THANK YOU!

Thank You!

Thank you so much to everyone who followed and supported this blog. I had SO MUCH fun with it during the 2008 election year getting to talk to you all and discuss.. sometimes vent.. my passion for politics.

While I really, really love this blog, I just can't maintain it anymore. It was a pet project for a time which I loved. It is with sadness that I see it go.

I would like to share with you my reasons (though varied) for closing the blog. It's certainly not for a lack of love of conservative ideals (nor my admiration of Governor Palin ;-)).

First, I simply don't have the time. I have learned over the last year the need to prioritize and simplify my life. I focus my time first on God, my marriage, a full-time job I am thoroughly invested in, being a part-time student, spending time with family, and am active in two areas of ministry.

Alongside all this, I am actively trying to build and maintain my photography business, as it is my dream to photograph for a living in whatever capacity that may be. I have learned that I need to simplify my online presence as I begin to build my brand. With two blogs (this and my photography blog), active membership on various photography boards and communities, facebook, myspace, twitter... it was time to simplify. I need a simplified, streamlined web presence that is supportive to my brand and my photography and this blog detracts from it.

Unfortunately, another reason for my decision to close the blog was due to members of my extended family abusing "good reader etiquette" (aka don't start drama by reading what I say or vent in my blog). I have also learned some things - like, even if you don't think out of touch family members are reading your blog, they will still find you and twist what you say when you least expect it. Not that I really care - but - I don't want to ever feel that my blogs have to be censored.

Having said all that, I really hope that you all continue to stay in touch, and if you're interested in my photography, please drop me a line. I will have my new blog posted with my photography work and projects shortly.

Thank you once more for all your help, support, encouragement, and love over the past seven months.

-Katie

The Not-A-State-of-the-Union State of the Union

I've been out of the political and blogging circuit for the past month or so (school is taking a beating on me and life is just busy busy), but I was able to listen to the not-state-of-the-union State of the Union address on the radio last night.

What I took away from it was that Obama was speaking like a preacher at times. He wanted to be emotional and convicting which was fine. Everything he talked about "sounded" good. Some of it I could agree with - yes, we can't give debt to the next generation, yes we need to reduce the drop-out rate and ensure that more people attend college to stay competitive.

But - how are we going to do this? So many of Obama's promises outline great "ideas", but how are we going to go about it? An 80 billion dollar stimulus plan isn't going to give our future generations debt to inherit? I'm not exactly sure how that's going to work.

Obama also talked about "affordable" healthcare. Again, what kind of affordable healthcare? Is this really the responsibility of the government? Yes it would be great to have more affordable healthcare - but we don't need socialized healthcare.

Again he noted his plan to give 95% of workers a tax "cut", not mentioning the refund given to non-paying workers. I want to know, in a time of a "recession", why are my taxes being cut? I would expect raised taxes to get us out of this problem. So - where is the money going to come from? What kind of tax hike is the upper class getting? Why is it that the corporations and people who make the majority of the money in this country should be penalized for doing well? It just doesn't make any sense to me. I support a tax cut when it will put money back into our economy - but right now that simply isn't the case as more people are saving than ever due to the current economic condition. So, what is the answer? Obama doesn't really say exactly what his plan is going to do, so how are we to know that it is a "good" one?

Obama also stated that the cost of health care bankrupts an American family once every thirty seconds, which was another untrue figure. America did not invent the automobile, and the transcontinental railroad was not completed during the Civil War. We also do not import "more oil than ever today", because imports peaked in 2005.

All in all, I feel as if Obama's speeches continue to give life to a doom-and-gloom outlook on the country. We are a nation that had too much for too long. We lived outside our means and we don't know what the idea of living simply is. We have become too big and too fat and too greedy. If this is what it takes to bring us back to reality, then fine. He talked about problems that caused our recession over the last decade, even though we had a booming economy for seven years. He said "we don't want an open ended recession" just as he said we can't have an open-ended war. And then he talked about the money "wasted" in Iraq. Obviously my outlook on Iraq is much different than Obama's, and hindsight is 20/20. I just felt last night that a lot of what Obama said "sounded" good, but might not have actually "been" good, which is the advantage of great speechwriters.

As Republicans, we need answers to these problems. Bobby Jindal had a good response, but I felt that as a Republican I wished it had more of a "here's how we should address this" approach. Sarah Palin said if she thought that Obama should have vetoed the stimulus package until he has time to read it along with every single congressman in the country, which obviously they haven't. As Bobby Jindal did say, "we don't care what party you come from as long as you have good ideas".

