Wow....

It's officially been way too long since I wrote a blog post! All summer has come and gone and school has started again! So, instead of recapping all summer, I will jump right into the now!

Mas Tres! My Family!

I am back at Kansas State University in Manhattan! Love being back! I am living in the dorms again, but this year my family is sooo amazing! I live in Moore Hall, 3rd floor {Mas Tres!} and we are all getting along so great! The men are complete gentlemen and the ladies are all so nice! The men planned and perfectly executed a picnic in the park for the women! It was a fantastic day and they made us all feel so special! I have a feeling that it is going to be a fantastic year! <Awesome sidenote: My RA (Ben)'s roommate is from Huron, SD! How crazy is it that we live on the same floor! :) >

Got to see my girls again!
~Me, Steph, Ruddy, and Steph(my roommate!)~

Classes so far are going well! I am optimistic about my schedule and look forward to learning about all the topics! The class I am most looking forward to is ASI 318: Fundamentals of Animal Nutrition! I feel like I will get the most out of this class! 


I am headed home for the South Dakota State Fair tomorrow! I am excited to see my family again, even though it has only been 2 weeks since I moved! Can't wait to be around cattle again as well! It's crazy how you can go from spending every day in the show barn to only seeing cows in pictures in such a short period! It will be good to have a few days to relax too!


"Other things may change, but we start and end with FAMILY!"
                                                                     ~Anthony Brandt

Cinnamon Roll Hug!!
We love each other!! :D

Courage...

"Courage is knowing what NOT to fear!"

Senator Anthony Hensley
KS Senate Minority Leader

Representative Paul Davis
KS House Minority Leader

On February 26, 2011, I helped make history! I joined nearly 500 democrats in front of the capitol building in Topeka, Kansas in a rally to save the rights of Unions! On a day when the temperature was a mere 25 degrees (keep in mind South Dakota, in Kansas, this is mere), the sky was cloudy, and the air was mist-filled...nearly 500 people flooded to the steps of the Kansas Capitol building and stood their ground! Holding signs, chanting phrases,and singing songs about the importance of keeping this union, a union! We listened to many different speakers including the Senate Democratic Leader and the House Democratic Leader, a school teacher, a security guard at the state prison, and others. 


These people understood and were here because of what Plato said: "Courage is knowing what NOT to fear!" Your state government is not something to be afraid of! You have to be able to stand up to them, voice your opinion to them, and believe that your voice is heard! The policies that Governor Sam Brownback wanted to implement were not approved of by the Kansans that I stood with! The way in which Governor Sam Brownback wanted to eliminated Unions was not approved of by the Kansans I stood with! The Koch brothers, who highly supported Governor Sam Brownnack in his campaign to become governor, are not high on the good list of the Kansans I stood with! But the Kansas I stood with knew that he is not someone to be afraid of! They knew that those legislators inside the beautiful building we stood in front of are not people to be afraid of! They put them in there, and they can take them back out again! These people understood that their voice was one that needed to be raised, needed to be heard, and needed to be remembered! 

"...needed to be raised, needed to be heard, and needed to be remembered!"

I think this is a lesson that many people need to remember! I know I have said it before, but I stress the importance of it! Your voice is important! Whether you think so or not, every voice counts! If one person calls a legislator on the phone, or one person stands outside the capitol building holding a sign, they remember you! But you make an even greater impact when you join together and several people call, or several people stand outside in the freezing cold telling these lawmakers that what they are doing inside the building is NOT alright, and as a citizen of that state, you will not tolerate it! Who knows, you may be that one extra voice that something needs! You may be the one voice that changes that legislators mind! You may be the one voice that changes everything!

Kansas Capitol Building
Topeka, KS

First Time for Everything...

Ever heard the phrase "There's a first time for everything?" How about "Opposites Attract?"  Well, so far this year, both of them have affected me greatly! And both have proven to be correct!

Starting school here at K-State, I always thought I would become best friends with other Animal Science majors and other cowgirls/cowboys. But, God had a different plan for me! I originally had applied to live in Haymaker Hall, but ended up in Moore Hall 8th floor. Ruddy Yanez applied to be in Ford Hall, but ended up in Moore Hall 8th floor. Stephanie Birdsall applied for Haymaker Hall, but ended up in Moore Hall 8th floor. We all have extremely different backgrounds, different wants in life, different desires and dreams, but somehow we all ended up together in this place! 

Ruddy was born and raised in Kansas, but her family is Mexican. It has been very interesting to hear her story listen to her talk about her family! Stephanie is from New Mexico, Georgia, South Carolina, and now Kansas. She was born into a military family, her dad being a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Military. Her stories about being raised in many different places are so very interesting and I respect her father so much for his service to our country!

