Happy Election Day!

Happy Election Day!  

I hope everyone exercised their right to vote today.  So many people have fought so hard to earn/protect our right to vote (military, civil rights activists, etc.), so the least we can do is use it!

I went to the polls after school and only had to wait about 15 minutes to vote.  There was some drama at the polling place while I was there!  An older man apparently got frustrated (it was quite a long ballot, and you filled in the bubbles like a Scantron test) and threw his ballot in the trash.  The people freaked out, and the man refused to sign something that said his ballot wasn't counted!  That was quite interesting.

On to the usual content...

Diet Tip of the Day
I really love how restaurants are starting to put calorie counts next to their menu items.  I ate at Panera tonight with a friend of mine from camp (so good to catch up with you, Emily!!) and definitely used the calorie counts next to the different items to select my meal.

For example: when deciding on soup, I opted for the 50-calorie Chicken Noodle over the 150 calorie Broccoli Cheddar.  I love cheese, but you can never go wrong with chicken noodle, especially with 100 fewer calories!

I've also noticed this at McDonald's (Joe's go-to fast food place) and at restaurants like Red Lobster that have an under 500 calorie menu or Outback that has dishes you can ask to be made "light."  Great idea for restaurants to encourage those that are a little more calorie- or health-conscious to still eat at their restaurant!

Faith Find
Beth Moore, a women's minister through Living Proof Ministries, posted this post about praying for our future president without knowing who it is.  Readers have been posting their prayers, based on what Scripture says a leader should be/do.

I think it's really important that we pray for our nation's leaders each and every day, but that isn't something I've been good at.  I've been reading the prayers posted in the comments and have been using them during the day.  I'll pray about 5 of them each time, and I will continue to do that throughout the election and in the weeks leading up to Inauguration Day.  I'm going to try and add our nation and its leaders to my daily prayers after that, as well.

Join me in praying for the man that will be elected today to lead us for the next four years!

Today's Training
I was all ready to head to the YMCA after voting (the polling place is right next door), and as I was walking in, I realized I didn't have a hair tie.  Now, I don't know about you, but I cannot run with my long hair down!

I know that's a really lame excuse for not running, but it just can't happen.  I overheat, I become more of a sweaty mess, and I feel weird when I have my hair down.  I know somebody out there can feel me!

I'm bumping my 35-minute run to tomorrow.  It's going to be a busy day, but I am committed to 3 runs this week!

Time to get back to watching election results.  What is it about turning the states red and blue is so darn entertaining?  I just can't turn it away!

I hope everyone has a great election day, and please, no matter the results of the elections, pray for our country and treat everyone with respect and decency!  It'll make everyone's lives better :)