Pop Quiz: Off the top of your head, name a prominent Republican who talks a good game about the environment. You know, someone who has proposed a plan to save our planet and has taken action to implement preservation of our natural resources. Someone who has professed his love for Mother Earth, and has not only encouraged Americans to be more Green, but practices what he preaches.

My younger sister, Rachel, received notice that her National Guard unit will be deployed to Iraq in February 2009. It's a little difficult for me to think forward to next year, but when discussing the Iraq War, February is not that far away. Even more difficult to comprehend is my 23-year-old sister going off to war.

I'm not an expert on matters of the Middle East. I make an effort to read the newspapers and watch the news, but most of the information I discover usually pertains to the war in Iraq and our American troops. About a month ago, BlogHer's Kim Pearson and I had a brief chat discussion about Middle Eastern history and I was surprised (and somewhat embarrassed) with how little I knew about the territory and it's many crises and religious conflicts.

As a woman, wife and mother, politics is important to me. We live in a country that is struggling. We're at war in Iraq. Millions of Americans are jobless, have no health insurance and are losing their homes in a mortgage crisis.

When Suzanne introduced BlogHer's Letter to My Body project I was very excited to participate. Excited but nervous and scared, as well. For so long I've struggled with body image and my very unrealistic expectations of how I should look and what I should weigh, and I didn't know how I would put my feelings into words.