Baby Ben

I couldn't get enough of him. It was certainly love at first sight - but my love grew every second after. This little dude is the best! It's amazing how little babes can change the feeling inside a home and family - and all the people inside a family. I am absolutely crazy about this little guy. And I can't wait to watch him grow up.

Stay tuned for more Christmas 2012 updates. It was the best Christmas I remember!

What a guy

Robbie Parker is an amazing man. We should all strive to be more like him. In the hardest moment of his life, harder than anything I can imagine experiencing, he extends love and compassion and forgiveness.

Anger is a horrible thing. Perhaps its the worst thing.  It makes us do things that we otherwise wouldn't do. It makes us call each other names or vandalize property. It creates road rage and violence. Anger causes retaliation. Perhaps anger is what caused the shooting in Connecticut.

Truth is, as unfortunate as it is, there are other people in our midst that are capable of repeating what happened on Friday.  People get angry and sad and lonely - which leads people to do horrible things. Spreading love is the only thing that can eliminate anger and sadness and loneliness. So lets use our agency and spread love. Every day. To everyone.

Connecticut

I am sad. I am so, so sad. 

I woke up to news about the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I called my sister, mother of my favorite kiddos on the planet, hoping I could tell them over and over that I love them. I couldn't. They were at school.  

I just can't believe it. This morning kids were shot. And killed. 

Every news outlet has been flooded with coverage about the event and my Facebook feed is spewing out debates about gun control and people are asking, 'what's wrong with people' - referring to the shooter.

To me, that question is what's wrong. Instead of asking, 'what's wrong with people' why aren't we asking, 'what can I do to help people?' My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the entire Newtown community. But my heart also goes out to to Ryan Lanza - the shooter. 

What was his life like? Why was he so unhappy? He was only 24. Kids that age are supposed to be filled with love and hope and adventure and excitement. Was there not love in his life? Did he not have friends? He must have hated himself. 

I am certain that there are people we pass on the street everyday that are sad and miserable and that have thoughts of hurting themselves - or hurting other people. There are people who are bullied and secluded. There are people whose families don't love them. Typically, those are the people that are behind these horrible tragedies. 

I believe that we are all part of the same family and that it is our obligation to spread love and joy and kindness to all those around us. Even the people that are mean or bad or different. Because of my religious upbringing, I believe that the kids who were shot and killed today are my brothers and sisters - and their families are, too. And so is Ryan Lanza. He is my brother. And I am broken hearted for him, too.

My prayers are for all the families associated with this tragedy. My prayers are also for all us - that we can use this horrific situation and come out better and stronger. I pray that it will remind us that this world needs more love and compassion and forgiveness. It needs less guns - but i don't have control over that.  I have control on how much I  love and forgive and include.

Long days - and its only 9am!

Today I am mostly thankful that tomorrow is Friday and that the next day is Saturday. Some days are so long and so tiring that I count down the hours til the weekend.

And I am thankful that I get to go home next week. I am sooo thankful for that!

Mormons

Being in Washington for 5 years, or maybe it's being away from Utah for 5 years, has made me forget things that I loved about growing up there.

Today I remembered some of the things I totally love about Utah and the 'crazy' Mormons.

I love that drinking was never the reason for bad behavior and that my friends could have fun without alcohol.
I love that most of my friends were and still are totally close with their families.
I love that while growing up, friends asked how many boys I had kissed - not how many I had had sex with and I love that most of my friends have only had sex with their spouse.
I love that it was understood that Sunday's wasn't like any other day. It was a day for God and for family and for yourself.
I love that I hardly ever heard 'bad' words and saying bad words wasn't ever cool.
I love that being good was cool and being bad wasn't. Seriously.
I love that I said family prayers - sometimes twice a day - but lucky if we said one.
I love that there were  a lot of temples and churches in Utah. Even though I don't go to church anymore, it is always comforting to see the churches!

There are so many things that I love about Utah and the crazy Mormons. I'm telling you, even though some of the things they do are 'crazy', they have a lot of things right!

Do the right thing

Last night I was out with friends. We met for dinner. And drinks. And football. It was fun - and it capped a great day and a great weekend.

