Because i need a reminder

Isn't it funny how things just seem to insert themselves into your life at exactly the right time? Well, here are a few things that I need to be partying over...even if sometimes it seems like all I have is things to be sad about. 
I have a job. 
 I have the most devoted and wonderful mother who has played both mom and dad to me for many years now. She is the reason I'm who I am. 
I have the most supportive, devoted, trusting, loving and understanding boyfriend in the world. 
I have access to the power of the Priesthood whenever I need it. 
My Scriptures are my lifeline. 
I have air conditioning, which believe me, is a REAL blessing in this gross Utah summer heat. 
I have an insanely powerful and strong support system
Moral of the story? You ALWAYS have something to party about, even when you don't think you do. 
xoxo

an update for momma

According to my mom, my blog called and said it missed me. Even though I just posted something the other day. ;) But I've been meaning to post about the past few weekends anyway. So...Ma...here you go! 

It's no secret that I love houses. I really love looking at houses and it's just a problem. (I come by it honestly. My mom has the same disease.) So when I saw that Salt Lake had a Parade of Homes and that a lot of them were in the Daybreak development (seriously the coolest neighborhood ever) I got really excited. THEN, I realized that the UP! house that had been built was a. in Utah and b. in the parade of homes. I forced T to come with me and we spend Friday night drooling over houses. It was fun. 

GAH! LOVE! 

The inside of the house was done exactly like in the movie too. So cool. 

T and I have a goofy tradition of going on Temple dates. I don't have a recommend yet :( so we can only go outside, but we always seem to have the best times on the grounds. Last night, we went up to the Bountiful Temple. We went up last Sunday, but the grounds were closed so we decided to go up during the week. The views? Gorgeous. 

It was the first time I touched a Temple. :)

We were goofing around as usual. I know it's not the most reverent thing to do, goof around on Temple grounds, but whenever I'm there with him, I always get into this giddy, happy mood and I can't help myself. So we were being silly sitting near one of the fountains and T accidentally knocked my glasses off of my head (they had been on the top of my head) and into the fountain! It was a good thing T has long arms and the fountain was fairly shallow. He would have been going to a swim otherwise. ;) 

Love this place 

T's giving a talk in his ward tomorrow, so being the good girlfriend I am, I'm going to go down there and listen to him! yay! :) 

Happy Sunday everyone!!!

being employed is awesome, yo!

You read that right!!! This girl is EMPLOYED!!! 

LITERALLY a few hours after I posted that last blog post about how being unemployed sucks I got a call from a company that I had interviewed with a few weeks ago. I never heard back, so I just assumed that I didn't get it. 

Until I got a call with a job offer!!! Full-time and everything! I'm using my degree and it's a wonderful Monday-Friday 9-5 job. No more crappy weekend hours at the mall. No more stressing about not having a job. 

I'm excited to be working. It's marketing, advertising sales, and social media. I'm quite giddy.

:)  

being unemployed sucks yo

It really does. 

At first, not having a job and having a lot of time to myself to get to know my new surroundings was pretty sweet. I get to wake up whenever I want. I get to do whatever I want, whenever I want. I can spend the morning sending out job applications and spend the evening with T or the pup or reading my scriptures. Or, I can spend the morning working out and then come home and do some more applications. 

But then, I hit a wall. After the ten thousandth "thanks but we went with another, more qualified candidate" email that I have to chase down to even get, it gets a little tiring. 

I just want a job people. Is that such a hard thing to request? 

Gosh. This stinks. 

:( 

I can do hard things

Tonight T and I had the wonderful and amazing chance to hear Elizabeth Smart speak at my YSA stakes fireside. Two weeks ago, our bishop announced that she was coming to speak and I nearly gasped out loud because I was so excited. 

If you don't remember, Elizabeth Smart is the girl who was kidnapped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her house and stole her from her bed as she slept. She was held captive for 9 months and was repeatedly raped, tortured, starved, and more atrocities. 

The thing that I love about her is that after this horrific ordeal, her testimony remained strong and unshaken. No one would have blamed her if she no longer believed in God because of the horrible things she went though. She went on to serve a full-time mission for the LDS Church. She gave up 18 months of her life to serve the Lord. 

The first thing that struck me when she walked into the chapel and sat up on the stand was how poised she was. The chapel was over flowing with people, so much so that they opened up the culture hall behind and people were sitting on the stage. They even had to roll a tv into another room and video tape it because there were so many people. Sister Smart didn't bat an eye at the crowd. She was smiling, laughing, and talking to the family that was on the stand with her. 

One of her companions who had served with her in France and also lived in Utah introduced her. Sister Smart got up and began to speak. Her voice didn't waver once.

 She told the story of her captor and how he grew up. She told us about being stalked for 8 months, taken from her bed, and lived under constant threat of abuse and death for nine months. She reminded us that we are all children of God and that what was happening to her was not her fault. Even though her captor constantly used religion as a way to manipulate and justify his actions, she didn't loose faith. 

She spoke of the Atonement. How it healed her and allowed her to move on. She knew that there was someone that knew exactly how she felt. Christ went through what she went through. I gained a better appreciation and understanding hearing her talk about the wonderful blessings that come from the Atonement. 

