Finding comfort

Just in case you didn't hear... the bank that I work at was robbed on Feb.16th. I was the teller that he robbed. He handed me the note that said he wanted all my money that I had and he stated that he had a gun. I never saw it but I'm guessing he didn't. Between that time and the time that they caught him, I was having a hard time with anxiety and nightmares. That's when it occurred to me that I need to find comfort in something. So I started to read my scriptures. I can't even begin to describe the comfort that came from reading my scriptures and specifically asking my Father in Heaven to give me the comfort that I need. Blaine was a really big help through it all, and I can not fully express how grateful I am for him standing by my side to help me through it all. I looked up different ways to deal with PTSD ( Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ) and nothing really seemed to help until my lesson in Relief Society yesterday. My stake president gave a lesson on dealing with depression, anxiety and stress. I could not agree more with the lesson! There are 6 ways that help you with those things...

1. Strive to maintain the Spirit
2. Take time to PLAY
3. Check for physical problems (eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and exercising)
4. Avoid comparison ( don't feel inadequate )
5. Be content with what's been given
6. Live one day at a time

This has made so much sense to me! When I was reading my scriptures and continuously and sincerely offering up my heart in prayer is when I felt the love of my Heavenly Father the most. I was able to have enough confidence in myself to not quit and to continue to work at the bank. I love this job and I didn't want to give the robber that satisfaction of me "scarring me out of a job". I will honestly admit, it was hard to get through but I feel like I came out a much stronger person.

I want to bear my testimony of having a personal relationship with the Lord and being able to communicate to Him your needs. My testimony has grown leaps and bounds through this trial. I am so grateful for having a husband that understands my fears and stresses enough to help me. I am so grateful for the priesthood and that Blaine is worthy to have that gift. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of me, and my needs. I know this church is true and it is such a blessing in my life. I love the Gospel and it is what I strive to live by. I am looking forward to spending eternity with Blaine and our families. I love that about the Gospel. We will always stay together and not " till death do we part". I love my family and friends and for all their examples they show me. I know that we all need comfort in times of depression, stress and anxiety but I can witness to you that when you find comfort IN THE RIGHT THINGS, blessings will begin to unfold. Reading my scriptures and praying with my husband was the comfort I stood in need of. Alcohol and Drugs will only satisfy you temporarily and will not go away. They only bury the issue so deep until it is so deep, it becomes who you are. I witness to you that when you read your scriptures and offer up your heart to the Lord, he will bless you, and he will continue to bless and love you, and never fail you.

My personal challenge

I've been thinking about what the Gospel means to me and how much I love the security and consistency it gives me and so I am creating a challenge for myself.

Challenge #1:
- Strengthen myself spiritually.

•    Read scriptures every day
•    Have private prayer and pray with my husband
•    Share my testimony as often as possible

Challenge #2
- Strengthen my body

• Work out consistently. I know I'm not the most fit or skinniest girl in the world and honestly, I am ok with that. I have a family who loves me for me and a husband who loves everything about me (including my waistline) BUT it's not the size that makes me want to change, it's the fact that I want to be healthy and energetic.
• Eat healthy and take vitamins! I can handle eating healthy, it's the vitamins that scare me a tad. They are so huge and so is my gag reflex BUT I'm not going to let that interfere! Eventually, me and Blaine are going to be pregnant and I want to be the best and healthiest Mom I can be for 'it', starting right from the beginning.

I'm only 20 and Blaine is 23, We have so much to look forward to in life! Who wants to be held back from doing activites with your family because you're not healthy enough or not spiritually strong enough?? I know I don't! 

So bring it on world, I'm ready to face the challenges that you have to throw at me with my husband holding my hand.

So to execute one of my challenges....

I want to bear my testimony to YOU, that I know that life is full of up's and down's but I can witness to you that if you continue to pray diligently and sincerely, life will begin to get a little easier each time. Pray about finding opportunties to serve others, or sharing the gospel with someone, and you will find comfort. When life gets hard, hold your husband's hand and jump in together! There is great strength in a marriage that the husband and the wife work together and not divide duties. I am so grateful for my husband and all the things he does for me, and for the love he provides. I am grateful for the priesthood and the blessing of having that spirit in my home. The spirit allows for me to harmony in my home and I pray that I can give that to my children like my mom did for me. I am blessed when it comes to families. I have the 2 best families to gain wisdom from. I love my family as well as Blaine's, and that is a blessing in itself to truly love your family. I hear so much "I hate my family" or "I wish I had a stronger connection to my family", I am so proud to say that I have such a strong love and connection for mine and his family. And I am grateful for that blessing. I love my Heavenly Father and all the blessings He has given me. I pray that you will be blessed in your life and in your up's and down's that you, too, may find comfort and peace. I challenge you to do this challenge with me, so that you may reap your blessings.

