A Sweet Letter

Farewell

I know that many people are not pleased with the job that President Bush has done while in the White House. I must admit that I am not one of those people. I don't think that all of the problems we are facing as a nation can be blamed on this man. I believe that Pres. Bush made decisions for our nation that he thought were best. I believe that he made many of his decisions based on his personal convictions and his beliefs in God. I do not necessarily agree with all of his decisions, but I respect him for sticking to his beliefs and trying to do what is best for our nation.

As I listened to his farewell to the nation last night, I was filled with sadness. I was sad not just because he is leaving office, but because it signifies another farewell to a chapter in my life with Ryan.

President Bush was in his first year of presidency when Ryan and I first met (Sept. 11, 2001). He was president throughout our dating relationship, our engagement, and our marriage. We spent election night 2004 together, having an Election Party with our friends (including a LARGE map to color in red and blue states).

Ryan really respected Pres. Bush and his convictions; he didn't always agree with him, but he always respected him. He would take the time to explain to me all the in's and out's of the different political discussions. He was patient with me as I "ignored" important decisions being made in our country. I often wonder what Ryan would think of this new era in American history. I will miss his thoughts, opinions, and explanations in the upcoming weeks and years.

Cast Your Vote

Vote.

It is a privilege!

An Interesting Perspective

I found this blog of a woman who says that she is running for president. She has some interesting thoughts on a lot of issues. I haven't read everything that she has written, but I think she is funny and I probably agree more with what she has to say that what some other presidential candidates have to say! :)



(No I am not endorsing her, I just thought she was interesting...take a look and find out for yourself.)

Please Watch

This is a political video that I think everyone should watch. It is disturbing. It is sad. Life is precious.



Here is a link to a test where you can compare your opinions with Barack Obama's stance on different issues...Take the test and see where you line up.
http://barackobamatest.com/

More on Presidential Elections

These are some video clips of both John McCain and Barack Obama being interviewed by Rick Warren. I have not had the opportunity to watch them myself, but I wanted to let you have a chance to view them along with me. They came highly recommended to me by two people I admire -- thanks for the head up!









FYI: Videos 1 and 3 are both between 30 and 40 minutes long; videos 2 and 4 are both about 15 minutes, so you might want to watch them in segements.

Presidential Elections

It is a presidential election year. My husband would be enjoying this political season so much. Politics was one of his passions (we had an Election Party in 2004 if that tells you anything). Watching all the campaigning and seeing the different stories coming out over the past few weeks makes me miss Ryan. I wonder what he would think of the vice-presidential choices...I am sure he would have an opinion on both. I think he would have been surprised by the Republican choice, but maybe he would have had it figured out two weeks ago....

I am not passionate about politics, in fact, Ryan usually had to tell me who to vote for or the different platforms of the different candidates. I want to honor Ryan's memory this year by making sure that I know who I am voting for and why I am voting for him (or why I am not voting for the other guy) other than he is the "leader" of my politic party of choice.

I want to encourage all of you to get out and vote this year as well. (I know for a fact some of you have not voted in a long time -- you know who you are :)! ) I am sure that I have differing opinions from some of you -- that is fine, that is what living in a democracy is all about. But, I want to ask you to do research (on both candidates), not just watching the political ads on TV, but actual research.

We live in a country where we have the freedom to vote. If we all do our civic duty, maybe we can make a difference. Let's make Ryan proud!

Random Thoughts and Updates

I will be so glad when tomorrow is over. I still don't know who the right person to vote for will be, but after tomorrow it will no longer matter. Politics has become the main conversation in our house whether it is just Ryan and I or with different members of my family. Everyone has different opinions and views which is good, but I am ready for a new subject. (Although, knowing Ryan, it won't be over even after tomorrow...November is probably a better bet.)

Lily and Wyatt are continuing to do well. It has been so nice over the past few weeks with them not having colds (after almost 3 months of runny noses). They are both struggling to take good naps, but that just means they go to bed a little earlier and that has been quite nice for Ryan and I. Wyatt seems to have conquered his fear of nursery and has stayed in for the whole service the past 3 weeks. He also stayed with the babysitters last week Tuesday during Pointe Group -- YEAH!

Neither Lily or Wyatt are talking too much yet. They still say please and thank you (in their own way). They also say: hi, bye, baby, ut-oh, and ouch. Lily also says: amen, bubbles, and treats. They attempt to say other words and they "talk" all the time. I don't know if they understand each other, but they laugh together a lot!

Ryan is slowly making improvement. He tried going without oxygen the other day for a while and did quite well. He is attempting to work longer hours by conserving some of his oxygen when he is working at his desk. He has now had his second pulmonary rehab appointment. It was much more physical than the first appointment and he was noticeably sore later in the day. I am excited for him to see some results from the rehab and hopefully build up some strength and energy. He is scheduled to begin teaching a Good $ense Budget Class at our church on February 6. It will be a 5 week class and he is very excited to be able to help out in that way!

Who to Vote for?

I found this quiz through someone else's blog. It was quite interesting to me to see where my political views fell compared to the different presidential candidates. To me, it is quite overwhelming to know where each of the candidates stands on all the major political issues, I just don't have the time to do the research. It was nice to have someone else "tell" me who shares my views. Take the quiz yourself and see who best matches your political views.

**I don't necessarily know that I will vote according to who this quiz says I am most alike...there were no real questions about my personal beliefs**

KRISTIN'S RESULTS
79% Rudy Giuliani
78% John McCain
75% Mitt Romney
67% Fred Thompson
66% Tom Tancredo
65% Mike Huckabee
52% Hillary Clinton
50% Barack Obama
47% John Edwards
47% Chris Dodd
45% Joe Biden
40% Ron Paul
37% Bill Richardson
28% Dennis Kucinich
28% Mike Gravel


RYAN'S RESULTS
94% Mitt Romney
86% Fred Thompson
81% Tom Tancredo
76% John McCain
70% Mike Huckabee
65% Ron Paul
63% Rudy Giuliani
41% Bill Richardson
31% Barack Obama
31% Hillary Clinton
30% John Edwards
30% Chris Dodd
23% Joe Biden
20% Mike Gravel
14% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Remember that the Michigan primary is next week Tuesday, January 15 and that the Illinois primary is on Super Tuesday, February 5.