The Debt Free Traffic Jam

3, 2, 1... WE'RE DEBT FREE! $73K paid off in 3 years (all of it student loans), while making a range of $45-95K.

Our journey to become debt free is similar to a traffic jam: lots of stop and go. 

We (or at least I) was introduced to Dave Ramsey's "7 Baby Steps" when we got married in 2012. At that point in time all we did was the zero-based budgeting (every dollar has a name) and cash envelopes. My husband paid off some/made payments on some of his loans in 2011-2012, while in military training (and thus not in school) before we married, so you could say his journey to debt freedom began in late 2011.

It wasn't until a year or two later that we read The Total Money Makeover together, despite having the book when we got married.

We then very slowly started Baby Step 1, which is to set aside $1,000 for a starter emergency fund. After we completed Baby Step 1, we reached the first jam. We didn't proceed to Baby Step 2, which is the "Debt Snowball" (pay off all of the debt smallest to largest, excluding the mortgage, as fast as you can), because we were still taking out student loans to pay for school and living expenses. Finally, Fall 2015 was the first time we paid cash for school!

After I graduated in 2015, we were able to pay off a couple of the really small student loans. We paused Baby Step 2 again in Fall 2016, but we used cash to pay for the final year of my husband's undergrad degree. It wasn't until Fall 2017 that we restarted the debt snowball, after we were no longer paying rent on two places.

We kept at the snowball until Fall 2018 when we paused again to go into "stork mode." All the extra money leftover at the end of the month that went to our student loans was now going into a baby medical fund. It's a good thing we did, too, because May 2019 we had to use some of it (after insurance and HSA) to cover a hospital bill for an unknown viral infection when he was not quite 2 months old (his delivery was uncomplicated and he was born very healthy).

Come Summer 2019 we took what was left of the baby medical fund and put that towards student loans. From that point, you could say it was smooth cruising. We didn't have to pause the debt snowball anymore.

Some months we were able to pay more toward the debt than others, but we always were able to throw money at it. Things that helped us were creating a budget and trying our best to stick to it, mini-celebrations after each loan was paid off, the pandemic, my husband going back to school for a master's degree, and discovering our why. For me it was so we can buy a home; we've been renting our entire marriage. For him it was so he can fly again; he got his pilots license in 2007 and hasn't flown since then.

For our mini-celebrations we chose to eat out at a restaurant because that is something we enjoyed doing before we started the steps. We rarely ate any place super fancy for our celebration because the big celebration comes when all the loans are paid off (I might write about it in a separate post). We tried to keep our celebration around $40-50 per loan paid off. We also tried to avoid eating out when a loan was not paid off (some months were better than others).

The pandemic helped our snowball because my husband was able to continue working the entire time, and because the interest-rate went to 0% and there were no minimum payments. The no interest and being able to focus solely on the smallest loan without having to pay minimum payments on all the rest was a HUGE help.

 My husband going back to school (paid all in cash) helped because he is reimbursed through work and received money from the VA through the GI Bill.

Reminiscing

Crazy to think that a year ago Dallen graduated college, I attended my cousin's bachelorette party and was part of her wedding, and we moved to Texas! So many crazy and awesome things happened within that short time frame.

Dallen's Graduation:

It was great being able to see a lot of Dallen's family come for his convocation. His parents, Grammy, most of his brothers (including their significant others and kids), some aunts and uncles, and my dad all came to celebrate.

It was also cool that we both made it to the Jumbotron for each of our graduations! For his graduation, one of his really good mission buddies (his mission tatay) took Dallen's graduation pictures, and one of those photos was featured on the screen and in BYU's Instagram story. (For mine, two of my photos made the screen and BYU Instagram story).

This is the photo that made the Jumbotron & BYU Instagram Story.
Photo Credit: JCBA Photography

Dallen's graduation was also, literally, cool. Temps were in the 40s and was rainy/snowy (thankfully the snow didn't stick!) Too bad, the weather wasn't as nice as my graduation (80s and sunny).

Getting good seats for his convocation makes up for the not-so-great weather. We were able to see him, and him see us, as he was in the line to walk across the stage to receive his diploma cover.

(Not the photo that made the Jumbotron)

Example of how great of seats we had.

A well-deserved ring of the Victory Bell!

Mandy's Bachelorette Party:

This was my first bachelorette party ever (didn't have one for my wedding). It was a great, chill time. We got to explore Kansas City. Ate at a local barbecue restaurant and diner the next day, walked around IKEA, hang out at the pool and hot tub, and went out.

My dinner from the local BBQ place.

My lunch from Winstead's, the local diner.

