My favorite Obama quotes

I wanted to share with y'all some of my favorite quotes by Barack Obama. They give me hope for a more unified tomorrow:

"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America - there's the United States of America. "

"This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. "

"We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible. "

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. "

"In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope."

"I'm not asking you to believe not just in my ability to bring real change to Washington, I'm asking you to believe in yours."


Even if you disagree with his politics, maybe you can find inspiration in his message. I sent my absentee ballot in yesterday and it feels really great ... much better than four years ago!

Quickie

I am tired of looking at the elephant and the horse fight... we all know who is going to win anyway! :) So I am writing a quick update and promise to post later. Josh had a football game last night. It was a very exciting game that extended into overtime. I was the proud but vocal wife on the sidelines... weird huh! (A really bad call in the beginning of the game got me fueled up.) Even though the sun was virtually completely set making it hard to see the ball, our team came out victorious. Josh is a really great athlete. He does everything he can to catch the ball. He is famous for his catching technique I have coined as "bear-hugging". Instead of catching the ball with just his hands, he literally pulls the ball completely to his chest, creating an arm lock around the ball. At times, I think he is going to deflate the ball with the sheer force of his "hug". Josh has his second exam in just over a week and after that football playoffs begin.


More later...

Political season is exhausting

Today, I am feeling the weight of both the national and local election. The news coverage on the presidential election occupies a lot of my time during the day. This is my second presidential election that I am eligible to cast my vote and I have worked hard to increase my awareness. This is the time when people are forced to confront issues that are nearest to their heart and decide which campaign is worthy of your support. For me, this is a very taxing process because all my personal beliefs don't necessarily fall into one category. I do know more about the candidates than I did 4 years ago but that is bitter sweet. I think it is easier to just assume you fall into a particular political party or framework of beliefs than to really explore how your personal beliefs align with a candidate.

I remember during my freshman year at Utah, when I was forced to challenge what I thought I knew. I took an American Constitution class. On the first day, the professor handed us a sheet of paper. The sheet had numbers one - ten in rows with a topic on either side of the numbers. For example:

Against Abortion Rights : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 : For Abortion Rights

The sheet consisted of a comprehensive list of political issues. Each topic was a defining characteristic of either the Republican party or the Democratic party. Before I took the test, when anyone would ask me what political party I fell into or what issues I supported, I couldn't answer with any conviction. I always assumed my parents were Republican so I guess I assumed that I must be too! I also was pretty ignorant about political issues before college. I had a few encounters with sensitive political issues but I never grouped myself into a political party. In high school, I did my senior project on gay adoption. My project focused on both sides of the issue, why a gay or lesbian couple should have the right to adopt a child and why not. And I just remember really struggling to argue against a couples right to adopt a child. I struggled with the idea that some one's sexuality could make them unfit parents. Throughout my upbringing, I was taught that homosexuality was wrong. But my upbringing also taught me the importance of free agency, my right to choose what path I want to take. So in my mind (as a high schooler) I vividly remember forming the opinion that I can have my own views on homosexuality (even if they are different from what I was taught) and that I can, in the same breath, support that individual's right to decide that for themselves. But aside from this project, I didn't give much thought to my political opinions before college...

The test took a few weeks for our professor (and his teaching assistants) to calculate our results. I remember receiving my sheet back and was stunned when I read "Slightly Democratic". I am Democratic?! How did that happen?! I think I was only slightly democratic because on many issues, I remember choosing either a 3 or 8. I wasn't entirely for or against an issue but definitely leaned towards one side.

So I found an online test that is similar to the one I took 4 years ago. The test only takes about 10 minutes and your results are instantaneous. I hope you enjoy the test. It was generated by a non-partisan organization. Let me know what you think, especially if your results surprised you.

Thanks for reading my thoughts.

The Test:

http://www.politicalcompass.org/test

Hurricane Omar!

Right now, we are in the middle of a category 3 Hurricane Omar. The Prime Minister posted an advisory this morning stated that all businesses must close, people should return to their homes, and everyone should avoid the sea. Since we have lived in Dominica, today is the first day the Ross Campus has been closed. Our water is disgustingly brown, our cable is out, but luckily we still have power and Internet! Josh and I are both tempted to avoid the advisory and take a swim in the 10 foot waves but we agree that is probably a poor decision! (even though last time was so much fun!) Find the black circle

Josh and I decided to explore the beaches instead of swimming to our death. The waves are incredibly violent and the pier by the school is virtually completely destroyed.

This is what the pier use to look like and how calm the water usually is!!

Enjoy your Thursday!

Our quality time together

I was thinking today that I really take for granted the amount of time Josh and I get to spend together each day. There is probably no other time in our life, prior to retirement, that we will be able to spend almost the entire day together.

Today, Josh is in Roseau doing 1 of 2 hospital rotations for the semester. He left at about 7:30am and he probably won't return until 5 or 6pm. Now for most of you, this is probably a fairly typical day for you and your spouse. (or boyfriend/girlfriend or whatever!) However, Josh and I usually don't spend more than a few hours apart at any one time. Even when he is studying for an exam, he will at least come home for meals and rarely ever leaves after dinner. I am even fortunate enough to see Josh more than the average couple sees each other here in Dominica. Several wives will say goodbye to their husband in the morning and are asleep before their husband returns at night.

Lately I have been counting the days until we return to the states. And although I am still anxious for that day to come, I am trying to think about how lucky we are too have this quality time together now. We are able to learn so much about one another and really develop our relationship before we return to the states and Josh becomes increasingly busy with school, board exams, rotations, more exams, residency, more exams, and finally specializing in his field of choice and I finish my MBA and become the bread winner for a few years!

Mexican chicken enchiladas

Thought I would share this yummy recipe I found on allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

Mexican Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon margarine
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers, drained
8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl mix the soup and sour cream; set aside.
3. Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and chili powder, and saute until tender. Stir in the chicken, chile peppers, and 2 tablespoons of the soup mixture. Cook and stir until heated through.
4. Spread 1/2 cup of the soup mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, and place, seam-side-down, in the baking dish. Spoon remaining soup mixture on top, and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

*I would recommend doubling the sauce*

Roast and Mashed Potatoes

Before I flew back to Dominica from my visit in Ohio, I decided to attempt to freeze and carry on some meat and cheese. I contacted TSA to ensure my frozen sour cream would not cause any security issues. TSA responded with a long letter outlining their policies and procedures which basically stated that TSA tries not to limit travelers from carrying on foods. I didn't know this. Much to my surprise as well, I was allowed to keep my ice in my cooler.

The content of my cooler included: 2 chuck roasts, hot Italian sausage, ham, sharp cheddar cheese, and 2 small containers of sour cream. I individually wrapped all the meat in plastic and then in newspaper for insulation. In retrospect, I wish I had brought more. When I got to San Juan, I had to stay the night in a hotel. I was worried that the meat might thaw out but it was a risk I was willing to take. When I got to my room, I opened up the cooler to find the meat was still rock hard.

To make a long story short, everything in my cooler made it safely to Dominica with me. The meat was outside of a freezer for roughly 36 hours and remained completely frozen. I guess newspaper is a good insulator. So today, I am making roast and mashed potatoes!!!! Josh has his first test of the semester tomorrow so I thought a nice hearty Sunday dinner would be perfect. I'll let you know if it turns out...

UPDATE:

Oh yes... it was delicious. Josh and I both feel ill right now... totally worth it.