Yesterday I did something I didn't think I would ever do. I was a college mascot for a men's basketball game. A good friend of mine works for Seattle University athletics and bribed me (I actually didn't mean much bribing) to be the mascot because the normal person couldn't do it. Umm. Hilarious! Some kids loved me - others looked at me and screamed out of complete terror.

Anyway - after I was Rudy the mascot I went and met up with a few friends. We laughed a lot but there were a few take aways for me. It was an almost empty hot dog bar and about an hour in to me being there I noticed one of the other patrons was a girl I met a few weeks ago. Her name is Julie. When I met her she told me that she had lived in Seattle for nearly 5 months  and hadn't met one friend. She hadn't found a job yet and people in her building weren't very friendly. She told me that she went and watched sports sometimes - and hoped to meet people doing that - but she hadn't - until she met me and some of my friends.

I was excited to see her last night. I checked in to see how things were going. She has a few job interviews coming up. She still hasn't met many people from her building.

I talked to Julie for a few minutes and then went back to my friends. I told them about her. One of my friends said that some people try to be nice but it comes across as slimy and maybe there are hidden motives. Another friend pointed out that maybe some people view me that way.

Maybe people think I am fake. Maybe people think you are. It doesn't matter - or it shouldn't matter. It should never matter what people think when you know you are doing the right thing - or a good thing.

There are people around us that need love. People need friends or a random act of kindness. I believe that God uses people - he uses me and you - but we have to have the eyes to see people in need. And honestly, everyone is need of something.

Washington is beautiful x2

These were all taken within 2 miles of my house :)

Get a tissue

Because you're going to laugh until you have tears after you watch this.

Billboard for your life

Throughout my adult life, I've been really aware of how different companies/products advertise and market - which is normal since I studied and currently work in marketing.

More recently, I've been more aware of how people advertise and market themselves - more importantly how I advertise and market myself.

The way I am - the way I act and talk and treat other people advertises and markets myself more than anything else. I am the billboard of my own life - I am a billboard for what is in my heart and soul - not just me but the energy that I exude. The clothes I wear, the things I watch and read, the activities I participate in that fill up my time - all of those things say more about me than anything else ever could.

There are only a few more days of November - the month of Thanksgiving. I could/should list the things I am thankful for for days and days. The thing that I am most thankful for is the ability to live the kind of life I want to live. I am so thankful that I have the ability to choose everyday - or every moment if I am going to be happy or sad, grateful or ungrateful. I get to choose if I am going to work hard or not, be honest and true or not, challenge myself or not. I can decide if I make the most of situations - even the hard ones, or not.

I am thankful that I can live the life I want to live.

I got this from a friend and loved it

It is an excerpt from an Anne Lamott interview.

Enjoy.


"I'm much calmer as I get older, but I'm still just as capable of getting that strung-out stressed-out feeling of mental and spiritual unwellness. But for the most part every year has brought with it a little bit more wisdom or a willingness to throw out the trunks and brown boxes I've been lugging around psychically all my life. I want to throw that stuff out of the plane that keeps me flying too low. And really getting more comfortable with my body and really going easier on myself.

Age has given me the gift of me, it just gave me what I was always longing for, which was to get to be the woman I've already dreamt of being. Which is somebody who can do rest and do hard work and be a really constant companion, a constant tender-hearted wife to myself. It's given me more patience, though I'm not a patient person. Age sort of forces you into loving and accepting yourself, because what are the options? I'm not a Hollywood type, and I don't have any judgments-not very much-about people getting cosmetic surgery or Botox or liposuction, but it's not my style, it's not going to happen.

I want to bring people hope and laughter and a ferocious commitment to self-love".

Thanksgiving

I love today. I love everything about today. Today is a day that is about family and friends and reflection of blessings. And I love that.

I am ending my day on my couch. with my dog. I am completely content. I feel peace. I wouldn't say I feel happy. It's something much more than that. It's peace.

This year has been crazy. There has been so much stuff - too much to write in a novel - lots of happiness, lots of pain and lots of learning and self discovery. Truth is, I have never felt so good in my life as I do now. I am completely comfortable in my own skin. I am happy about who I am and I have no desire to hide any part of myself. I feel peace. And that is why this Thanksgiving might be the most memorable Thanksgiving I've had. Or maybe it's memorable because it's today....

