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Michelle Obama Becoming Book Tour Surprise

My husband, Rodney, pulled off the Christmas surprise of a lifetime by gifting me a ticket to attend Former First Lady Michelle Obama's “Becoming” book tour. Now, let me be clear—this is not a political post. It's about the incredible person Michelle Obama is and why I consider her a role model.

My admiration for Michelle Obama dates back to 2007 when she entered the world stage during Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Her inaugural speech left a lasting impression on me as she shared her blue-collar upbringing on the South Side of Chicago, highlighting the influence of her family's commitment to shaping the woman she is today.

Furthermore, Michelle's stellar educational background is truly inspiring. From high school salutatorian to Princeton University graduate (cum laude) and earning her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School—her academic achievements are nothing short of remarkable.

Michelle Obama Becoming

Photo Credit: Miller Mobley and Penguin Random House

Michelle Obama - Empower Like Michelle image

Dedication to Helping Others

While Michelle Obama's impressive achievements are undeniably inspiring, it's her dedication to helping others that resonates with me the most. The passion to make a difference in people's lives has always struck a chord with me, given my background of overcoming an abusive childhood. The challenges I faced in my early years fueled my commitment to advocate for those who may not have a voice.

In my view, we share this planet together, and our collective mission should be to live our best lives by supporting one another, embracing differences, and respecting each other's beliefs. As Thomas Jefferson eloquently put it, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence).

VRBOCommunity Service

Her commitment to community service pre-dating her role as First Lady is truly commendable:

  • While at Princeton University, she created a reading program for the children of the school’s manual laborers. 
  • She left corporate law to pursue a career in public service.
  • While she was the executive director for the Chicago branch of Public Allies, she created a leadership training program for young adults.
  • She developed the first community service program for the University of Chicago
  • She served as the executive director of community relations and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals and was promoted to vice president within three years. 
  • Served on numerous charitable boards.

Do Something Great - Michelle Obama

Dedication to Community Service as First Lady

  • Targeted the epidemic of childhood obesity and encouraged healthy eating habits.
  • Launched the Let's Move initiative to promote physical activity. 
  • Co-founded the Joining Forces program with Dr. Jill Biden to expand educational and employment options for veterans and to raise awareness about the difficulties impacting military families.
  • Created the Reach Higher initiative to inspire and encourage young people to explore higher education and career-development opportunities.

Civility image

Choosing Civility Over Party

I have always respected the position of First Lady regardless of the political party in office.  Whether you agree with Michelle Obama's politics or not, there is no denying that she is an inspiration for women and young girls worldwide.  She is also a shero to so many men and young boys as well.  I am looking forward to meeting her and hopefully getting one of her infamous hugs.  Hopefully, I will be able to maintain my composure so I can at least get a decent picture with her!

Michelle Obama Graces the Cover of Essence

Michelle Obama - Becoming Book Tour

Autumn Murray and Charis Hanberry


The Set-Up

My husband Rodney and his friend Dwayne surprised Dwayne's wife Charis and me with tickets to see Michelle Obama on her book tour.  Rodney and Dwayne set Charis and me up for a surprise reveal and what a surprise it was. 

Our husbands individually made plans for us to go out to dinner at Pappadeax (we all LOVE this Cajun seafood restaurant).  They planned for us to “accidentally” run into each other at the restaurant. Not knowing this was a setup, Charis and I were thrilled to see each other as it had been a few months since the last time.  So we sit down and talk and laugh and eventually order our food.

They made up an excuse to go outside and left us behind at the table. They planned to record an Instagram video of the big reveal and tag us thinking that we would get a notification and we would check our phones.  Well, both of us were focusing on catching up and didn't have our phones on the table so we didn't see the notification.

The Surprise

Our husbands returned to the table and kept giving us hints to check our phones.  We both thought this was weird, but we played along and retrieved our phones from our purses to check our notifications.  There was a notification on Instagram and a video of Rodney and Dwyane.  We clicked to view the video and at first, we didn't quite grasp what they were saying, and then it sunk in.  They announced in the video that for Christmas, they got us two VIP Meet and Greet tickets for Michelle Obama's book tour stop in Dallas along with flight and hotel!

We will get to meet First Lady Michelle Obama, take a picture with her, and sit in the 7th row during her presentation!  I wished they would have recorded our reaction because it was priceless. I teared up and we both were literally stunned.  Their gift to us was Simply Amazing! 

“Becoming” Charitable Focus

Penguin Random House strongly supports social responsibility and the mission of The Obama Foundation. Penguin Random House donated one million children's books published by Penguin Random House to First Book, a longstanding Penguin Random House nonprofit partner and the Washington, DC-based partner for the 2016 White House digital education initiative, Open eBooks. First Book is dedicated to promoting equal access to education by providing new books, learning materials, and other essentials to children in need in the U.S. and Canada.

Former President Barack Obama's memoir is now out and you can get a copy here.  The Obamas will donate a “significant portion” of their author proceeds to charity, including the Obama Foundation.

Shop Simply Amazing Living's Amazon Storefront HERE.

Michelle Obama Becoming Surprise

Rodney Murray, Autumn Murray, Charis Hanberry, and Dwayne Hanberry

We hope you enjoyed Simply Amazing Living's Michelle Obama “Michelle Obama Amazing Becoming Book Tour Surprise” post.


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