Kansas. It's Really Not As Bad As You've Heard.

Hi there! I'm Dawn, and I'm from Kansas. Well... that's not quite right. I've grew up in St. Louis-- went to school in Missouri, then Oregon, then met a boy that I felt the need to stalk into submission and somehow that devolved into living in...

Kansas.

But it's not as bad as you've heard. My town is actually quite hilly in parts. I've lived here nearly ten years, and I've yet to be swept away by a tornado. Our school district has one of the largest proportion of teachers with Master's degrees in the nation. And we have a nationally ranked NCAA basketball team.

But it's still in Kansas.

In a lot of ways, I am outside the norm here. I'm pretty liberal... Kansas is not. I'm pretty feminist... Kansas is not. I'm all about supporting equality. Yup, you guessed it-- Kansas is often not. Kansas is a bevy of contradictions-- one of the first states to give women the right to vote, and also the home of Fred Phelps, the jerk who picketed Matthew Shepherd's funeral. The forty-hour work week movement began here... but we still don't have a state minimum wage.

I don't believe in judging a person based on their best or worst act-- so I try to extend that philosophy to my state.

For all the cringe-worthy attention my fair state brings to itself, I love living here. I love my life in Kansas, the people I walk down the street with each day, and the life my husband and myself have built for ourselves here.

We have three kids-- Son Noise, 5 yrs, daughter Funk, 3 yrs, and son Squeak, 7 months. I worked full time until my son Squeak was born, and it became financially impossible to continue. I've been adjusting to the life of a SAHM for six months now, and it's been a heckuva ride. I don't believe it's the only way-- I'm not even sure I'd have chosen it if day care had not cost more than my salary-- but I am grateful for the opportunity just the same.

I write (albeit currently infrequently) at Growing A Pair.

I was a cheerleader in high school.

I have really bad eyesight.

I recycle.

We can figure the rest out as we go along.