Al Gore on the JumboTron. The main stage was so far away that we watched everything on the big screens in the stadium.



This is a photo shortly after Obama got on stage.


A nearby JumboTron during Obama's speech.


When there were flags waving in the top section, the floor was inevitably going wild!


We left home at 12:00, walked 30 minutes, waited in line for maybe an hour and a half, then finally got seated around 2:00. We were pretty early and had our choice of seats in section 526. Basically sat in the warm sun from 2:00 to 5:00, then entertainment and speeches started.


Post-event photo. Brandon's wearing his Tacos for Obama shirt, and I'm waving my flag.


Man- if only I could have captured the magic of tonight through pictures. Our seats were in the upper-level, and my new fancy camera doesn't have the zoom capabilities of my old camera, so it wasn't possible to capture the many wonderful sights. For example, the thousands of flags waving in unison with wild energy, and the delegates on the floor who were dancing so happily in the aisles to songs like Ain't No Mountain High Enough very early into the evening- probably three hours before Obama's speech. Seeing Obama's little girls, especially the youngest, get all exited when she realized they were on the JumboTron. Seeing people make public speaking seem effortless.

In spite of our birds-eye view, I still loved the music and dancing and speeches and thought Obama's acceptance speech was inspiring. Volunteers passed out tiny American flags to every single person in the stadium. They had a small number of gigantic flags they would pass out to a few people in a small number of sections during speeches, and take back during intermissions. They must have passed them out and taken them back no fewer than 7 times. These flags were bigger than our king-sized bed sheets! Amazing all the details that go into something like this.

And Stevie Wonder! Hearing him sing, Signed, Sealed, Delivered made me happy. Hearing Al Gore speak was great. One of my favorite parts of the evening is when they brought out a number of regular citizens out, and we heard their stories- they were all very compelling, and I was impressed with how engaging they were.

We were standing outside in the long line, and a sweet older woman who didn't have a ticket was taking in the scene. She stopped next to me and asked me excitedly, "Are you a delegate?" I told her I wasn't, but said proudly that I was a Colorado citizen. I'm grateful for Obama's decision to make something like this accessible to the masses. I felt lucky and am inspired.

Brandon and I are excited to be headed to Invesco Field tomorrow night to watch Obama's acceptance speech. The original rumors said that Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen were the big performers, which left Brandon and I to wonder, are we in 1988? I've read new reports today that say The Boss and Bon Jovi won't be playing, and instead we might hear from Stevie Wonder and Sheryl Crow.

We live around 2 miles from the stadium, so we're lucky in that we can walk and don't have to find parking in downtown Denver. Every time we attend something like this, I have a tendency to dress up and wear my dressy shoes, as opposed to comfy shoes- which when you're walking a few miles, usually means tennis shoes. Trying to decide whether I'll wear my great new Qdoba Obama shirt, something red, white, and blue, or something a little more formal for this unique occasion. I tell you what- I wish so much that I had one of those fancy white barbershop quartet hats with the red and blue stripes.

I'm usually pretty private when it comes to politics, so my speaking about entertainment and outfits isn't for lack of being amazed by and appreciative for what I'll be experiencing tomorrow. For the record, we've been watching the DNC speeches incessantly and I'm honestly thinking about way more than my footwear.

If the speech wasn't taking place at a big stadium, there's no way an average couple of Denverites would get the opportunity to attend something like this. I am grateful.

Thanks to Brandon (and Qdoba), I have a new favorite t-shirt.

I've never even been close to getting in trouble with the law, but for some reason have this innate fear of the police! Koda and I just went on a 2-mile run throughout our neighborhood, and ventured east toward downtown Denver. I saw 2 large SWAT teams all decked out in full uniform carrying their scary SWAT team helmets. One group was casually walking across the street, and the other was hanging out talking on a sidewalk- either just letting their presence be known, or perhaps going through some last-minute training exercises. Nonetheless, I found myself feeling sort of nervous. Maybe that's the point- too bad all the bad guys out there weren't born with my same fear of getting in trouble. I never even had my name on the board or detention all throughout school. I wasn't trying to be a goody two-shoes, but was seriously just scared of authority figures.

Oh, and Koda- our sweet dog who seriously never raises his voice- was barking viciously at the people in donkey and elephant costumes on segways giving away DNC garb. I really thought I would just grab a free shirt or hat to commemorate the DNC, but Koda apparently thought the donkey wanted to eat me or something. Not sure if it was the scary donkey head or the way the donkey appeared to be gliding that scared him, but in any case, it's reassuring to know he's got my back.

Exciting! Brandon and I received credentials to go to Invesco Field on Thursday to see Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for candidate of president of the US of A.

Luckily, we live in a great spot, so we'll be able to avoid traffic by walking a little less than 2 miles to Invesco Field that day. Our neighborhood is really close to downtown Denver, where most of the DNC events are taking place. Just two blocks from our place, MSNBC has this huge two-story stage they built practically overnight.

We just drove home from the mall, and after we got off the interstate we saw 4 groups of cops from the Interstate to our apartment, which is probably less than a mile stretch. It kind of felt eerie seeing so many police cars, but Brandon reminded me that we are kind of in the heart of everything, and that it's great that the city's being proactive with the security so early on.

Looking forward to Thursday, when we'll head to Invesco Field with over 75,000 other people to see the acceptance speech. I can't believe we'll be a part of such a great moment in history.