Reunion: Halloween Style

This last week was absolutely amaz(on)ing. One of our good friends, Friend J, from Ecuador was in SF for a visit in after attending a conference in New Mexico. This marks the first (of hopefully many) visits to the US and I'm so glad she was able to make it to CA. Since I was out of town for the weekend I missed the big Minga reunion, but I did get to hang out with her for a day before she flew out.

Poor thing was sick, so we didn't do too much, but I did want to give her the chance to experience a very American tradition: Pumpkin Carving! Friend R came over and we grabbed some Ramen (what's better for a cold?), listened to some Enrique and got to carving. 

Of course, she totally rocked it for her first time and created a cool moon, which she said reminder her of the jungle. It was so much fun, I hadn't carved a pumpkin in a long time.

They turned out so great! Happy Hallowen! 

Running in Canada, eh?

Following last week's adventure in Boise, I headed straight for Seattle for a quick weekend trip up to Vancouver for the Rock n' Roll BC Half Marathon.

What a treat! It's been a few years since I was last in BC, so I was happy to pull my almost dusty passport out and head to the border. I signed up for the Half on a whim, I felt like I needed a late fall event and this one seemed perfect.

When I travel for races, I try and make it as economic as possible. Thankfully due to travel points I've earned through the years, I can make these sorts of trips very affordable. I'm definitely not made of money, but I can cut a lot of costs out....so I guess I'm pretty lucky! Work Hard, Play Hard I guess!

Usually I travel solo for these events (I can only imagine...the only thing worse than running....is probably having to watch someone run ;) but since I was driving up from Seattle, my Mom and Uncle ended up joining me for the ride up. We have family in Vancouver, so it was great to spend some time with them as well.

Vancouver is quite possibly one of the most beautiful cities. It has a very "Pacific Northwest" feeling to it (Shocking, I know). However it reminds so much of all the best aspects of Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. Downtown is easy to walk, safe and is very diverse.

As soon as we arrived, we headed to the Race Expo, picked up my packet, took some photos and then met our cousins downtown before heading to their house.

The best part about knowing locals, is getting to see the city from their eyes. We were taken to a beautiful park, around sunset set and had a great walk that helped stretch out my muscles before the morning.

Race day was fantastic. The sunrise over the city was just beautiful and with a late race start (8:15 am) I got to have a fairly relaxed morning. My hotel was really close to the start/finish line, so there wasn't any worry about parking (the worst on race morning).

This was my first "out of country" race, so it was crazy hearing a different national anthem---but so awesome. And the mileage being all in Kilometers totally threw me off, but I still loved it. It was sort of fun trying to calculate the mileage as I ran past each marker.

The course, like the entire city was really pretty. We started downtown, ran in some direction and ended up in Stanley Park. I loved that part of the course. We didn't spend much time on the Seawall, but it was amazing getting to run in the wooded areas. Definitely reminded me of WA. 

Couldn't have asked for a better day all around. We had to head back to the ole USA pretty quickly afterwards, as I had a flight back to CA. I did get to stop for a few seconds and get a snapshot with this beauty:

#GirlHero Celebrating International Day of the Girl

Today marks International Day of the Girl.

Hear us all Roar. (Cue: Katy Perry)

In the social media world today, Girl Up, one of my favorite organizations asked women and girls around the world to share their #GirlHero on all of their platforms to promote the day.

It got me thinking about the women in my life----some who I know, some who I admire for the work they do in the world, some who give me hope for the future and some who have taught us so much about the past.

I couldn't help but jump on board.

There are so many amazing women in this world. I've written posts in the past about many of them, so for this one, I've disqualified the usual suspects: Mom, Hillary Clinton, Best Friends.

I've chosen three women/girls for this task----because let's be honest, the list could go on forever.

First of all, someone who inspires me with the work they do for women and girls around the world:

Leymay Gbowee

A few years ago at a NAFSA conference, I had the privilege of listening to this woman speak. It was one of the most impacting 90 minutes of my life. I had already started to read her book and getting to see her speak in person brought it all to life----her existence in this world, her experience and her strength filled me with hope, appreciation and gratitude. Leymay Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of "Mighty Be Our Powers" She is a Liberian activist responsible for leading a women's movement---filled with peaceful anger. She helped lead and organize the Liberian Mass Action for Peace. A group of Christian and Muslim women who held public protests in order to confront Liberia’s president and warlords. The group even held a sex strike (how else do you get a man's attention sometimes?) The whole idea was to involve women in the peace making process.

She is truly a fighter and the things she has helped her society and country overcome are amazing.