The Skyscraper Shake. That thing was massive! Mandy, Marissa, and I were able to dominate it, just barely.

One of neat things of this trip was running into other Mormons at the hotel! We (the bridal party) were on our way to the elevator, when a group of ladies commented on my BYU hoodie. We had a nice chat in the lobby and elevator about how the mom and her daughter were here to pick up the other daughter, who had just finished her mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I ran into them the next day at breakfast and shortly later at church during Sacrament meeting. It was nice seeing familiar faces in a room full of people that I didn't know.

Days Leading Up to the Wedding:

In the days leading up to the wedding, there were quite a few crazy happenings. First, Dallen and Buttercup drove cross country for the wedding. They made it safely to Iowa and a little ahead of schedule, despite the fiasco with getting our rental car! Dallen had scheduled a rental car from Hertz months in advance, and to be picked up at a specified time. Well, the specified time came and left and no one showed up. He called to ask when his ride would get to our place, but no one answered the phone; it just rang and rang and rang. He tried again and the same thing happened. Eventually he was able to speak to someone and they said it would be about 15 minutes (or something like that). Well, still no one showed up after waiting another hour, so Dallen ended up having to drive himself there.

Second, while Dallen was driving cross country we received notice from my friend that she couldn't get into our apartment to feed Little Fishy. The key Dallen gave her wasn't working. Turns out he gave her the wrong key. We called a locksmith and everything worked out and she was able to find the right key that way there wouldn't be any future lock outs.

Third, there was a major gas leak in our apartment. The landlady tried to get a hold of us, to tell my friend that the gas company needed to get into the apartment. Well, we had no idea of this because we had absolutely NO signal where we were. We finally were able to get some signal while we were on a hike. We were able to contact my friend, but they weren't home and couldn't get back until later that afternoon. Things managed to work out and the gas problem was solved. Surprisingly enough, Little Fishy survived! With how high the gas level was, I was concerned with how she was doing.

 While we had time before the rehearsal dinner (the same day as the gas leak incident) we decided to recreate one of our dates: lunch and a hike (it's one of my favorite places to go hiking). I just love the picture of Dallen and Buttercup overlooking the river. 😍

That was the end of the crazy happenings (for now). While Dallen was driving to Iowa, I was able to spend a day with my grandparents. It was fun hanging out with them. Grandma and Grandpa had some errands to do in town, so I came along. We then had lunch at the local drive-in. It was as good as I remember it being growing up.

The Wedding:

The day before the wedding was the rehearsal dinner. It was a lot of fun! It was Cinco de Mayo themed, since it was Cinco de Mayo. I was able to see an aunt that I hadn't seen in quite a few years and a cousin that I hadn't seen for even longer.

All the guys had to wear a mustache and the ladies the sombrero.

After the rehearsal party, us ladies in the bridal party made our way to the bed and breakfast, where we were staying for the night. The bed and breakfast was very cute and there are few neat experiences that happened. The first being there was a room called Buttercup! I discovered this over breakfast the next morning. I debated bringing my phone with me, but left it in our cabin, since it had no reception. I should have because right when I saw it I wanted to take a picture of it. The second and third neat experiences also happened over breakfast: there was a statue figurine of what appeared to be the Christus and a picture on the wall that appeared to be of a temple. Those two experiences had me curious if the people running the B&B were LDS. I didn't ask them, but I got my answer the next day when I went to church. Turns out the branch president and his wife are the owners of that B&B! The statue really was the Christus and the photo really was of a temple. The reason I didn't recognize them was because they moved into the branch sometime after I had moved out.

A little tour of our cabin at the B&B.

The ceremony and reception were both nice. The weather was great for a wedding and pictures. I danced a lot and enjoyed sitting at the head table.

The dresses

Pre-Move:

After the wedding but before we actually moved, we went down to where we were moving to find a place to live. We had quite a few places lined up that we liked and were going to look at, but just days before getting there, all of the places we were interested in were rented out. We had to start from almost ground zero again.

As we approached our destination city, the air conditioning in our rental car went out and the windshield got a crack from who knows what (a rock maybe?). Being in the South, in May, it is just unacceptable to not have AC. We went into the car rental place to get a different rental. We ended up liking the new car a lot better than what we were originally given, especially since the original car was long overdue for an oil change (we didn't notice that until all of the problems with the vehicle started happening).

After looking at countless places (in person and online) once we got there and not having much luck, we finally found a place. The place we found (and currently live) was actually not yet listed. We were looking at a different place on the same street and the property manager/real estate lady (not quite sure what she was), mentioned that there was a different place that would fit our needs better. Sure enough, it was! It was like it was meant to be.

