I'm free! I'm free!

Aah.

I'm not sure how to write up this post without sounding, well, unpatriotic and not very citizen-y. However, it sure feels nice to have less responsibilities.

I felt a deep sense of duty as far as trying to better our community and stand up for things that I believe in. So, a few years ago while at a caucus I accepted some political positions. I was the only one in attendance that wasn't moving, and as a result was elected as precinct chair, county delegate and state delegate. This translated into 5 to 6 important meetings a year, plus a few extras here and there. Then, a few months ago I was asked to serve as Legislative District Chair as well. This meant I was suddenly in charge of 25 voting precincts. This was a much busier task.

The other day I was trying to fill 5 vacant precinct chair positions. After looking over thousands of names, calling hundreds of people and leaving more messages than I can keep track of, I was a bit spent. So, when a few administrative glitches threw a monkey wrench in the works I decided that maybe it was time I re-evaluate my time. I was able to fill 4 of the 5 vacancies, which I feel pretty good about. However, I realized that I'm going to have a baby sometime in the next 3 weeks. When am I going to have time to run an entire Legislative caucus and hand out credentials before central committee meetings? Thank Heaven for my wonderful family. I resigned and feel much better.

I'm glad for the opportunities I had. I would definitely like to urge you all to get involved any way your circumstances allow. I don't think we should complain about the government if we aren't even exercising our right to vote. Even more so, I think most people would be quite shocked to find out how maddeningly persistent special interest groups are. They DO get involved, they DO run for offices, they DO voice their concerns and agendas to lawmakers, and the general public MAY NOT always agree with these agendas. So who cares if politics isn't your thing? Bettering your community is always a nice choice.

Humanitarian Aid for Haiti

Haiti is in dire need of emergency aid. For those of you wondering what you can do, the best thing is to donate to either the Red Cross, or to my favorite, LDS Humanitarian Services. 100% of your donation goes to the cause when you donate through this organization. Everything is done by volunteer work. You can go here to donate:

http://give.lds.org/emergencyresponse

Visit the following article to find out more:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/

An early salute to the King

Today NiNa was really excited to tell me about a wonderful, good man she learned about in kindergarten: Martin Luther King, Jr. So, although the official day of oberservance for this brave man is still a week and a half away, I thought I'd share my favorite NiNa quote on what she learned about him:

"He made a march with the people and said, 'That's not fair! That's not fair!'"

Adoption

Some of our best friends are hoping to adopt.

They've got the cutest little 1 year old boy, and they are the sweetest parents.

For more information, click here:

www.somebodyismissing.blogspot.com