Kerri's Birthday

Long lost pictures

So now that school is out I finally posted pictures from this semester. We start at a look at the snow from our office window, then look at our Christmas tree and some halloween jackolanterns

I'm finished!

I'm done with finals! I just finished my last one. It feels great, but I am frustrated. Before I explain, please know that I am not fretting, I will not worry about the end result, and I know everything will be just fine, so please do not right any of the sentiments in the comments. My last final today was for econ 459. I studied really hard for in and understand the math and everything. The test was 5 problems. Problems 1 and 2 I did ok on, 3 I think I nailed, 4 probably did good, but problem 5 killed me. My professor used this problem to teach us a new concept. It required really confusing algebra. Although I could tell you exactly how to get what he was looking for, I couldn't manipulate the problem correctly. I hate it when teachers think that a test is the proper place to teach concepts. If he had put the concept we learned on the test I would have been fine. But as with all of my classes, my finals don't really affect the final grade.

I turned in my capstone and 341 finals this morning. I think I'll get a B in both those classes, and I took my biology final this morning. That class was a waste of my time. So now I get to enjoy the semester break without anything to do, and come January start my last course that I am taking independent study.

We made it to the end

Well its the end of the semester for both of us. Kerri's last day of teaching was yesterday, and she gives her last final at the same time I take mine. It is so nice to be done. Yesterday was technically the last day of class, but I decided to take an extra reading day to work on my capstone paper.

I've spent the semester trying to determine the way that wealth influences human rights protections. There are a lot of different ideas floating around out there and I tried to pinpoint it. It turns out that the theory I thought was correct holds up in my quanititative analysis but not my qualitative. What gives? That's research for ya. Thankfully we have spent the semester writing the paper in 3 parts. So after extensive revising this week of all three parts, I was able to stitch them together, clarify my thesis and call it good. Kerri and I think I spent over 100 hours over the course of the semester working on it. In the past week I have spent 26 hours. I know, its overkill. I keep telling myself that out of the 15 people in my class I have probably spent the longest amount of time on it. I think it is time to call it good.

So today and tomorrow are also reading days (although BYU shouldn't count saturday as a reading day. I hope to get my take home final for my European Politics class out of the way. I am pretty sure I can get half of it done this weekend, and the rest done by noon on Monday. After that I'll be studying like a mad man for me econ 459 final, and I'll brush up on my biology. Both Biology and Econ have their finals scheduled for Wednesday, and lucky for me they are back to back.

So it looks like I am on track to have everything turned in by Wednesday like I hoped. This is my last real semester of college and I am so glad its done. Next semester I'll take my history 202 class independent study and should be done by the end of Feb. I can't wait to graduate.

I've lost my motivation

1 week left. That's all I have and guess what? My drive to continue went kaputz tonight. By next wednesday I need to have 1 25 page paper written, 1 5-7 page paper written 1 bio final taken and 1 econ final finished. I know that doesn't sound like a a lot. and I am not too stressed about it. To be fair my capstone paper is pretty much done. I've been writing it for the past 2 months. The problem is that I've been writing it for 2 months and am sick of it.

I met with my professor about it today. He liked my findings section, but I had to spend a lot of time explaining what I did. He was really confused. But in the end he was more ok with my work. Funny, becuase he gave me an 89 so I don't really think it was all that bad. I need to redo some of my tests and analysis but that should be pretty easy to fix. I've spent the past few days fixing my research design section adn today I was supposed to take all the comments my sister made when she looked at it and fix my theory section. But I didn't. I slept instead. I could start working on my paper now, but I don't want to . I am still tired so I think I am going back to bed. Its hard to be motivated becuase now I am doing the painful job of editing. I have gotten between an 86% and 92% on all my papers so I think to myself, there isn't a whole lot of improvements to be made, but then again, there could be.

So here's the game plan to get me to survive till finals. work on my capstone tomorrow and Thursday. Hope that by Thursday night my paper will be done (it better, I've easily spent 50 hours on the stupid thing so far this semester. I think I am making it harder than it should be). Friday day work on my take home final, Friday night take my wife to temple square to look at lights and see MoTab. Saturday morning work on take home final, Saturday afternoon get hair cut, Saturday night work on final. Try to take a break on Sunday. Monday finish take home final and begin studying for bio. Tuesday cram for econ test. Wednesday turn in capstone and 341 final, take bio and econ final. Wednesday night crash and burn.

And if needed, both my take home and 341 final can be turned in next Thursday. Lets hope it doesn't come to that.

Good night.

Minuit Chretien

So, at the end of Christmas Eve Mass in France, the Priest carries the baby Jesus down the aisle to the Creche that is set up in the back of the Cathedral and lays it in the manger as a tenor sings the song "Minuit Chretien" or for us Americans "O Holy Night" I personally think the lyrics in French are more powerful than the English version of the song, but I wanted to post these two different versions of the song.

This first video is just a recording that has been passed around for a while, but it makes me laugh every time I listen to it. It makes Kerri cringe. The second video is Alain Sombret singing Minuit Chretien.

Merry Christmas!

The final countdown

9 Days! that's all I have left of real school. Although I think those 9 days are going to be packed. Last week as a lot of fun and really tiring. I am finishing up my capstone paper, which has required me to compile data in excel and then run regressions. No big deal right? It shouldn't have been. But after spending 13 hours on Tuesday trying to get it work, and another 5 on Wednesday I said enough. I was able to to get everything straightened out but was so tired of working on my data that I put it away for the rest of Thanksgiving break. That means that this afternoon I will be running regressions and writing a paper on my findings. I think I can do it.

I am nervous about my findings paper though because my original plan to run a times series regression isn't going to work. There is something wrong with my data and I can't figure it out. So I averaged the data for the 10 year period so I can run a simple OLS regression. I don't think this is going to be a huge problem because when I told my professor I didn't want to run a time series regression if I didn't have to, he recommended the averaging method. But as a result my findings will not be as robust as they should be. But that's ok. The important thing is getting a 5-7 page paper written, and a presentation prepared by tomorrow at 3. Piece of cake.

After this paper my semester is basically over. I have 1 or two more econ assignments, and my stupid 341 readings, but really all that needs to be done is piecing together 3 papers into 1 big paper and expanding it a bit. And then, I'll be done with class.

Thanksgiving was fun. We ate food, played games, slept, put up the Christmas tree, drank egg nog (yuck! I only do it to make my wife happy). watched movies, forgot about homework, and saw Madagascar 2 (She loves me, she loves my thighs). If I remember, pictures will be forthcoming.

Please help me understand what butthurt means!

