Welcome finally to the Republican Party, where you belong
It took me 8 years to finally realize where I belonged. I owe it to slick Willie and his cohorts. For most, it doesn't "just happen". It's gradual.
"Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains." Mark Twain.
It takes time. I was a liberal, more or less, in the first few years of college (mostly because I thought that the girls would be easier--believe me, this motivation counts for about 35% of all young, male liberals). Now I am to the right of Atilla the Hun and plan on staying there.