After her talk, the audience was allowed to ask questions. Some were funny (How is dating? "Messy. Stressful. Normal" was her answer) Some were touching and testimony strengthening (Did your testimony suffer during or after your ordeal? "No." Simply 'no'.) My personal favorite was when she asked what she was afraid of after going through this ordeal, she answered that she was afraid of snakes and spiders. :)

I walked away with a greater appreciation of life. Anything that I am going through pales in comparison of what that little 14-year-old went though. Her faith never wavered and she went though things that are unimaginable. Even though religion was used to justify her captors motives, she knew it was wrong. She knew that God loved her and wouldn't command anyone, even a so called "man of god", to intentionally make someone do something they do not want to do. 

No matter what the affliction is, you can make it through. You CAN do hard things even if you don't think you can.  At the very end she shared her favorite scripture that got her through so much: 

"Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days."

D&C 24:8

August 10 on 10

I've been waiting for like 3 weeks for the 10th to roll around so I could link up with Rebekah from a bit of sunshine. She started this photo project...you can read more about it here. 

This is what I was up to today. :)

1. 11am- checking my sugar for the morning. It was low today! yay!
2. 12noon- The river that runs through the property. On my morning walk.
3. 1pm- I had an audience while making lunch.
4. 2pm- Mail got delivered and as I was running back inside, I realized how pretty my welcome matt is.
5. 3pm- Taking a little Pinterest & TV break from job applications.
6. 4pm- Running some errands and seeing the mountains makes me all sorts of happy.
7. 5pm- Charlie says 'HAY' while taking a potty break.
8. 6pm- On our evening walk, the sun breaking through the 2 buildings.
9. 7pm- Cleaning up the dishes, I caught a glance at my 2 newest salt and pepper shakers that were a gift from my wonderful sister. They're adorable!
10. 8pm- ending the night with some Scripture reading.

:)

just another day in paradise :)

Thanksgiving Point  is at the half-way point between T's house and mine and on Tuesday's they do this way sweet 'two dollar Tuesday' promotion where all of their venues are just 2 bucks to get into. Thanksgiving point is quite awesome for a girl that's new to Utah. They have a petting zoo of sorts, natural history museum, and a whole bunch of cute, touristy stuff. Including a garden. I have a thing about gardens. I'm obsessed with them and will one day have the prettiest garden in my neighborhood. ;) 

These gardens didn't disappoint either. 

(via pinterest)

I needed a reminder of this tonight. 

Party Monday! :)

So I had one of THE BEST weekends ever. EVER. 

But before I get to that, last Wednesday T and I went up to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and walked around. I can't get over how lucky I am to live so close to so many gorgeous Temples. And this: 

 I get to live at the base of those mountains. How can I not love it here? 
We were walking around just as the sun was setting. I love the Temple at dusk/night. It's so peaceful and perfect. :) 

This weekend started off on Friday when I drove down to Provo to see T. We just walked around the mall. It was a good to just wander around and hang out with him. :) 

Saturday, T took me to Faith, a musical put on by our Church about the Mormon Pioneers that traveled from the British Isles to Salt Lake City, Utah. Being a recent transplant to Utah, watching what the Pioneers went through put my journey in perspective. It made me thankful for every Pioneer that had the courage to risk their lives for their religion. I cried like a baby for a lot of the second part but it strengthened my Testimony. 

Sunday, after church, T drove up to SLC (again. Seriously, he's the best) and we went to a fireside at the Tabernacle in Temple Square. 

This weekend strengthened my testimony ten thousand times over. I got to spend it with an awesome guy too! 

This week, it wasn't very hard to realize why I'm partying! So, why are you partying this week? 

trust

What an easy concept, right? ha. yeah. 

Wrong. 

I'm not talking about trust in people though. I'm talking about trust in myself. And in my Heavenly Father. You'd think that I would have gotten the hang of it by now, but I still struggle every single day. Being unemployed in a new state with rejection emails flying at you left and right does a thing to your trust, self esteem, and faith. To me, trust has always been linked to faith and if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I've always struggled with my faith. 

Especially lately. Which is weird because I've felt more secure and happy than I have ever felt. But I can't seem to get that feeling transferred into my relationship with my Heavenly Father. 

I've alway been a shy kid and new experiences stress me out and overwhelm me ridiculously easy. And the past four weeks have been nothing but new experiences. I especially struggle with social interaction. Social anxiety is what I've been told I have. It's really hard for me. Like this past Sunday. I'm in a new ward (kind of like a school in the wider scheme of things. Schools make up school districts and wards make up Stakes. Does that make sense? ha.) and I've been struggling. I woke up Sunday morning with an awful pit in my stomach. The thought of facing so many new people on my own was overwhelmingly scary and I sat on the couch for a long time willing myself to get ready for Church. I called my mom on the verge of tears, hoping she'd give me a pep talk like she always does. I was scared. Crying. Near panic attack mode really. 

But then my mom said something to the effect of 'honey get your act together and get on with your life'...No, I'm kidding. It went something like 'honey, you need to trust God. If you truly believe Him to be your Savior then you need to have a little faith in Him. He's brought you this far without incident, right? So trust him.' 

And I did. And I made it to Church, met so many new people and it wasn't even half bad! :) I'm really glad Heavenly Father has given me the amazing mother that I have. Its because of her that I trusted God that day and went to Church despite intense anxiety over meeting people. 

I'm starting to cry as I write this because without even knowing it, my mom strengthened my testimony on Sunday. Heck, I didn't even realize it until just this moment. 

"The Lord is my roc, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies."

Psalm 18:2-3