The problem with me is that I find too much enjoyment in being a nomad. The thought of settling down somewhere is frightening! Being in Las Vegas and not knowing where I would go next was both scary and exhilarating. Same thing with New Hampshire. When I spent a month flying all over the east part of the USA, (Michigan, South Carolina, Florida, Tennesse, Connecticut, etc) I had the time of my life. I found it far too easy to live out of suitcases, motels, and my car.

It's the fear of commitment that gets me. I can commit to friends and family, but beyond that it gets really dicey. Having pondered my living situation for the last year or so, I always found the idea of buying an RV and living out of that and being so mobile really attractive. Driving across the country twice exposed me to this whole culture of RVing that was really fun to watch.

Most of the RVers were, of course, retired folks, who had the time and money to do it. BTW, It's so absurd that you have to wait until you are 65 or older to actually travel and enjoy our country. I know someone who is closer to my age who bought an RV and has that mobility, but chooses to stay around the Vegas area. He loves it and I can't blame him.

So having been unemployed since November, I've found myself a bit disappointed that I didn't do something more fun with this time. I truly didn't think the economy would keep getting worse and that hundreds of people would be applying for janitorial jobs and such. It would've been fun to rent an RV back in November and just drive around!

I don't wanna believe that my traveling days are behind me. Is normalcy that only thing I have to look forward to???

I haven't made my love and obsession of New Hampshire a secret. Can you blame me? NH is beautiful and has such a diversity of scenery that is incomparable. The Lakes Region, coastline, forest areas, the mountains (North Country), the more urban areas, the country, and all within a short drive of eachother. It reminded me of Idaho in some ways, though NH is a bit superior, IMO. It reminds me of Washington State much more.

Well one of the great things about Washington State is that you get a lot of that diversity, though much more spread out. Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and more, the country, the urban, the forests, the beaches and coastline, beautiful bodies of water, suburbia, etc. There isn't the beautiful color of fall that manifests itself in the leaves during Fall and there isn't the proximity to other states, but it's home, my home.

I am so excited to go camping, hiking, biking, weekending, etc. The west truly has so much to offer and the summer's in the west are amazing!

The title of this blog post is the best way to describe my 2008.

-I drove across the country for the second time in a year.

-I met Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Tim Russert, James Denton, Viggo Mortensen, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King, Joe Lieberman, and more that I am forgetting.

-I adopted two kitties.

-I lived in 3 states.

-I have now visited 47 states in the US.

-I lived in my Mecca, Washington D.C.

-I worked on K Street.

-I became known as the best in my field of tracking candidates for public office.

-I bought a new car, my dream car.

-I helped a few people have a Christmas.

-I lived my dream and I had moments of such profound happiness, there are no words to explain it.

Unlike many I know, and countless I don't, 2008 was a pretty good year for me. I hope 2009 is even better, especially for those who need it.

Ok, so I was hoping for snow, a lot of it, but it's now gotten to the point of ridiculousness! I have been snowed in since Thursday and could very well be snowed in until Christmas or later. I live on a hill and a sidehill. The hill is plenty covered with snow, but I think my SUV could navigate it, but the sidehill is a death trap. It hasn't been plowed and the snow is very deep and slick. So, to get out of my parking garage, I would have to either go up the sidehill or down. sigh.

My kitties arrived from Oregon on Friday and thank goodness my brother has an Xterra and drove from Federal Way to come and get me and take me to the airport. I made him stop by the grocery store so I could get some groceries and firewood (duraflame), but jeepers, had I known the hell that is my sidehill would be this bad and continue to be this bad, I would've stocked up more!

Last Christmas I spent it alone in Rhode Island. How ironic if, after moving across the country from DC to Seattle, I would spend this Christmas alone because there is no way I could make the 26 mile trek down I-5 to my parents house? Now, if my main hill is driveable and if I-5 is fine, I'm sure my brother or step-dad will come get me and my pets and bring us to Federal Way, so I highly doubt I will truly be alone, but this whole experience has made me grateful for the City of Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Concord, and every other town and city in Idaho and New Hampshire for the way they handle the snow.

I can't blame the City of Seattle too much. The amount of snow we get is unpredictable and it would be hard to justify the expense of several more snow plows. I do think these storms we've been having have provided the City with information and hopefully new ideas for tackling storms in the future, namely, plowing the roads.

Seattle is very hilly and the City lacks the resources to tackle all the sidehills in Seattle and trust me when I say, there are hills everywhere, but there is always room for improvement. It seems as though they have done a good job with setting up temporary shelters for the homeless and heating stations in case the power goes out and you're cold. But heating stations don't help if you can't get there!

So, my fingers are crossed for some rain to wash away the snow and/or some sun to melt it away, so I can finish my Christmas shopping, go buy some kitten supplies, and return to some semblence of normalcy.