So, how do a Mexican, a City-girl, and a Cowgirl become best friends? That is something we have yet to figure out! Ruddy and I are both small-town girls. Steph is a city girl. Steph and I are both the baby in the family. Ruddy is the oldest. I am from South Dakota, Ruddy and Steph both live in Kansas. We are so different, yet we all get along so well! I guess God had a plan, and they are apart of my present!

So, as to a first time for everything...well, I had the honor of escorting Steph and Ruddy to their first ever RODEO! Yes, I took the girls to the K-State Rodeo in Weber Arena last weekend! It was fun to be able to explain all the events to them and help them understand my way of life! Gave them a little bit of insight into the Cowboy Ways! I think they enjoyed it, and we may have found a new tradition every year for us to participate in! :)

I hope that we can continue to strengthen our friendship! We already do almost everything together! We all knit/crochet, eat supper together every night, we even all got sick at the same time (not a tradition I think we should continue though)! It is a friendship I never saw coming, but it is one of the best things that has happened to me! I love you girls and I thank God everyday that you are a part of my life!

HB 1237 turns SD into a comedy act!

 First off, before I start my rant about this particular bill, I would like to make the point that Everyone is entitled to their own opinion! This blog completely consists of my OPINION! Not necessarily the facts or the opinions of others! I apologize for the poor quality of the image below. If you would like to see the bill clearly, you can access it by following this link: http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2011/Bills/HB1237P.pdf

For those of you wondering, yes, the above bill is one that was seriously written, seriously presented, and seriously currently circulating around the capitol building in Pierre! The point of the bill was to bring attention the federal Healthcare law. The representatives and senators that signed onto this bill find it unacceptable and unconstitutional that the federal government can force people to buy something for their own protection.

So, when the state of South Dakota is in dire need of funds to properly educate the youth of our state to continue them down the path of success and knowledge that we have so heartedly laid out before us, what do we do? We waste time on bills like this!

When the state of South Dakota is facing budget deficits so strong that nursing homes are at the risk of being shut down and the elderly have no other place to go and no Medicaid to fund them (because that is being cut too), What do we do? We waste time on bills like this!

When non-profit organizations that depend on the support of the state and the donations from SD citizens are receiving cuts from legislation and are being forced to tighten the belt that is already 2 sizes too small, what do we do? We waste time on bills like this!

I understand that you should never disrespect somebody's opinion and only debate with the facts. Well, this is not a debate, they have no facts,  and South Dakota is currently the laughing stock of the nation! I am not here to disrespect the opinions of the 5 legislators that signed onto this bill, I respect that they are trying to raise awareness of the healthcare bill and trying to bring attention to that, but I simply feel that this was not the best way to do it!

I am appalled that my tax dollars are being spent to pay a legislator to write up a bill that they themselves have no faith in passing! I know, the fact that the legislators honestly do not get paid much and it didn't waste a whole bunch of time are valid arguments as well. But as a  member of society and a registered voter in the state of South Dakota, I am offended that these legislators would think so little of their constituents that they would spend any time at all on this!  These men themselves have stated that they do not believe this bill will pass(as it shouldn't) and have no desire to actually have a law like this. Yes, I've read several different articles and seen numerous comments on those articles and agree with several of them! The thing is, with several of those comments, people believe that this false bill is actually doing something about "Obamacare" as it is commonly referred as. Well, News Flash, this is doing NOTHING (except lowering SD's image at the national level to a bunch of hicks and morons who don't know the first thing about running a state government)! The federal law is not going to automatically change because of what some small town South Dakota legislators typed up on their computer and signed their name to! Sorry, just doesn't work that way! If people in South Dakota honestly believe that something needs to be done about healthcare, they should be contacting Senators Johnson and Thune, and Representative Noem. Those 3 people are the only ones that can honestly change the course of the federal government. 

Now, as far as this bill goes, it's simply unrelated to the healthcare bill! The healthcare bill has good intentions of helping US Citizens who have not had insurance in the past or have been denied coverage! The intention of the bill is to help citizens get medical attention when they most need it. Forcing every citizen to own a gun? For the "self defense of themselves and other?" Last time I checked, self-defense was defending yourself, simple defense would be defending others. But if every citizen already had a weapon, we wouldn't need others defense. Which would also mean we could eliminate a few police forces and save a few bucks there, right? How idiotic! 

Remember South Dakota (especially those of you in districts 12, 29, 06, 30, & 04), these are the people we elected to represent us in the state house and state senate! Is this how you want to be represented? Or are you willing to take a stand and step up and say something? Remember this incident when you go to elect, or re-elect, officials in 2 years!

Again, for the record, this is completely my opinion! If you disagree, that's great! But think about it, it's a complete waste of time! Why worry about the carp when we've got catfish to fry!?

What If...

