Moving on...

I am so excited right now, because I have officially paid off my student loan (that I took out not too long ago). So what this means is that 1)I've now paid off TWO student loans in the past year and 2)Doug and I will graduate college with absolutely NO student loans!! Whoo hoo!

Another piece of news which may sadden and disappoint some while gladdening and exciting others is that I've decided I need to leave Rexburg. Instead of staying here for another two years in order to get my Bachelor's degree, when Doug graduates this April I will also be graduating, but with an Associate's degree. That way I can transfer somewhere else if I want, but we can still move where ever Doug ends up finding a job or internship. What that means is that we're planning on moving out of Rexburg in July. We're aiming to move to either Washington or California (sorry Nevada family). I'm already really excited. I hope Doug can find a job once we're done.

Anywho... that's pretty much all the news we have right now. Sorry to be so boring. When school's in session, it's hard to blog about fun things (because we don't do anything but homework!)

Smile

I was going through some old papers of mine and I came across this poem I've saved for years. It's one of my favorites. Maybe some of you will also appreciate it.

It's easy enough to be pleasant
when life flows along like a song
but the man worthwhile
is the man who can smile
when everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble
and it always comes with the years
and the smile that is worth the praises of Earth
is the smile that shines through tears.

It's easy enough to be virtuous
when nothing tempts you to stray
when without or within no voice of sin
is luring your soul away
but it's only a negative virtue
until it is tried by fire
and the life that is worth the honor of Earth
is the life that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen
who had no strength of the strife
the world's highway is cumbered today
they make up the item of life
but the virtue that conquers passion
and sorrow that hides in a smile
it is these that are worth the homage of Earth
for we find them but once in awhile.

--Ella Wheeler Wilcox

It's been a while...

It's time for another round of confessions!

1. I love Snooki.
2. I keep a scrub brush in the shower so I can clean while I'm standing there.
3. I get more excited about organizing things than I do about anything else.
4. Doug and I have watched X-Men: First Class three times in the past 4 days.
5. I eat Spaghettios straight out of the can.

Friendship

“What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are but how you deal with incompatibility.”
― Leo Tolstoy

I came across this quote today and I just think it's perfect. I think it defines marriage really well, but also I think it fits for making friends too. Doug and I differ in our opinions of "what makes a good friend." He's definitely under the impression that friends have things in common. I'm of the persuasion that friends are simply the ones who "stick it out" with you. They may not always agree with you or even "have your back" but they're the ones who keep coming back; who simply care. I have several friends who I don't agree with on a lot of issues or ideas or even lifestyles. But personally, I like them because they challenge my way of thinking and I have the opportunity to learn to love more than just one kind of person. Maybe some of you will even disagree with me and think I'm crazy. But regardless, that's how I feel! I think this quote fits perfectly with my outlook on friendship and marriage. It's not about your similarities, it's about how you come to terms with your differences. :)

Saved...in more ways than one.

Doug and I were traveling home from visiting my family in California. We passed Wells, Nevada and were now in between Wells and Jackpot, NV. At about 11pm, we were in the middle of a small canyon (calling this place a canyon is a huge overstatement). There were hills on each side of us, blocking our cell phone reception. And at this time- right as we’re driving through, literally, the middle of nowhere- our car dies. It doesn’t just go silently, slowly puttering out of gas. Our car had an electrical seizure. All the lights starting wiggin’ out. The speedometer was going CRAZY and we quickly jerked to a stop.

Of course, we didn’t have any service on our phones because of where we were and to make matters worse: my phone- which if there’s going to be any service at all, my phone is the one to pick up the signal- only had one bar of battery left in it!

So we got out of the car and started walking around hoping for even a small amount of service. It took us a while, but we finally found a couple sweet spots. We called USAA, our insurance company, who is always extremely helpful. They called up an auto repair place in Twin Falls, ID (it was the only place nearby that had 24/7 towing service) and they sent help our way.

We sat around for probably 2 hours. Finally we saw the tow truck heading towards us. We were saved! We watched Carter-the tow truck driver- load our car onto the flatbed and then we all climbed into the tow truck to ride the 1 hour long drive to Twin Falls, ID. The conversation started off very pleasant. Carter told us about his life: how he met and proposed to his wife, how he grew up a military brat, how he ended up in Germany building trucks with secret compartments made for smuggling bibles into communist countries. He had lived a pretty filled life.

