I've learned in life to never say never. I never thought I'd be spouting politics on the Internet for all to see. I never thought I'd buy one of those tiny toy dogs since I have five manly boys in my family. I never thought I'd live in the desert, but guess who's moving to Las Vegas? Yep, it's true. I'm leaving paradise and moving to the desert right in the middle of the summer. Great plan, eh?

When my twin sister married a man who was born and raised in Sin City my husband and I felt sorry for her, knowing that she'd probably be surrounded by tumbleweeds for the rest of her life. My husband laughed and said "Vegas looks just like San Diego... after a nuclear holocaust!" Guess who's laughing now.

The recent housing crisis has hit my family particularly hard. My husband owns a real estate appraisal company and both of us are also Realtors. Because the real estate market is somewhat cyclical, we have lived through a roller coaster existence of feast or famine our entire married life together. The feasting cycles were awesome, but the famine times stunk. 

As mortgage rates continue to climb and home values continue to fall, our livelihood has taken a hit. Add rising gas and food costs, braces on the kids, and our second son joining his older brother in college this fall and we've just joined the "People Who Adore San Diego But Can't Afford To Live Here Anymore" club.

I'm a freak. I admit it. For starters, I'm a Republican. I was a virgin when I got married at age 24. I've never touched alcohol or cigarettes in my entire life. I don't swear. I even drive the speed limit (well, most of the time). See, I told you, I'm a freak. At least compared to the world's standards.

I'm also a Christian who had a gay man and a lesbian as two of my bridesmaids at my wedding. No, I didn't make my gay friend wear a bridesmaid's dress. They were two of my dearest friends and I wanted them to be a part of my special day.

I have quite a few gay and lesbian friends who are celebrating California's court ruling allowing them to legally marry. I'm happy for them. I'm thrilled they have found love and that they want to commit themselves and their life to another person. Love is a beautiful thing, BUT. 

Yes, there's a BUT.  At the same time, I also think that legalizing same-sex marriage is going to take us down a slippery slope for several reasons. While California has been celebrating and everyone on this blog has been blissfully applauding homosexual nuptials, I feel like I'm going to rain on everyone's rainbow parade if I say anything but congratulations. There are several concerns I'd like to bring up in order to play Devil's Advocate... or maybe in this case, Heaven's Advocate. 

National Public Radio has created an interesting project called "Get My Vote."  It's a fun, online space where people can explain their core political beliefs and share their personal stories that will help determine who gets their vote in November. It all starts with one question: What will it take for a presidential candidate to get your vote? Interested participants can either post a video similar to the one above or simply post a written comment.

The project's desire is to move beyond the talking points and conventional wisdom of the 2008 election season to get at the heart of what people want from their politicians. What do YOU want?

The video above, which I filmed, captures a teacher at the Grauer School, a private middle school/high school in Encinitas where I've been teaching Spanish classes part-time. Clayton Payne is a terrific teacher whom the students adore. He and I were discussing the most recent election here in California when the thought occurred to me that you might like to eavesdrop on our conversation! 

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to all of you who have been supporting Citizen Voices since its kickoff in January.

It's pretty scary putting our opinions out there to be analyzed and scrutinized, so we truly appreciate your encouragement and interest! We've never claimed to be experts in politics, only interested. We're trying our best to post informed and entertaining content each day and we're grateful for your patience and tolerance when we fall short of perfection.

To us, being a good citizen means getting involved in the community and trying to improve it for the greater good. While we may disagree on issues at times, we all agree that San Diego is America's finest city and worth our time to make it even better.

According to the San Diego County Registar of Voters, the turn-out for yesterday's vote was a record low. Kind of gives "Absentee Voter" a new meaning. Yikes! Are San Diegans not interested in the issues or simply too busy trying to pay for their outrageously expensive housing and gas tanks to vote? Granted, it's an insanely busy time of year with graduation events, end-of-the-season sports parties, awards banquets, and the opening of Sex And The City.

Hey, we have our priorities, after all.

Filmed at the San Diego Convention Center, KPBS Citizen Voice Blogger and author, Trina Boice, talks with New York Times best-selling author, Jason Wright about his political Web site "Political Derby." Jason's entertaining and informative website was founded in 2005 as a haven for political junkies. If you're reading the Citizen Voices blogs, then you probably fit into that category! The Web site incudes links to lots of other fun political Web sites that will keep you happily reading about the presidential race as the horses (donkeys and elephants) gallop to the finish line. Enjoy!

P. S. Trina was so overcome with Jason's fabulous hair that she accidentally gave the wrong address for KPBS on the video clip... it should be www.kpbs.org, (not .com) 

- Citizen Voices blogger Trina Boice is an author and mother of four who lives in Carlsbad.

While Citizen Voice bloggers Alma, Chuck and I were chatting about the San Diego mayoral and city attorney races on Tom Fudge's radio show, "These Days" yesterday, the tide for same-sex marriage was turning.

By the time the three of us walked back to the KPBS Green Room (which isn't green at all) CNN was announcing that the California Supreme Court had just declared the ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. Chuck's Blackberry was going crazy, sending him headline news via text, along with a playful proposal from his partner. As soon as I could connect my laptop with the wireless in the building, Chuck was racing around the Internet Superhighway, anxious for more details.

As a divorce attorney he was fascinated with the 172 pages of paperwork associated with the new ruling. As a gay man, he was thrilled with the possibilities. The video below shows Chuck's reaction to the ruling minutes after it was announced.

Start up a conversation with your neighbor about your local government and it will quickly become a whine session about what the city isn't doing right. Right?

Do you really know how your city works? You may have a teenager who is required to perform a certain number of community service hours in order to graduate from school, but what have you done for your city lately? Dialogue is great, but I'm so sick of the whining.

Complaining is only worthwhile when it leads to action.

Did you know today is the 57th Annual National Day of Prayer? Oh, stop rolling your eyes. Our country desperately needs all of the prayers it can get right now. The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. What? Are those crazy Christian fanatics at it again? No, this annual look to the heavens was actually created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress (PDF), and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.

"What about separation of church and state?" you worry (or in the case of Florida, the separation of church and plate). Where in the Constitution does it say as a nation we can't pray for divine guidance? Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history. Benjamin Franklin observed "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men... and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"

I would submit that a nation can certainly fall without it. Some would say that America is on a precipice right now, very much in need of inspired aid.

Illustration by Calvin Boice.

If you have a teenager or college student in your house then you probably already know about Facebook. It’s like MySpace but without all of the porn and spam. It’s a fun way to connect with your friends, and if you’re a parent, eavesdrop on your kids and their friends. I love it. One of my friends just sent me a challenge that has been circulating a lot lately on Facebook and a link where you can take a 20 question test entitled “Could You Pass The U.S. Citizenship Test?” The same test has even shown up on MSNBC where you can get your score. 

These are sample questions from the civics test that immigrants take as part of their naturalization interview. This test gives you multiple choices, but immigrants who take the real test are not, as their test is conducted orally.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plans to revise its list of questions this year. Do you think you could pass the test? Could our presidential candidates?