I am trying really hard to be as positive as possible about BYU this semester. Not that I have ever been really negative, but at times I have been really bothered by things. Be it the credits from USU that should have transferred but didn't, my ridiculously hard classes (ie PLSC 200), the self righteous attitudes of some students, the Utah haters, the honor code haters, the basically really weird culture that has developed. The absence of fun student activities (USU has the largest Halloween party in the state of Utah, and a Mardi Gras celebration), the list could go on but I'll stop it. The following letter appeared in The Daily Universe this week. I am sure the writer is more intelligent than it seems but please after reading the letter please tell me what butthurt means, and is it even a word? Here is the letter (emphasis added):

Standing behind the "Bros"

The viewpoint on the East Coast being better than the West Coast needs to be addressed. I hate to say this, but the way the West was portrayed made me a little butthurt. Southern California, which is where this "Bro Nation" is from, should never be looked upon so superficially. So-Cal, as the "bros" say it, is a huge melting pot and I don't think the author of the East Coast viewpoint likes what's cooking. I'm not going to deny the existence of bros, and especially bad representations of them here at BYU. However, I would like people to keep in mind that these bros are white - the minorities of their area. As a person of a light brown color, I'd have to say that making fun of bros is a bit racist and maybe xenophobic. The bros have been thrown into a melting pot that my people have created and have come out semi-messed up. They don't know what it's like to be in the elite East Coast, with your precious Harvard in wonderful Massachusetts that you are all so fond of spelling. Instead, they are having an identity crisis by trying to be white in the way they look while speaking like English is their third language like my immigrant grandma. I'm not ashamed of these bros and their overly fake-baked girlfriends (they just want to be tan like the rest of us.) I am proud of them and will stand with them wherever they be at.

TAWNEE MADLEN

San Diego

After reading this letter I was laughing out loud, something I don't do often. I hope you enjoyed it.

Oh, and in other news, the Daily Universe had the wrong punctuation in advertisements for this week's forum address by Lynne Truss. That's sad, considering Lynne Truss's address was about punctuation errors. Sadly, I don't think the Daily Universe did it on purpose.

This made me chuckle

Obviously this is a fake picture because Santa Claus is alive, and I'll prove it to you on December 25 when I get what I ask for (I have to figure that out). Does he give 4.0 GPAs?

Really? That's it?

Today was a new experience in the life of Kerri. I had my first cavity filled. Actually, I had 4 cavities filled to be followed by two more next week. Chase has been reassuring me all week that I would be fine but I was still nervous before I went in to have it done. All I could think about was the giant needle and how much it hurt when I was little. I was bracing myself for the pain and I was not excited. My dentist, it turns out, is really good with the needle. I felt almost nothing and what I did feel wasn't painful. I just kept my eyes closed and took deep breaths and it turned out okay. The rest of the procedure was a piece of cake. Apparently, people are disturbed by the sound of the drill. It reminded me of a dolphin's high pitched squeak. I'm not sure if it was a good or bad thing to associate the two but it was a pleasant image. So now I'm not scared for next week and the left half of my face is completely numb but it turned out to not be that big a deal. I love it when that happens.

Democracy

Are you sick of me yet? I feel like blogging about one more issue: Prop 8 protests. I am getting really sick and tired of it. I don't understand what they are doing. I feel they are unfairly targeting 1 religion (well, at least all the high profile protests are), and I think that while the GLBT community is asking for tolerance and inclusion, they are exhibiting just the opposite. These protests are not going away and now groups are popping on facebook (what is the point of groups on facebook anyway?) and protests are spreading from California to Utah to New York.

I can see why people are upset about the outcome of Prop 8. but guess what 45% of the United States is upset about Obama too. We don't see any protests about that do we? What would happen if there were protests against the DNC and other big contributors to Obama's campaign because people were upset about Obama? Nothing. The same thing is happening here.

The great thing about democracy is that it works. The people of California voted in favor of Prop 8. Opponents of Prop 8 have the wonderful opportunity to propose a different amendment in the future. I think it is sad that people opposed to Prop 8 are blaming the LDS church for its failure. They claim that before the LDS church became heavily involved in the pro-prop 8 campaign. Well, lets face it. Pro-prop 8 campaigners were better at mobilizing their troops than anti-prop 8 so they won. Just like Obama was better at mobilizing his supporters than McCain and voila, Obama won. That is the nature of campaigns.

So to all those out there who were against prop 8 and are angry. I understand. But you failed. Accept it, move on, and begin preparing your next move. Protests aren't going to change anything. Exercise your right to free speech, but be fair about it. Respect others people's opinions. Let the issue die so that I don't have to hear about it anymore!

thank you.

Really Bad Christian Rock

So I turned on my radio on my way to school this morning, and the first thing I heard was this song "Jesus is a friend of mine" It made me laugh so hard, I missed the parking lot turn-off and had to make a u-turn. It might be borderline sacrilegious, but it also as a good message. Towards the end the message gets a bit convoluted. If anyone can tell me what this line means, please let me know : "He is like a Mounty, and always gets his man" Enjoy!



Here is another one I found. It is like Christian Rock meets Disney/Aqua Its called "Jesus is my superhero" Not as funny as the first.



Ok, now I need to start reading and analyzing senate hearing documents

Finally Over

This is the other half of Chase and Kerri speaking. It is finally over. So for those of you who don't know, I've been studying for months to take the FM2 actuarial exam (yes, that is the one I almost passed this summer). Well, I took it yesterday and I think it went really good. There were only four questions total that I didn't know how to do which is pretty good in comparison to a total of 35 questions on the exam. I was so proud of myself for doing so well. But of course, I have to wait another 8 weeks to find out the actual test results which means that I literally won't find out till next year! How crazy is that? In other news, I am going to the dentist this week to have my first filling. And I get to follow the first one by four more. No cavities my entire life and then, boom! Five! So I get to eat milkshakes and mashed potatoes and pudding for a day. In other news, Chase got new contacts this week and he looks really hott, I have to admit. So that's my update. It should be smooth sailing here on out for the rest of the year.

Observations

Now that the election stuff has calmed down, I thought I would make a few observations.

First, congratulations to me for my predictions. Those of you who noticed my status on Facebook, I predicted 300+ electoral college votes for Obama and that Obama would win the popular vote by 5%. Both predictions were a bit low, hooray for me for being as close as I was.

Second, Isn't our country great? I don't get all patriotic very often. In fact, the only time I felt patriotic was this summer on Memorial Day. But isn't it amazing that every four years we are able to choose our leaders, and then have a peaceful transition? We've been doing this for over 200 years. Some countries can't even do it for 10. We went to the polls where we were not threatened if we voted a certain way, no bombs exploded, Bush did not outlaw opposition parties, the military did revolt. We have something very unique, and we should at least be thankful for that.

Third, this country is not going to fall apart under Obama. I have heard a lot of doomsday predictions this week from anti-Obama camps. I just don't buy them. Mainly because Obama will not be able to in act his change. He told Wolf Blitzer on CNN last Friday that withdrawal from Iraq may take more than 4 years. He also said the 12 billion dollars we are spending on that war won't automatically become available for social programs because we owe our veterans more. I agree, but without that 12 billion, how will he fund his new proposals. We all know about his tax proposal. I don't think it will fly. Besides, in recessions fewer tax dollars flow into the government anyway. So there has to be another source of funding.

