My Thoughts on the 2016 Election

This is an election year. On November 8th, just over 3 weeks from now, Americans all across the country will head to the polls to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Along with other things, they will vote for whomever they would like to be the next President of the United States. 

Voting is a great privilege. I have voted in every election since I turned 21 years old - the legal voting age back then.  I believe, more than ever before, that this is the most important election of my lifetime. I believe that the fate of the country is at stake. 

I also believe that because of corrupt leaders on both the national and state levels, that there is a high likelihood of election fraud taking place. We hear accusations about election fraud every four years, but I think there will be more of an outcry this year. The American voters are being disenfranchised by thugs who manipulate the system to make sure that their candidate is elected. It is not right, but it is allowed to happen by the liberal media. They will say or do anything to get their nominee elected.

Hillary Clinton is the Democrat Party's nominee (and the first woman on the ballot for president) and Donald Trump is the Republican Party's nominee. They are the two main candidates, but others are running too. I do not want to vote for either of them. Neither of them are the type of individual I believe should sit in the white house and lead this country.

For the record, I do not like election years. One reason, and there are several, is because of all of the contention and mud slinging that goes on. Neither of the main candidates are flawless. Both are far from it, yet they act like they are when they accuse the other of heinous acts. I am so tired of it. I can't wait for the election to be over.

I want to stay abreast of the issues and be familiar with what the candidates stand for, but I hate watching the news shows and the debates because all of the contention, deceit, and outright lies hurts my spirit. I find myself getting way too uptight, frustrated, and angry with what's going on. I want to know the true character of the candidates, but it is purposely hidden from us. We need the gift of discernment now more than ever before. The blatant contention of this election is dividing our already divided country even more. 

This scripture from Helaman 11 in the Book of Mormon sums up, to me, what's going on:

29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.

I sure hope that this spirit of contention can be done away, but I'm not holding my breath.

The Day Hell Froze Over

I have a husband who pinches every penny twice. He is very frugal, which is a good thing. I'm sure he gets it from his mother who grew up during the depression and her family had to be creative in order to make ends meet. Nothing was wasted and nothing was discarded that could be re-purposed or used by someone. She hated wasting anything and didn't purchase anything that wasn't needed.

One way Alan saves money is by keeping a car FOREVER. That way, we really get our money's worth out of it. I see a lot of wisdom in that philosophy. However, there comes a point where, although the car may still be running, it is time to purchase a new one. 

Many people get new cars every few years because they want the newer model, they want a change, the car has too many miles on it, or they simply feel like they need to keep up with the Jones'.  This doesn't make sense financially, but people do it anyway.

Alan has been driving his 1999 Toyota Camry for probably 15 years. I have begged him for years to get a new car, but my pleadings always fell on deaf ears. I finally realized that we wouldn't get a new car until Hell froze over.  Well, yesterday Hell froze over! It is hard to believe that on a 98 degree October day in Moreno Valley, CA that Hell could freeze over, but it did. Alan parted with some of his hard earned cash for a new car for the first time in about 11 years. 

We ended up purchasing a Honda Odyssey Mini-van. Why a mini-van at our age, you ask? Because we wanted a car that could seat more people than a sedan or my Lexus can. I drive in a carpool to the temple each Wednesday and sometimes we have 5-6 people going down with us. One sister in our carpool does drive a mini-van, but it will be nice to have two vehicles that can accommodate those kinds of numbers. When we need to pick up a family from the airport, we now won't need to take two cars down to accommodate them and all of the luggage. Alan read somewhere that 50% of mini-van owners are empty nesters. I know a lot of other couples our age who drive mini-vans, so I guess we are in good company.

As it turns out, we found a 2016 Odyssey with less than 1,700 miles on it. Evidently, it was leased by someone who only kept it a month or two and then returned it. Their loss was our gain because we were able to get a brand new (almost) car at a used car price. We are extremely happy with it. It's like Christmas arrived early this year...because it actually did. We  won't be purchasing each other much if anything for Christmas or our Anniversary this year. A new car is plenty for us.

Here is a picture of the car we purchased.

Truthfully, I thought I'd never own another mini-van. I drove 2 mini-vans and a bigger conversion van for many years. When we got the Lexus, I thought I was done with vans. However, this van is so much nicer than the vans that I drove back when the kids were still at home. No comparison at all. It drives nice, looks nice, and is extremely comfortable. However, it is so high tech that I am having to read the owner's manual to know how to use the electronic parts of it, especially the touch screen computer, radio, bluetooth, hands-free phone, etc. Everything is electronically run now - even the push-button ignition.

 We are blessed to be able to afford this purchase. Never during our marriage have we ever had a car payment. We have always saved up and paid cash for our cars. When you finance a car, you end up paying a lot more for it. The cost escalates because of the high interest rates incurred. Life is good.....especially when you have no debt!

October's Year of Dates

The end of the year is quickly approaching. Only three more gift dates to enjoy this year.

We opened October's gift this morning. On the outside of the package there was a paper with what looked like a passport or postage type stamp on it from France. Hmm...will we be going on a trip? Of course not, but that would have been pretty cool.

Looks like we will be staying home for this date, as the note says.

I think I am more excited about this one than Alan is because he doesn't like puzzles that much, but I think it is cool.  I love puzzles. It is a 3D puzzle of the tower of Pisa. I have never done a 3D puzzle before so I think it will be fun to try to figure out how to do it. Alan thinks we should wait until Ethan, Ella, and Olivia are here later this month so they can help us with it. Not a bad idea. He may be on to something!