Pretty soon, though, the conversation started turning more religious. Carter started quoting a good chunk of the New Testament. I didn’t mind the conversation too much. I rather enjoyed hearing the recited verses, because by now it was Sunday morning and what’s more appropriate than discussing the gospel on the Sabbath? We quickly learned that Carter was Baptist, of course Doug and I have no contention with other religions and we welcome the insight that comes from getting to know people of other faiths, but the conversation got a little tense when Carter started attacking some of our core beliefs. Doug did a great job at responding to some of Carter’s “allegations” but the guy kept going. He was well versed in many LDS publications. He had read Talmage and Mckonkie and had even read parts of the Book of Mormon. What started out as relief from being stuck in the middle of nowhere, turned into the longest car ride everrr!

When we got into Twin Falls, finally, Carter invited us to his church in the morning. Maybe some people would say no, but we were without a car, without sleep, and it was Sunday, after all, some kind of church is better than no church at all, right? Plus, Carter really is a nice guy, he wasn’t out to hurt us or offend us, he just loved God and wanted to share his beliefs with us. How can you hate someone for that?

We spent the night at a motel (the motel is a whole other story!) and in the morning Carter came and picked us up. We ended up going to Sunday school as well as their combined meeting (which could be compared to our Sacrament meeting, though they don’t have any type of Sacrament.).

And wouldn’t you know? It was our lucky day! They had a guest speaker for both meetings: an ex-Mormon Bishop. This Baptist convert claimed he was “called into the ministry of ‘Reaching Mormons for Christ.’” The first 20 minutes of his lesson was like an infomercial for all the books he and his wife would be selling out in the hall after church. The rest of the meeting he just bashed Mormons and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He taught some crazy things. There were several times while he was speaking that Doug and kept shaking our heads, because what he was saying about LDS people just wasn’t true.

One of the very first things he started out discussing were the interviews each LDS member has before being baptized into the church. He told the congregation that the ONLY questions asked in the interview are “Do you believe the Church and gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith? Do you believe that current Church President is a prophet of God? And do you feel that you have repented of your past transgressions?” He went on to ask “Did you guys hear anything about Jesus Christ or the atonement?” To which the congregation all said “No!”

The problem, of course, was that this guy failed to mention about 10 other questions that are asked in that interview- the very first two questions are: “Do you believe that God is our Eternal Father? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world?” This guy said he used to be a Bishop in the LDS church. He should know there are more than three questions! He would have conducted dozens if not hundreds of baptism interviews if he had served as Bishop for as long as he said he did. We knew right away that we wouldn’t be able to validate much of anything that this guy had to say.

For about 2 and half hours (he was the Sunday school teacher and the speaker in their combined meeting as well) we listened to this guy bash Latter-day Saint beliefs. The last maybe 10 minutes of each of his talk he actually talked about some of the beliefs of Baptists. Doug and I gathered that they really only have 2 strong beliefs:”Christ atoned for the sins of mankind and that whosoever shall believe in Him will be saved” and “Salvation is ‘by grace, through faith’ plus nothing and minus nothing.” Really, when they only talk about a couple of their beliefs what else can you expect them to fill their time with but bashing other religions? Makes sense to me. At the very end of meeting the pastor got up and said a prayer that those seeking the truth would find it and that those who were lost would come to Christ. Doug and I could feel the pastors eyes burrowing into the top of our bowed heads, but we thought to ourselves, “Check…check…we’ve got all that covered.”

Overall though, even with all the Mormon bashing, we actually enjoyed ourselves and had a good experience attending another faith’s service. Several people came up and introduced themselves to us and asked us about ourselves. We told them our story and that we were LDS. The youth pastor’s wife even came up to us and when we told her we were students in Rexburg, she kind of giggled and asked “you’re not Mormon are you?” (As though it would be a funny joke if we were) when we told her we were, she got a little quiet and said “oh.” But she stayed near us and answered a few questions that we had. After church the other pastor’s wife came up to us and kind of apologized about the sermon we heard. She said “I know that must have been an uncomfortable meeting for you to sit through, but we’re so glad you came. We hope you find the truth. We’re praying for you.” (I don’t mind having an entire congregation pray for my well-being, even from a different faith! The more blessings, the better.  )

In the end, we actually enjoyed this experience, there are several more little details I could include, but I think this is long enough already. Our testimonies of the true gospel were strengthened and we re-learned that you can find differing amounts of truth in any religion and God loves all his children.

The End of Spring Semester

FINALLY!

The spring semester just ended 4 days ago and I welcome the seven-week break. Doug and I are leaving this Friday to visit my family. I am excited to have a change of scenery for even just one week. I love school very much. But it's been hard to go for 7 months with only a week break in between Winter and Spring. Now I have a little more than a month to recoup before going at it again. As far as my grades go- I did pretty well this semester I got 4 A's and 1 B. A respectable report card. I'm proud of myself. :) Only 5 more semesters to go and then I'm out of here for good. Although I've joked with Doug (partially serious) that after I'm got a degree in English, I'd like to go back and get a Nursing degree and after that study event planning and become a wedding planner. :) We'll see what happens.

