Why I'm Voting for Evan McMullin

On Wednesday October 5, 2016 I attended Evan McMullin's event at the Provo City Library. I have been following him since two days after he announced his candidacy. Evan is a breath of fresh air in this joke of a presidential race. The purpose of this post is not to go into the strategy details of how he could win - by a huge miracle I might add. I'm not going to quote that "lesser of two evils" quote. I'm not even going to tell you that you should vote for Evan, because that is your decision to make. I'm going to tell you why I am personally voting for Evan McMullin.

What would eventually lead me to choose McMullin over the other candidates started during the primaries. My choice during the primaries was John Kasich. I knew his chances were low but I still liked him best, and I was happy to support Ted Cruz when Kasich dropped out. But when Ted Cruz dropped out I felt unsure on what to think. Honestly, I simply could not believe that Donald Trump was the Republican nominee.

I went back and forth: Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump? I thought, well Hilary has experience. I might disagree on some fundamental things, but at least she knows what she is doing. Then when I heard Mike Pence speak at the RNC, I thought, Oh I can vote for Pence by voting for Trump. Pence is an actual conservative politician. Maybe with him and other real Republicans guiding Trump, a Trump presidency could be okay. But like with Hilary, there are fundamental issues that I can't stand behind.

I know a lot of people think that Trump haters don't want to vote for him because he's rude, obnoxious, and quite frankly, a complete lunatic. Yeah, he is all of those things, but so are practically every other politician out there - they are just better at hiding it. I'm not voting for Trump because I disagree with his immigration reform plan, his tax reform plan, and some of his ideas on religious freedom. I disagree with his actual policies, it's not just me disliking the person the media has painted.

I also cannot stand behind Hilary with her stance on abortion (a.k.a. "reproductive rights"). Nor her idea that psychologists and psychiatrists shouldn't be allowed to help transgenders learn to love, accept and stay comfortable with the person and body they were born  with (I promise I didn't make that up, it's on her campaign website). Obviously if someone chooses to take hormones and have surgeries, that's their choice. but not even give them and their doctors the option to choose? That doctors can only offer hormones and surgeries?  That's going too far. But this topic is for another conversation. I also don't agree with their tax plan.

As you can see. I actually researched both Hilary Clinton's and Donald Trump's campaigns. My decision has nothing to do with the media hype, and everything to do with their policies that I simply cannot support.

I decided to research the 3rd party candidates, and still found disappointment. Jill Stein and Gary Johnson are too liberal for my taste, and Darrel Castle is simply too weak, and his financial ideas are confusing and scary. At this point I planned on writing in Mitt Romney's name. Then Evan McMullin made the news. I decided to look into him, but I wasn't expecting anything. When I finished reading his campaign website evanmcmullin.com  I knew I was voting for him. (I also follow his facebook page.)

Evan's stance on immigration and abortion match mine exactly. He agrees the border needs to be secured, but he also knows deporting 11 million people is ridiculous. He would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned, but he also understands that the whether abortion is legal or not is one of many answers to this problem. In one of his earlier interviews he said most liberals and conservatives both want to see abortion numbers go down, we are simply head locked in the legal aspect of it. But if we asked and answered the question together, "How can we make abortion numbers go down?" and worked together on that, we would be more productive.

While he believes that marriage is between one man and one woman, Evan will not fight the Supreme Court on the recent decision about same-sex marriage. He is going to respect their decision. I know that's a hard pill for many conservatives to swallow, but I agree with him. I think it's a waste of time and money - precious money - to fight it. That doesn't mean that us individual conservatives stop teaching our children what is right, but I think the legal fight is over for now.

 He wants to lower and simplify taxes - though I haven't heard if he has a plan with actual numbers yet. His idea of liberty and freedom fits all races, religions, and classes. You see, when Republicans talk about freedom, they mean freedom for Christians. When Democrats talk about equality, they mean equality for the LGBT groups. Evan wants equality for all, true equality. In his address at the Provo Library he said, "With liberty for all, we will have different skin colors.  With liberty for all, we will have different religions."

A lot of people think that he is a spoiler, that he is handing the election to Hilary. But he's not doing this to be self-serving. He's not being malicious. In a recent interview as well as at the Provo Library event he said that he approached big name conservatives first. He wanted to create a campaign to back someone with name recognition. All of them declined. At this point his team asked him if he would step up, and he agreed. And now here we are.

I know it will take a HUGE miracle for him to win. I'm not so naive to think this will be an easy journey. But his campaign is more than just a bid for the White House. His campaign is creating a new conservative movement, a movement that could very well create a new conservative party. The Republican party is a sinking ship, and if Hilary Clinton wins - which she has a very good chance of doing so - I believe the Republican party will crumble. Conservatives who have already abandoned ship can create a new and better conservative party to rise in its place.

