Politically Jaded

I know I'm not the only citizen of the United States that feels this way, but I am completely jaded by the political system in this country. I have no idea what I'm going to do on November 4. This year seemed to be a year of promise politically. It seemed as if we would finally have an exciting, promising race between two candidates offering change. While there has been plenty of excitement, it seems almost as if I am watching a circus instead of deciding who will best run our country. I had really hoped that if anyone could break the normal process of slandering, namecalling, and dragging through the mud race we call politics, it would be Obama and McCain. I believed (naively, I guess) that this race would be run differently. Unfortunately, this race has been worse than normal, which has led to my jaded feeling. There are false accusations and lies coming from both sides (it started in the McCain camp, but Obama is responding to it also).

And it's not only with the presidential race that I am frustrated. Corruption and deceit goes all the way down to the county level (as I know is not surprising). But again, it's frustrating. It seems to me that elections are nothing more than digging up the tiniest, most meaningless piece of dirt on the opposing candidate spinning it, and splashing it from here to kingdom come for all to see what a mean, dirty, low-down person that candidate is. It's eye-opening actually. When it happens to people you know, you realize how much spin is really placed on facts to get the desired outcome. The person could be a complete saint, and people could still find dirt to spin. It leaves me with a hopeless feeling, actually.

My mom recently said to me, "If we cannot trust any of our news sources to provide us with accurate, fair information, who can we trust? Just ourselves?" Yes, I believe that's so. It's frustrating that it takes so much work to dig up truth, but it is worth it when we can decide for ourselves who will best represent our needs and desires in the government.

(FYI: I recently learned about factcheck.org. This site is a nonpartisan site dedicated to checking all of the facts (hence the name) in articles, ads, speeches, etc. etc. to ensure validity. If you need a place to go to get truth, check it out to get the facts.)

My Husband

Since Chaz complained that in my last blog, I wrote more about student teaching than about him, I promised him that my next blog would be all about him. So here goes...

Chaz....is a crazy. Which is part of the reason I married him, of course! He makes life fun, and sometimes frustrating...but mostly fun. I enjoy driving him crazy (whoo whoo!), and he enjoys qualifying everything I complain about him. I love the adventures we stumble upon. Last weekend, we went to a barn party thrown by a bunch of hippies. It was amazing! There was food, food, food, dancing, and great live music. What a find! Then last night we went for a walk (which we haven't done very often) and discovered that Main Street was having a music wonderthon (my words)! In front of a bunch of stores on Main Street, a diverse variety of musicians were playing. One of my co-workers played the dulcimer, and it was incredible! There were classical violins, bluegrass bands, rock bands, folk bands, etc. etc.

We love to experience life, and I just hope we can do more of that instead of falling into a slump. It's also been a joy to struggle with money. The past month God has blessed us tenfold. We were really concerned about money because Chaz hadn't gotten paid since June, and his next payday was September. God brought us through it, however, and it almost seems as if money worries weren't a huge issue. He just got paid this morning, so we are incredibly thankful! I love that my man is pretty good with money. He's teaching me budgeting and fiscal responsibility (there's a $10 word for you!).

Besides the frustrations and worries that do occur (and will continue to occur for the rest of our lives together), I just think that it's wonderful to go to bed with the one I will love forever. And once we get an actual mattress (instead of sleeping on an air mattress, which we have for the past two months), hopefully our bed won't break. THAT would be a blessing.

And I know this is mushy...I'll redeem myself next blog.

Updates

At the behest of Kel, I'll write an update...haha! I have such a double standard when it comes to this sort of thing because I'm always reading everyone else's blog and requesting updates, but I'm so horrible at doing the same thing. Mainly because I feel that my life is insignificant compared to the amazing things my friends are doing (Korea...helloooooo!). But I do have exciting things going on in my life: learning about married life, and student teaching.

Married life is great, but tough. It's waaaaaaaaaaay different living with a boy. Ugh. haha! No, but Chaz is good to live with. He helps a lot with keeping things clean and doing the dishes...which we do a lot of since we don't have a dishwasher. Now that we're both teaching, it's hard to be connected since we're so busy. We still try to take time for ourselves, though, and when we do, it's good.

Student teaching is phenomenal, but challenging. The students are amazing, and I know now more than ever that this is what I was made to do. Things will start to pick up work-wise, however, as I'll start to take over at least one of the classes. I'm a bit nervous as this means I'll have to plan things myself, but really excited by all of the possibilities open to me. Oh, and Kel, there are two Chinese girls in my classes, and they're incredibly adorable! I'm sure you know how much I love them! Yes, I love teaching, and each day I see the value in investing in the future generation. A lot of these students just need to know that someone does care about them, and that they can succeed as long as they try. I love watching them come out of their shells and learn to be honest and open with those around them. I only hope that I can instill some life lessons in them, if not the love of reading and the joy in self-expression through writing.