Love Poem for Doug

In my creative writing class this week, we were working on poems & poetry. Each person in class had two different objects or ideas they had to combine into one poem. Some students wrote about "rocks" and "death". Others wrote about "rotten food" and "God". My two were "husband" and "love".

When I first was given the writing prompt, I thought, "ugh, this is going to turn out to be a cheesy love poem" So I tried really hard to NOT make it a cheesy love poem.

I wrote this poem in about 15 minutes, so it's not amazing or anything but I am pleased with it. I think it gives you a pretty cute glimpse into our life. It's about Doug always stealing my blankets. :)

Love 

I tug on the blankets, hoping for an inch or two of slack

With little success, I climb the mount of down comfort- kissing the top of its head

It starts to rumble, and then roll onto what I perceive is its back

The mass unravels and peels off like the skin of a snake, being shed

I finally receive what I’ve lacked.

Divorce

Tonight in my religion class we were discussing divorce. There were a lot of things I thought about saying, but didn’t. So I want to say everything now:

I come from a very “broken” family.  My grandparents on both sides are divorced. One of my grandmas has been married 3 times.  All of my uncles (and one aunt) on my dad’s side, with the exception of one, have been divorced at least once.  My own parents are divorced. My father has been remarried 4 times. And now one of my sisters is seriously considering divorce.

The odds of ending up in a divorce increase for children who come from divorced families.

Everything in my life tells me marriage doesn’t last. But I know that’s not true. Even with the statistics, even with the real-life examples, I still value and believe in the divine institution of marriage. Marriage has not failed. It’s the couple that has given up.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks said in 2007 that, “For most marriage problems, the remedy is not divorce but repentance. Often the cause is not incompatibility but selfishness.”  

I know firsthand that marriage is hard work. But isn’t anything worth having, worth earning? I can tell you the repercussions of divorce all day long. There are so many negative consequences that come from tearing a family a part-- even when the marriage doesn’t involve children.  Elder Oaks, in the same talk, shared a shocking report where, “A broad-based international study of the levels of happiness before and after “major life events” found that, on average, persons are far more successful in recovering their level of happiness after the death of a spouse than after a divorce.”   (If that doesn’t tell you “divorce-isn’t the answer” then I don’t know what will!)

I’m not bitter about my parent’s divorce. Their actions help me avoid many mistakes in my own life and in my own marriage. (Plus, even though my family fell apart- my parents are still the most wonderful parents a kid could ever ask for.) When Doug and I were dating and talking about marriage, I told him- “If we get married, we are not getting a divorce.” That was my way of saying “either you’re in or your out.”  It’s really that simple of a decision to me. Marriage itself is difficult. I’d rather spend my energy working on my marriage rather than mulling over whether I want to be married or not.  

My advice to married couples no matter where they are on the spectrum (newlyweds or nearly-deads) is to look for the good in your spouse. When that’s not enough, turn to the Lord. “Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:1–2). My wedding band has an inscription on it that says “Come what may and love it.” I know Doug and I have not seen the worst yet. But it doesn’t really matter, because we both know that whatever problems arise we’re going to work through them because that’s what a committed marriage is all about.

To finish up, I want to share with you what President Spencer W. Kimball taught us about marriage.  He instructed that “Two individuals approaching the marriage altar must realize that to attain the happy marriage which they hope for they must know that marriage … means sacrifice, sharing, and even a reduction of some personal liberties. It means long, hard economizing. It means children who bring with them financial burdens, service burdens, care and worry burdens; but also it means the deepest and sweetest emotions of all.” 

Master Cleanse Diet

My mom and I are going to be starting The Master Cleanse diet next Saturday. It's a diet designed to detox your body and cleanse your colon. (Sounds fun already, huh?). We've tried it before, but we didn't stick with it for long enough. So we're attempting to go at it together  in order to keep ourselves motivated.

Here are the directions for the diet if any of you want to try it with us:

ALL THIS INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT: www.mastercleanse.org
Step 1: Making the Lemonade

                1/10 teaspoon (or a pinch) – Cayenne Pepper

2 tablespoons – Grade B Maple Syrup

2 tablespoons – Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 cup – Purified Water

Roll each lemon firmly between your palm and the counter. Put sufficient downward pressure as you rock the lemon back and forth under your hand. You are softening the lemon to make the extraction of juice more efficient.

