The times, they are a-changin....

First I would like to say that i am SO SO SO SO glad that the election is over. I have been addicted to CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and conservative radio for the past 12 months, and needless to say, i was completely exhausted with it all.

I will admit that i have been very vocal about how i disagreed with the direction that our administration has been taking us for the past 8 years. I was certainly not the only one, which is why we had a record number of new voter registrations, a record number of voter turnout, and the fact that the president-elect won by a LANDSLIDE. I said that i was exhausted by how engulfed i was with all the election information, but I am very proud that i did my research. I truly looked at both candidates; the policies they support, the votes that they cast, the merit of their records, and their questionable aspects. My favorite candidates from both major political parties, had won their parties nominations. I am proud that i didn't cast my vote based on the candidate that was representing the political party that i usually vote for, the party that my friends vote for, the party that my parents vote for....i did my research....i watched the debates...i made my decision, and i voted.

We can all be proud of the history that was made on November 4th. Less than 50 years ago, this country was drunk with racism,bigotry, prejudice and injustice. When I spoke to my family on election night, i heard each of them tell me how they never thought that this day would come. I was happiest for them. Although, i have had my own hills to climb, I didn't have to integrate my school like my father, i didn't experience the Jim Crow of the south like my grandparents did living in Alabama and i didn't get hosed down or beaten in the street marching for civil rights. Hundreds of people....literally...died, so that i could grow up being able to sit, eat, learn, work and pray anywhere that i wanted to. This election is the most amazing, and refreshing reflection of just how far we have come. Barack Obama said it best when he said, "We are not the conservative states of america, or the liberal states of america...we are the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Unfortunately, as excited i was about the election, it is hard to be happy with all that is going on right now. On Friday, i watched several people who i work with get laid off because of the current state of the economy. People who had opened that hotel, and worked there for longer than I have been alive, were sent home with teary eyes, and a severance package of only 2 weeks pay.....and I could be next. Should i despair? Of course not....i have a faith that tells me, and a country that has just shown me....that all things are possible.

I found this video after i heard the song and couldn't get it out of my head. I hope that it brings you the same smile it brought me today......