Secondly, someone who has taught me about myself, the strength of being a woman and the power that I have inside of me:

The Grandmother

I was pretty lucky growing up having a grandmother who cared so deeply about her family. I know that I never fully appreciated her, nor did I take all the advantages of her wisdom, but I did know that I was loved unconditionally. She was the person who I knew, deep down, was always on my side. She loved God, she loved her family and she loved me. She was humble, and spent her life working in schools. She took care of her family, was involved in the community and could bake some pretty awesome cookies. I know that I'll never know her whole story---and that makes me sad. I know that she was strong, that she raised three good men. I hope that if I have boys, mine turn out just like hers did.

Just a little less conservative.

And last, but not at all least, someone who gives me hope for the future (or in this case, two little someones)

These two little angels aren't so little anymore----but seeing them and watching them grow into young women really does remind me that the work I do, the hopes that I have to make the world around me better are because we can't fail these little ones. I look at how we, as American women are so lucky...but there is still so much work that needs to be done. There seems to be such a war on equality and women's rights that makes me want to fight even harder----with the hopes that these two darlings won't have to.

Presidential Museums, Zombie Burgers and Taylor Swift

Let me just say this. I don't want my social time with Hillary to overshadow all of the other fun I had while I was in Iowa last week.

I've never actually spent that much time in Iowa. Every once in awhile, I end up on the state line after flying into Omaha, but for the most part, that state belongs to Colleague D.

I ended up having quite a lot of free time this week due to the scheduling of events, so in between work emails, I took a little time to explore. 

As I've written in the past, I'm trying to visit every Presidential Museum in the US. Herbert Hoover was from Iowa, so I had to make sure to head down to West Branch and check that one off the list. This marks my 11th museum and with only 1 left, I'm so close to finishing! (Yes, I realize that this is probably the geekiest accomplishments I'll ever have). 

I spent the next couple of days basically eating my way through Des Moines and catching up with Friend M, who I hadn't seen in awhile. 

We toured around the town for awhile, And I ate what could only be described as the best burger. I have no idea what was on it, other than melted Gouda cheese. And really what more could one want? 

After our evening event, a bunch of us went out to a place called Fongs Pizza, which true to its name, is a Chinese pizza place. 

Yes, you read that right. A pizza place that specializes in Chinese themed pizza. 

Holy cow. Where am I? 

Turns out, a crab Rangoon pizza may just have moved its way up the list on great road eats. We also had a schzwan beef pizza and one with mushrooms (gross). 

Taylor Swift was in town as well. Apparently she's done quite well for herself and it seemed like the entire world wanted tickets for the concert. Instead of going, Friend M and I sat in a bar nearby---people watching or as I like to call it conducting a sociological research study.

I really enjoyed my time in Iowa. It's a little gem of fun in the Midwest. 

 

"Is this Heaven?" "No, it's Iowa" AKA: the WEEK I HUNG OUT*** WITH HILLARY CLINTON

First things first as the post title clearly states: I just RE-MET HILLARY CLINTON.

Many things happened this week, but that totally trumps them all.

(***"Hung out" may be a generous exaggeration)

Oddly enough, a couple of weeks ago, I posted a Throwback: Clinton Campaign blog entry that highlighted my time working the Hillary Clinton 2008 campaign in Indiana.

One of my favorite times in this life, thus far. Also, the first time I met HRC.

And this week, while covering events in Iowa for Colleague D, I ran into the campaign trail once again.

Gosh, I love the Battleground States.

Turns out, this week Hillary was hosting a number of stops in Iowa to prepare for the upcoming debates, in the same area that I was going to be traveling around. Of course, I was going to make my way to a couple of them if possible. I caught wind of her trip via the campus I was working at for the day. Hillary was going to be there on Wednesday for a town hall and it would be open to the public. I, of course, got onto google to look at the event details where I learned that she was doing a small, community organization meeting that night in a town just about 45 minutes away.

Jackpot. 

I have to say, that although I don't always love Midwestern politics, I do love the political process and it is so much more interesting in this part of the country. Iowa and their caucuses are super fascinating---though I'll be honest, I don't fully understand how it all works. Before that though, many candidates and their supporters host small meetings like this and it's always so personal. I love hearing the speeches and the questions and the personal stories from the attendees. They are also known to have potlucks----and this one did. And I loved the women sitting next to me who were so concerned about me getting food (I declined time and time again...I think it disappointed them). About 125 people showed up, we all had to go through Secret Service level security (one man laughed at my wasteland of a purse). I arrived just about an hour before the event was to take place and was lucky enough to get seated in the front row.

