GOTV Day 1

Today was Day One of the Get Out the Vote trip to Vegas. We rolled in around 9:30. There was about an hour of chaos. I ended up in my own very sweet room, with a huge king bed, a huge bathroom, a big TV, my own fridge and microwave, and safe to put my valuables in.

I keep forgetting it is Halloween. Lots of little (teenage) girls were going out to the strip tonight. But I am so exhausted from getting everything done to get here, and my lack of sleep, that I'm staying in tonight. I'll go out to the strip tomorrow night.

We've got a 24 hour pool and spa. Free wireless. Complimentary USA Today. Huge complimentary breakfast in the morning. Anyway, I better get to bed. We have a lot of walking to do tomorrow.

Oh, and I ran three straight miles yesterday, non-stop. Took me 32 minutes. But, I was excited.

Peace Out from the campaign trail.....

The end of October...

Well October is near it's end, and I can't figure out where it went!

Not too much to say. This week I'm wrapping up some midterms that I have before heading off to Las Vegas on Friday. In case you don't know, I am going to Vegas with a group of College Republicans from across Utah and even some from Idaho. We are going to be working for the McCain/Palin team, knocking on doors and getting people out to vote. Should be a really great time, lots of work, but lots of fun. They are paying for everything, hotel, food, transportation, and even giving us 20 bucks to pay for whatever on the way there and back. It's a sweet package. And the hotel they are putting us in is brandnew.... It is the Wingate Hotel.You can check it out at http://www.wingatelasvegas.com/html/photogallery.html.

I'm putting my ballot in the mail this morning on my way to the gym! It's my first time being eligible to vote in a Presidential Election. I'm pretty excited about it. I also voted in some other key competitions. I feel so patriotic!

Last week I wrote an editorial for The Daily Universe, BYU's newspaper. Every week they have someone from College Democrats and someone from College Republicans write an aritcle about a topic. My topic was on taxes. Sadly, the newspaper made some edits that took away from my article, but it was still fun none the less.

Saturday I went to my first football game of the season! Student tickets were sold out for the season before I could buy them, but a guy in one of my journalism classes had three friends who weren't using theirs. So I scalped one and watched a close game between the Cougs and UNLV. It was a beautiful autumn day. Prime for watching football. Though, looking around classes on Monday, lots of people got sunburned. I got a little sun, but then held a paper up the last half of the game to keep from getting scorched. We won 42-35 in a nailbiting last few minutes. I love football!

Yesterday Mclain came up and helped me change my rear left turn signal light. What a gem he was! I had made some homemade chicken noodle soup for sick little Kara, and made sure Mac had two bowls of it! Poor kid. We visited for a while after, and made plans to go to church with him sometime in November so he can meet some good people. It was a good weekend, though fairly unproductive when it came to school stuff.

Oh, something of little consequence. Went on a blind date Saturday night. Kara's old boyfriend Brenton, is on a mission in New Mexico, and one of his companions just got home. Jordan Davis was his name. Totally awkward, totally someone I wouldn't be attracted to, but he was really nice. We just got hot cocoa at Barnes & Noble, looked a magazines, chatted, then met up with my roommates to go to a "masquerade" themed dance party. It went down hill from there. It was just so awkward, and he had to be so close to me.... Sometimes I'm so over single life.

Nature of Human History

"The nature of human history," says Dr. Lewis L. Gould, a historian in Austin, "is that moments you think will live forever die."

Is that not the saddest quote you've ever heard? But, also the truest?

A weekend in October

Mundane

I don't even know what to write about today, just felt like writing.

It has been a stressful week for me. I was organizing the Oregon campaigning trip, and we needed volunteers, but it is just a bad weekend. It is homecoming, and the start of midterms, etc. In fact I had a midterm, and a lab I decided I shouldn't miss, so I didn't go on the trip either. But there was a lot of calling and e-mailing, and it just added to my stress.

Took my first midterm of the semester this year. Didn't go as well as I needed it to. That was frustrating.

