

Casa de Case

In addition to attending a top ranked social work program, moving back to Austin also means moving back to my condo. I have lived, cumulatively, about 2 months in the place since my parents bought it almost 2 years ago. I'm starting to get super pumped and I need decorating tips. It's one big room and I need to figure out a way to divide it up effectively and most importantly, cheaply. I'm thinking book cases on either side of the wall to separate the kitchen/dining from the living room. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who cares about this, but I'd like to pretend this blog is interactive so if you have ideas let me know. Also, I'm thinking of curtains to block off the bed. The living room is the space right in front of the windows.. hard to tell from the pics.

No longer a Texas Ex

Exciting update! I received news that I got accepted to the University of Texas Graduate School 'o Social Work this week. WOOHOO. And by "received news" I mean that I got a cryptic e-mail from the financial aid office that said they were beginning to process my FAFSA. This seemed odd because I just got an e-mail from them saying that they could not process my financial aid until I was accepted in to the program. I started getting excited because I thought maybe this meant I got accepted so after a LOT of digging on the Texas site I found out I was accepted. Seems a little odd since I received a status update e-mail every time something changed in my application (letter of reference was received, transcript issues) so you would think that they'd send me an e-mail saying p.s. you got in. Whatever, I'm thrilled regardless. The program starts in January so I will be Austin bound in no time. It's a little bittersweet to be leaving Denver, mainly because Gene isn't thrilled to be moving to Austin but it's going to be a nice change. I'm really looking forward to no longer being a Texas Ex and starting (another) grad school. I'm also excited about the football. Really excited about the football. WOOHOO.

$40 oil change != $400 bill

I took my car in to the shop today to get the tires rotated and my oil changed. I had a panic on Friday when I couldn't remember the last time it had been to the shop. Oops. Any-who, when I took it in of course I couldn't just get a simple oil change and be on my way. Of course not! Apparently, I had 2 large bubbles in my snow tires (note: not meant to be driven all year long, I'm just that poor) which required that I get two new tires. I was pretty sure they were trying to rip me off until he brought them in for me to see and there they were, two big dents in my tires, which according to the shop man, "Isn't good." So, with few options other than replace the tires or buy 4 new but maybe cheaper tires I bought the damn tires. $300 for two tires. Dammit. I also had to pay for the oil change and the labor on the two tires (um, if you are rotating the tires, don't they all have to come off any ways? Apparently not). All in all a very expensive Monday. As a result, I am pinching pennies for the next two weeks. It's going to be a long two weeks. Grr. Guess this should teach me to take my car in regularly and not drive around on snow tires the entire year but it probably won't...

Better than any lame joke..

All the Sooner fans!

http://ballhype.com/video/all-the-sooner-fans-1/