As I was waiting for the event to start, I met a few really nice, small town grandmas who were more than willing to get me caught up on the latest town gossip, who they do and do not like and who they would and would not vote for. Iowa has some gems. One woman I met was so funny, she couldn't believe all the travel I have done and could not understand why, if I was in my right mind, would  I want to go to places like Africa. She wasn't negative about it at all, just surprised. It wasn't her experience or her desire, I respect that.

I have to admit, I needed this meeting and this opportunity. Not just because I like HRC, but because when I arrived to Iowa on Monday, I was greeted by a pretty darn negative radio show that was all about gun control and how mental illness is the sole cause of mass shootings. Without going into details, it was pretty demoralizing and completely wrong on so many ethical, moral and humane levels. I left the airport going: Where the hell am I? I shut it off pretty quickly, but I will admit, it left a very bad taste in my mouth about Iowa.

(I try not to mass generalize, this week reminded me of how wrong that can be).

So thankfully, I met and heard from quite a few people who changed that viewpoint and opened my eyes a bit. There really are liberal, Democrats in Iowa. Who knew?

I'm not going to make this a political post about why I support HRC, but truth is, I do.  And I will probably continue to do so regardless of what happens in the next few months. She spoke a lot about the issues I care about: women's rights, human rights, clean energy, higher education, mental health, gun safety, veteran's issues and so much more. She's ridiculously intelligent, sharp and oddly enough, pretty darn friendly. I look at her and all that she has accomplished and can't help but be inspired. I think about all the times she has been bullied and ridiculed and stomped upon throughout the years and am impressed that the woman is still standing. And still fighting. She constantly stands her ground and she's such a rock. I admire how she has managed herself. Hearing that about yourself can't be easy at all. No matter how used to it you may be. I know she's not perfect, but any one else would have probably thrown the towel in long ago.

(Okay, so that sort of turned into an HRC endorsement.)

Sue me.

Here is how our second real-life conversation went:

HRC: "Thanks for coming!"
MW:  Thank you so much for being here and for always supporting the rights of women and so many other groups whose voices tend to get silenced. I really appreciate all you've done for us and all that you're trying to do."
HRC: "Well, thanks for that. I appreciate it. What's your name?"
MW: "Michelle. Well, I've been endorsing you since I was 11 after I wrote a letter to you while you were First Lady, so clearly a loyal supporter. And I worked on your last campaign while I was living in Indiana"
HRC: "Really? That's so good to hear.I love meeting young women like you, who are interested and involved"

And then she hugged me and said, "We should take a photo."

And I nearly passed out.

How often does a former First Lady, Senator AND Secretary of State ask to take a photo with YOU?

(LOL. Haha...but #truth.)

I don't think I slept a wink that night. I was too excited about what had just happened.

Clinton Stumping Day #2

Well, if one event wasn't enough, I had the opportunity to go back to campus on Wednesday as they host Sec.Sen.FLOTUS Clinton for another town hall event. This one was a little bit crazy---as there were a lot of people and not enough security gates---so it ran almost an hour behind. It was such a different crowd, made me realize how versatile candidates have to be each day to connect with the people they are in front of. There were quite a few faculty and staff members along with all the students. Once again, she spoke about the same topics as the day before and took a number of questions.

One mother asked her about the recent school shootings---and how she saw, in Obama's last speech his sadness, frustration and disappointment. She asked Clinton, "How to stop yourself from being sad and tired?"

I loved her response to Obama's speech, she said, "I understand how Obama feels. It's just the worst feeling, your the President of the United States, knowing that people are getting massacred in your own country...We've got to keep getting up everyday and fighting, there's too much at stake...So how do I stop from being sad or tired? By being angry and determined."

A student asked about Arts Education and how the constant cuts tend to target those areas. She spoke about how she thrived in the arts while a young student and how important it is to not have "cookie cutter" educations, that students need to learn in methods that are best for them. This not only includes the Arts, but trade schools as well.

I know personally that my Art/Music classes in Middle and High School were the treats in my day. They allowed me to use my creative brain and express myself in ways that "normal" classwork doesn't allow. I don't know what I would have done without those opportunities. And I always feel bad for students who don't have those outlets.

In the end, I'm so glad that these opportunities randomly came up. I would never get them on the West Coast...unless I was writing a check for a big donation.

Just another reason to love the midwest.







Hhmmmm. Could this be the beginning of Walters 2024?


As Hillary said, "We used to dream big here in America. It's time to go back to that."










Also, this photo was posted on the Iowa for Hillary facebook page. Kind of a cool shot.