Marching On (corny but true)

Hey, sorry that I have been a major slacker in the blog department lately. I don't know about you all but March was a crazy busy month for me! I went out of state 3 weekends in a row- Skiing in Wisconsin with Chelsea and our friend Julia, Amy and Aaron's wedding (in Kansas), and then to a conference in Washington DC.Then, last weekend my old roomies Michelle and Kelsey came to visit!

Skiing was really fun. Wisconsin skiing is nothing like the Rockies but it was still pretty fun. Some of Julia's friends came with us too. Sunday we also went to New Glarus, a small town with a brewery (Spotted Cow, anyone?), and took at tour of their brewing facilities. and may or may not have taken a few samples, too ;) Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera :(

My sister got married March 15th near Sabetha, Kansas. It was so fun and refreshing to spend some time with family again. It was a really busy weekend and flew by so quickly. We had a reception in McPherson the night of the wedding that many old friends came to. It was really great to see so many familiar faces that day. It was very really cool to see how people came together and offered so much support to Amy and Aaron as they began married life. It was also really nice for me to see so many loving, familiar faces who offered me a lot of encouragement as well.  Sorry I don't have more legit pictures to share- I currently only have the few that I took with my camera plus a couple from Facebook.

Friday morning a bunch of us ventured out for some fun at a park near our hotel!

My niece Anna & cousin Jacob playing at a park near our hotel.

Dawwww :) Photo credit: Whitney Cathleen Photography

These cuties were fabulous flower girls!

Getting in some last minute hugs before everybody flew the coop on Sunday.

That Sunday I stopped to see my friend Shelby who had just completed her VERY LAST CHEMO TREATMENT!!!! so very proud of her for being so positive throughout the illness and never giving up! She has about a month of radiation treatments now, but the worst is definitely behind her.

Then I went home and had a good cry by Rosie's grave. It was sad to relive her death but felt good to be there and see where my dad lovingly laid her to rest. I'm tearing up again just writing about it.

Lexie

Rosie's view :) Dad picked a good spot

Then this the next weekend I was able to attend Ecumenical Advocacy Days in DC with my roommates and Krista. It was basically a conference/gathering of Christians to talk/learn about issues relating to peace. The 2 main issues we focus on were gun violence and military spending. It was very good for me to be immersed in this group of really passionate people and talk about these political issues although it was a little uncomfortable at times. I'm not a super active or passionate person when it comes to politics but this experience was pretty convicting for me that I would like to be more informed and involved in some of these issues.

The only thing I did not like about the conference was that all of the information was very one sided. All of the presenters and what felt like most all of the attendees had pretty liberal stances on these issues. That's great for them but I really value hearing all sides of an argument before I form a solid opinion. All of the liberal arguments were respectable and made pretty good sense to me but I would have liked to have heard some counter arguments. Or even better, a good OBJECTIVE description of the issues with pros and cons of each view!

So there were all sorts of workshops and such, which were pretty good. I went to one about wage standards in the US. It was pretty interesting- the minimum wage (currently $7.25) is well below the poverty line for a family of 3 (working full-time). There are some people working FOR THE GOVERNMENT in kitchens, etc in federal buildings who don't make minimum wage, let alone receive any benefits. Isn't that ridiculous? Disclaimer: All this information came from the workshop presenters. Perhaps there is a missing piece to the puzzle that can explain this discrepancy??? Anyone??

Anyway, the whole weekend was designed to gear up toward lobby day on Monday, when we all split up into our respective states and went to Capitol Hill to talk to our legislators. There were 6 or so of us from Kansas. Most of us were able to attend meetings with both reps from Senators Roberts and Moran and then we split up into our congressional districts to meet with our House Representatives. Unfortunately Sarah and I couldn't get an apppointment with Rep. Huelskamp's office but we left a handout.

The meetings were pretty interesting-- going with a group of liberals to present liberal ideas to elected officials (or their staffers) from a pretty conservative state. We went into the meetings knowing that we would receive some pushback (most of our reps have voted "100% pro-gun" and a lot of constituents support this) but it was interesting and valuable to hear about how we could reach some middle ground. We can all agree that gun violence is very real and very horrible. People have a right to feel safe. It's just a matter of how you go about achieving safety and peace.

Dinner banquet Sunday night
Photo credit: Sarah Ullom-Minnich

This awesome girl, Sarah, is from Moundridge and currently doing a year with Brethren Volunteer Service in Chicago! We met each other at church one day in Chicago (and became friends), and then I saw her unexpectedly at EAD! We were lobby day partners on Monday!

It was pretty empowering for me to walk around the National Mall and talk to legislators. I had always known that these people were elected to represent the people of Kansas, but had never really thought of them as MY representatives. So I really kind of do have a say in what happens in the government. HA!

View from our hotel!

Missed the cherry blossoms

All right, folks. That's all I've got for now, but stay tuned for another post on how life has been for me back in Chicago lately! As always, prayers and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated!