Love, Life and Appreciation

Rex and I voted today for the 2012 Presidential Election. We opted for early voting. We voted two days after Hurricane Sandy devastated much of the East Coast, with NJ and NY being the hardest hit. I called my family in NJ and they told me they lost power the day the storm hit, but got their electricity back Tuesday.

We got strong winds and heavy rain, where we are in Maryland. The lights flicker on and off about 5 times during the storm and I was sure we were going to lose it by the following morning. To our surprise we still had electricity and there was minimal damage outside. We did notice part of the roof on the ground though. The storm has a major potential to affect the election. Many parts of the area hit are still without power and reports are saying they may be out of power for a week or so. The election is November 6. In those areas, I'm sure the people are more concerned about their homes that they lost and the rebuilding. Our thoughts are with them.

For the past two days early voting in Maryland was cancelled due to Sandy and when we went today the line was long. It took about an hour and thirty minutes to get inside to vote. It was unseasonably cold too. The cold air also brought high amounts of snow to places like West Virginia and Maryland during Sandy's wrath. While we waited we spoke to a nice couple. They were so nice. It's amazing some of the people you meet randomly. (Sometimes I can't believe how my husband and I met randomly and think about our lives now and I couldn't have imagined it, any other way.)

When we finally got inside we voted and we got a sticker. I'm so proud of Rex. To become a US citizen this July and vote in election, that's wonderful! There's so many people born in the US that don't vote and complain about who is president or other issues and forget that people had to fight for their right to vote. As an African American and a woman, voting did not come easy and I will vote in every election I am able to. Now I can get to legally changing my name over :-)

Rex is officially a U.S. citizen as of 4:30 pm yesterday when he and a couple other candidates,including his sister, Ruth, were sworn in. The test and ceremony were held at the Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore, MD. Rex, Ruth and I drove to Baltimore around 9:00 am. Their appointment wasn't until 11:00 am but we wanted to leave early in case of traffic or getting lost. I quizzed Rex along the way and as we waited for the appointment.

A little after 11 Rex was called back. Ruth and I wished him good luck. About 15 minutes later he came back with a big smile on his face. He passed! I was so happy for him. I started to cry. He kissed me and we congratulated him and then waited for his sister to be called. We waited a good 40 minutes or so before she was called. The receptionist told us that sometimes that happens and sometimes people wait up to an hour to be called back. Ruth returned about 30 minutes after she was called. She was crying. She had passed! We congratulated her and we hugged and luckily they were able to be sworn in later that afternoon. Sometimes the candidates (which Rex and Ruth became after they passed) had to be rescheduled for another date and time. They were to be sworn in at 3:30 pm. They also could not commit a crime before that time, or after :-)

We were hungry as were waiting for 3:30, so we walked to a Subway and then after that we walked to the waterfront. By this time it was close to 2 and it was nice walking along the waterfront. I wanted to take a watertaxi for the time we were waiting but Rex told me that the watertaxi goes far and we probably wouldn't make it back in time. We decided to head back to the federal building around 2:30 as Ruth was scheduled to be present at 2:45 and Rex was scheduled to be present at 3:15. Finally at about 3:35 they called the candidates and families to go to the room where the ceremony was to be held.

The ceremony started around 4 and Rex and Ruth and the other candidates handed in their green cards and other such documents. They received a large packet filled with a booklet on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, as well as a voter's guide, passport application, a letter from President Barack Obama, among other things. A small American flag was also handed out. The Star Spangled Banner was then played, followed by the candidates being sworn in. The candidates read the Oath of Allegiance while raising their right hand. Afterward we said the Pledge of Allegiance. Then the candidates walked up to receive their certificate and the ceremony was ended with a recorded welcome from President Barack Obama. 

I'm so proud of Rex, Ruth and all the other newly sworn in U.S. citizens. It's really wonderful.  Congratulations everyone!

Here are a couple of pictures from the waterfront and the ceremony:

Rex has been studying hard these last couple of weeks, for the U.S. Naturalization test.  He'll be an official U.S. citizen if he passes.  His test date is July 31st. I've been quizzing him and he's been doing great answering many questions about U.S. history and civics, correctly. The book that is given out to study from has about 100 facts and the test only consists of up to 10 of those facts. There is also a CD of the facts too. The test taker must also read a sentence and put words that are given into a sentence.

I am confident Rex will pass. He is a very hard worker and is very motivated.

Good luck baby!

Rex is one step closer towards getting his citizenship. He went for his finger prints yesterday. Still studying for the test. I'm so proud of him. Soon it'll be time for him to take the test and then he'll be a US citizen. Yay baby! You can do it :-)

Rex has started the process for getting his US citizenship.  He's finally eligible and he's studying for the test.  I know he'll make it. We're both so happy :-) Yay baby!