Straw Poll Road Trip!

Today we drove to Ames, IA for the Iowa GOP Straw Poll. It was so much fun and so exciting to be a part of something so politically important. We went with the Romney campaign, but I learned something new about several of the other candidates and really feel like there are some strong options for a V.P. out there! :)


Seriously though, the Romney campaign really went all out. They handed out yellow Mitt Romney t-shirts on the buses so when we got there it looked like a big yellow Romney party. They had three different bands lined up, a tent for BBQ, a tent for eating the BBQ, a rock wall for people to climb, and those blow up bouncy things for kids. Party! Brownback was the only person who even came close to being that cool with BBQ and a snow cone machine. The snow cone machine was very tempting, but it just felt wrong to go take stuff from them when we weren't voting for him. Then again...I guess if he did become the Republican nominee I would probably vote for him (unless the dems came up with a surprise jewel of a candidate unknown right now), so then that would make it okay to have snagged a snow cone. Too bad my brain wasn't working earlier. It was crazy hot out there.


There were Ron Paul groupies everywhere marching around and trying to hand out Ron Paul literature. They were almost as aggressive as the guy at our mall who tries to tackle me with a flat iron for a demonstration every time I walk by. About every two minutes Brownback or Romney or Ron Paul people (usually college students) would parade through the event doing a chant of some sort and waving their signs. This alone was one of the best truly "Iowan" things we have done here. Here is a video of some dancing from earlier in the week and our trip today. Enjoy!



Oh, and the NRA pictures are for Brent! :)

I'm Published!

With the Iowa GOP Straw Poll tomorrow, this week has been full of politics. This is a family blog, however, our family has been quite overrun with my Romney volunteer efforts lately so it is only fitting that I post my little opinion blurp that made the paper today. Living in the small liberal town of Iowa City, IA has definitely brought out the activist in me. This is the second or third time I've written in to the paper in an effort to make sure they print something sane every now and then. It is a little concise because I had to whittle it down to 250 words. From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

"Romney will restore respect" (I did not come up with this title!)

In 1984 I re-elected Ronald Reagan. I was 6 years old, but I felt good about my decision to vote for him. He was already the U.S. president so I figured that was worth my vote. That title stooped to a level I never thought possible while I was in college, and the president was on my television describing the level of sexual relations he had with a White House intern.

Saturday, at the Ames straw poll, I will be casting my vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president. I truly believe that if it is possible to restore respect, admiration, and loyalty to this once highly esteemed office he is the one who can do it. I'm looking for leadership, honesty, integrity and someone who believes in the kind of America I believe in.

As a taxpayer, I am weary of politicians in Washington getting nothing done because of differing views. It's time to start solving problems. Romney believes legislation should happen at the state level particularly on matters such as abortion. If anyone can balance our budget without raising taxes, he can. He recognizes that the war in Iraq is only a small part of a global war on Islamic extremism that must be taken seriously. He believes a strong American military and economy will secure peace for our children and us. He understands that socialized health care is not the way to promote quality health care.

For these reasons and many, many others he has my vote.

It was only fitting that a Hillary supporter was right next to me as well. I don't believe that any of my readers are Hillary supporters because I truly would not be friends with one. I seriously question the sanity of anyone who really thinks this woman will bring anything but demise to our country as president. I was going to include the Hillary write-in here, but it was really too annoying to be put on my blog. Sometimes I think the American public is more savvy about picking diet pills than they are leaders. It's like people believe that the President of the United States will make them wealthy, healthy, smarter, better looking, and completely at peace with themselves and the world around them.

I promise I will refrain from turning my blog into yet another political blog...there are plenty of those to go around.

Snuggles, Jogging, and Politics

Tonight was a good night. After an afternoon at the pool, Addie wanted me to snuggle her a while before bed. Then I unwound by running three miles (my best since Addie was born) while enjoying the Garden State soundtrack. Now I have finally stopped sweating and I can go enjoy a shower!

Addie got to meet Mitt Romney yesterday. I thought she would behave since it was lunchtime and she'd be eating but she was the annoying baby the whole time. I practically had to chase the governor down for this picture. I finally told one of his guys that if he'd help me get a picture I'd take my noisy baby home. That worked! :)

24 Hours On The Trail

24 Hours On The Trail: "One family, 99 counties … and a Winnebago.  As the Ames Straw Poll rapidly approaches, join the Romneys as they trek across Iowa in the famous Mitt Mobile. Click ACT NOW! to help build the buzz for the full video's premier later this week on Mitt TV. "

Happy Birthday Addie

 

We have now had the official "First Birthday" event. Brent and Holly joined us for the festivities. We enjoyed Addie's favorite meal: spaghetti, peas, and bread. We also had cake, but of course Addie turned it down on account of watching her figure. She mostly had a good time and of course all of us enjoyed a reason to eat cake and ice cream. She got a little overwhelmed unwrapping the presents. It didn't help that it was right before bedtime, but it was still funny. In honor of Addie's birthday, here are a few facts about her little self:

Favorite Food: Cheese (she knows the sign for "more" and pretty much only uses it when she wants cheese)
Favorite Veggie: Peas
Favorite Fruit: Blueberries
Most Repeated Action: Pointing
Favorite Words: Momma, Dadda, & Yeah
Favorite Song: Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani
Clothing Size: 24 month
Favorite Toy: Cups...any kind and Animals

I don't know what I like most about Addie. There are just so many things! Like the fact that sometimes when I come in her room she gets excited and dives face first into her bed. Other times she just points at the bears on the shelf across the room and says "bea" over and over again. Or maybe it's listening to her hum while she plays. She constantly hums while she plays by herself and it's really the sweetest thing. Since turning her around in the car, sometimes she just waves and says "hi" over and over while you are driving to your destination. She also makes the strangest noise with her tongue. It's like she's rolling an "r" only at a really high pitch. Kinda sounds like a cricket. She didn't get that from me! I also love the way she dives head first into her bumper when it's time for bed. Addie had a babysitter a few weeks ago and I completely forgot to tell the sitter about the "dive" so I think it really blew her away when she set Addie in her bed and she faceplanted it into the corner. Funny girl. This year has been so fun just getting to know her. What a lucky mom!

One Year Old

This is a pretty uneventful video, however, since most of my family has not seen Addie in a while I thought I might post it anyway so you can see what she's up to. We turned her car seat around this week so she's having fun getting to see where we are going. Very exciting. :)

In the video she looks kinda funny when she eats a Cheerio. That is because for the past two days she has been really enjoying chewing with her front teeth. So everything she eats she bites with her front teeth. I picked this David Gray song because Anthony "borrowed" it from someone else that was in the hospital while we were when Addie was born. So it brought back memories of her first week with us and the music we listened to as we got to know our little girl.