Shortly after signing the lease we were on our way back to Utah. The ride back to Utah was mostly uneventful, until we got to middle of nowhere, New Mexico when the tire on the rental car went flat. I think we hit a pothole wrong and ended up getting a big hole in the sidewall. Dallen was able to get the spare tire on, but it quickly turned into a long day trying to get the car replaced/repaired. We went to the closest Hertz car rental place and they didn't have any vehicles for us, so they sent us to another Hertz car rental that was an hour away (and not on our way home) because that was the next closest and they were more likely to have something. Turns out they also had nothing, but said to take it into a repair shop to get the tire replaced. We took it in and had it fixed. Thankfully, they allowed us to bring Buttercup inside. She was such a trooper through the whole ordeal. It was a bit frustrating, though, because there was a tire repair shop literally just down the street from the first car rental place we stopped at in New Mexico, and I felt they should have just sent us there, instead of on a wild goose chase, using up all the miles on the spare tire.

Buttercup waiting for the rental car to get fixed.

After the tire was replaced, the rest of the ride was uneventful, and we were so glad when we finally made it back to Utah.

The Move: 

The move was quite the adventure. The place we rented our moving truck from didn't have the size of truck we reserved. They had the next one smaller or next one larger (which also happens to be the largest truck one can drive without a CDL). To be able to adequately fit Dallen, me, Buttercup, and Little Fishy, we needed a truck with a bench seat. That meant we had to get the big truck. It was quite a bit larger that what we needed, but there was no extra charge. Plus, it provided us with ample space to sleep in the back at night! In addition to renting the largest moving truck, we also reserved a full car trailer. To give you all an idea of how big that all really is, we were almost as big as a semi with trailer.

Photo Cred: Dallen

Buttercup and Little Fishy did great on the move. I was concerned how Buttercup would do with the truck being so loud (she doesn't like our car for this reason) and how Little Fishy would do overall (movement and temp-wise). The first night I was worried that Little Fishy would freeze because the air got down to the 40s and goldfish are supposed to have the water be at mid 60s to low 70s. The temperature and movement didn't seem to bother Little Fishy and I actually think Buttercup enjoyed being a trucker dog.

A little fun back story pertaining to where we moved to: Back before Dallen and I got married we drove through the metro area of where we now live. I remember saying how I could never live here because I wouldn't be able to drive because of how crazy the traffic is here. Fast forward almost five years (almost six today) and this is where we moved to. I think it's Heavenly Father's way of compromise: Dallen came to BYU (my dream school) so I could graduate there, so now we live in a big city for his dream job. I think it's kinda funny.

I'm still adjusting to the traffic (drivers here really are crazy and so is the traffic!), but I love that is warm basically year round (could do without the big bugs), all the things that there are to do here (I'll mention some of what we've done in a future post), and getting to see aircraft take off/land right outside our place.

The Eternal Nursery Leader

This name came to be from the Primary president who used to be in Nursery with me back in my previous ward. I got it because I spent the majority of my married life in various Nurseries (3.75 years in Nursery out of the then 4.17 years married). When I was released as a Nursery leader I was sad, but I knew it was coming at some point. I came to terms with it and was ready to see what calling the Lord had in store for me next.

Fast forward several months, my husband, dog, goldfish, and I moved to a new state and, thus, a new ward. I was really excited to find out what calling I would get. After being in the ward for a few months, my husband and I were asked if we would like accept a calling as Nursery workers. When I heard that I was surprised. I thought that I was done with Nursery and would move on to something else. When we were asked about what we thought of that calling I said "I'm used to it" (Not in a negative way, just as a matter of fact).

After the surprise wore off, I became grateful for the opportunity to serve in Nursery for the third time. There were things I wanted to improve upon as a Nursery leader, so I was grateful to have this opportunity to truly magnify and fulfill my calling.

In Stake Conference last week, testimony meeting in Sacrament yesterday, and in General Conference earlier in the month, it was mentioned how the calling we are in right now is the best calling for us, how the calling we are in right now is the most important one, and how our calling right now is the one for us.

I am truly thankful to be in Nursery again. It really is the best calling ever. Being a Nursery leader is the most important calling; it is where children learn about the Gospel in a more formal setting for the first time. I absolutely LOVE serving in Nursery; it is this calling that helped me decide I wanted to major in Family Studies.

I absolutely love all the children I get the opportunity to teach and know better (both in my current ward and in the previous wards). They know so much about Jesus and His gospel already in the 18 months to 3 years they have lived thus far. It truly blows me away. I'm thankful to all of their parents for doing a great job in raising them. I really think that these children will accomplish great things with their life.

I am grateful to call myself an "Eternal Nursery Leader" (4 years in Nursery out of the 5.17 years married and counting).