Tis the season

I really need to learn to update more! I always forget!

Christmas eve was a blast! We went to Blaine's Uncle Jim's Christmas party. It was held at a school cafeteria for some reason. We had a big dinner with some games afterwards like "Mr. Right and Mrs. Left". It was really fun-- especially since I don't know that side of the family that well other than just a few people. Then we left to go to his Grandma and Grandpa Slack's house! I love going over there! They're fun grandparents! There was dinner there too, but I was way to stuffed and sick to eat again. After everyone ate- it was the same game! We played Mr.Right and Mrs. Left i think 2 or 3 times. After that, everyone was just hanging around, the kids were running around playing with their new toys, and having the best of time! The whole time I was thinking how grateful I am for MY family. I am so fortunate that I have the family that I do to share my up's and down's with. I love them sooo much and sometimes I feel like I take that for granted! My sister's are my best friends! They have ALWAYS been a constant reminder to me that someone does love and sincerely cares for me. All of them are my role models and I look up to them.. even though I'm taller than some of them if not the same height! Then it's my parents- the one's who show so much love and protection towards their daughters. I hope that one day I will be able to be just like my Mom, to have that much compassion, dedication and love for the spirit. And for my Daddy, he is such a great man!! I'm so grateful for having a dad that provides for his family above and beyond and treats my mom with the up most respect! Even though 3 out of 4 are married, he still asks what he can do for us. He has always been there for me and words can't even begin to describe how much I love him and miss seeing him every day! He is my hero (besides my husband)! And of course extended family such as my Memi and Poppy Peal and my Aunt Terry and Uncle Norm. We have been given this great blessing of family and love for one another! I may not be rich in money but I am truly rich in blessings. I am so grateful for my family as well as Blaine's family who are always there to support us and help us in anyway possible.
Tis the season to be thankful and count your blessings.

XoXo

Our update..warning- ** NOT MUCH **

It's definitely been awhile since I've last updated, I guess I better fill everyone in.

1- We had to get rid of ruger, our landlord didn't appreciate us having her and the pet deposit was too high for our budget. I REALLY wish it would of worked out but, it wasn't in the cards for us.

2- Devin ( my big sister ) got married to Dallas in the Salt Lake Temple on November 20th. It was a beautiful wedding! I'm so happy for them! Of course, she was absolutely gorgeous!

....and that's about all. I know, I know-- we're  a boring couple but it's been busy lately to really do anything spectacular, or that's blog-worthy for that matter.

But I have decided to use my time wisely and learn new things! So, I've found a couple of websites and stores with decent sales to help me carry out the plans.

Mom has always tried to teach me how to sew and I just never had any interest in it whatsoever! Well, now I wish I payed attention. I'm wanting to make curtains, a dust ruffle for our bed and throw pillows for our couch. I have a ton of ideas that I REALLY want to execute but like I said before, it's not the creative flow that's stopping me, it's time and moola $$! So I started thinking WWMD? ( what would momma do? ) I'm going to re-do some of the stuff that I already have! i would like to re-do my dresser.. REALLY BAD! none of the wood furniture in our room match and it drives me crazy when the wood finish doesn't match the rest of the wood furniture.  So I'm going to re-paint our dresser.
So if you have any other tips for decorating a rented place that can't be painted, PLEASE let me know! I would love more ideas! I'm trying out this whole "homemaker" role. We'll see how it goes!