That source can't be deficit spending. A lot of people think we are in for a bigger national debt. Over the past 8 years it has been the republicans that have decided to run a bigger debt (so much for fiscal responsibility). Our debt is now around 60% of our GDP. This matches many of the countries in Europe. For a healthy economy, we can't get much higher. This fact will make it difficult for Obama to do much of anything, well anything really big.

Let us not forget that while the democrats control both the executive and the legislative branches. They failed to get a cloture proof majority in the Senate. They are really close, but on big radical changes, Harry Reid will not be able to get the votes he needs to end debate. To get things done, Reid and Pelosi will have to become more moderate. I am not saying every proposal will get blocked, the democrats will pretty much have a free ride for two years.

The last point I want to bring up about the state of our government is this: Republicans will gain seats in the legislature in two years. Historically the opposition party has gained seats in both houses of Congress during the midterm elections. There are only two mid-term elections when this did not happen. Those were 2002, and one in the 1930's during FDRs administration. The republicans will gain seats in 2010. They may not regain the majority, but rest assured, if the democrats fail, they will be feeling it in 2010 just like they felt it in 1994.

The country is not falling apart. Obama will do just fine. He is a great salesperson, but he is also a smart person. Lets give him credit. You can be the greatest salesperson in the world, but if you are stupid, America won't buy it. Things will be different for the next while, but you know what, the republicans were failing. Don't you think it is only fair to give the democrats a shot? Before we start crying Armageddon lets wait and see what Obama does.

Ok, well those are my observations. I have more about Utah, but I'll spare you the details. Let me just say that Utah deserves the 1 party system we have, because that is what we have chosen. I think the republicans will do just fine. They may be a behaving in an ethical gray area but at least the sky isn't falling.

Voting

Hi, my name is Chase and I'm a republican.

This election is one that has turned out a bit different. While I was in DC this summer I was able to get an insider perspective of how our government works. I believe that real action occurs in the legislative branch, not the executive, so if we want change, we need to change congress. While I was there, I became more conservative. Part of that was spending 40 hours a week in a republican office, but part of that came from actually working on issues and researching them.

So why, if I am an unaffiliated voter who identifies themselves as republican, am I jumping ship and voting mostly democratic this year? I feel the republicans have gone too far. President Bush has broken laws, disregarded international treaties, doubled in the deficit, and left the country in worse shape than it was 8 years ago. Thankfully Bush is not on the ballot this year. But because I know how politics is played, McCain will look an awful lot like Bush. Obviously he won't be Bush, and the state of the economy will require new policy, but republicanism is republicanism. It isn't going to change.

Of course, Obama isn't going to change either. He is going to increase government spending, penalize those that actually work for their money by raising taxes so that the welfare state can be increased, move towards socialized health care, and not do much about our oil dependency. His goals are lofty, and in the partisan system we have won't be obtainable. I don't believe Obama has "change [I] can believe in".

After reading, and studying, and thinking, both McCain and Obama are both saying the same thing. But there is something about McCain that rubs me the wrong way. I think it was his behavior in the debates. I love McCain's foreign policy experience. However, in the debates he treated Obama really poorly. McCain came across as a arrogant, crotchety old man. I don't want that type of person representing me at a G8 summit. I can't really explain why I am so apprehensive about McCain, but I am. Therefore, I have decided to vote for Obama.

Now, in the State elections, I am voting for Huntsman. But most everyone else is a democrat. I believe the republican party is corrupted. But, that is bound to happen when you have such a large majority. I also believe that anytime your party chairman is a lobbyist, married to a representative you are likely to get corruption. It becomes easier to bend the rules. Don't get me wrong I like the party chairman, he is a nice guy. So is his wife. But something happened over the past 4 years. The republican party leadership has decided that it is invincible, and they have become bullies. Their attitude has become one of "If you don't do what I want, we are pulling funding" I don't think that is right.

The only way in our system to really show displeasure is at the polls. I hope that the republicans get the message. In Utah County every republican should be able to win easily. I hope it takes effort this year. My way of voicing my displeasure is to vote democrat. This decision is easier than voting for Obama, because thankfully, the Utah County democrats are really republicans. They just switched parties because they knew they had a better chance of winning. I don't blame them for that. it makes sense. If I am going to put time and money into a race, I want the best chance of winning. Our primary system, that is based on delegates, makes it really hard to beat incumbents, so why not switch parties. I'm ok with it.

This year we have a chance to show we are upset at how things are run. I know that Utah has been insulated from the recession. Republicans say it was because they were in control. I half-way believe that. When the governor proposes the budget, and the legislature is only given 45 days to approve it, I think the credit really goes to the governor. 45 days is not enough time to really play the budget all that much, so it is basically approved as is every time. I think the democrats, if they were to win a majority would side with Huntsman.

Ok, enough of my rant. I need to go fulfill my civic duty, and lets hope it takes no more than an hour

Midterms and Halloween

It's that time of year again. Midterms. This week was pretty light. I only had 1 midterm, but it took 12 hours of studying for, done over a day and half. That lovely test was my econ 459. I think I actually did pretty good at it. It only tool 1 hour and 45 minutes to take and the best part is that its over. I guess I could fret about the test. I don't think I did better than an 80% but there is no use. The test itself is a sunk cost. I'll never get the time back, so there is no use in worrying. Besides, at BYU if you get a 60% on a test you can probably bet on getting a B.

This next week is a little bit more hectic. 2 presentations and 2 papers are due. I haven't really started any yet. I have a 3 minute presentation in 341 on the British Conservative Party's reaction to the economic crisis. a 5 page bio 100 paper compete with 10 sources due on Friday (at least I have gathered most of the sources ) and a research design paper and presentation for my capstone. My biggest stress right now is that for my research design, I am actually going to have to spend a few hours just thinking and being creative. I don't do that well. I have a short attention span. Just ask Kerri. She is lucky if I make it through the sacrament portion of the sacrament meeting before I whisper "I'm bored".

So today is Saturday and the game plan is to spend a couple hours working on my presentation, and a couple hours on my bio paper. Tomorrow I'll spend a couple hours thinking about human rights (a rather appropriate sunday topic don't you think?) and then on Monday it will be anyone's guess.

This brings me to Halloween. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. We have decorated the apartment, bought giant pumpkins to carve, and if I am lucky, I'll have a costume. This year we are lucky because the holiday is on a Friday, which means I have nothing due the next day, so unlike in year's past where I have had to skip halloween becuase stuff was due the next day, I am actually enjoy it. That is if I am awake long enough.

Pomp and Circumstance

I actually don't like that song very much. It gets really old. Why can't we walk to something like Eleanor Rigby or anything from Jethro Tull. I think that I can safely say that listening to 15 minutes of the Beatles or Jethro Tull would be a lot more enjoyable. Especially at BYU when it takes a good 20 minutes for the graduates to finish walking. I know that no matter what, in April I'll be walking to Pomp and Circumstance. But maybe I'll wear my iPod and at walk to my personal favorite, ABBA. Heck, I've paid my dues why not put the whole ceremony to ABBA. I could walk to Dancing Queen, when I get feklempt (help please on the spelling) I could listen to Chiquitita, When the speaker talks about the long hard journey (it was really hard) I could listen to I have a dream, and when it is over I could listen to Fernando. That's my kind of graduation. Although, I don't think my parents would approve.