NOTE: Store your lemons on the counter NOT IN THE FRIDGE. Enzymes are dormant in the fridge. You want those enzymes. If you buy 50 lemons in advance, store 40 in the fridge and take the 10 most ripe lemons out for your first day or two.

Drink your lemonade FRESH. The key to The Master Cleanse is fresh lemon juice and the living enzymes that it contains. The other ingredients are important as well, but the fresh lemon juice is irreplaceable (but yes, limes can be substituted).

            Do not pre-mix your lemonade. The longer your lemonade sits, the more enzymes die. If you need to pre-mix your lemonade, then you should only mix a concentrate of just Fresh Lemon Juice, and the Rich Maple Syrup.  The maple syrup acts as a preservative. This Lemonade diet concentrate will keep the enzymes alive long enough to be consumed during the day. Do not add the cayenne or water to the concentrate. The cayenne will “steep” like tea, and make the concentrate very hot.

Step 2: Drinking the Lemonade

You will drink between 6 and 12 glasses of this Lemonade each day (some people drink as much as 26 glasses per day). This will depend on how big or small you currently are (caloric needs), your tolerance to physical and psychological urges to eat, and your desire to lose weight. Master Cleanse weight loss results vary according to your pre-cleanse weight, and can be managed, to a degree by how much lemonade you drink. Drink more, for less weight loss. Drink less for more weight loss. DO NOT DRINK LESS THAN 6 GLASSES in an effort to lose “extra weight.” Weight loss (if any) should occur naturally. Drink whenever you’re hungry or when you feel a lack of energy (weak or shaky), which is quickly corrected by drinking a glass of Fresh Lemonade. 12 glasses should be your starting point from where you make adjustments.

Step 3 – Inducing Bowel Movements

The Detox of the Master Cleanse Diet occurs largely through Bowel Movements. The daily detox bowel movement is the result from the nightly laxative. The BEDTIME LAXATIVE IS NOT OPTIONAL. Some choose to do a morning laxative as well.

There are several herbal laxatives that work well. Most people find that by using laxative tablets they are able to better manage the dosage. Often, the suggested dosage is not enough to produce the movement in the morning. Tom Woloshyn, author of The Complete Master Cleanse swears that 4 tablets is a good starting point. If you cramp or wake up early with a movement, scale back to 3 tablets. If your movement doesn’t happen in the morning, scale up to 5 tablets.

Step 4 – Concluding the Diet

Repeat for every day of your intended duration. Most Master Cleanse practitioners won’t recommend less than 10 days. 10 days is a great achievement and will produce far better results as your body can really begin to focus on the deep and dark within. 14 days is very challenging. 2 weeks is more than enough.

Ease out- Day 1- Orange Juice

Drink only freshly squeezed orange juice + water (to taste) make 2 liters of this. If you need more calories, add some Maple Syrup.

Ease out – Day 2 – Juicing, Blending, Soups and Broths

This step preps your body for a liquid diet and delivers macro nutrients more quickly to your bloodstream. Juice/Blend fruits and vegetables (not necessarily together, unless you like that sort of stuff) If you do not have a juicer, you can make broth or soup.

Ease out – Day 3 – Living Food Diet

Simply remove processed foods, meat and dairy from your diet. Eat fruits and vegetables. (Things high in fiber.) Don’t go to heavy on the fruits as they are high in sugar. A 60/40 balance of vegetables to fruits is a good guideline.

IF YOU TRY IT OUT, I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE. I'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED ON MINE. :)

Being Released

This past Sunday, the Relief Society presidency that I have been a part of for the last year was released. I have mixed feelings about the situation, but mainly I'm relieved my turn is over and I'm excited for the new presidency. I can tell they are going to be exceptional. :)

Anywho, I just thought the few of you that read this blog would be interested in that little update. :)

Why My Husband is Amazing.

So yesterday I was having a very difficult day; mostly self-inflicted, emotional drama. Either way, I was having one of those days where you just need a hug. And the stupid people I have to talk to on the phone for 5 hours weren't helping my mood. I texted Doug while I was at work and told him that I was having a hard day.  When I came home from work Doug gave me a big hug & then I went and took a nap. I had a class to go to at five, but when I officially came home for the day Doug was making pasta salad with homemade pesto sauce, and tuna sandwiches on yummy asiago & pepper artisan bread. He had bought me tiny cucumbers and cherry tomatoes (If you know me, you know that cherry tomatoes are the equivalent to a bouquet of long-stem roses in my book). Later we picked up his sister, Alyssa, and she watched "Ghost Town" with us (which is one of my all-time favorite movies).  So all-in-all, it was a pretty nice end to a pretty crappy day. I have an awesome husband.

