We had a fun time this afternoon going through Kjirsti’s photojournals of her childhood.  It’s incredible to me how little I actually know about her.  She’s full of stories, surprises and hidden talents.  It caused me to wonder how little I really know about all the people around me, even though I spend time with the same people everyday.
I attended a priesthood leadership meeting this evening, and was really inspired to alleviate my utter lack of leadership skills.  I really enjoyed the emphasis the counselor made on helping people set their own goals, rather than setting goals for them.  Kjirsti and I often set personal goals, and sometimes, set goals together.  Often, I try to set goals for her (such as making cookies more often, or watching more movies with me) but her personal goals are nearly always more helpful to her.  I think a good leader helps a person recognize their own potential, and support that increase in effort, rather than enforcing the leader’s standards.
For all those LDS readers, check out new.familysearch.org It’s incredible! You need your membership number and confirmation date.  They have linked the historic sites in our ancestors lives to google maps, and you can track where our great-great-great grandparents were born, got married, and died.  They really did a great job.
Did you know that the italian prime minister lost a no-confidence vote last week?  Italy no longer has a prime minister!
I’ve been following the primaries in my free time lately.  I am not really completely satisfied with any candidate in particular.  Here’s my current views on the republican candidates:
Romney:

Pros: Good example of family life (I know, Nixon was tauted the same way).  I agree with his moderate view on pro-life, and can understand his flip-flopping.  I agree with him on many moral issues.  If we really are in a recession, he has demonstrated economic prowess.

Cons:He seems a little too slick.  I know that is superficial, but he seems more like a CEO than a  president.  He wants to place bugs in american, islamic mosques.  He wants to expand Guantanamo.  He has spoken out on expanding citizen surveillance.

Giuliani:

Cons: He seems like a thug.

McCain:

Pros: McCain believes in making the treatment of prisoners’s more humane.  He does not support Bushs runaway increase in citizen surveillance.  He’s got an amazing life story.  I feel like he’s the only candidate that represents himself honestly.  It seems like I know what I’m getting with him.
Cons: The world is changing, and I’m not sure he is keeping up. He supports the expansion of the death penalty.

I’ll do my views on the democrats later on.  I’d love to hear your views, which you can add in the comments.  It is an exciting year for elections.  My prediction is that it’s going to be a Romney, Clinton, Ron Paul race.  First mormon, first woman, or first libertarian for president.  I think Obama and McCain still have a shot though, we’ll see how things go on super tuesday.