Enough of this rambling. The point is I am graduating. I put in my application. Everything is approved, I just need to finish out the semester + 1 class.

In other news, I am over my cold for the most part. I emailed my 341 teacher for help in the class (that is the class that I got a C+ in) I should be meeting with him tomorrow. I like putting forth the effort. I believe in the law of mercy, and most teachers are kinder at the end of the semester if you have gone to them for help. At least they know I'm trying right? But, in the end, if I only eek out a C in that class. C'est la vie.

Today is dentist day and catch up. The pressure let up this week so I have a lot of time to play catch up on my research and maybe get a little bit ahead. I just hope the dentist goes well.

What a week

So today my theory paper was due. I have been working on it all week, and trying to keep up on my other homework at the same time. I finished the paper last night at 1:00 and BAM I immediately have a head cold that came complete with a fever and head congestion, and raspy voice. There went any sleep I could have gotten last night. I have been sweating all day today in class and can't concentrate. Needless to say, I am doing nothing to night. I am also not doing well on my diet. I am tying to be high protien low carb and low fat, but I'm sick and don't care about nutritional information. I have been downing high carb orange juice all day.

Well I get to class so I can turn my stuff in, and I get my paper back that I wrote for Poli Sci 341. I got a C+. That is the worse I have ever done on a paper. I am a bit suprised because he followed my arguments, he just though they were vaugue, and the paper was un polished. Whatever. All I need is a C to get my degree.

Well I'm signing off. I want to sleep.

My prediction

I am in the midst of trying to write my theory paper, but it is time to take a break. So I thought I would put my prediction in writing. After last night's debate where neither candidate said anything important, but McCain really couldn't put it together I think Obama will win. I think we still have a race but Palin's popularity expired a long time ago, and that was what McCain was counting on.

Why won't McCain win? Because he said this "I think I know what we all don't know" Huh?

On another note, I am going to be really dorky and go and see this movie this fall:

Swim

Those of you who have seen my phone, you know it says "Just keep swimming" on it. That is my reminder to do as Dory did when things get rough (and I do speak whale, although I can only speak to French whales, I am not fluent in English whale yet). So that is what I did this week. I kept swimming. I pulled of a 6 page paper in 20 hours, not the best product I've done, but I honestly think it was the best I could do. I just got a 95% on my biology midterm, and I stayed on top of all my reading. Why? Because I kept on swimming. Well now I have another song to go with my phone.

I believe everyone should have a theme song, and that it should play behind you when ever you enter a room (I think life would be funnier that way). I don't have a theme song yet, nor do I think this song should be it, but it is a good reminder. It is one of Jacks Mannequin's new songs, and not only does it remind me of how I felt this week, but it will be a good reminder next week as I try to write my 7 page theory paper for my capstone. It's called Swim (and one day I am working this into a talk at church, as well as the Borne trilogy).

Run Fat boy Run!

I guess this title is fitting for two reasons. I have now embarked on a new weight loss program, so I will be the fat boy running, but the real reason I posted is because we just watched this movie and it is great. I am probably behind the times, and heaven help us if my parents watched this before us (we thought we had them beat with Lars and the Real Girl. Little did we know that not only had they watched it, they owned it). Anyway, I recommend it to anyone. And to those who question my taste since recommending À la folie... pas du tout or in English: He Loves me, He loves me not, (I think you all should see it) don't worry, this movie doesn't have a creepy twist half way through the movie. It is quite normal. I'd write more but I have bio midterm to take in the next 12 hours, and I think it would be wise to spend at least 20 minutes studying for it.

Change?

So Obama has some soundbites today about the need for change. But what is it? The market experienced the largest single point drop in American history today and no one has a plan! Every once in a while in a campaign there is an opportunity to show why you are qualified. Neither candidate has shown why they are qualified. McCain tried to show leadership by inserting himself into negotiations. It was a campaign move, Obama called it correctly, but he did try to persuade 2/3 of his party to vote for the package. Obama sat on the sidelines. What I don't understand is why the campaigns didn't anticipate a need to present their own plans. Even if the package had passed, now is the time to outline how you would try to fix it.

I don't believe that either person is capable of the leadership they claim to be able to deliver. In fact I am jaded. Pelosi failed to lead her majority to vote in favor, Boehner failed to get his party on board and it was a republican proposal! That's bad. To exacerbate the problem Congress has gone home.

The Senate won't act first. They hardly ever do. So now we are waiting. We have no leaders. Our presidential candidates are looking less impressive. Maybe I won't vote this year.

I just want to see a glimmer of hope. I'll vote for Obama if I see that he can lead. Right now he is showing me that he is a junior senator from Illinois. 3 years in the big leagues isn't enough. Change I can believe in? I can't believe it yet.

Overwhelmed

Well I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. Partly because I have done a really bad job at managing my time, and partly because my classes are kicking my trash. I have two classes that both have about 150 pages a week in reading, plus responses. On top of that I am supposed to be working on my capstone paper. Then I have my econ class which is really interesting, except I have no idea what is going on anymore.

I tried to do my econ homework that is due on Monday but I couldn't. I tried to read for my political science class, but I left the book at home. I started researching for my capstone paper, but can't really do much on that right now. I can't work on my 6-8 paper for my poli sci class because I don't have the stuff with me, and I can't start writing my 3 page econ paper either.

I know I am beginning to freak out about nothing, and really by Monday all that has to be done is my econ homework, my econ paper, and a pretty good draft of my poli sci paper. I'd like to say that I'll have a lot of sources for my theory paper due in 10 days found as well. Lets hope.

I only have 12 credits. 9 are super hard (meaning unbelievably time consuming), 3 are a waste of my time. I can do this. I am certain. Graduation is only 15 credits away. I think I can, I think I can...

I love teaching...

So as you can tell from the title, I love teaching. So for those of you who don’t know, I was offered a full time one year lecturer position at a local college here in Utah and I am loving it! A lot of you remember me last year as computer programmer by day and adjunct professor by night. Well, now I get to enjoy my entire day working and get paid twice as much to do it. I love it. Plus, if Chase and I move next summer, I don’t have to quit another job because they only hired me for one year. It really was quite perfect and literally fell into our laps at the last second.

So back to why I love teaching. Yesterday, I taught my calculus class and I had a blast. My students ask so many questions and they are such hard workers. I stayed for an extra twenty minutes after class just answering some of my students’ questions and I really enjoyed it. These students actually care about learning the material and genuinely want to understand what is going on in class unlike my summer class that wanted to sleep through everything. I love watching the dawn of understanding come across peoples’ faces and I feel that happens every day in my classes. I enjoy playing a part in their learning process.

