Warning! This is going to be a REALLY long post. And, it does include my political views and opinions from today's election, so feel free to skip over that section if you don't want to hear it :)
HAPPY
ELECTION DAY! I’m not super political, and would never force my views and
opinions on others, but I definitely need my one day to post my feelings on
this year’s election. And, now that it’s actually over, I feel like it can’t
hurt anything.
Big
day, for the world really, but especially here in the United States. This year I definitely
got way more into politics than I usually do. I am nearly the definitely of an
independent voter. I do not, and would never, follow one political party
blindly. I hate that people do that, I think it is a HUGE downfall of our
political system. I do my best to really look at the issues, especially those
important to me and my family, and I vote on the person, and what they stand
for, not the political party that backs them. I wish with all my might that
more people would do that. Unfortunately, in the last few presidential elections, I feel
like it’s really come down to voting for the lesser of two evils. I really wish
it weren’t that way. I would say more often than not, I tend to lean
conservative in my political views. But, this year was definitely different for
me. Much to my own dismay, I did vote for Obama this year. While I did NOT 4
years ago, and I don’t necessary agree with a lot of his past/current
performance, I do feel he is the right choice for our country RIGHT NOW; especially
when his counterpart is Mitt Romney. I could never, and would never, vote for Romney,
especially as a woman, after everything that came out during his campaign. All
of his “Freudian” slips that gave view into what he really thinks. I’m no
feminist by any means, but to me, he would have set us back a good 50 years,
and I think that’s just “where he comes from” – and most definitely not right
for our country. I was actually a really big fan of Rick Santorum. Had he
received the republican nomination, there’s a good chance I would’ve voted for
him. Similarly, if Hilary Clinton would’ve received the democratic nomination 4 years
ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to vote for her. So, you see, there’s no party
consistency with me – I prefer topics, agendas and history vs. party and blind leading the blind. In the end, as we all know, Obama
did win his 4 more years. While I don’t think this is PERFECT for America, I do
think it was the best in this situation. So, YAY for that! And, his acceptance
speech was humbling and definitely showed his true, all around character, and I
liked that.
Here
in Minnesota, it HUGE year. We currently have a democratic
Governor. After this election, the democratic party also rule our house and
senate. So, I think we’re up for a very different upcoming 2 years than the
past two. It will be interesting to see how that pans out. See if things actually get done in this state now (whether I necessarily agree with those "things" or not). Maybe no shut-down
this year?!? Again, I’m definitely no democrat, but I like the POTENTIAL idea
of some peace and harmony in our government.
We
also had 2 MAJOR amendments up for vote: an amendment to our state constitution
regarding marriage, and a voter ID amendment:
1.
The
marriage amendment was a complete disgrace. Basically, they want to amend our
constitution to define that “Marriage will only be between one MAN and one
WOMAN”. Obviously, that is what the law is currently here, and that is not even
up for debate right now, nor has it ever been here. Apparently, people want to
be pro-active in their hatred though, and they want to push
this amendment through so that it never can be up for debate. It truly disgusts
me – and, as I read that on my ballot and PROUDLY colored in that circle as
dark and perfectly as I could, it saddened me. To think there were so many
close-minded, selfish people in this state that were going to be marking yes,
made me want to cry. I just can’t fathom, with any part of my being, why people
care so much about who somebody else loves and wants to spend their life with.
It doesn’t affect you; it has absolutely nothing to do with you, so why do you
care? Why should you have any say in who somebody else marries? Basically, if
you don’t agree with gay marriage, don’t get gay married. If your church (because,
of course, church and bible are the ONLY arguments the “vote yes” side has on
this issue – and, apparently the separation of church and state is no longer
valid) does not accept or recognize gay marriage, then your church does not
have to perform same sex marriage ceremonies. It’s really, truly as simple as that. Have YOUR morals, beliefs and opinions. But, understand that they are
YOURS, and YOURS alone. You do not have the right to push them onto anybody
else, you do not have the right to discriminate against somebody else and take
away a freedom that EVERYBODY should have, especially in our state
constitution, which should be protecting such freedoms. I just think, what if Christian and I weren’t
allowed to marry. Because he’s Mexican and I’m American, because he speaks
Spanish and I speak English, because he was raised in Mexico and I was raised
in the United States, because he has black hair and I have down. Sounds
ridiculous, right? Well, it’s really the same concept, and it’s sad. In the
end, this amendment was voted down, THANK GOD! I've never been so proud to be a Minnesotan, and pray that the sad 49% that voted yes on this bill can one day open their hearts, and their minds if an issue like this ever comes up again.