My brother and I had a conversation the other night. He told me he can't be a Republican anymore because he hates all the corruption on both sides. My response was - how is the party going to reform if everyone abandons it? You still have Republican ideas and values, you can still be a Republican - but we have to try to change our party from the inside out.

You know, today I was reminded of how sometimes it's hard to live out what you believe is right. Someone at lunch acted completely astonished - "Wait - are YOU a REPUBLICAN!?" as if it were some unbelievable concept. Yep, I sure am. And the media and Hollywood also want you to believe I hate gay people because I voted yes on Prop 8. And obviously I want to blow up the rest of the world because I'm a war - monger. Sometimes it's hard when you are working in a very liberal setting or are surrounded by people with other ideals than you. I'm not trying to convince anyone in the workplace to be a republican - but - I also don't want to be looked down upon or talked about behind my back because I have differing viewpoints. I don't want to be alienated because I believe in traditional marriage, but unfortunately it happens. It's hard to stand up for what you believe in. Jesus said we would be persecuted for His Name. I'm not saying that Jesus said we would be persecuted for being a Republican - but - we are standing up for what we believe is right - and Jesus knew that would be hard. What's right is often unpopular and I'm the most unpopular of them all. So keep standing tall, everyone. Keep fighting for what you believe in, and don't let them bring you down.

Reliability

Lately, I feel as if I am learning more and more lessons. At least, I am trying to learn from the things that happen around me and be aware of what I can take from the situations I find myself in.

Last week, my external hard drive was making a funny noise, and I could not back up to it. We sent it away to the manufacturer for restoration. I have only had the hard drive six months.

Long story short, I learned today it will cost $1900 if I want to restore the contents of the hard drive. I said no thank you. If you know me, you know I'm a photographer, and luckily all that was backed up - but - my 4,000 + songs on iTunes were not. I thought I had a fail proof method in place. I thought that my data would be safe on a "new" hard drive, and I was obviously wrong.

The disappointment and frustration set in, and it made me think about reliability. What is the one thing in this world I can rely on? I mean, really rely on, beyond a shadow of a doubt? Friends, spouses, significant others, all disappoint at one time or another. Coworkers let you down. Hard drives crash. People give bad advice, your favorite TV show gets cancelled, the dog chews up your new Steve Maddens. We get older and our bodies fail. All these earthly things disappoint. There really isn't anything or anyone in this world that I can place my complete trust in, and know that I will never be disappointed, besides Jesus.

Jesus has never once disappointed me.

I can admit that there have been times I've been upset with God. Things have not gone "my way". A loved one has passed away, or something unexplainable has happened. I've disappointed myself, but Jesus never has. No matter what has happened, in the end, He has still been standing there waiting for me and I know He has always done what is best for me, even when I can't see nor understand it.

Romans 5:5 says, "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Psalm 22:5 also says, "They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed."
Jesus will never let you down nor disappoint you. He is the only one who will always be there for you, always carry you through, and who you can always rely on. You can trust in Him that the way He leads your paths will always be the best way. So even when a hard drive crashes, my show is pulled off the air, or a friend hurts me, I can put it in perspective that life is good and will go on. Jesus is holding my life together and I don't have to worry.

Lessons and Being Content

Hello Internetland!

I know that I haven't been blogging in a while. School + work + ministry + life have just made my "free time" a little short.

I just wanted to share a few thoughts about being content and taking life's lessons as just times that God needs you to absorb something.

I feel like we always want everything to be perfect in our lives, and inevitably some times are going to be better than others. I am trying to cherish the good times and thank God in the bad ones (not FOR the bad ones, but while going through them). I know that all the trials I go through are stepping stones. He wants me to learn something.

I have the picture in my mind of the perfect job or place God eventually wants me to be in. I don't want to be there right now because I know there are too many life lessons I need to learn first. I don't want to "mess up" that perfect job with the mistakes I currently make. I need to view the struggles God is putting between my circumstance now and the great places in the future He has intended for me as a way of preparing myself so that He can eventually use me to the fullest.

I really enjoy my current job but lately have been having some struggles and have been feeling as if I'm still not in the right place. I'm wondering, how is God using me here, or why am I here? Then He reveals it to me through a relationship, a chance to witness, or a lesson to learn from. I know I am meant to be where I am right now for a reason.