Long day

:)

So many things have been on my mind recently. I feel like I could write a novel.

Everyone is special because everyone is a child of God. But we aren't special when we are trying to be like anyone else. God didn't make me to be like anyone else. I was created to be me - to bring my gifts and talents to the world - so I need to get busy being myself and loving myself and stop trying to be someone else  - that is when I will reach my full potential.

November is my favorite month. I think it's my favorite month because of Thanksgiving. I have always loved Thanksgiving. It seems people are nicer and more aware of the blessing in their lives. People say that we should have the Christmas spirit all year round. I disagree. I think we should strive to have the Thanksgiving spirit all year round. Being thankful changes the world.

Statistically, the majority of people aren't happy. Ernest Holmes said that you can't truly show love toward other people and be happy until you learn to love yourself no matter your situation. I wish people would love themselves more. People are amazing. I am amazing. You are amazing.

Perhaps I can't change everyones world. But I have the power to change my own. I can make my world and my life whatever I want. And I am so thankful for the life I have created. I do good things. I am around good people. I laugh. A lot. And cry a lot too. I like doing both.

I am sooo thankful for Harley Boy. He makes me smile everyday. We got a few pictures taken last weekend. I will leave you with a handful of them.

Life is beautiful. I am thankful. Even when it is POURING outside.

I hope you are too.

I was on the radio

I was on the radio yesterday. I talked about gay marriage/ref 74 with two of my friends/coworkers/lawyers from the law firm I work for. It was fun. It was a little scary - but mostly fun.

People tell me that it is really cool that I talk about so openly about why it is so important to me that gay marriage is now legal in Washington State. I don't necessarily think it is cool. But it is necessary. It is necessary

Here is a little preview of the show.

Wicked

I went to see Wicked last night. Oh man, I absolutely loved it. I cried. A lot. I kept taking deep breathes trying to let the essence of the story change my life. It is such a beautiful story. 

As my favorite song, 'For Good' was sung I was thinking of certain people in my life that I wish I could sing it too. There are a lot. There are so many people that have changed my life for good and I am so thankful! In return, I hope hope hope that no matter my personal circumstance, I can always share my light and influence people for good.

 

Enjoy!

Thank you

Dear Friends, Family and Potential Strangers,

I sat down to write a letter a few weeks ago asking you to approve Referendum 74. It passed. Thank you. Thank you a million times.

I am kind of in shock. I don't know how to handle my emotion so I keep telling jokes about exercising so I can look good in my wedding dress - and I won't even wear a wedding dress. I danced on the streets on Tuesday and I've participated in the banter and celebration on facebook and other social media sites. But something unexpected has happened inside of me. Something that I have a hard time explaining.

I want to hug everyone. And thank them. And cry. And scream. And smile. I feel like I am going to explode.

I have always been an independent person. I am determined and driven and don't usually rely on other people to make things happen for myself. But in this case, in my ability to have the possibility of getting married and live the life I have always wanted to live, I have had to rely on other people - on people I don't know. It has been a completely humbling experience and I'm overcome with emotion.

In the last couple days I have had flashbacks to my second grade class - to the day Mrs. Bagley, worlds best 2nd grade teacher, told us we could grow up and be anything we wanted to be. I've thought about daydreaming in my 8th grade history class about changing the world and making it a better place. I've replayed countless conversations with my mom as she pleaded with me to see the beauty in myself.

To most, Referendum 74 might not mean that much. To me, it means everything. Really. Everything. Other people voted that I am normal. It means that other people feel that I, and my potential marriage, is worth celebrating. Referendum 74 means so much to me because I have always felt less than.  I have never felt normal. Or equal. Because I haven't been.

People say that it shouldn't matter what other people think of you. Maybe it shouldn't. But it does. A lot. The way people view you can create or destroy confidence. Other peoples perception makes some walk in the clouds while it makes others take their own lives. It will always matter to me what the people in Washington thought - because their collective opinion about gay marriage gave me one of the greatest gifts in my life.

Thanks you. I promise to cherish the gift you have given.

Sincerely,
Chelsea

Election Day

Today, more than any other day in my life thus far, my ability to pursue my own happiness is in the hands of other people - in the hands of strangers.

