It's official, I can vote!
The oath ceremony was very touching, I cried a whole lot! I got there very early, and there were already two thousand people waiting.
I got in line, and it was interesting that we all knew how to stay in our places in line - we all had lots of practice. We surrendered our Green Cards, got a red ok in our paper, were given an envelope and had to sit down
and wait until everyone was processed.
The envelope had a letter from the President, a booklet with the Pledge, the Star-Spangled Banner, the Oath of Allegiance and the Constitution, and the only "Made In America" plastic American flag that I have ever seen. Meanwhile, the Master of Ceremony told us what to expect, asked that we make a lot of noise and wave the flags when the Oath was done. Voter registration cards were passed around. The Hall was turn into a big Courtroom when Judge Florence Cooper entered. She told us it was an honor for her to preside over our Oath because she's a Naturalized citizen too, and how many opportunities this country gives individuals that are willing to work hard. She also remarked that since we've been living here for a while, we already know this is not a perfect country, it was up to us to help make it more so! We then said our Oath of Allegiance - renouncing fidelity to any foreign state - and were declared New Citizens!
There were 3,081 new citizens that morning, and there was another ceremony scheduled for later that same day with at least 3,000 more. There were 150 different countries represented, and 45 military men and women 
were sworn in. We then said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the Star-Spangled Banner. We also heard a short speech by our President, and watched a music video from a country artist. I was all over in a few minutes, the whole thing took 3 hours, from the time I arrived to the time I drove out. I went straight to apply for my passport and register to vote - I didn't want to do it in LA, I want to guarantee my vote on March 2nd!
So now I can say, My Fellow Americans, let's go out there and VOTE!!!!