Even though it might be hard, you are where God wants you to be right now, too. Try to look into those tough times and realize God is teaching you something, softening your heart, maybe showing you how to work with difficult people. Maybe even helping you not take yourself too seriously and know that you're not perfect and you can only do your best. Maybe the absence of your job right now is to help you learn to more fully rely on Him.

It might not even be a job right now that is a struggle. It could be a failed relationship or family struggle. God is showing you something through the pain and problems. He is helping you rely on Him more fully and place your trust in Him. You are taking small steps now so that you're prepared when the inevitable hurricanes of life hit.

And - maybe you're in a hurricane right now. It's a time to look back on the days that God gave you small storms to prepare you for this hurricane. Remember how He carried you through those past storms. Know that He has you in His care now, too. Then you will be able to visualize the light at the end of the tunnel (even if you can't see it).

I really have learned to be thankful for the storms. I can see God working on me and shaping me through every one. I know that He's using every single thing that happens to me. I know that I'm not done being sculpted and molded. I am anxiously anticipating the change in me that I will see on the other side of the tunnel.

Feminists For Life

Hello, Blogger Land!

Today I want to take some time out about a group I really believe in, called Feminists for Life.

If you had asked me a year ago whether or not I was a feminist, my answer would have been an emphatic "no". Visions of burning bras in the 60s and hairy armpits would plague my mind. But, then, another vision would come later: women holding signs protesting the absense of their right to vote. Women who fought for equal wages in the workplace, women who fought for multiple causes I completely take for granted every day.

Then, I wonder, did it do us more harm than good? In 2009 as a married woman, I am practically expected to hold a full time job, have a degree, and raise a family. It is completely the norm for our children to be raised by other people as we work to maintain the status quo and still have dinner on the table when we get home, sometimes later if not at the same time as our husbands. In my opinion, thanks to the women's rights movement, women have a heck of a lot more on their plates than we used to.

And, I think that we got what we asked for. Maybe it's better for us to have all these opportunities and have more on our plate (sometimes unrealistically more) than to not have the opportunity at all. If I really wanted I could move to rural America and stay at home and raise a farm of kids while my husband makes a mediocre salary and we live in a mediocre home, and I could find happiness in that. But, I don't feel like that is what God has called me to; God has called me to live where I live near my family and serve Him the way I do with my life.

But I digress. As a woman, in 2009, I had felt torn. I wanted to embrace the ideas of women's rights and everything we went through with women's sufferage. But I didn't want to be the bra-burning pro-choice super liberal vision of a feminist I had in my head.

Now, like her or not, I have to credit my eye-opening experience to Sarah Palin. For the first time I saw a real woman who walks the talk of being a genuine, ethical, compassionate, conservative and Godly woman, who also has balanced a career and her family. She showed me flat out that it is possible for a woman to be strong in her faith and convictions, to stay strue to her beliefs and ethics, to follow Jesus, and to be a woman of influence and power in government. Would I have called her a "feminist"? The word wouldn't have even crossed my mind. She is pro-life. But is she not a feminist? She is a woman who has power and (now) fame, who has shown she makes the playing field level with any man.

Yes, Sarah Palin is a feminist. But, what brand of feminist are we? We have a "pro-woman, pro-choice philosophy". This is how I came to find Feminists for Life. It is an organization devoted to the idea that the "freedom of choice" is really not a choice at all - we are pushing young women into abortions when there are many other options, including keeping and raising your child while still maintaining your life goals. On college campuses, in the media, in most resources most accessed by young women, there is hardly any if no talk about the options given to keeping a baby. As a nation we have given so much money and attention to organizations such as Planned Parenthood, "safer" sex alternatives and the accessibility for an abortion, that there are no resources for the people who want to keep their children. There is not adequate on-campus housing, nor daycare. Women are basically forced into the "choice" of having an abortion because it is simply "inconvenient" to have a child, and in some cases - it may even border on unrealistic. Think about it - when is the last time you saw a visibly pregnant student on campus? In truth, the "pregnancy" rate is staggeringly higher than the birth rate of women college aged.

As the website says, "no woman should be forced to choose between sacrificing her education and career plans and having a child". Yes - you can be a feminist and question abortion. You can hold a strong stand for women's rights, and as a woman feel that you are equal to men and that you have just as great an importance. You should never take less pay or have a lesser opportunity for being a woman. But, at the same time - you can hold your morals and values. Don't let anyone put you into a box. As a woman who strives to greater things, I am a feminist. Now it is time for the conservative minded, strong women of the world to re-define "feminism". It's not just a liberal term anymore.