2.
The
Voter ID amendment was a little different. Personally, I do think it’s odd that
you don’t have to show ID when you vote, so I kind of like the concept of it.
But, this Amendment was mess, with too many holes and issues that were not
thought through. It makes it incredibly hard for the elderly, handicapable or
active military to vote. It makes it impossible to register same day, which SO
many people do, especially for college students, the newly eligible voters and people who have recently moved. It required that the
state provide free ID to the citizens, yet FREE does not mean FREE as the money to produce and provide the ID's has to come from somewhere. It
would be very costly to the state – where was that money going to come
from? Again, definitely a “vote no” situation, and this one was also voted
down. Happy day!
So,
that is my one and only post regarding this year’s election. I’m happy. I know
many aren’t but I hope people are able to move on and come together as a
country to unite and make this a better county.
As
far as the rest of the day! I took a long lunch break to head into the doctor
for my yearly check-up. The appointment went well. She was ecstatic about my
weight loss, my blood pressure was great and everything looked good. I do need
to get my cholesterol checked, but since I have to fast before it, today was
not the day for it. I had to pick up a prescription in the pharmacy after my
appointment, and that just about pushed me over the edge. There was a family in
the waiting room BLASTING some mariachi music on their phone, singing along
like they were having a little fiesta. There were two other people on their
phones, talking really loudly, but kept losing reception – so their phones kept
ringing and ringing, and dropping calls and dropping calls. The wait took
forever, then they proceeded to mess up my prescription, so I got to wait some
more. It was seriously the pharmacy trip from hell. In the end, I did get the
cough drops I was buying for free for having to wait so long, so I guess there is
a silver lining in everything! LOL.
I
made my way back to work for a few hours, then I was off to go vote. I picked
the PERFECT time to vote, I literally walked in, signed in, and headed to my
booth. No wait at all, perfect! I stopped into Walgreens after to pick up a
couple of free prints I had, then picked the girls up. They spent the evening
playing in/destroying their room while I made dinner and laid my sick butt on
the couch. I most definitely have a full on cold, and it’s no looking good.
Congested, hot, couch, sore throat and exhausted. NOT a good start to late
fall/winter, that’s for sure. Christian seems to be getting better though, and
Olivia is still fine. Amelia still seems OK, and no fever, but her teacher said
she was really quiet today, which is not like her at all. I guess her little
BFF at school, Niko, is out with strep throat, so hopefully he didn’t have it
last week when she was there…
Once
the girls were in bed, I dragged myself from the couch, to bed. I watched a
show, then flipped back to check the election results just in time to see them
project Obama the winner. Most of the Minnesota races were still too close to
call, so I called it a night at that point. Gross, colds – I’m not ready for
that fun to start up again yet.
Tonight’s
dinner was a Carnitas Casserole with Rice. YUM, YUM!
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Yellow Corn Meal
- 3 tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 can Diced Green Chiles
- 1/3 cup Milk
- 1 Egg
- 1 can Cream Corn
- 2-3 cups of Carnitas
- 1 cup Enchilada Sauce
- 1 cup Shredded White Cheese (I used mozzarella)
- Fresh cilantro
Side:
- Box of Rice-a-Roni (prepared according to the less-fat package directions)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Mix the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Stir in the oil until the mixture makes soft crumbles. Whisk in the milk and egg. Add the cream corn and green chiles, and stir until just combined.
- Spray a square baking dish with non-stick spray, and layer the mixture into the dish. Bake for 25 minutes, or until set. This will be more of a tamale-base than dry like cornbread.
- After 25 minutes, remove the dish and poke holes in the crust with a fork. Pour the enchilada sauce over the crust. Arrange the shredded carnitas over the crust, and top with the shredded cheese.
- Reduce the oven heat to 350. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for and additional 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the foil, and continue baking for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Top with cilantro and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
This was really, REALLY good. Christian LOVED it and we'll definitely make this one again. Though there are a lot of ingredients, it flows really well, and is really easy to progress through. YUM!
