Friday, August 29, 2008

I LOVE America!

Last night I had one of the greatest experiences of my life. I got to go to Invesco Field and hear Barack Obama give his acceptance speech and it was the most exhilirating, exciting, historical, momentous moments of my life. It certainly wasn't just the speech- which by itself was unbelievable- but the entire experience- begining with the LONG line to get in: Seriously, it took about 2 hours to get in- I have never seen such a thing! The line was backed up for miles, the lightrail wouldn't even take us to the Invesco stop but rather to the stop before- we were told the crowds were too big to go all the way and the line was backed up to the Auraria stop anyway. The line was back even farther than that!! It was insane!!!!


Then seeing all of the protestors:

I thought this one was hilarious, because I am pretty sure Jesus loves all of us, and we don't have to "earn" his love- his Grace, perhaps, but certainly not His love!

Then I got to eat disgusting American food:


This was NOT my favorite part of the night- I am not a hot dog fan- but I didn't want to wait the 15 minutes for the pizza to finish cooking. The lines for food actually were not that bad, but concessions food is never going to be great!

Here is a picture of me waiting for everything to begin- not the best seats, but definitely good enough! The way the credentials were handed out, I only got one, so Ben wasn't able to go with me, which we were both really sad about- I would have loved to be able to have experienced this with him, but at least he got to see it on TV.


Then, they had a TON of fantastic speakers and performers. Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder sang. Then the son and daughter of Martin Luther King spoke- seriously, when will I ever get to be in the vicinity of such amazing people again? Some of the best speakers were the governors of Virginia and New Mexico.

I tried to find as many "stars" as I could. Ben said it was ok if I kissed Ben Affleck (but nobody else- just him), so I kept trying to find him but never could. I didn't see any stars, though apparently several were there including Oprah. Oh, Shawn Johnson (olympic gymnast) gave the Pledge of Allegiance and Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem (she has an AMAZING voice!!! She is on the jumbotron picture above) and so that was pretty cool, too. They handed out flags to everyone, and it was really cool to see 80,000 flags waving at Invesco. The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday, and this year we missed it because Aud was sick, so this kind-of made up for it. We are so blessed to live in such a great country!Then, of course, the keynote speaker- Barack Obama. Of course, he gave one of the most sincere, honest, riveting, unbelievable speeches I have ever heard- but that wasn't a surprise- public speaking is definitely one of his greatest talents. I think I missed half of his speech, however, because we were all hollering so much! It was hard not to, the excitement was so great. It was seriously was one of the most memorable and almost spiritual experiences of my life. I know that sounds strange, but the only thing I can compare it to is listening to the Prophet live. Now, I am not comparing Obama to Hinckley, but the atmosphere is similar- like something so special is going on that you will remember it the rest of your life. It was indescribable. I really think he is an amazing man- and leader. In fact, he has the exact same amount of experience as Abraham Lincoln- two terms as a Illinois senator- before he became president, and he turned out ok! Really, truly, I know some of you will never vote for Obama, and that's ok- that's what a democracy is all about, differences of opinions- but if you are unsure, I would strongly encourage you to do some good research to figure out what he is all about. I think you will be impressed with what you find!



And for those of you who just think I am a "flaming liberal," here is a picture for you to chew on:



I'll let you decide who I enjoyed listening to more!

11 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you had such a memorable experience yesterday at Invesco!! I was thinking about you all day, and knew you were probably having the time of your life! :) I think that Obama is a great public speaker. Too bad you didn't have any awesome celeb sightings! Too bad I didn't see you on the news either! Oh and is that last picture real? was that you listening to George W. back in the day?? :)

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  2. Yes, it is for real- he came to Provo and my friend Susie and I skipped school to go listen and ended up with front row "seats".

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  3. I was there too! And judging by your pic - we were sitting in nearly the same place! We (my sister and I - she's been volunteering all week and came up on the waitlist for tix -how awesome is that?) were in sec 524 at the very tippy top! It was so great! Although it took us from 3:30 until 7 or so before we got in! LOVED it though, and I am so incredibly excited about Obama that I can hardly stand it. I haven't downloaded my pics yet - but I'll put one on my blog soon - not much to see that you haven't posted!

