Day 5

Today I am grateful for my mint truffle hot chocolate. Besides the fact that it nearly burned my lips off, I'm still grateful for it. It is mmm mmm good...too bad it's not sponsered by Campbells. Anywho, I'm grateful to be drinking my hot chocolate, laying in my sweats in a warm apartment...well not so warm I guess. I'm convinced it is sometimes colder in our apartment that it is outside. But that's beside the point. Life is good.

Day 4: Tender Mercies

Today I'm grateful for my calling as the Primary President in our ward. I seriously love those kids to death. It's amazing to see the miracles that God provides. Today we made some improvement with a little boy in sunbeams. He is usually a terror and today was no different except for the fact that I was able to talk to him without him telling me to go away. That may not seem like much at all but to me it meant the world. A couple weeks ago, I was at a loss for what to do and thought there was no hope. God's tender mercy today changed my attitude and can't wait to see the progress this little boy makes. Baby steps is all it takes.

Day 3

I'm grateful today for my sissy Lori. She rocked it at her rugby game this afternoon. It was so fun to watch her play. She is one tough girl let me tell you...walking off that field with blood on her jersey. Can't wait to watch more games and hopefully the national championship. Love you girl.

Month of Thanks

Since it's November and it is a month devoted to Thanks I want to try and blog about at least one thing I'm thankful for every day. I know a lot of other people are probably doing the same thing but I think it helps to remember the good things in life so I'm going to do it too. Since I missed yesterday, I'm going to do two today.

1. Yesterday I was thankful for my job. It was extremely busy yesterday- I didn't have time to take a lunch because I was at meetings and working on projects all day, I stayed almost an hour later than usual but I came home feeling really happy about my day. I felt really accomplished and I'm grateful for a job that pays me so well. I have a great boss and I love the people I work with.

2. Today I am grateful for a healthy body. I woke up at 5:15 this morning like I do every day and went for a run. I went to work and felt fine and after about 20 minutes of being there I felt super sick. My vitamin and banana did not mesh well in my tummy this morning. It's the times when I'm sick that I feel especially grateful for when I am healthy.

And just for kicks...one more thing I'm grateful for is the fact that it is November now and I can officially say that I am going to Italy NEXT month! WOOOO!

Blandito?

So I was on pinterest today and saw this....






This has got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. I really don't understand what's going on here. And the taco looking formation with the couple spooning? So awkward. I especially like the second to last photo...the girl looks extremely happy to be in her mother's arms. The little white ball things that are used to tie this thing up reminds me of one of those old school ponytail holder things with the big balls on the end of them. I thought those were so cool and I always wore them. How tacky. The best part about this whole thing is it's name...blandito? What does that even mean? I can just imagine someone trying to come up with the name:
"so what should we call this thing? Well.... ito means small and it looks a little bland so blandito it is!"

Let me direct your attention to the picture towards the top with the three loops and the ponytail ball holder thing in the middle. I showed Jared and he said in a very serious tone "oh well yah...the bottom too loops are where you put your legs through and the top is where your body comes out. It's supposed to help you sit up I'm sure." hahhaha I can't get the mental image out of my head. That could not be comfortable.

Somebody please buy this for me just so that I can say I have a blandito. The name in itself is worth the purchase. 

Fat Girl Syndrome

I just went to the grocery store to buy a bag of tortilla chips to go with my quesadilla (or however you spell it) and I walked out with a box of milk duds, two boxes of popsicles, and a gallon of ice cream. I seriously didn't even realize what I had done until I got to the car. I just kept grabbing, swiped my card and then thought to myself "what in the world did I just do." Talk about a sweet tooth that I didn't even know I had. And when i texted Jared to tell him the damage I had done, all he responded was "I am so in love with you." #fatgirlsyndrome right here...

19 year old women missionaries

I cannot believe how much controversy is going around ever since President Monson announced the new age for girls to serve a mission. I figured since everyone else is talking about it, what the heck, why don't I add my two cents. And I realize that I may receive some rebuttal for talking about this issue but I don't care. I was reading an article earlier and a woman responded saying how she wished that this would have been announced a few years ago. This woman had always wanted to go on a mission but then got married at the age of 21. She said,

"I got married at 21. I was a year away from graduating college so I was going to wait for that before I went on a mission, and instead I got married right before my senior year. Now I am one of those women who look to her husband for answers to things I could have learned for myself. I ask him about the miracles he witnessed. I rely on him in most everything. I would be a much stronger woman today if I had served a mission for myself."

I highly disagree with this woman. First, you chose to get married instead of going on a mission. If you wanted to go on a mission that bad, then you shouldn't have gotten married. Simple as that.

Second, just because your husband served a mission does not mean that you have to go to your husband for answers to everything. A mission doesn't change you. God changes you. Sure, I agree that there are opportunities you will have on a mission that you can't gain anywhere else. However, I do believe that for women, the things you can learn from a mission, you can learn them elsewhere. Quit wallowing away saying that you always have to go to your husband for things you could have learned for yourself. Go learn them then. If you really want to learn something for yourself: study, fast, pray. Stop feeling like you're not entitled to a testimony of your own. I rely on my husband for most everything as well but it's not because he served a mission. It's because we are a team and I like to hear his thoughts and opinions.

Third,  miracles happen every day. You don't have to go on a mission to witness miracles. Faith precedes the miracle, not a mission precedes the miracle.

Lastly, I don't feel that I am any less of a woman or that I don't have as strong of a testimony just because I didn't serve a mission. I have found my testimony and have been converted through other life experiences.

My goodness, I'm passionate about this. I understand that that's the way this woman feels and maybe she regrets that she didn't go on a mission. But stop feeling sorry for yourself. Move on. Ask questions. Be smart. Our prophet is a pretty inspired man and I think if God wanted this announcement to be made a few years ago, He probably would've. Maybe you weren't meant to go on a mission since you got married. So how about you focus on the life you have now and what you can learn from it and stop thinking about what could have been.