I am totally feeling at home with all the snow in Seattle! I've never lived in a big city during winter and it is just awesome looking out my windows and seeing the snow amidst the cityscape.

I had a physical therapy appointment this afternoon and thought it best to cancel. It isn't as though I am scared to drive in it (I am, a little), but other drivers here generally have very little experience driving in it. Also, the City of Seattle, and other areas in Western Washington, just aren't prepared for weather like this. Had this snowstorm happened in Idaho or New Hampshire, the roads would be consistently plowed, salt and/or red rock put down, and the sidewalks cleared. Not here. I live on Queen Anne, which is on a hill and no roads have been plowed.

Living in New Hampshire and Idaho, I loved to venture out in my car, even in several feet of snow, and just defy logic. Here, I don't wish to defy logic and drive in it (until tomorrow to go get my kittens from the airport) and it looks like a lot of other people feel the same way. It's the traffic jam time and I-5 in Seattle has no traffic. I know this because I can see I-5 from my condo (well part of I-5, obviously). So maybe I have underestimated Seattle drivers?

It isn't much and it's pretty pathetic to what Idaho and New England are capable of producing, but it's still snow and it will have to do.

I remember back in Junior High and High School when we would get a few inches and the entire area would shut down. People out here get freaked out by snow. Emergency school closures, late-starts, people thinking they can drive in it when really they can't. That's winter in Seattle.

After 8 winter's in Idaho and 1 winter in New England, I've seen plenty of snow and no matter where you are, no matter how ugly the area, snow has a way of beautifying it. Everything is so much prettier with snow. That is until the red rock is poured on the streets and the pure white snow becomes red gunk. But still, there is never enough red rock to ruin it.

My favorite is when you get the whiteout snowstorms where you are almost insane to go drive in it. We had several of those in New Hampshire. One right after another. It would take 30 minutes to an hour to dig your car out and enough of a trail to get to a road the city had plowed and then I would drive the approximate 1 mile to my office and work while the city was calm. Yeah, that's right, I'm one of those insane people who insist on driving in snowstorms.

I love sitting in an office or your home and watching the massive amounts of snow fall. Seeing the buildup on trees, roofs, cars, and streets is exhilirating. This all makes me yearn for a white Christmas that is possible in Seattle, though unlikely. Last Christmas, I was in Rhode Island. I wanted to go somewhere I might never ever see and Rhode Island was only about 2 hours from New Hampshire. I was barely in Rhode Island because about 1 mile down the road from my hotel was Massachussets. lol. Gotta love how every state in New England is so close to other states.

I didn't really have the white Christmas in Rhode Island. There were traces of snow off the sidewalks and it was cold, but to the best of my knowledge, I don't remember snow. What I remember is driving across bridges that led to islands within Rhode Island. Rhode Island was simply gorgeous.

After seeing this picture, is there any doubt that New Hampshire is the prettiest state out there? The only way to describe the fall colors is that every color of the rainbow is represented and colors you didn't even know existed are displayed for miles and miles.

I've got a special place in my heart for Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. Almost a year ago, I tracked my first event/candidate. I tracked John McCain in Dixville Notch. There were maybe 20 people there and only a few people in the press pool. I was nervous as hell and amazed that I stood five feet from McCain as he held a town hall at the Balsams Hotel (which is GORGEOUS!). That event feels like yesterday.

I barely made it up the Notch because of the snow and steep roads, but my Nissan made it, despite spinning out and doing some 360's.

Dixville Notch is a gorgeous area (take a look at some pictures) and so I was excited to find out that Dixville Notch, for the first time in 40 years, has voted for the Democrat for President, Barack H. Obama.

In case you don't know about Dixville Notch, they are the first to generally report their results in the New Hampshire Primary and General Election, with having their citizens vote at midnight and immediately reporting their results.

This is AWESOME! Thanks, Dixville Notch, for putting a smile on my face.

By now, you may have heard about the John Edwards affair allegations that include a child he allegedly fathered. sigh. I have many thoughts. First of all, nothing has been proven. Second of all, I hope to God it isn't true. But, if the affair and/or child story is true, it is a very sad story.

It basically underscores a problem many politicians face, adultery. Hell, it's a problem many people face. Frankly I'm not too terribly surprised when there are allegations of this sort of thing and when the allegations are proven, it's just another public face who did what we have come to expect. Truly sad that we have become numb to something as tragic and wrong as adultery.

I think the reason adultery bothers me so much is because I believe that trust is sacred and adultery can ruin or at least damage the trust that has been sacredly placed with another. Also, adultery doesn't just affect a married couple, but the children, extended family, even the person(s) who is sleeping with the married person.