I also have to vote for who and what I believe in. I don't believe in Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton, and I don't believe in the parties they represent. I don't believe in being a strategy voter. I believe in voting my conscious, and my conscious says Evan McMullin.

The Growing Division Among Women and Who is Behind It

As women - as human beings - we naturally separate ourselves by our differences and gather together by our similarities. We feel good being surrounded by people who are in similar circumstances as us; and feel judged, inadequate and scared of those different from us. Some common divisions are: being single, being married, being a mom, not being a mom, being a SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom), being a working mom, breastfeeding, formula feeding, home births, hospital births, feminists, non feminists... you get the picture.

Depending on which social circles you run in, certain groups are painted as "the mean girls" of that aspect of life.  Moms are often accused of judging women who are not mothers, women who breastfeed are accused of judging women who formula feed. But the reality is that every "group" feels judged by their opposite "group". Single women feel judged by married women, and vice versa. Women who are not mothers feel judged by those who do, and - believe it or not - women who are moms feel the same way. SAHMs feel judged by working moms, and working moms feel judged by SAHMs. Once, again, you get the picture.

While there are real mean girls in each "group" that say and do terrible things, most of the time, hurt feelings were not intended. A mom can't express how much she loves being a mom without being told she's hurting the feelings of women who are not moms. A SAHM can't express how much she loves staying home with their kids without being accused of making working moms feel guilty. A breastfeeding mom can't express the bond she feels feeding her child without being called a nipple nazi. Formula feeding moms can't share which brand of formula helped their baby without fearing getting that dreaded "breast is best" comment. Women who are single and/or childless by choice can't voice that fact without getting overwhelmed with all of the "you're missing out" comments. It's gotten to the point where no one can say anything to anybody without offending somebody. So because of this, we stay in our groups, and we don't branch out, and we think those "other" women are the mean girls.

Do you want to know who is behind all of this? Satan. Satan knows that dividing us strengthens him, because we can't defeat him by ourselves. He turns differences into insecurities, insecurities into hurt feelings, hurt feelings into anger, and anger into hate. How are we supposed to raise our families correctly if we are surrounded by so much negativity? We can't. Then our children are raised in a divisive environment, and they continue this cycle of division. And he does this to more than just women and mothers. He does this to everyone, dividing us along the big lines (race, religion, class, politics) as well as the little lines (neighborhoods, interests, talents, life styles).

Now, this does not mean that Satan "makes" us do and say mean things. It does not mean that people who do and and say mean things hold no accountability - they do. It simply means that he plants that negative seed, and the more we water it, the more power he holds over us. You see, we either water the seed of faith, or the seed of Satan's lies.

 If you find yourself critiquing someone's circumstances or correcting their choices, stop it! If you find yourself feeling judged by someone who is simply expressing joy about their own life, take that seed away from Satan and chuck it! You have the power to do so! God gave you that power in the Garden of Eden when He put enmity between Satan and Eve and gave us all the power to "bruise thy (Satan's) head". (See Moses 4:21 and Genesis 3:15)

So, take that negative and divisive power away from Satan by not feeding into it. Look for the similarities, and don't run from the differences. In fact, embrace the differences. People like to say, "focus on similarities, not differences". But if all we look for is similarities, then when differences come up we don't know what to do with them. We need to celebrate the differences, not stifle them. So look for both, and embrace both. We need to accept that there are different ways to live, different ways to raise a family, and that is okay. We also need to be willing to turn the other cheek if someone is being disagreeable about that, because the only person we can change is ourselves. Change has to be a choice, it can't be forced on anyone or it will not be successful.

We are all children of God, and we need to remember that. Not only do we need to remember it, but we need to teach it to our children, our friends, our neighbors, to people we don't even know. We all want to survive this scary world, and we can't do it alone and divided, but we can do it united.

Princess Luna Turns 1!

I cannot believe it. My little Luna is 1 year old. Her birthday party was last weekend. It was princess themed. 

I sent out invitations printed out stationary that looked like old scrolls that said:

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! 

By order of their Majesties, the King and Queen, Prince Benjamin invites you to a celebration in honor of his sister:

Princess Luna

Who  is turning 1!

The festivities will be held at Larson Castle (2886 W 880 N Provo, Ut) on Saturday, the Third of September in the year Two Thousand and Sixteen. Dinner will be served at 5:00 pm, and will be followed by games and cake!

Please RSVP to the Queen by texting 385-985-6702 by Wednesday, the Thirty-First of August.

All young courtiers are invited to dress in royal attire.

