I just spent the past 8.5 hours driving in the snow/rain/freezing rain to get back home. What a miserable ride! Last time I drove home in the snow, I ended up crashing into a cement wall on I-80. Thankfully that didn’t happen. I usually can do the drive straight through with no stopping, but I had to take a quick nap 3/4 of the way through.

Fun thing is… I get to do it all again on Sunday.

Saturday was Mari’s sorority’s 20 year anniversary. The sorority planned a huge formal in Waterbury. It was a great chance for us to dress up and go out.

Overall I had an amazing time. I love all of Mari’s sisters. They truly are wonderful people. I got to see Elyse and Shannon, whom I haven’t seen in like 10 years. Talking to Lauren and Courtney and everyone else was great as always.

I really enjoy doing ‘grown-up’ things with Mari. It makes me feel like that’s the way it will be in the future. Some of my most favorite memories in the past two years have been just being us — going on dates, formal dinners, being the adults we will be. That doesn’t mean we aren’t kids at heart though.

Here are some pictures from the formal… Enjoy!

My dad once told me that he remembered exactly where he was when he heard John F. Kennedy was shot. Moments that are etched into your mind like that happen at most five times in a lifetime.

America has come a long way since those times. We still have some room to improve. I hope Barack Obama will help fix any overdue issues.

As I was driving back from New Haven, I witnessed $1.95 gas. I haven’t seen gas this cheap in, well I can’t remember when. It realy feel good filling up my tank with $35 instead of $70.

Oil prices are now down to $49.55 a barrell, down from the summer high of around $147.00. That is so incredible for me. Just as the housing and credit bubbles have burst, so has the gas bubble. These prices have such a trickle down effect that it will end up effecting everything we as consumers come in contact with. Milk to snickers bars and everything in between should be lower because it won’t cost as much to ship them.

Hopefully now my McDonald’s double cheeseburger will go back to $1.00…

My brother Caleb and I have decided to take our chances in the stock market. Caleb wants to make some quick money, while I want to do some more long term investments. Caleb wants to buy General Motors (GM). Unfortunately for him, I won’t let him do that. He should have read my post about GM. I want to test my stock skills with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Yea, I can hear you know. Didn’t they collapse like four months ago? The answer to that is yes. But hear me out.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FNM and FRE, respectively) are at their all-time lows. FNM is selling at $0.40 a share, while FRE is at $0.56 a share. That is down from their 68 week highs of over $60 a share! My plan is to invest a small amount – $500 – on Fannie and Freddie. These are companies that cannot, and will not, completely collapse. Once they return to their old dominance (in 2-5 years), Caleb and I will be sitting on an over $50,000 return. If we decided to continue to put money into them, the sky is the limit.

Maybe the best part about the whole thing is while CNBC has their Maria Bartiromo analyzing stocks, I have my Mari Bartolomeo.