This situation with John Edwards is really providing me with a test. I have a problem with splitting. As you all know, I love and adore John Edwards. Not just the politician, but the person. I think he geniunely has a good heart. Yeah, he's filthy rich and lives in a big mansion and is a millionaire, but I know he cares about poverty. I know he was geniune in what he wanted to fight for as President. I still believe in his message and I will never regret voting for him in the NEW HAMPSHIRE Primary.

So my splitting problem is something I try to work on. Believe me, it's a daily battle. The John Edwards allegations are providing me with the perfect test. It makes me angry that he might've done this to his wife, kids, and supporters. It will damage his reputation and hurt him if he continues working on issues he cares about. We may never know the effects.

This is all so unfortunate because it shouldn't discount the work he has done; the kids he has helped put through college with his own money, the people he helped who are poor, the millions he inspired with his message. I think if we knew of every politician who had an affair, we'd be shocked. If we withdrew our support based on the fact that a politician did have an affair, we'd be hardpressed to find many to support.

A politician who doesn't cheat shouldn't be given a pat on the back, but one that does have an affair shouldn't get a free pass. We want better and we should demand better. (FYI: John McCain cheated on his first wife with a much younger woman, his current wife, Cindy McCain. His first wife was a model but was in a car accident and gained weight and lost height and didn't have those same model looks.)

I hate that politics has come to this. We expect adultery, corruption, cronyism, special favors, and special interests placed over majority interests. So, either we can keep expecting this, or we can do something about it. What will you do?

Editor's note: This post was written over a week ago. I didn't post it until today because I am lazy.

Tonight I met with some of my former co-workers at Recessions, a bar a block away from the infamous K-street (I worked on K street, ironically enough!). It was a time to celebrate and a time to say goodbye. Words can't adequately describe the emotions I experienced tonight. Some of the strong emotions are related to individuals I am leaving behind. Some, the life I am leaving behind.

The journey I've embarked on over the last year has been remarkable in many ways. I have traveled this wonderful country we live in. I have lived in Vegas, New Hampshire, and now Maryland. I have fallen in love with New England and I think about NEW HAMPSHIRE almost daily.

I have grown up in a lot of ways, matured in just as many, and I have fallen short and recognized that it is a daily struggle to improve upon ourselves, and sometimes we lose the struggle.

So, here are some pictures as I reflect on the last year and the journey I began July 1st, 2007 and the journey that ends this August.

One of my first days in Vegas (July, 2007), I met my hero, John Edwards. Words cannot describe how excited I was to meet him. When he walked into the room, he saw my shirt, shook my hand and grabbed my shoulder with his other arm and said, "I like your shirt." I was speechless, but I managed to say, "I like it too." A friend captured this on video but I never got her to send me the footage. Ah well.

This was my office in Vegas! Sign signs everywhere. This was in August of 2007.

Tim Russert and on the NH Primary Day (January 2008)! He was so kind! RIP.

Me at Daytona Beach in Florida (February 2008). Probably the prettiest beach I saw on my travels. Miami beach was pretty too. Daytona Beach was better. More peaceful and better sand.

My romance with the east coast that is. I LOVE D.C., but that love mainly consists of loving the monuments, museums-all the touristy stuff. The weather during the summer is hellish and it can be expensive using the subway for transportation. Having a car out here can truly suck because parking and traffic are nasty. The economy, meh. There are so many educated and experienced people here that companies and organizations can afford to pay low wages. In many respects, the economy in Seattle and surrounding areas is superior.

I truly miss New England and everything about it. If I had the money to rent a place in Maine on the beach, I would do so in a second. I miss the smell of the ocean, lighthouses, the beaches, the history, the town halls in NEW HAMPSHIRE, the people-the amazing people and their accents. I miss the snow, I miss seeing presidential candidates daily. I miss being in love and by that I mean being in love with where I was at. So close to so much. One hour to Boston, one hour to Vermont, one hour to Maine, 45 minutes to the coast, 40 minutes to the Mass. border. A few hours from New York City. Ahhhhh!!! That, my friends, is one of the biggest differences between the east and west. Everything is so close out here and I LOVE THAT. But I can't love it enough because I don't have the funds to see everything that is close. And this plays into my decision to move. Being so close to things doesn't mean much when you can't trave to those things.

I've been on the outside of politics for the last few weeks and I've found it surprisingly delightful. I still read Politico daily and want to keep up with the general political happenings. It's been nice to refocus on what's important. Last night I was laying in bed and it hit me. My job dominated my life far too much and I lost track and focus of things that deserved my attention. Hopefully my next job won't present the same time and mental challenges to having a well-balanced life.

So after spending a few days home in Seattle, I returned to my other home back east. I felt like I was going to a funeral, which sounds so awful and melodramatic, but it's painfully true. My whole life was my job and now it's gone which means I have no life. My social life revolved around my work and co-workers and that is gone. I can only spend some much time job hunting, writing cover letters, tweaking my resume, etc, before I become bored to death. So, I decided to use my severance check to buy a small television and get cable installed...