I hope, hope, hope Referendum 74 is approved. Tonight could be a epic celebration. Let's hope.

I want to be a mom like this mom

I stole this from Jami's blog. Thanks, sister. I love you. And I love this!

But I have to say that my very most favorite thing I have come across on Pinterest is this story. When I read it the first time I bawled my eyes out. And the second, third and fourth. I absolutely LOVE this.
I love it because I grew up with a mom who really stressed the importance of loving, accepting and being kind to everyone. She was one who, at Parent/Teacher Conferences, was more concerned about how my siblings and I treated the other kids than how fast we could read or how well we did our times tables. Sure, those things were important, really important, but playing with or eating lunch with an 'underdog' was more important. I am so grateful for a mom who instilled that certain kind of compassion in me.  

I hope it resonates with you like it did me.

Dear [Chase],
Hey, baby.
Tomorrow is a big day. Third Grade – wow.

Chase – When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.
Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.
And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.
I still think about Adam every day. I wonder if Adam remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play, just once, he’d still remember me.

I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.
So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.
Baby, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a part of your heart will hurt a little. Your daddy and I want you to trust that heart- ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart-ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Chase! Wake up! One of my babies is hurting! Do something to help! Whenever you feel compassion – be thrilled! It means God is speaking to you, and that is magic. It means He trusts you and needs you.
Sometimes the magic of compassion will make you step into the middle of a bad situation right away.
Compassion might lead you to tell a teaser to stop it and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might choose a kid for your team first who usually gets chosen last. These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.
Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t step in right away. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher and then tell us. We are on your team – we are on your whole class’s team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, baby. We will make a plan to help together.

When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.
Chase – We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.
We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.
We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.
Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.
Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.
Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.
Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are one lucky boy . . . with all of these new gifts to unwrap this year.
I love you so much that my heart might explode.
Enjoy and cherish your gifts.
And thank you for being my favorite gift of all time.

Love,
Mama

November

November is my favorite month. Not because of the weather or because the beauty of the earth (although it is proving to be a VERY beautiful month so far - the leafs are amazing!). I love November because Thanksgiving is in November and people seem to be more aware of their blessings!

I love reflecting on my blessings. I have so many!

You know what I especially love?! Feeling thankful for things in my life that are hard. And I love not faking that thankful feeling. I love when my heart and mind turns from putting energy into the hard things of the hard thing and starts putting energy in experiencing gratitude because of the hard thing.

The hardest things in my life have created the most growth. And has taught me compassion and forgiveness. And I am so thankful for compassion and forgiveness. And love.

I have novels of things to be thankful for. I am thankful for my life. And all the experiences I get in my life. I am thankful for the people in my life - and all the people that have ever been in my life. I am thankful for learning and feeling and loving and playing. I am thankful for family. Oh, I am thankful for family! I am thankful for Harley. I am so extremely thankful for Harley!

I am thankful for for the people in my life that have doubted me or hated me because of my sexuality. They taught me to dig within myself and find courage and confidence. I am thankful for the illnesses that have effected my family. They forced my siblings and I to become best friends. I am thankful for the loneliness I felt when I moved to Seattle. It allowed me to really get to know myself. And love myself. I am thankful for the heartbreak I have experienced. It have taught me that hearts heal and have the ability to love again. I am thankful for the financial struggles I have faced. They taught me the importance of hard work.

I am thankful for all the laughter and all the music and the all good conversations that have always been apart of my life.

I am thankful for my own heart. And mind. And the power that lies underneath my own skin.

I am thankful. For my life. And for November.

Join me. Be thankful. It will change your life.

My little friend Billy

and I won the costume contest!

I wish I could take credit for this

Dear Red States... 

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon,Washington, 
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast.


We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California. 





To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. 
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share. Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms. 
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire. With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.
With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. 




We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you. 




Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say 
that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazies believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties. 

By the way, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico. 
Peace out, 





Blue States

Referendum 74

Dear family and friends and potential strangers, 

I am writing this email because I want to get married and people in Washington State have the opportunity to fill in a little circle on their ballet to allow that to happen (perhaps you don't live in Washington but I am guessing and hoping that gay marriage will be on the ballet in every state soon enough). 