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  4. How awesome! I am so glad you were able to go. It sounds like you had a great time. Look at you, you could be considered a Democrat now. Uh oh :) My Dad is in town for the convention and was able to go too. Too bad I didn't know you were there, I would have had him try to find you. It doesn't look like too many people were there, I'm sure he could have found you :) The picture of you and Susie is a blast from the past. I forgot you two went to that. What do you think of McCain's VP? I think it is funny she is from Idaho. Our claim to fame. Too bad everyone from Idaho was already going to vote for him anyway.

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  5. I'm glad you enjoyed it and were able to go. I have a couple of good friends who are democrats and have seen Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Obama speak and they had said they did not like Obama's speeches live, that they were a little bland compared to the others. I've researched his views and am not too impressed, but glad that you were able to do something that you were really excited about. It looks like it was fun for you, and I did watch it on t.v.

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  6. Oh, no- Obama is AMAZING- the most inspirational speaker- he really does make you want to believe that there is hope for America (haven't been feeling that at all from the Republicans, but they have Bush to thank for that). I was in section 523, so I was right next to you, Jenny! I wish I had known that- how funny! I thought 2 hours in line was bad- what happened???? I can't believe the lines got to be that bad, though when I first got there I thought for sure I would be there FOREVER!!! But, it was all worth it- it was such a wonderful night!!!!

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  7. I forgot to answer Mandy about McCain's choice of VP- anybody feel free to respond as I am anxious to hear what others say (from both sides of the aisle!) because very few of us know anything about her and it is a rather stunning decision. My thoughts: Hmm...He is obviously trying desparately to get the Hillary voters, but I think it will backfire. I know a lot of Clinton supporters, and despite what the news say, not one of them has said they will vote Republican because Obama got the election. Plus, she is pro-life and I don't think Clinton voters will go for that. She is generating a lot of buzz and excitement, which could work well for McCain (having two white men on the ticket just isn't exciting anymore), but because nobody knows anything about her and she is the governor of Alaska of all places, it could hurt him in the end. I am interested to hear her speech next week- if the Rep. convention isn't cancelled due to the hurricane, that is. I really hope she doesn't push the woman card to far (which I am sure she will) because, honestly, can't we women vote on more then gender and actually consider the issues? Should be interesting- that's my two cents, for whatever it's worth. But really, I do want to know what others think, so please continue to leave comments everyone!!!!

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  8. I think since she is not well known people will hopefully research her. McCain might be trying to get the Clinton supporters that were just voting for a woman, but I don't think he's banking on many votes from picking her. Have you heard her acceptance speech? She introduced her background and talked about the issues she believes in. It was a great introduction to who she is and what she hopes to accomplish. She did not bad talk anyone; it was soley on her and what she believes she can do for America. It was good. McCain can be pretty liberal in some of his views, so I think this was a good choice for him. I have done a lot better job this election of researching everyone from both sides and I do think if you (anyone) are not sure who Gov. Palin is you should look up her acceptance speech. I really was upset with Biden's because all he did was talk badly about McCain and I do not really know Biden's background too much. I wanted to hear what he thought about issues, not what he thought about McCain. It would have saved me some time. Alright, that is enough for my extra long comment.

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  9. Here's an interesting "rumor" about gov. palin on Kim's William's blog: http://www.voxmia.com
    Most likely just National Enquirer news, but amusing nonetheless, particularly for everyone out there who takes politics SOOOO seriously. D.

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  10. Yeah, I had heard that rumor- but now that the truth is that her daughter actually IS pregnant, we now know it to be a rumor...but since you mentioned it and because nobody will probably read this, I have a few words about Ms. Pallin...I actually started doing some research and was thinking she was OK, and if McCain won, it maybe wouldn't be the end of the world. Now, I totally and completely despise that woman. Any mother who would completely humiliate her daughter on national television is not a woman I want potentially leading this country. We know how important families are, and that motherhood is the most sacred of callings. Ms. Pallin seeks power over motherhood- her daughter needs a mom, not a VP. Her 5-month old son with down syndrome needs a mom who can help him, not ditch him so she can be on the campaign trail. As members of the church, we should be outraged at this woman- she chose to have 5 children, nobody forced her, and now she is choosing to ignore them so she can gain power. I am so repulsed by what she has done- her poor daughter is now on the front page of every paper for her "sin" just so her mom could get a few votes. I am disgusted with that woman!!!! Power is not more important than family. And, on that note- country isn't first. FAMILY is first!

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  11. That's a real bummer that you didn't run into Ben Affleck. Oh well, better luck next time.

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