Success

So Doug and I made it through our first semester going to school together! It was a little crazy for a few weeks, but we both made it through and did great in our classes!

I've had a week off and now the Spring Semester starts tomorrow. Doug won't be in school during the summer, so it'll be a little easier on our relationship. :) I have a feeling he is going to get verrrry bored though. Which means I'll probably be eating a lot of homemade bread for the next few months. haha. (Doug likes to bake when he's bored.) Actually, Doug's goal this semester is to work on and complete his portfolio and hunt for internships. So if he's serious about doing that, he'll actually be pretty busy this summer.

In addition to school, I'm helping my boss, Jen, plan her wedding in August. I'm having so much fun working out the details with her. I love planning weddings.

Also, as an update, I got my hair cut on Friday. I'm pretty sure Doug hates it, but I like it, so that's that. My hair goes down to my collar bone, has a few layers, and I got full on bangs, no more side-swept. I'll post a picture...eventually.

Valentine's Day

This year for valentine's day, I decorated our house in an Oriental Theme! He was so surprised when he got home! Here are some pictures:

So here's how the day played out: Doug went to work and I called my friend Stephanie over to help me decorate. She's an engineer so she really helped me when it came to figuring out how to get decorations onto the ceiling. She's a genius. Anywho.. so we decorated and decorated and then I took Stephanie home and came back and I cleaned up the mess we had made. The plan was to have Chinese food waiting for Doug when he got home from work at 3 but the only GOOD place in Rexburg opens at 5 on Saturday, which I did not know until about 2. So when Doug came home I just showed him around the house and then we left to go track down some asian food. We tried going to the local grocery store because they usually have a buffet of Chinese food when you walk near the deli, but all the food was gone!!! So, defeated, we decided to eat at Jimmy John's instead. (I'm sure Doug was happier with this result because he's not a big fan of chinese food). Then we came home and got ready for a stake dance. Then we went to the Dance. It was pretty boring, so we didn't stay for very long, we danced one song together and then went back home and watched the Bing Bang Theory. The day didn't go how I planned it in my head, but I still had an awesome day. :)

Doug's Valentine's day gift to me:

So Doug kept asking me on Saturday, "How am I going to top this?" I told him the only way he could top me was to get me flowers and Hot Cheetos. haha. So on Monday (actual V-day) I came home from school and there was a pretty bouquet of flowers and a bag of hot cheetos sitting on the table. I was so excited!! haha I went in the bedroom to change my clothes and I noticed that Doug had made the bed! What a sweetie. :) Then we went somewhere to eat (probably Jimmy John's again...we really like that place).  After we had eaten Doug dropped me back off at home because he had to go to work. So I sat at home and did my homework. When it was time for bed I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. My curling iron was sitting out on the counter so I opened the drawer to put it away and when I opened the drawer there was ANOTHER bag of hot cheetos! Then it hit me... I knew why Doug had made the bed!!!! I went over to my pillow and squished down with my hand and... I found ANOTHER bag of hot cheetos!! hahaha. Soo.. I'm sure you can guess what I've been eating as a snack the past week, and I feel super gross, but loved at the same time! :) 

January Update

So Doug and I are both in school this semester. We've been married for two years and this is something we've never experienced yet! So we'll see how much we want to kill each other by the end of it all. :) School is a bit crazy this time around. Doug is taking 12 credits and I'm taking 16. We're both working. Doug even just got offered a new job on campus as a Lab assistant in the Spori computer lab. He was sitting in class after it had gotten out and his teacher came back in the room and asked, "hey, do you need a job?" and it just so happened that the very day before, Doug had decided to look for a second job. For some reason, God loves to bless us.

Doug's birthday was last week and we had a few friends and his sisters come over to celebrate. Alyssa (Doug's sister) hung balloons up all over the ceiling and crepe paper on our ceiling fans. I haven't taken them down yet, because they just make everything feel so happy and festive. I think I'll keep them up till the balloons start getting gimpy.

I'm taking a religion class this semester, the New Testament. My teacher challenged us to read the scriptures everyday for an hour and preferably in the morning. In order to do that I have to wake up at 5am everyday before getting ready for school. But it's been so worth it. I have started really looking forward to it. I keep a journal with me to write down insights and thoughts. I highly recommend studying this way. It has made such a huge difference in my life already. I'm hoping to really make it a life-long habit.

My friends Stephanie and Emil just got married on January 30th. I'm so happy for them! They're up here in Rexburg and they are just about the cutest couple ever. :) It's nice to have some more married friends.

Well that's about all the latest news. I'll let you know how school turns out.