I have spent hours upon hours phone banking and knocking on doors throughout the state asking people to approve Referendum 74 - a Referendum that will allow me to get married - and before each outing I sit through a training. Every time I have been asked to write a letter to family, friends and everyone else that I know that explains why its so important to me that Referendum 74 is approved. I have put it off - my story is personal and I didn't think I wanted to share it - until I got my ballet in the mail. I started imagining  people I know casting their vote without knowing the importance of this issue to me. 

I want to have the opportunity to get married. I deserve the opportunity. I deserve it because I'm a human. I have a heart. I have the capacity to love. I love kids - and want to have them! And I was taught from a young age by word and example that getting married would bring a lot of love and happiness and commitment to my life.

I grew up in a very religious family. I grew up Mormon in Salt Lake City. And I absolutely love the way I grew up! I grew up going to church and developing a close relationship with God. I loved God and I loved life. But then I grew to hate God. And life. And myself.

I was in middle school when I realized I was different. I didn't know how or why I was different. I just was. Although people viewed me as a really outgoing and confident kid, I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. I tried and tried and prayed and prayed to feel normal. I made deals with God that I would be nicer and that I would participate in more church functions if he would make me feel normal. He didn't. He didn't because I was perfect just the way I was. But I didn't know that then. 

Fast forward to college. I finally knew (or maybe finally accepted) what it was about me that was different. I was attracted to women. Depression, deep dark depression came at the same time the acceptance of my gayness did. How could I be gay? How could I be that much of a disappointment to my family? How could I do that to the church? How could I do that to GOD? and How could God do that to me? Darkness, even on the brightest days, consumed me. Suicide was contemplated and naively attempted. 

It got especially bad when friends started calling me with news of their engagements (that happens at a relatively young age for Mormons). I thought that I would never be able to call my friends or family and let them know that I had decided to spend the rest of my life with someone... and worse, that I would never get to say the words, 'I'm having a baby.' And even if I did find someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, nobody would be happy for me. How could they? I was taught that if I ever had a relationship, it would be an abomination! 

Fast forward again - about 7 years to a new and improved and mostly happy Chelsea. I now live in Seattle, Washington. I moved because I needed to be in a place where people accepted me. I needed to be in a place where it was okay and celebrated to be me. It might sound silly but Seattle taught me to love myself.  I am now a contributing citizen to society and am successful and giddy because life is awesome - in the very essence of the word. I have made friends here, most that are gay - and collectively they have similarities that remind me of my straight friends from home. They want to be loved. They want to be successful. They want to have the ability to live the life they have always dreamed of living. Marriage, or the possibility of it, is a part of that dream.

The more I write the more I realize I want to write. On a human level, there are so many reasons gays should be able to get married. Most obvious, we are human beings. I am a human! 

I have been in love before - more than once actually. But I've only been in love once with someone that I wanted to marry. The love I had for her was the kind of love that changes you forever. The kind of love that makes the world more beautiful and amazing and fun. I wanted kids with her. I wanted to travel the world with her. I wanted her to be next to me when I lost my parents. I wanted to be next to her when all the good and all the bad things happened in my life - because with her everything was better. I wanted to marry her but what did that even mean? We couldn't legally get married. What would we teach our kids? How would our kids be treated in school - when society taught them and their friends that being gay is weird and gross? Those thoughts, combined with a lot of other similar thoughts, put a wedge in our relationship. That wedge eventually caused us to break up.

Let me translate - I let the perceived thoughts of society and the perceived thoughts of other people put a wedge in my relationship! And all of those perceptions were rooted from the fact that marriage isn't legal.

Washington has the opportunity to help teach the rest of the country that being gay is okay. We have the opportunity to teach the kids that feel different that they are beautiful and wonderful. And perfect. Because they are. Washington has the opportunity to make my dreams come true - and the dreams of a lot of my friends come true. Washington has the opportunity to make a stand. A stand for love and a stand for equality!

On a religious stance, this is what I know about God. God loves me. He made me. I am His child. My life is a gift - not a mistake - and getting married and having a family will help me reach the potential I know is inside of me. Marriage and family is an expression of the gratitude I have towards God and the life and love He has given me. 

Please approve Referendum 74. And please encourage your friends and family too as well.

Thank you, 

Chelsea Nelson