Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s important and will forever go down in the history books, but we’ve been hearing about it non-stop for almost 10 straight months now. I’m getting a little burnt out.

Technically, the election is over for me. I voted by mail and sent off my completed ballot last Monday. But the candidates don’t know that. They keep sending me campaign junk mail and filling the airwaves of the shows I watch with campaign commercials.

At least it ends soon.

Looking back, I can only agree. Lots of people probably never thought we’d make it together this long. We’ve watched the majority of our friends marry and divorce over the years, but Brandon and I continue to survive.

It’s not always been easy. For those of you that know us well, you know Brandon and I can each be pretty stubborn, and that we’re opposites in many ways … I’m pretty focused and can be a little too intense, while Brandon’s pretty laid back and accepts that things will come with time. But we’ve found a way to make that balance, and work for us. We’ve grown through each other’s strengths and weakness and have learned how to battle through the tough times.

It all works because at the end of the day, he can always make me laugh and smile. Even when I really, really don’t want to. And I can make sure our finances are in order. : )

I love you, Brandon! Here’s to six more great years!

I’m sure our retirement savings vehicles aren’t looking great right now, but I’m not even worried enough to look. I mean, it won’t do me any good. And it’s money that I’m not planning to access for at least another 30 years, so I’ve got plenty of time to make up for any big losses. But I do feel bad for those that are starting to close-in on retirement. This downturn will have a serious impact on their portfolios and will potentially cause many to have to work a couple of additional years.

One thing is for sure, when Brandon finds his next job, and we have a little more discrecionary spending money again, we’ll throw a good portion of it into the market – with the help of our financial advisor, of course. The world-wide panic won’t stop us, because I know that the bad times won’t last forever … and my money has more opportunity to grow if I buy when stock prices are low. : )

My sister, Amy, is the head coach at Seminole State, a community college located in Seminole, Oklahoma. It’s about four or five hours away from Topeka, so I haven’t had the opportunity to go down and watch her team yet. But this weekend they were playing in a highly competitive tournament in Hutchinson, a reasonable 3-hour trip from Topeka.

Unfortunately, Amy’s girls didn’t win any of the games I got to watch (I missed their first win against Barton County). I know Amy was disappointed with that, but I was still very proud of her and the way her team played. I mean, the teams they lost to were nationally ranked in the top 20 in the country, including the team currently ranked first. And while they never won a match, they did play several of them very close.

It also seemed like luck was stacked against them as they really didn’t have many extra players on the bench. So if one of the girls started struggling, Amy didn’t have much to work with in terms of making a quick substitution. And two of her typical starters were sidelined with injury, again stacking the odds against them.

The whole weekend brought back lots of fond memories from my days of playing volleyball at Cowley County. Althought my team was never nationally ranked, we did have a great time together and it was a great life experience for me.

Oh yeah, Brandon’s in it too. See if you can spot him!

I actually helped with the production of the video too. It was a Gimzo Pictures and jhP collaboration for this year’s local United Way campaign.

• Purchase & assemble an extra wide file cabinet for the office.

• Organize Brandon’s closet.

• Purchase & assemble a portable caddy to hold all of my paint for the studio.

• Continue to change out bathroom fixtures – towel bars, towel rings, hooks & toilet paper rolls.

• Install new shower curtain & bath mat in the main bathroom.

• Order curtains for the bedroom, living room, studio & Brandon’s office.

• Start hanging artwork throughout the house.

All in all, things are really starting to come together … I can feel the house transitioning into our home!