349 to 163

349 to 163, 52% to 46%, 62 million to 55 million... no matter how you look at it, yesterday history was made. I think by the time election day came around, we all expected it to happen, but everyone was a little cautious to get excited. For me, and probably most of the world, the defining moment came when they called Ohio for Barack Obama... of course followed by Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, and New Mexico... big swing states that helped him clinch the victory and bring him into the spotlight as the president elect... and first African-American President. Now for me, I don't really see race as so much an issue, as I think it will be nice to have someone in office who is a little younger, a little more in touch with the people, and a much much more motivating speaker than G.W. Bush. After all, that last part won't be too hard. I'm excited about the policies and the change that he will attempt to bing about in Washington. And I am excited about the initial impact that he has already had on the country. Stocks are rallying, people care a little bit more, and voter turnout was in record numbers. Of course we can't give him all the credit for this, but surely he had a big impact.

Though as happy as I am for Barack Obama today, and for our country. I can't help but hope a little, that John McCain stays around Washington and does his part to help this country pull out of the recession we find ourselves in. No one ever said that John McCain was a bad man, he just wasn't the right man for right now. Perhaps 8 years ago would have been different. Now Sarah Palin.. well, that's a whole other subject that we don't need to get into right now.

For now, we can be excited about our future and the future of this country. The first 100 days in office start in about 2 months, and then we will see if this man, Barack Obama, truly has what we believe he has... the ability to make this country strong again.

"out of many, we are one" - Barack Obama, election night speech, 11-4-08

Two posts today... oooh

I just had to post this, becuase it's really... interesting. Yea, I guess that's the best word to describe it. Freak Bike Accident.

New Car

So here is a picture of my new Mazda 3 Hatchback. So far I love the car. There are a few issues with the AUX jack when you are trying to play from your IPOD and have it charging at the same time, but I'm working on a few solutions for that right now. If everything works, i'll post what I did to correct the ground noise feedback problem. Apparently it is a common problem with the Mazda's, as well as most other new cars with AUX jacks. So beware!

Maceo Parker... and a new car.

So two fun things to post about today. First, I finally got my new car! I picked it up Monday and already put 140 miles on it. It's a black Mazda 3 hatchback and it's super fun to drive. Of course I'm trying to be gentle with it, as the break-in period is 600 miles, but it's just so hard not to hit the gas and go. It's got a bunch of fun features, including a moon roof, 6 disc MP3 player, red back lighting, plenty of storage, and an AUX jack for my ipod. I'll try to get around to posting some pictures soon, but I just haven't taken them off my camera yet.

Also, last night I went to see Maceo Parker. He's the guy that played sax with James Brown, and now has his own band. Over all it was an excellent show. They did a lot of funk, a little blues, and a little rap even! All total he played for about 3 hours, and by midnight I was so tired I didn't think I'd make it home without falling asleep. It was quite a late night for me!

Quick update:

Heather just sent me a link to the hat/scarf set she made me. Check it out here.

It's been a while...

So I guess it's been over a months since I posted something to this. Lots of new things to talk about and lots of crazy stuff happening in my life.

First, I went to France with my parents for 9 days. That was super fun. We saw Paris, Mont St. Michel, Normandy, Bruges, Amserterdam, Rotterdam, and Diana. You can check out my photo site to see some of the pictures. Yea, I know, I need to get flickr but I just haven't done that yet.

Since then I've been traveling like a mad woman! I've been to houston a whole bunch, a wedding in south carolina, and this weekend I'm planning on going back to PA for two days to see karen and the girls and my parents. I'm also planning a wine tour and a mexico trip for this fall... oh yea, and a trip to Disney to see my friend, Rachael, get married.

I'm also getting a new car! yay! I've FINALLY decided on a black mazda 3 hatchback with a moon roof and a Bose sterio system. I'm pretty excited, and i'm sure my friends are super happy about not having to listen to me try to decide on a color anymore. It was a long process and I'm so bad at making decisions. But I decided that black is the way to go, as it was the first one that really attracted my attention to the car, and well, i'll just have to learn how to keep it clean, or let it be dirty all the time.

Also, my friend, Heather, made this freaken awesome scarf for me. She's super talented at this knitting thing. I haven't seen it done yet, but the first part of it that I saw, looked super sweet.

And finally, I managed to sign up for the 25th anniversary of the MS150 ride this April 18/19, 2009. There were 13,000 spots and they filled up in 6 hours! That's a new record I think. I'll also be doing a 'training' ride two weeks before that, riding the Galveston 1/2 ironman relay.

So yea, I guess that gets us caught up. I'll try harder to post to this thing in the future.

Parents Weekend

So my parents were down this past weekend. It was awesome. We really got a lot done in the backyard. Not only did we clean up all the leaves, but we rented a chain saw and cut down a few dead trees, and installed a stone pathway leading from the side of the house to the center of the yard. It was really hot out, but we got most of the work done during the day, and we had a fan outside with us to keep us cool. My dad even got a little happy with the chain saw, and started cutting a lot of stuff down! Check out the pictures here. It was also close to my moms birthday, so we gave her a birthday surprise... dinner at Emeril's Restrauant in Orlando, FL at the kitchen table. Of course she'll have to wait until December to get this gift, but I know she's excited.

Also. On Thursday night at 12:37am (technically Friday morning), Pete and Jess had their baby boy. James Bradley LeBlond. 8 lbs, 8oz and 20" long. Congrats Pete and Jess! (check out their baby pictures here)