I designed and made her cake: a Barbie cake where the cake is the Barbie's dress, and this would be her first Barbie doll. The Barbie had to sit in the cake because I only made only layer, so it wasn't tall enough to stand. Since this cake was only for Luna, it felt wasteful to make such a big cake. Cupcakes with plastic rings with crowns were served to everyone else. The Barbie made the cake crack, but luckily I was able to cover that up strategically with frosting.

I served club sandwiches (got a 6 foot from Walmart), chips, fresh fruit and veggies. I also got those Smuckers Uncrustables for the kids who might not like a club sandwich. For the drink I served "Fairy Fizz" (pink lemonade and 7 Up) and water with cut up lemons and limes.

Unfortunately Benjamin got so sick that he had to miss the party. I informed everyone that morning so if they were worried about their kids they could choose not to come. Only Luna's cousins came after that announcement, which I totally understand. But we still had fun! Luna devoured her sandwich and several cucumber slices. 4 of my girl cousins (who are closer to Luna's age) came dressed as princesses, and 2 of her boy cousins came, Lil' Ricky dressing like the Beast to match Luna's Belle dress!

 The kids played "pin the kiss on the frog". Gerson helped Luna pin her kiss on the frog, and the rest of the cousins did it on their own, all of them making it on the lips!

After the frog game, the kids got to break open a Princess Castle Pinata. This one was way sturdier than Benjamin's Buzz Lightyear Pinata, and so it took longer to break open. My cousin Ellie broke open both Benjamin's and Luna's pinatas this year.

Luna opened her presents next. And since she couldn't do it herself, I let each princess get in line and help her open her presents. They all loved that! Then it was time for her smash cake. I changed her into a onsie because I was not about to ruin that Belle dress. At first she was more interested in the Barbie. She kept stroking its hair. Then Gerson put her hand in the cake and brought it to her mouth. She slowly started licking the frosting and then eventually dug into her cake practically climbing on top of the pan and laying in it!

Luna really enjoyed her party, and so did I! I never thought I would be this kind of mom, but I am and I love it!

"The Jewel of the Church"

Last week the Larson Family Reunion (my dad's side) took place. We always rent a cabin in Pine Valley, Utah. Like most historical towns in Utah, Pine Valley was settled by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When you drive into Pine Valley immediately on your right is the LDS Church building. This building is unique because it doesn't look like modern LDS Church buildings; it looks the way it does because it was built in 1868 and the person who designed it had some interesting inspiration.

My family has been going to Pine Valley every summer for about 10 years now, and I have always wanted to go inside the church building. This year I finally got that chance and took a tour of the church and learned about its history. Because Pine Valley is not as famous as Cove Fort, This Is The Place, or Temple Square, I want to share with you what I learned about this beautiful place.

The valley itself was discovered when a cow got away from its group that was heading to Mountain Meadow. Church leaders felt inspired to settle it. The pine trees nearby were used to make the pipes in the organ in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. The man who designed and built the chapel was a ship builder by trade, so he built it like an upside down ship. It has been renovated, so not much is original, but they kept the original look and style. Our tour guide told us that Gordon B. Hinckley called it "the jewel of the Church" because it's one of the oldest functioning LDS chapels.

The chapel has a ground level, second story, and small attic-like third story. The tour starts on the ground level. There are two rooms. One is a large classroom. It has wooden benches that are screwed into the floor (they used to not be as our tour guide told us they would be moved up against the wall for dances and other activities). The second room is a kitchen and the entrance to the stairs to the second level. Also on the grounds is a brick building that used to be a tithing house, it is now a classroom.

The second level is where Sacrament Meeting is held. The doors are the original and the chairs and benches are based on the original. The lights are kerosene lamps. The chapel is full of paintings of Jesus Christ. Our tour guide said that the paintings are there to show others that Mormons are Christians. (To be honest, that explanation didn't sit well with me, I don't think that's why the paintings are there, I just think it's a nice perk for the tourists who visit.)

The third level attic is tiny, and we were told that the Young Women meet there on Sundays. The wall is full of photos of people who are important to the Pine Valley church building - like the first Relief Society President of the ward. There is also a glass case that has historical artifacts in it. The old fashioned sacrament trays were my favorite. They are made of glass! If someone had me guess what material the old sacrament cups were made out of I would have guessed tin, not glass. They were beautiful. Our tour guide told us that the deacons were responsible for cleaning the sacrament glasses each Sunday after church.

Then we got to see the actual attic. We got to notice the curve of the beams that looks like a ship's bottom.

I loved visiting this Church building. It was fun to learn it's history, and it was so beautiful.

The rest of our time in Pine Valley was fun as well. Gerson and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary while there. We spent some time at the river, and Benjamin got to throw rocks in a river for the first time ever - and now he's addicted! Gerson and I went on an ice cream date, and we went swimming at Sand Hallow (which is an hour away). The kids LOVED it. Benjamin now asks to go throw rocks in the river and to go swimming every day. It has been several years since we have been able to go to the family reunions, so this was a much needed vacation.