I haven't had my own access to a tv and cable in almost a year, so I think it's high time I was reunited with one of my great loves-television. I love to sleep with the tv on. It's a bad habit, but I've done it for so long and the familiarity of it feels really nice. I also figure that even when I do find a new job, it hopefully won't require 60-80 hour+ work weeks like my last job so I will have more time to relax in front of the tv.

I've been really toying with the idea of moving to Seattle. I just don't know if I should pull the trigger on that idea quite yet. Here's why; I've spent the last year building up my resume, but building it up for campaign work. Now, I'm not quite sure I want to do campaign work. The hours, the instability, the often times shitty treatment, I just don't know if I have it in me to make a career out of it. So when I look at other jobs that I'm not quite qualified for, but could be soon, I think what better place to be than D.C. to build up my resume and really get good experience outside of campaign work?

I love politics, and if I don't/can't work on campaigns, maybe I should keep myself in my Mecca to still feed that hunger but not gorge myself on it by working on campaigns?

Lastly, I would just like to say that I wish more than anything that my family lived out east. I love it out here, especially New England.

So today is April 13th and that means that in two days, I will be 27 years old. 27 feels so much older than 26 does. Can't explain it. My birthday will be pretty decent. I'll have to work the morning shift, which requires waking up at 4am and catching the 5am subway to D.C. I will have my physical therapy appointment after work and then I am meeting my friend, Paula, from NEW HAMPSHIRE, in D.C.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited to see her. Paula has become a dear friend and I look up to her so much. I love my coworkers and they have all become friends, but it will truly be nice to spend some of my birthday with a non work related friend.

So, I think I've shared my favorite Rilke quote before, but I find it very fitting as I sit on the edge of a birthday and faced with many questions about my future:

"I beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Do not search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer." Rilke

I kinda thought I would fall in love with it there and I did. I could easily settle down in New Hampshire or Mass or Maine, or Vermont, or Conn., or Rhode Island.

I started in Portsmouth, NEW HAMPSHIRE, made a quick visit to Maine, then drove down to Massachusetts by way of Concord, NEW HAMPSHIRE to run some errands. After being in Mass for a few hours, I finally caught my flight to Baltimore and then picked up my rental car in Baltimore and drove through Maryland and Delaware to finally reach Jersey. I got into Jersey around 12:30am last night, went to bed and got up and drove to Pennsylvania. 

So I spent the last 2 days in NEW HAMPSHIRE! My first full day was filled with pretty shitty weather until the afternoon when the snow stopped and it warmed up a bit. I was able to get a hot cocoa with a friend, Paula in Durham, home of the University of New Hampshire. It was sooooooo nice to see her and a familiar face. Familiar faces become one of the greatest gifts you receive when you are in my position. 

Took out a bunch of states I spent some time in, as my title can only be so long. Plus, now the title is more accurate because I wasn't living in Michigan, South Carolina, Florida, and other states, just there for a few days to a week.

Want to recommend that you check out a good friend of mine's blog, Front Row Seat: First in the Nation. I met Paula in New Hampshire and I am so glad I did. She has become a mentor of mine in many ways and she will be in D.C. in April, on my bday, so I am stoked about that!

I am thinking about changing things up on my blog. Maybe the layout a bit, including the background color. Though I like the black and its sleek look. Any suggestions would be fantastic. Also, I need to change up some of my sidebar, including some bad links.

Ok, bedtime for me. Night ya'll.

I am back in NEW HAMPSHIRE after spending Sunday in Connecticut and Saturday in Nashville! Nashville was gorgeous! Connecticut was pretty as well, but what was prettiest about Connecticut was the protestors I was able to see. :) More later.

After a good night's sleep in Manchester, NEW HAMPSHIRE, I will be headed down to Washington D.C. I'm pretty nervous because sooooooo much will change but I think I'm ready for a change and ready to get settled down. I've been able to live out of a suitcase but it will be nice to have a place to call home.

I'm gonna keep this short. Say a prayer for my safe travels and that I will find a place to call home. Thank you.

I'm blogging from the cold and snowy throes of Chicago, Illinois. It's actually not that cold. I think NEW HAMPSHIRE taught me what real cold is. Chicago just got a snowstorm last night which kept me in Atlanta longer than I wanted. I was a bit excited though because I thought I could catch part of the debate on one of the tv's in the airport. As soon as it started, they changed the channel on every tv to the Mavs-Celts game...ummm??? Do I even need to go into why this was total crap?

So, while I would love suggestions on things to do, places to see, and foods to eat, I am flying out tomorrow morning to....NASHVILLE! I am actually more excited for Nashville than I was for Chicago because going to Nashville means I get to cross off another state on my list of states to see!

I'm thinking I'll be back in NEW HAMPSHIRE in the next few days for my final goodbye. sigh.