First off, I apologize for not posting results of the winter calf shows that we went to over my break! In Brookings, Bailey's steers looked very good, but didn't win any classes. Kaitlyn and Savannah were 2nd and 3rd in class behind Jordan Mack's very good Charolais heifer. My heifer would have been great competition for Stephanie(Jordan's sister who was showing the heifer), however, she got hurt in the chute right before we walked in the ring and couldn't walk right, so I left her stand in the stall. I would have rather left her there than taken her in the ring and had her get beat because she couldn't walk right. We ended up not going to Mitchell because of the weather. We didn't want to get stranded there.

Jenae Hansen, Rob Foiles, Senator Jason Frerichs,
Caroline Hansen, and Erin Wilson!

So, onto the current happenings! I spent my 2 days in the capitol building this session! Sadly, I will probably not make it back again, but I really wish I could. I absolutely love being in Pierre during session! Thank God for the internet and the live feeds of committee meetings and sessions. There will be some interesting bills coming through soon, and if I can't be there to listen to them being argued live, the next best thing is listening online! Of course, I expect that if anything really important comes up, Mr. Jason Frerichs will be calling me! :) (We'll see if he reads this!)

Talking with Rep. Sigdestad
and Rep. Feickert

Relating to the title of this blog, I listened to the song "What If" by Dustin Evans today on my way back to Kansas and it got me thinking. In case you haven't heard it before, Here is the chorus of it...

What if you don't have what it takes,
What if you fall flat on your face,
What if it's all time gone to waste,
Cause your dreams may never come true,
But What If they do!

And then the very last part of the song goes...

What if you do have what it takes,
What if you learn from your mistakes
What if there's nothing in the way
Of all your dreams coming true
What If they do!

My good friend Senator Jason Frerichs, Senate Minority Leader!

I have a dream of being a state Representative someday. I want to represent the people of my district in Pierre during session and hopefully help out and make our state a better place to live in. But I start second guessing myself sometimes. What if I'm not the kind of person that can help lead a state? What if I don't know enough about legislation to be a Rep? What if I run and get shot down in the election? But, then again, What if my 4-H background has prepared me enough to lead better than anyone! And What if I know more about legislation than I give myself credit for! And What if the people of my district trust me enough to send me to Pierre to better this wonderful state!

I can do it! I can be a great Representative in this state! I can help lead this state in the direction it needs to go! I can, and I WILL!

Jenae Hanse, Sen. Jim Hundstad, Caroline Hansen
District 2 Senator and his favorite Hansen Girls! :)

                                

2011 Legislative Session

Capitol building in Pierre, South Dakota

Well, it's that time of year again! Students go back to school, Ranchers start to calve, Snow plows are pushing full force(well, in South Dakota anyway) and those elected officials that we voted into office last November have started the long process of reading bills, voting, and creating the base for the next year of our state! South Dakota's voters made several changes to our house and senate and it will be a fun and interesting year of opportunity for learning and change, some for good-others maybe not! But only time will tell what South Dakota's future holds.

Senator Jason Frerichs and myself
February 2010(when he was still Representative Frerichs!)

The capitol building in Pierre is one of the most beautiful that I have seen! (I may be slightly biased though!) It is also one of my favorite places to be during session! I have not always been so interested in politics! I used to be like most United States citizens and not like politics. I always thought politicians were just rude, arrogant, self-centered people who wanted to be in control. Then a good friend of mine was elected into the South Dakota House of Representatives.  Representative Jason Frerichs was one of the, if not the youngest member in the state legislature. That year, I shadowed Senator Jim Hundstad and learned more about the capitol building itself than I ever knew before.  My whole mindset about politics has changed! Senator Hundstad is still a senator, and Representative Frerichs is now Senator Frerichs, but I have become more involved with the political happenings and realized that it is so important for young folks to get involved because their voice really is heard and they truly can make a difference!

4-Her's and Great 4-H supporters
Erin Wilson, Rep. Frank Kloucek
Jenae Hansen, Rep. H. Paul Dennert,
and myself
McGovern Days 2010

So, regardless of what party you choose to be part of as you get to voting age, make your voice heard! Your representatives and senators want to hear form you and are there to help and better the state you live in! Please, don't be one of the many South Dakota and United States Citizens that do not get out and vote, or do not let their voice be heard and then get upset with the decisions that were made! I do not agree with everything that they do, but when those situations come up, I make sure they hear my side and my opinion!

You can keep tabs on the South Dakota legislature by going to
http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2011/index.aspx
You can also find out who your legislators are on this website. There is also a link to contact them, and all their contact information available to you! There is a reason it is there, USE IT! :)

Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, myself, Erin Wilson, and Jenae Hansen
Stephanie was, in my opinion, one of the best representatives that South Dakota
has ever had in Washington.  She will be greatly missed and I hope she continues to
 better South Dakota with her warm heart and her welcoming smile!