Got back to the gym finally, after the whole staph ordeal. After two weeks off, it has really been frustrating. I remember where I was fitness wise, two weeks ago, and to feel the digression is so frustrating! But finally today, I felt a little bit better. Not quite as snail like or easily exhausted.

I haven't been sleeping well. That's always a pleasure, especially for those around me.

One high of the week was that I got a small package from Jordan on Thursday. In it was the voice recorder we send back and forth. He said a lot! I usually have a hard time spreading it out over a few days, but, I'm on day two of listening and still have half of it to go! It is so good to hear from him. The closer he gets to coming home, the more I miss him, is that bizarre? He sounds so old, mature, and learned. He also sent a few pictures of him, which he hasn't really done in forever, and even these were from May! Sheesh. Anyway, he looks older, at least in the face, a bit like his oldest brother Chris.

Also, some noteworthy fun came when Kara and I went and had custom "NObama" t-shirts made. It was a great moment. Then we went down to an apartment on our floor that has an Obama sign in their window and took pictures with it. Funny times.

Oh, and I got a haircut. I was gonna wait til I got home and surprise my mom, but I figure, oh well. I know Grandma will be excited....yeah, whatever.

In the news....

So with my involvement in the BYU College Republicans, we are getting a fair amount of publicity.

At that shin dig with Mike Duncan, me and another girl, Emily, were interviewed by a guy from the Deseret News (a SLC newspaper), only she was quoted in the article, not me (see http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700263327,00.html?pg=2).

Sad day.

Then, at the last debate watching party we had, BYU TV sent a crew down to film us watching, and I was totally shown in clips http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/69652. It takes a bit to get to, but you can first see me over the shoulder of the guy who claps loud.

Then today a guy from the Associated Press came and interviewed our chapter chairman, while KSL news sent a crew down to do a clip about tonight's debate. I was actually, for one brief moment, shown on TV! Check it out at

http://tinyurl.com/lexyonthenews. I am standing next to a short lady in a red jacket near the very beginning of the story.

I promise I'm not tuning her out!

Validation

You know those moments in life where you finally feel like everything you do everyday is finally worth it, and someone else knows?

Small moments of validation have come to me this week.

One came from my mom, in a letter of reccommendation she wrote as my summer employer. I am sure she exaggerated my great qualities, but it still made me feel great! Knowing that my mom thought these things might actually be at least partially true.... In particular, this phrase, "She exemplifies the best of young adults today," that's saying a lot!

Another moment came Tuesday when I was asked to first, come to the College Republicans' executive board meeting, and then while at the meeting asked to be the "Oregon Lady," in charge of an upcoming campaiging trip to Bend, Oregon. It told me that my small efforts in regards to the Colorado trip (even though I was forbidden to go) were noticed and appreciated...the calling, the organizing, the meetings, the arranging for the van, etc.

Yesterday I was handed back my resume' and letter of intent sample for my English 315 class. I was given a 96 and 98 respectively. I had one major error on my resume', assitant instead of assistant, but she said everything else was so great she didn't dock me down much.

Then, today, I was handed back my first article from my Newswriting class lab. I had been nervous because I thought, wow, if I do real crummy on these article, but I love journalism, what am I to do? Well, I got a 19 out of 20. From the cheering up the TA had to do for the class today about our next articles, I take it not everyone did so great. So, I've been reassured that maybe I can do well at this stuff. We'll see though...I just wrote another article that I am not sure is gonna fare so well.

Anyway, I know we should just live our lives and do the best we can because we should, but it is nice to be validated in our talents, traits, and efforts from time to time.

Charmed and bleeding Red....

Usually, every day I bleed blue. I go to BYU, that's what you're supposed to do. But, today, and for the next 33 days I will be seeping out true republican red.

Today I was a lucky little girl. I met, shook hands, and posed with Mike Duncan, THE CHAIRMAN of the Republican National Committee. This man shakes hands with the likes of John McCain, President Bush, Mitt Romney, Orin Hatch....

I have more to add to this blog after class, but just wanted to get this picture up.