Politics, Stories
Sarah Holland
Campaign Update: March

"How's the campaign going?"

It's the question I get most often. It's also the question I'm never quite sure how to answer.

Good? ... Great! ... Your guess is as good as mine. ... We'll see May 17th!

The truth - I suppose - all depends on what you're measuring. 

Campaign Update: March
Celebrations
Sarah Holland
Felix's Winter ONE-derland

This weekend we hosted a Winter ONE-derland party in honor of Felix's first birthday. Considering this child was born during a snow, it seemed like an appropriate theme. Well, the weather had other plans and it was 70 and sunny! I could have hosted the dang party outside! 

Felix's Winter ONE-derland
Stories
Sarah Holland
Ruby

For my 30th birthday, I created a list of 30 things I wanted to do. One was to write a historical fiction short story. This is the story and as Ruby keeps calling to me here lately. I thought I'd share it here. 

Ruby
Food
Sarah Holland
Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals

One of Nicholas's New Year's resolutions was to try freezer meals. He'd prepped meals for the week on and off through 2015 and wanted to see how it would work to prepare an entire month's worth. Then, we could just pull a meal from the deep freeze, throw it in the crockpot, and on a busy day dinner would be waiting for us.

Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals
What I Learned
Sarah Holland
5 things I learned in January

Dear 2016, Slow. Up. I just picked my word for the year and finished off my New Year's Eve champagne like five minutes ago and now it's two days until February!

Whew.

5 things I learned in January

Politics

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Hobby Lobby: Contraception and Corporations

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Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that requiring closely held corporations, in this case Hobby Lobby and Mennonite cabinet makers Conestoga Wood, to provide health insurance coverage for methods of contraception that violates the companies owners’ sincerely held religious beliefs was not permitted under the Religion Freedom Restoration Act.

First, based on my own personal history, I have a passion for the specific methods of contraception being discussed in this case and the persistent myths surrounding them. After graduating from college, I spent a year running an emergency contraception (EC) hotline. At the time, EC was available only by prescription.  When a woman would call, I would collect her information, ask her several medical questions, and have a prescription called in. I dealt exclusively with the hormonal EC levonorgestrel.

I like to tell people I prevented more abortions in that year than most people do in their entire life.

My Most Popular Political Posts of the Year

I had a plan to post my favorite or most popular post of the year but I was having trouble choosing just one. THEN, I realized it's my blog and I don't have to! So, here are several of my most popular political posts of the year. 

I love politics. When I first started bluegrass redhead, I thought maybe I would spend most of my time writing about the simplicity of small town life. HA! Turns out y'all enjoy it way more when I'm passionate and riled up. The best part is y'all get riled up too but in the most intelligent and civil way! 

Click any photo to be taken to the post.

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Daniel Murphy and what's wrong with American priorities

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Last week, Boomer Esiason, former quarterback and current sports commentator, made some very incendiary comments about Major League Baseball player Patrick Murphy, who had recently taken three days paternity leave for the birth of his son. Because babies don’t care what sport you play, Murphy’s son was born on opening day and as a result Murphy missed two games.

Esiason argued that Murphy should have forced his wife to schedule a c-section before the season started. Esiason’s comments immediately went viral and he apologized for his criticism of Murphy several days later. I’m not here to attack Boomer Esiason for a few comments he made on a talk radio show (not usually the mecca for rationality). By all accounts, Esiason is a dedicated family man himself. In fact, he was named Father of the Year in 2009 after starting a foundation to fund cystic fibrosis research after his own son Gunnar was diagnosed with the disease. 

The truth is that while Esiason’s comments were extreme they represent an idea that has been part of the American philosophy for decades, especially among American men. 

Work comes first. Family comes second. 

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Guest Post: A response to #BanBossy

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I am a huge Sheryl Sandberg fan.  I’ve watched her TED Talks multiple times.  In certain settings, I have quoted Lean In like the Bible.  I follow Lean In groups on social media, and I think Sandberg is provoking some of the healthiest discussion taking place about women and work.  

So, I was surprised by my viscerally negative reaction to the “Ban Bossy” campaign.  I have liked (and probably pinned somewhere) the quote about telling little girls they have leadership characteristics, but the idea of banning the word “bossy” didn’t resonate with me.

#BANBOSSY

Bossyface.

That's what my cousins called me growing up. It's now family lore and my nickname - pulled out whenever I'm little too opinionated or assertive or dominant.

As I became an adult, bossy became abrasive or loud or just plain old bitchy but the underlying message was always the same.

“How you are is not ok. You need to change."

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12 Years A Slave and my family's history with slavery

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12 Years A Slave is an amazing film. Well-acted, well-directed, well-written, it is a testament to the craft of film-making and worthy of the Academy Award for Best Picture. More than that, 12 Years A Slave is an important film. The true story of Solomon Northup – a free man who was kidnapped and forced into slavery over a hundred years ago – forces all of us to see the reality of American slavery stripped of the usual Hollywood tropes of happy slaves singing in the field (see Gone with the Wind) or the white savior (see Amistad, Lincoln).

This film has started a discussion – a discussion that for far too long we as a society have avoided.  This film has started a discussion about the brutality of the slave system and the repercussions of that system that we still feel to this day – in part because that system still exists in many parts of the world.

I am not an academic. I am not an expert. However, slavery is a part of my own story and it is a story I feel that I should share in an effort to continue the discussion that 12 Years A Slave began. 

Emerge Kentucky and Pursuing Your Dreams

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Today I'm on Her Kentucky sharing where my dreams of public office began.

I remember the first time I considered public office. I was in high school and I was obsessed with Barbra Streisand. I thought it was because I wanted to be an actress. Then, I realized what I really loved about her was her political activism. She seemed to care. People listened to her opinions on important issues.

Now, I realize that Barbra Streisand is a unique choice as a political role model but hey I was 15.

Read the rest on Her Kentucky!

I also wrote my first blog post on the blog for Emerge Kentucky on meeting awesome female legislators in Frankfort.

There is dreaming about leadership. There is planning for leadership. There is being trained for leadership.

Then, there is actually engaging with current women leaders.

Read the rest on Emerge Kentucky's website. 

The online home of Sarah Stewart Holland