Today made me really smile because one of the cute girls in my college algebra classes brought flowers to my office. How sweet is that? She just wanted to thank me for everything that I have been doing for her and what a great teacher I am. See, this doesn’t happen every day but I get such a swelled head with compliments like that. It’s great!

In quick other news, I am back on the Weight Watchers band wagon and doing much better than I was over the summer. Right now, we’re actually doing a service campaign where for every pound of weight we lose, Weight Watchers will donate a pound of food to the food bank. I’ve actually found that to be really inspirational. So that’s my little piece for the day. Now I am going to go eat some pie. Did I just say that…

Could I support Obama?

Wow, three posts in three days that's amazing. So I am going to do something a little different. I have been thinking the past couple of days if I could support Obama. What really is the "change" he will bring? Having spent 3 months working in the senate, I don't think anything will change until 1 party gets a cloture proof majority (that is 60). The democrats say they can do it this year, we'll see. So enough of the change argument. The president really needs 60 people on his side to do what he wants, and I don't think either party will be that lucky.

So what does Obama say he is going to do? lets look at some issues (the ones that I think are important) and lets see if I agree.

1) Foreign Policy: "I want to use all elements of American power to keep us safe, and prosperous, and free. Instead of alienating ourselves from the world, I want America – once again – to lead… " (http://www.barakobama.com/). Well, duh, I think we all agree that the unilateral approach of the Bush administration hasn't been the best policy, but what about China? They are beginning to become a major power. What about Russia? They are acting a bit hostile. Should another cold war begin (I don't think it will) could Obama lead America through it? Probably not. He doesn't have a lot of experience in that area.

Now, lets be fair. What does McCain say? "The global war on terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, threats from rogue states like Iran and North Korea, and the rise of potential strategic competitors like China and Russia mean that America requires a larger and more capable military to protect our country's vital interests and deter challenges to our security. America confronts a range of serious security challenges: ..." (http://www.johnmccain.com/). Sounds a bit hawkish to me don't you think. But at least he acknowledges potential problems with China and Russia. Is a bigger, stronger better? Realists sure think so. I for one like to be a bit more idealist and think the UN might actually be able to be a relevant body, but I don't know.

Lets face when Obama talks about working with others, he is talking about Europe. I honestly think while Europe doesn't like us now, a democrat won't change things. The EU is changing the face of International Relations, and soon Europe will be more focused on themselves, and won't need the United States for much.

2) Energy: Obama's proposal is to: provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump;Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future. Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined. Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America. Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025. Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. (http://www.barakobama.com/) I agree with most of these points. We need to be greener but it is going to be pretty expensive. So guess what that means. Higher taxes. Not that that is a bad thing. I would pay higher taxes to support these programs. But we can't forget market forces. How will we get 1 millions plug in cars on the road in a mere 7 years (we could be pretty close now, I don't know) what will be done to make the cars affordable for the consumer to buy them?

Here is McCain: "To Mitigate The Threats Posed By Our Dependence On Foreign Oil, We Must Increase Oil Production Here At Home. As Part Of His Plan To Break The Stranglehold Of Oil, John McCain Supports The Development Of Alternate Sources Of Power For Our Vehicles And The Promotion Of Energy Efficiency. John McCain Will Propose A $300 Million Prize To Improve Battery Technology For Full Commercial Development Of Plug-In Hybrid And Full Electric Automobiles" (http://www.johnmccain.com/). So these are just quick bullet points but, it sounds a lot like Obama.

3) Healthcare: Obama says "My plan begins by covering every American. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less. If you are one of the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, you will have it after this plan becomes law. No one will be turned away because of a preexisting condition or illness" (http://www.barakobama.com/). Is that a single payer system (code for socialized healthcare)? Not necessarily. I like this idea. Having not been insured, privately insured, and now in a group plan, I like the idea of guaranteed health insurance, but can we afford to increase entitlement programs? I watched the democrats and republicans argue for 6 weeks on how to change medicare. The fact is the country can't afford medicare now and this seems like a huge medicare program.

McCain says: "We want a system of health care in which everyone can afford and acquire the treatment and preventative care they need. Health care should be available to all and not limited by where you work or how much you make. Families should be in charge of their health care dollars and have more control over care" (http://www.johnmccain.com/). Surprise, surprise. This sounds like Obama's plan. I worry about healthcare reform. The current system is broken, I'm not sure it can be fixed. But maybe whoever is elected should consider the Wyden-Bennett bill.

Ok, so now some thoughts on what I consider non-issues. Roe vs. Wade: I don't think we need to be concerned with this decision being overturned. I don't think the supreme court will hear it again. Nor do I think the balance of power on the Supreme Court will change. The Conservatives have the majority, and if a democrat is president, none of them will retire, and I don't think there will be 2 vacancies in the next 4 years, but there might be. And I know federal courts are important, but there is more to judical appointments than abortion rights. Having said that, I am pro-life. I used to be pro-choice, but that changed a while back. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to life. We could argue when life starts. Biology teaches that life emerges at the cellular level. Therefore, anything that is at least 1 cell (that means even the smallest of zygotes and fetuses) is alive. Another part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that we cannot infringe on other peoples rights. Well, I believe that abortion infringes on a zygote's right to live. Therefore I agree with Mccain on the issue.

Another issue that is becoming popular, gay rights. What does that term mean? We were actually talking about this is my human rights class yesterday. To understand gay rights, I think we need to define what a right is. I think that a "right" is something that allows a person to live a dignified life. So my litmus test is "Can a human live a dignified life with out it." I know this isn't perfect, but using that definition, do homosexual couples have a right to insurance, visitation in hospitals, death benefits, and so on. I think they do. I base this on the idea of domestic registries. If we are providing these things to unmarried heterosexual relationships, they should be extended to all. What about marriage. Can a homosexual live a dignified life without being married? Yes. Therefore they do not have a right to marry. On that same line, heterosexuals can live a dignified life without being married. I don't think marriage is a human right. I think it is ordained of God, and I think marriage comes from him, not the state. It doesn't matter what religion you are, marriage is a religious institution. I also believe the purpose of marriage is to procreate. For that reason alone, homosexuals can't fulfill that purpose. Now, I am not saying they can't have a family. That is another issue that I don't want to get into.

So those are some quick thoughts. Right now, I can't vote for Obama. I think his message of change is empty. Nothing looks terribly different from the way things are operating now. I would rather have someone who has experience on the federal level, especially in foreign policy, than someone who has only been in the senate for a few years. That being said, I look forward to the debates because I think that is when we will get a better idea about the differences between the two candidates, but before I can support Obama, I need to know what his "change" will be. Because I think McCain will "change" things as well.

I don't know if anyone is still reading this. If you are I hope my ideas have made you think. Maybe I'll do more of this in the future. I don't know. Fell free to comment, but keep in mind I do not want to start a political debate. Most of us are opinionated, and I have learned emotions take over in debates, and we fail to remain objective.