Our new addition to the family

That's right, WE GOT A PUPPY! She is beautiful! Her name is ruger ( like the gun company...) She is only 8 weeks old! She is 3\4 border collie and 1\4 heeler. She is the most quiet, shy, hilarious, timid puppy I have ever met! I LOVE HER! This is my first dog ever! Blaine surprised me with her on monday night. He and his friend Brad told me that they were going to go help his friend move in Parawon (about 30 minutes away for Cedar City). So while Brad and Blaine were "moving" I was hanging out with Brad's wife, Dawn. It was starting to get late... like 11:30 late, so naturally I'm starting to get pretty cranky. I was so tired and I wanted to go to bed because I get up at 7 every morning. For some that doesn't seem way early (..mom) but seeing as how I'm not a morning person.. that's 4 hours too early! Anywho... impatiently, I was blowing up Blaine's phone with texts like " how close are you to Cedar" and " can you please hurry... i have to get up early and it's getting really late". I was trying to be nice. By the time he got home... I was pretty upset. But when I saw what he was holding in his arms... there was no way that I could  be mad at him. She was the most precious puppy I have ever seen. Needless to say, We love our daughter Ruger! I'm beyond ecstatic!

It's deer season....

The only reason why I know that it is deer season is because Blaine wants to go to the mountian a lot and he's always wanting to buy more bullets. So, like a good wife, I decided maybe it will be fun. The rest of his family will be at the cabin and I can hang out them while the others go out. Little did I know how much fun I would have. To give a little weather history, it has been stormy and snowy for the 2-3 weeks on and off. I knew it would be muddy, but you would not believe how muddy! It was thick and very wet. But it was so much fun going four-wheeling and hiking in it. I think it made up for the times when Mom didn't want us to play in the mud as a kid. I was suctioned to the four-wheeler because of all the mud. I HAD A BLAST! I looked like a swamp monster. I enjoyed my weekend at the cabin... Blaine on the other hand, he didn't find any deer other than does and fawns. Better luck next season I guess.  :)

I love my sisters

I realize it's been forever since I've updated, and let me tell you-- It's been hectic... or atleast it feels like it. I've had my fair shares of showers this month.. not water showers but baby and bridal showers. I have never noticed at how much effort goes into them. I thought you can just throw it together like a high school party... ya know, just wingin' it! I stood corrected! For the baby shower for my friend Dawn, I felt like I had a million things going on at once in my head. I was busy with cutting the fruit, putting the vegetables on a platter, blowing up ballons, cleaning up the backyard, setting the plates, cups, forks, and spoons out, mixing the drink together. By the time the shower started, I was exhausted! All in all- it was a fun shower. Granted, only 3 out of 30 something showed up.. but it was still fun.

My next project was Devin's bridal shower in Provo. I had a great time with my sisters and her friends! But before the shower, I drove to Allayna and Josh's house to stay the night and drive up in the morning with her. (In case you don't know, Cedar City is where Blaine and I live and Provo is where Devin lives, which is like 4 hours away, so I made Allayna a happy medium in the tiny town of Ephraim which is 3 hours from me. I know its not a perfect medium but hey--whatever works.) We stayed up probably later than we should have and got out of bed pretty late too. But in our defense, the only reason why we stayed up late was because we were busy making cupcakes for the shower and getting everything ready to load up in the car in the morning. And good thing we did that because the morning was a rush. We rememebered to get everything.. but Allayna's wallet out of her school bag that was next to the door. We were so worried about forgetting something for the shower that we didn't even think about if we grabbed everything that we needed personally. We get more than half way to Provo when she realized that her wallet was back at home. So, Allayna did what she does best... PANIC! I'm trying to calm her down and telling her that if she just goes to the Zion's bank in Provo, and pulls out money that way, she'll be fine. So we went and picked up Devin, went to the bank and then to Sam's for some final shopping. That's when I realized that I left my debit card in my car which is an hour away at the time. IT WAS RIDICULOUS!  But after once we did everything.. the day got a lot better!

Allayna, Lauren DeVard and I were the hostess and it was so much fun! We had Martinelli, chocolate covered strawberries, apples and dip, very cute cupcakes and grapes and rasberries. It was light food but we had plenty! Lauren was in charge of games and some of the games was some that I played at every my bridal shower. She got some really good gifts! I loved them, I wish I got some of the stuff she got ;) I had a great time with my sisters and her friends! I'm so excited for Devin and Dallas! After the shower, we cleaned everything up and we were taking out the trash on our way out to the mall and between taking the trash out and getting in the car, Allayna lost her keys. We looked for maybe 45 minutes. Me and Allayna both looked at each other with the look of " YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!". Turns out they were at the bottom of the trash bag. It was an exhausting day! But the best I've had in a while.
I love my sisters and I'm so grateful that they're mine!

                           THESE ARE MY BEST FRIENDS