VOTE.......like your life depends on it!

We have voted, have you?  

This isn't my first rodeo, nor my first rodeo voting abroad.  It is a lengthy process and time consuming to vote from another country, but I can assure you, I wouldn't miss it for the world!  This year it was much more important to me as it was Jackson's first time voting.  I was so proud of how he handled himself.  He really took the time to research the candidates and vote with a conscience.  It seriously took us 4 hours to complete our ballots.  I saw Willow Smith talking about voting on "Red Table Talk," and mentioning just how confusing it is for a new, young voter.  I agree wholeheartedly and was glad that Jackson and I could discuss whatever he had questions about, while we researched the candidates and proposals.  Jackson asked questions that hadn't even occurred to me and challenged me on my decisions and how I made up my mind of how to cast my vote.  It was really pretty cool to vote together and take as much time as we wanted.  (instead of just voting for all the women, like I usually do).   😉

I'm not here to tell you how to vote, but I would encourage you to get out there and do it.  I do believe that every vote counts and that it is important to make your voice heard.  Take the time, make a plan, and VOTE like your life depends on it.  Because from my perspective,,,, it does!     

Jackson:

This year was my first year voting and we are overseas so we had to request Absentee Ballots. My Mom and I both filled out forms that would make sure we were registered to vote and request our Absentee Ballots at the same time. We mailed them to our clerk in Grand Rapids, and about a week after we got an email with our Ballot. We printed them out and cast our votes for the election which included voting for president, state senators, congress representatives and other local elections. It was interesting to see how many different types of elections there were in Grand Rapids and the State Proposals that were on this years ballot. After we were done casting our votes, we sent our ballots back to the United States in time for November 3rd. 

Levi: I am really excited for this week because I have October break and I get a 16 day weekend, it will be very fun and I am probably going to play games with my friends and go on walks, enjoy the stars and just enjoy my time off in general.  I have been waiting for some time off in school and finally the time has come! School has been going fantastic and has been very fun, we had to wear yellow on the 9th to spread mental health awareness and we donated 1 pound to charity groups. It was fun until I fell in the mud while playing football. The weeks have been fun and I am very relieved to finally have some time off!  

Jackson:

This week we got to try a new restaurant in the city center called Chaophraya. It is a Thai restaurant and was located right on Buchanan street. The inside was very nice and had statues and huge ceilings with big chandeliers. 

My Mom and I started by sharing the Chaophraya Platter that had Thai chicken tacos, traditional Thai fish cakes, chicken spring rolls, tempura prawns and spicy duck salad. Our favorites out of all of those were the Thai chicken tacos and the tempura prawns. 

I then ordered Pandan Chicken as a starter because I wasn't that hungry. The dish had tender chicken marinated and fried in fresh Thai spices wrapped in pandan leaves. 

For dessert we had the Chocolate Bombe that had a dark chocolate sphere filled with a chocolate mousse, peanuts and hot caramel sauce. It was very delicious. 

Kitty:  I ordered this as my entree (while Jackson 

ordered the chicken) 

It was to die for! 

We walked a full hour to get to the restaurant, and 

an hour home.  It was worth every mile!!

Later in the week we tried a new pizza restaurant called Paesano Pizza. Levi brought his friend Cameron from school. I ordered a pizza that had Spianata spicy salami from Calabria with tomato sugo, mozzarella and evoo. It was very tasty and I ate the entire pizza in one sitting. 

These were great restaurants, and the food was amazing!  As of this past Friday, Glasgow has gone on a two week shut down calling for restaurants to be closed (if they have a liquor license), due to the highest cases of the coronavirus thus far.  So with that said, Kitty Crocker is scheduled to be back next week.  Pray for us all, as I've already ruined a perfectly good banana bread! 

See you at the polls,

Kitty