Benjamin the Big Brother

Luna will be 11 months old in a little over a week, and she'll be 1 year old in a little over a month! Where has the time gone?! I want to spend this post talking about Benjamin taking on his role as a big brother because it has been amazing watching him go from completely ignoring her existence to loving her - and sometimes loving her too much!

When I was pregnant with Luna, I taught Benjamin to point to my belly and say "There's a baby in there." Benjamin knew what a baby was - when he would see babies he would point and say, "baby!" or "uh oh, baby crying" - but I knew he didn't actually understand that we would be bringing a baby home to live with us.

When my parents brought Benjamin to the hospital to see Luna, he was interested in everything but her. He wanted to turn the lights on and off, open and close the doors and the curtain, push the keys on the nurses computer, and jump on the bed. When we asked him if he wanted to see the baby he said no, though we did convince him to say "Bye baby!" when he went back to my parents' house. Due to his lack of interest and refusal to sit still, this is the only family picture we got while in the hospital:

When we brought Luna home, Benjamin didn't care either way, he was too excited that his grandma was staying to help out! (The helping out was to take care of Benjamin and my home while I slept and took care of Luna.) My mom sleeping in Benjamin's room was the best week of his life.

The first time we tried to help Benjamin hold Luna he started bawling - it was kind of hilarious - and we got a picture of it!

He kissed her for the first time when she was 3.5 weeks old and held her without crying for the first time when she was a little over a month old.

For Luna's first Halloween we put her in the stroller and took Benjamin trick-or-treating at the mall and on my parents' street. He asked everyone who gave him candy "For baby?" So the little genius got two pieces of candy from everyone! But he actually was doing it out of love for his sister because he would put each second piece of candy into Luna's car seat and say, "Here go baby." (Let me take a moment here while my heart melts.)



















And Benjamin was comfortable enough with Luna that I got this beautiful photo of them during Christmas time:

Benjamin called Luna "baby" or "the baby" for the longest time. When we would ask him if he wanted to call her Luna he would say no.  He started calling her "Wuna" when she was about 6 or 7 months old, but continued to say "baby" as well. Now he calls her "Wuna", "Baby Wuna", or "Baby Girl"!

When Luna was about 5 months old Benjamin became interested in helping change her diaper. I let him bring me the wipes and put them away. In fact, now all I have to say is, "Benjamin, bring me the wet wipes please." and he goes running. If he hears me say that Luna pooped, he'll get the wipes ready before I even ask him! And very recently he has decided it is his job to throw the actual diapers away.  So now all of us get to wash our hands after a diaper change.

Luna started crawling when she was 7 months old and Benjamin thought that was the coolest thing ever. I would often find him a few feet from her, shaking a toy in her face saying, "Crawl, baby, crawl!" As Luna started interacting more with Benjamin, he started interacting more with her. They just love to touch each other's faces and laugh (don't ask, I don't get it either, but I love it). Of course problems still arise. Unsurprisingly, whatever toy Luna is playing with, Benjamin all of a sudden wants. If it's a small toy, I tell him to give her a new one (and he's starting to do that on his own without me prompting him); but if it's a big toy I make them share. Sometimes Benjamin is willing to share, sometimes a temper tantrum ensues.

When Luna was 9 months old I moved her into Benjamin's room. I had no idea what to expect, but it was an immediate success! Those two talk and play for almost an hour every night before falling asleep. In the beginning, Benjamin slept in his crib-turned-toddler-bed and Luna slept in the portable crib. Then one night we checked on them and Benjamin had tipped over the portable crib and Luna was crawling around on the floor! The next day we turned Benjamin's bed back into a crib for Luna, and put Benjamin on a mattress on the floor until we could get him a normal sized twin bed (he slept on the floor only for a week).

Around this same time Benjamin decided he was brave enough to start picking Luna up and dragging her around by her feet or hands.  I was actually really surprised because it took him so long to be willing to touch her and hold her without him crying, I didn't know if he would ever pick her up. For the most part he only picks her up if he doesn't like where she's at (ie. near him when he

wants to play alone), but if I ask him to bring her to me, he will. :)

We have always invited Benjamin to give Luna a hug and a kiss after family prayer each night. At first he would just put his forehead on her mouth. Then he started giving her a quick kiss. Now, he grabs her and pulls her down into a tackle/wrestle looking hug thing! She surprisingly loves it and laughs the whole time because she's grabbing his face and his hair while he "hugs" her.

The love that these two have for each other puts the biggest smile on my face. I feel so blessed to be their mom. I look forward to witnessing how their love and relationship continues to develop with their age and social skills. And I hope and pray that they will continue to be good friends.