Oh and if you want to read Obama's Blueprint for Change go here http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf

Reflection

It's Kerri speaking this time. I just thought I would let you know ahead of time since I don't do this very often and I might get a little sentimental today. So as you all know, I listen to country music. I somehow got hooked onto it when Chase and I were engaged. (I think it's because I was uber emotional and you can always find an emotional roller coaster on any country station.) So I am driving to work this morning and they played a song by Alan Jackson that he wrote to remember the events of 9/11. Today marks 7 years since that tragedy happened and the song caused me to reflect on life (not to mention cry my eyes out in the car right before teaching a class). I thought about where I was on that September morning. I was a freshmen in college, still sound asleep since it was seven in the morning here in Utah. I awoke to hear my roommate yelling about something and my first though was what boy drama did I miss out on the previous night. She told me to come look at the tv and I walked to the common room and was frozen in shock. I remember being scared and calling my family to make sure everything was alright. Baltimore isn't anywhere near New York but Washington, DC is. My first class was Russian but we spoke in English that day and discussed the events that we're happening. That day was supposed to be the first devotional so I went to the Marriott Center at 11am. The place was completely full of solemn students reflecting on the events of the morning and listening to our university President give us words of comfort and hope.

As I thought about that day this morning, I felt really grateful for all the important things in life. On September 11, stresses that seemed so important became trivial. People took stock of their lives and reevaluated what really mattered and that's what I was thinking about this morning. I am so blessed. I have an amazing husband who loves me and takes care of me and works like a dog to get his education and still takes the time to make me laugh or let me cry. I have a wonderful job teaching college that I not only enjoy but pays well and has excellent benefits. I live in a great apartment and I can not only afford food but luxuries in life such as cable tv. I have a great family that supports Chase and I. I am just very happy with the important things in my life and that's really what I wanted to blog about today. Yes, life is hard and the unexpected can affect us at any given moment but when we really look at what's important, we might see that life is a lot better than we remember.

The anxiety has set in

Well it has taken a whole week, but my anxiety has set in. I have never been officially diagnosed with anxiety, although I have learned over the past 4 years at BYU that I get extremely anxious when it comes to writing assignments for all classes, especially ones for my major. Sometimes it gets so bad, that my body completely shuts down and I sleep until 3 in the morning and then get up and write furiously for 4 hours and get an ok paper written. I don't really know why that happens. Part of it is because I have a really bad habit of procrastinating which compounds the problem and part of it is probably because somewhere along the line I have convinced myself I am not a good writer and since I am a perfectionist I would rather not try, then to try and fail. I know this is a lie because over the summer I was given 15 minutes to write a section of the Senator's floor statement, and my section made the final cut, and I wrote another statement all by myself that my supervisor really liked and only required a few changes. If I can write for a senator I certainly can write for a BYU professor. I also know that I won't actually fail, but once again I have conditioned myself that anything below a 90% is bad, and anything below a 80% is failing.
So I am sitting in my living room looking at my assignment for my capstone class that is due tomorrow. It isn't that scary, and I know there is no wrong answer, but I can't bring myself to begin the paper. This class is going to be great. in the past week I have learned more about how to research for papers than I have learned in my whole college career. That should be a sign that PLSC 200 should be revamped. I've tried the don't start at the beginning strategy of writing, but that doesn't work so well for me. I am not writing this to get sympathy from anyone, or to hear people say "buck up" cause lets face it, I know I will eventually have to take a capstone, so why quit now, besides "C's get degrees." Instead I am writing to get the anxiety out, and I am actually going to try something new. Instead of writing my paper I am going to blog my paper, so beware, the post might get long. In fact, instead of shutting down this semester, I might actually blog my first drafts. So if you want to read about human rights and democracy I might have some useful things to say this semester. If you don't care, I'll warn you now, stop reading now.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, like most international declarations and conventions went through a series of drafts before being approved by the United Nations General Assembly. Throughout its many drafts, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remained fairly consistent and the drafts are very similar. Some similarities between the first draft, and the final declaration are the right to marry, although the language is different very different, and protection against torture. Interesting differences between the drafts are that the first draft does not include the right to social programs, as well as the right to life of the unborn fetus.

The right to marry is not very surprising, however the specific language between what is known as the "Humphreys Draft" and the final declaration is surprisingly different. Article 13 in the "Humphreys Draft" states " Ever one has the right to contract marriage in accordance with the laws of the State" (Glendon, 272). This language remained in the declaration until the June 1947 draft of the Human Rights Commission where this article is absent, but in the final declaration passed by the UN in 1948 it states in Article 16 "(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage, and at its dissolution." (Gledon 312). The different language is puzzling to me. When the first draft of the declaration, Humphreys drew on many international documents to create the declaration. It makes sense that to appease Islam references to marriage would include the caveat that marriage is in accordance with state laws. This seems perfectly reasonable, however it was changed in the final draft. This could be explained by the influence of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a noted feminist and as an influential member of the commission, she was able to convince other delegations that equal right in marriage should be included. This could be verified by looking at minutes of commission meetings as well as speeches made at the the General Assembly. Looking for statements from the United States as well as other member states about this article will help determine if this hypothesis is true. In addition looking for newspaper articles quoting other officials specifically mentioning Eleanor Roosevelt and her role may also answer the question.
Perhaps even more interesting than the rewording of Article 16 is Chile's proposal in the June 1947 draft to amend Article 7 to include "Unborn children and incurables, mentally defectives and lunatics shall of the right to life" (Glendon, 282). This language was not in the first draft, and disappears in subsequent drafts. Why would Chile include this? One explanation is that abortions were beginning to occur in Chile and the government felt that it was important to protect the right to life, therefore, they proposed the language, but since the issue was too controversial no other state wanted to address the issue, so the language was never added. This would be very hard to prove. To assess Chile's view on abortion I could look at government documents regarding the issue. Memo's might give insights to a possible concern about abortions. I could also look at newspaper articles to see if there were any pro-choice activists that made the news. If abortion appeared in the news frequently enough it might point towards the attitudes of the citizen's of Chile. To determine if other state's thought the issue was controversial, and that is why they didn't want to address it, meetings of the minutes where this draft was written would be extremely helpful in determining the attitudes of different states. Another explanation to why this proposal was made by Chile but not included is in the balance of power. Chile might have been trying to exert influence in the document, but as a weak state, it could not change much. They thought this was one area where they could contribute, maybe on behalf of other weak states, but in the end the strong states such as France, the United States, and Russia prevailed, and they convinced others not to accept the proposed changes. This could be verified by internal government documents and personal accounts of the negotiations. I would be looking for conversations between Chile and other states about the proposal to determine the motives, as well as conversations between strong states for reasons why they opposed the language, and if they were able to persuade the commission to vote against the proposal. Another source would be the voting record of the commission. If I found that a lot of weak states voted in favor of the proposed changes I could determine that it was a display of power by the weak states, on the other hand, if they didn't, it could be determined that the strong states were victorious.

If you are still reading this, hope you found my rough idea's interesting.

