ANOTHER Big Announcement?

Hey there everyone,
"Where have I been," right?  I have not blogged about preparing for National Office, at all. Shame on me.  And you know what....this blog post isn't about running for National Office at all.  So what is going on in my life?  I know you're just dying for me to tell you....

Yep, I'm engaged to Micah Fry.  We've been dating off and on for almost six years (so calm down when you start thinking this is super fast.  It is, but it's not.) The wedding is December 17th.  You're all invited to my reception in Alaska.

What happened?  This is crazy!  Two weeks ago I was at a training conference in Chicago and I thought, "man, I really have a shot!"  I was so excited to be a National Officer, but I was (and am) also in love.  And Micah and I started to feel like we should get married.  Problematic.

When I decided to run for Nationals again, I made it very clear that it was conditional on Micah's return and whether or not I felt like I needed to get married instead- so I knew my state would support me if I withdrew my candidacy.  That doesn't mean I wanted to, it was a really difficult and sad decision for me.  I'll say this- I have a testimony that God does answer prayers, and I got a clear answer: marriage is a covenant, marriage is a commandment, marriage is more important.  And I don't want to get mushy on you...but I love that boy, and I do want to marry him!  I'm learning a lot about sacrifice and unselfishness.  I had to give up National Office, but it was the right thing to do and I'm okay with that.

Some of you are probably going to read this and feel angry, or disappointed, or just think I'm stupid for giving everything up so close to Convention.  And that's okay, because I know I'm doing the right thing.  If you think about it, marrying your best friend is a pretty rad alternative, right?

To all my candidate friends: I will be watching RFDTV on Saturday with bated breath.  I love all of you and I want you to be elected SO BAD.  I'm glad that Nationals will have a group of officers that doesn't include me, because FFA members deserve to have leaders who can give the organization their WHOLE heart, not just a piece of it.  You are in my thoughts and my prayers these next few weeks.

Finally, thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of me.  Thank you to my family and to Rayne and the Alaska state officers...thank you to the crew in Chicago who helped me train, thank you to everyone I've met in the past year that have uplifted me and made me the person I am today.  You are all awesome.