The day before my birthday, Dave and I ran to catch a bus from Madison to Chicago. We were off to Union Station to catch a train to New York, where we were going to couch surf for a week over spring break. It was 2004. Crossing into Illinois, the ground was covered with patches of snow, and the street corners with political signs. It was days before the Democratic Senate primary. I remember the simple blue signs that read "Obama" in white serif, probably the first time I'd heard the name. He went on to easily defeat Alan Keyes (who I remember talking to in the lounge of my dorm previously).

It's now just a few months short of five years later. I'm on my couch in San Francisco (where I never expected to live), watching Obama take the oath of office to become the President of the United States.

Life is unpredictable. And that's awesome.