We've been busy

k, I know that it has been a while since we posted. But to be fair, we were without Internet until this past Tuesday. We have moved just about everything out of my parents house and into our new apartment, and we have unpacked most of it. The apartment is feeling like home and we love it. Of course, everything isn't perfect, and the counter top people scratched some cabinets pretty bad before we moved in, but it is livable. We have a two story condo with the kitchen, dining area, and living room on the first floor (with a small balcony off the living room) and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. The ceilings are 10 feet high which is great because I spent all of last year ducking my head whenever I walked through our last apartment, and we have central air. Pictures are at the end of the post No pictures of the bathroom or our bedroom because we both woke up really tired this morning and, well, they are in no state to be shown on the web.

This week I also started school. It is my last year! I am finally going to graduate after 6 years of really hard work! The original plan was to graduate in December. However, I have changed my mind. I dropped one of my GEs because I just didn't want to put 8 hours of work a week into a class that I didn't care about. And, since we will be here until next year anyway, next semester I will take Humanities then instead.

So let me give you a rundown of my classes

Biology 100: I am in a class of 100, 60-87% of which are seniors like me. There are only 5 freshmen and the class has no textbook. Every other Wednesday is movie day, and the tests are multiple choice. The first day of class my professor gave us his theory on swearing, and then proceeded to tell us how much fun he has on Halloween scaring little kids. The Professor himself has been teaching at BYU for over 30 years, and is retiring in 3 years. He has never taught Biology before, and is a soil scientist. He really could care less about how hard the class is, and what the administration thinks about his grade distribution, so there is no curve. I couldn't pass a golden opportunity to take such an easy class, so I decided not to drop this one.

Econ 459: International Monetary Theory. Need I say more? The class actually won't be too bad. I will have to learn matrix algebra, but that is why I married Kerri (she is a great tutor). There are 3 papers due, but econ professors can't speak correctly let alone write (my professor's words, not mine) and the only reason we have to write papers is because the department is making us, therefore they will be easy. It is my last econ class, and it is macro, not micro which is good.

Poli Sci 341: Western European Politics. You know you have a winner professor when he shows British comedies on the first day of class. Also, my professor is the one professor in the department that all the other professors rave about. It will be a fun class, 2 papers that are shorter, but I know the professor is a hard grader, but still, I am not too worried. The class is fun, and its just part of being a student.

Poli Sci 470: Human Rights and Democracy. This is my capstone class. What does this mean? I am writing a 25 page paper with the goal of getting it published. It is a seminar course so there are 15 of us that sit around a table and discuss things. I have never taken a human rights course, but I think it will be interesting. In addition to the 25 page paper, there are 3 smaller papers I have to write, and weekly 1 page papers. It will keep me busy, but it also means I can graduate.

So that is the rundown of my classes. We'll try to post more frequently.

We're back

After a short hiatus, we are back to the blog. Our week in Baltimore was great. We loved spending time with family and I now have a new favorite snowball flavor, Coca-Cola. Think of a Coke Slurpee without the tingling. Very yummy. So while we spent 10 days with Kerri's family before returning to Utah, only 6 was spent in Maryland. The rest of it was spent in Southern Virginia at "The Property". It was a lot of fun. I learned how to crab, ate great Mexican food at El Miguey's, and amazing seafood at Ray's Shanty and saw wild ponies on Asatigue Island, and I stepped into the Atlantic Ocean. I prefer the Pacific.

After an action packed week, it was time to return home. We were blessed. Originally we were flying back on the same flight, but not sitting together. Our seats were also in the rear of the plane which means loud engine noise. When we got the airport we discovered we didn't have to pay the 100 dollars extra for having more than 1 checked bag (which was good since we already had to pay a fee to return home early because of work) and we got to change our seats so that we were sitting next to each other, but it was an exit row, so I had plenty of leg room. We were also lucky because we got some amazing tail wind so that we landed 30 minutes early, and our bags were in the first 10 that emerged from baggage claim. Think that will ever happen again? I don't.

So this week we have been moving into our new apartment. It is really nice. It is so new that it isn't finished yet! Today our final appliance was installed which means that our kitchen is fully functional. Without a truck we haven't been able to move furniture, but we rented a hand truck and have been able to move all heavy boxes, and most everything out of my parents basement. All that is left are random things, and our furniture. We might start sleeping there tomorrow in sleeping bags, and hopefully on Monday night while my family is still sore from a week of water skiing, we can bond by moving stuff. They don't know that is what I am thinking, but the will when they read this.

I am rambling, and the cookies are done so I'm going to go eat some.

It's over.

Boy did this summer go by fast. I just got home from my last day at work. It was really hard to leave. I made it all the way downstairs to my supervisor's office without sobbing, but once I said goodbye the waterworks began. I was really embarrassed. She told me thanks for being a great intern, and if there is anything she can ever do to help to let her know. I figure if nothing else I have created some really good connections when it comes to jobs.

Today was a lot of fun. After folding and sealing 275 pieces of mail Kerri met me and the other health staff for lunch. At lunch the health staff gave me a parting gift. It is a key chain with the Senate seal on it. We are actually going to use it as a Christmas tree ornament. The Health staff director told me that they all felt like they lucked out with the best intern. So I felt special

After lunch I stopped in to the Library of Congress. Today was the last day that my ID will get me onto the main reading room floor (you know, the one they always show in the movies) It is fantastic. While I was there I looked at the Gutenberg Bible. It was pretty neat.

Then I went back to work, tied up some loose ends and left. Today all the interns got off at noon to go to museums. Of course, with everything going on I didn't leave till almost three. It is sad knowing that my all access pass to the capitol is now void, and that I will no longer see it everyday. I am really pleased with my work. My one regret is that I don't have a bachelor's yet, otherwise I could have applied for a full time regular position.

So allow me to be a bit reflective for a moment while I tell you why I believe internships are so great. I learned a lot about life being an intern. While I am sure my writing skills improved, I learned to always be prepared for any meeting you have, and know what your goal is, otherwise you look a bit like an idiot. I learned that being an L.A is hard work, and I might not want to do it as a career. I learned I really like the idea of being a lobbyist (but to be a good one, experience on the hill is necessary). I learned the importance of teamwork. I learned how to be responsible. I learned how to leave work at work, and to come home and enjoy time with my wife. I learned I love the city, but really need a car to be able to escape it sometimes. I learned how to network. I learned how government really works.

The decision to come to DC this summer was the best decision Kerri and I have made together (besides getting married). We both have made lots of friends, and I wouldn't doubt if we ended up back here for something, someday.

I am going to miss my friends at work, but I am satisfied with the job I did. Hopefully I exceeded their expectations. I'm not sure when we will next blog. We are packing up and moving back to Utah in the next few weeks. We have a pit stop to make in Baltimore first. While we are there I don't know how much we will blog. We'll be spending most of the time with family and might not want to spend a lot of time blogging. After all, we only get to see Kerri's family every 6 months or so.

Where our bums have been

Well, we are rapidly wrapping up our time here in DC and I have to tell you about what we did on Monday. My parents drove down from Baltimore to spend the day. We met up with the senior missionary couple that I've grown close to and the five of us set off for Chase's office to get a tour of the Capital. It was so much fun. We rode the subway from the Senate buildings over to the Capital which is always fun to me for some reason. It's like you're important and you have some place to be.

Anyway, we started off in the Burmidi hallway which is this richly colored hallway with paintings all over the ceiling and the walls. Chase was totally in tour guide mode and we loved every minute of it. I know that I may be biased because I am his wife, but he does give the most interesting and fun tours. He adds in all these little facts as well as rumors like how in one painting the rotunda, it looks like one man is stepping on another's toe.

As some of you may know, Congress is in recess right now which means that we got to do two things. First of all, we got to see the Old Senate Chamber which is only open to public when the Senate is in recess for one week or more. The vice president's desk is original and it's a beautiful room. Plus it has that really famous painting of George Washington looking off to the side. Actually, it's one of four famous paintings of Washington looking off to the side since the artist did four slightly different portraits of him. So that was really cool to see.

The next thing we got to do happened while we were in Statuary Hall. Statuary Hall houses statues of people from all over the United States. Each state gets to be represented by two statues of people from their state and most of the states are in this half-moon room. Statuary Hall used to be where the House of Representatives met. In fact, there are brass squares on the floor that tell you the approximate location of former President's desk. The acoustics in this hall are not very good and it just so happens that if you stand by the brass square for John Adams, you can actually hear the people talking on the other side of the room. So the five of us crowded around this square while Chase went to the other side of the room and said something. We could actually hear him! Sometimes it's hard to get it to work with so many people.

Now here is the history making part. This guy came over and asked Chase if he wanted to take his group to sit on the House floor. Apparently, a group of Republican representatives stayed behind to protest the fact that Congress recessed without ever voting on a solution to the energy crisis. So we got escorted to the House side and it wasn't to the gallery. They escorted us through the Speaker's Lobby (where the Speaker of House goes and the public is never allowed) and straight onto the floor. We sat in the chairs that the Representatives sat in. It was so cool and we actually saw history in the making because no kind of the protest has ever happened before. That right there made our tour doubly exciting. So our bums sat where Congress' bums sit.

After the tour, we went out for lunch and then parted ways. My parents and I went to the Botanical Gardens which were so pretty. It's really a nice place to go. In terms of other cool things we did this week, last night we went up the Washington Monument after sunset. It was gorgeous from up there. We could see the lights of the whole city below us and it just seemed like a perfect ending for our summer.

You'll never guess what I saw in the bathroom

When blogging about our fun night at the movies last week, I forgot to tell you what they had in the bathroom. As you may be aware, at some service stations in the mens bathroom they have condom dispensers. Well while I was washing my hands at the movie theater I looked to my left, and I didn't see a condom dispenser. I saw a breath mint dispenser! No joke, you had your choice of 4 breath mints for $1 each. I thought it was funny.

The Lion King

Last night Kerri and I finally got to see The Lion King at the Kennedy Center. It was awesome. We both agree it is the best musical we have seen to date. It was one big puppet show. In the opening number all the animals come down the aisles onto the stage. They had people on four stilts dressed as giraffes. An elephant walked down one aisle, gazelles leaped, a cheetah bowed. It was amazing. Not only were the puppets cool, but the stage itself was really technical with steam, real water, inflatable plants, and movable sets.

One of our favorite scenes was when the herd of animals stampeded through the ravine. That was really cool. Anyway. It is a must for anyone who lives close enough to a theatre where the musical is showing. You won't regret it.

Moving

Well, the time has come. Our time in DC is coming to an end. We only have 2 more weeks here before heading up north to spend a few weeks with Kerri's planning. So that means that we now have to start looking for places in Provo to live so that my parents are stuck with us for very long. Browsing the net I have found some really nice places to live, but they are for "young professionals" translation: we want you to buy something you can't afford. I don't count as a young professional yet, but Kerri does.

This weekend has been a lot of fun. Last night we went up to Silver Springs to a Moroccan restaurant with out neighbors. It was really good, and they had a belly dance show. At one point the four of us joined all got up and joined in. We looked like fools. After dinner we went to the new Batman movie. It is good. I felt like it was a bit too long, and both Kerri and I have mixed feelings about it. On the way home some black guys got on the metro and started to beat box. and out of no where, a drunk Latino stood up and start to rap, while unbuttoning his shirt. It was hilarious! and then on the walk home we saw a drunk white guy trying to fly. It wasn't working for him.

Today we went to the National Geographic Museum. It was nice, and tonight we have tickets to the Lion King. we are excited.

So that's about it for now. I'll let you know if anything more exciting happens.

Flash Flood Alert

I know that you all are waiting on pins and needles to hear about two things from me. Yesterday, I took my second actuarial exam (which is actually supposed to be the first test you take) on probability. I was really stressed out about it and worried. I mean, who wants to pay big bucks for an exam only to fail it, right? Anyway, as I was walking to the testing center, I passed by a group of mentally handicapped adults who were being herded somewhere. They were so cute and happy to be going wherever. I stopped and thought about them for a moment. I was worrying about this exam and feeling stupid and here was a group of people that couldn't even live on their own without help. I felt really humble and grateful all of a sudden that I even had the opportunity to study for this test and the intelligence to possibly pass it. So going into the test, I figured pass or fail, I was pretty lucky. But I am happy to say that I unofficially passed! I was in shock and disbelief when the little score sheet popped up on my screen. So I am on my way. Ironically, I still do not know the test results for the one I took in May.

So to celebrate, I met Chase at work last night and we went out to dinner at Uno's. We have decided that we need to open one in Utah as well as a Rita's. For desert, we decided to walk up to La Madeleine's and get pastries. So divine. I got the fruit tart and it has the beauty of appearing healthy but being sinfully good. Just after we walked in to the restaurant, the clouds parted and it poured cats and dogs. The water was hitting the pavement so hard that it was bouncing back from the ground to peoples' knee caps! We waited for a while but eventually decided that we just had to go home. We could see the flooding the weather report had warned us about as the water covered the street. About half way home, we came upon a river rushing down 28th street. Being chivalrous, Chase stepped into the water first to block the current for me. I made it across fine but the water was up to Chase's butt and he almost got swept away. Don't worry though. We made it home okay and the water never reached the third floor.

Now for the other excitement you've been waiting to hear is how Bill Clinton hit on me. So we went to see this comedy group called Capitol Steps and they have some really good impersonators. So out on to the stage walks Bill Clinton and he looks over at me. He says, "What is that I see? I spy a hottie on the front row." At which point, I start blushing like mad which is not hard for me to do. He continues, "I can picture it now. It's 3 am at the White House and it's you calling me. Booty call!" I was dying of laughter and then he said to the audience, "Her husband's gonna kill me." I loved it! I'm not going to lie, I felt special. And at the end of the skit, he looked at me, held his hand to his ear like a phone and mouthed "Call me." Really, can it get any better than that?