A New Kind of Airline

How great would it be if there was a truly pet-friendly airline? I know most airlines allow pets under a certain size (height/length) to fly in-cabin, as long as they are in a carrier and stowed beneath the seat. If they are larger than that size and you want your pet to come along, then they have to fly as cargo.

I, for one, don't want my dog to fly as cargo, but that is my only option I have because Buttercup is slightly too long and tall to fly in-cabin. I don't want to put her in the care of complete strangers. I am currently reading a book about Secret Service dogs and a small portion of the book was spent telling horror stories of having to fly commercial when they travel (they now fly on military planes). The horror stories (baggage handlers opening kennels to pet the dog and not closing the kennel all they way leading to the dog escaping the plane upon landing and running loose on the runway and the handler being told if he doesn't get his dog it will be shot, dogs being put on the wrong plane, etc.) were all concerns I had before reading this book. It is these reasons that I don't fly with Buttercup.

My dream is that there would be an airline that allows domestic pets of any size to fly in-cabin. The pets would need to be domestic. They each get their own ticket and a personal bag. They would get their own seat. There would be a total of 4 seats per row (2 on each side of the aisle); could maybe do 6, but 4 would be better that way it's one human and one pet per row per side (limits contact between pets). They would also have to be current on all vaccines and have the paperwork to prove that they are.

If I had the $200 million start-up cost and the know how, I totally would. Alas, I don't think I will ever have that kind of money. Hopefully, there will be somebody someday that will have the means and know how to make this dream a reality.

Why You Should Buy Love Your Life Not Theirs

If you haven't bought the book yet, then you need to watch this video to know why you should. Plus, she's giving away free SIGNED copies. There are 6 days (and books) left to get yourself a free copy. Also, while you are at it, check out this link for when Rachel Cruze will be in your area doing book signings: https://www.rachelcruze.com/book?ectid=10.10.6880

Today's the Day...

...that Rachel Cruze's book Love Your Life, Not Theirs hits the shelves! It's out! I'm so thankful that I got to read an advanced copy of it. It is a must read for all people. It is an easy and quick read. Everyone at some point or another struggles with contentment and comparison living, especially in this day and age with social media and targeted ads. Her book helps teach you how to become an active consumer (thinking before buying).

I think her book really is an inspired book. Something she was meant to write and share with the world. Why? Because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just had General Conference September 24, October 1, and October 2. At General Conference there were numerous speakers that spoke about being content with your own life, stopping the comparisons with yourselves and others, and learning to find and have joy no matter the circumstance of your life. Each speaker chooses their own subject to speak about; no one is assigned a certain topic. Another reason why I feel her book is inspired (and a must read) is because other people have come out with things about loving your life and finding peace, happiness, and joy. Some of these other examples include Hilary Weeks' Love Your Life music album, Elder Richard G. Scott's book Finding Peace, Happiness, and Joy, and numerous articles in the Ensign and New Era.

So, please, everyone do me (and Rachel Cruze and yourself) a favor and check out this link: https://www.rachelcruze.com/book?ectid=10.10.6880 Doing so gives me the chance to have lunch with Rachel, which I would very much appreciate. :)

#LYLbook: Contentment

A sub-habit of quitting comparison is learning to become content. Contentment is being in a state of peace with where you are in life and with what things you have, whether that be a little or a lot.

An important thing to do to get or keep our state of contentment is recording the things we are grateful for, all the blessings which Heavenly Father has given us, and the ways God helped us. I like to write it in my personal journal, but you can keep a separate journal for all the things you are grateful for. It's important to keep track of our blessings because not everyday is going to be a super great day. There will be some days where we feel like we are alone, no one cares, and nothing is going right. Keeping track of our blessings and then reviewing them will help remind us that Heavenly Father is always there for us (so we are never truly alone), people do care about us, and things are going the way it's meant to go. Even when life hits rough patches, it is still important to track our blessings from that day because there is always something to be grateful for, like the fact we are still alive.

Along with keeping track of our blessings, we need to decide what we value. We don't need to do things others want us to do or what the world would have us do; we need to do what we need/want to do. The things we value will probably change over time, so it is okay to re-prioritize. Once we choose our values it's important that we focus on them.

One way to decide what our values are is to look at where the money is being spent and how our time is being used. If we don't like where the money is going and how we've been using our time, then we need to adjust those things accordingly to what we truly value.

A good quote to summarize what it means to be content is from C.S. Lewis when he said "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less."

What It Means to Actually be Blessed and to be #Blessed

Rachel Cruze has a section in her book Love Your Life, Not Theirs that talks about this difference between being blessed and #blessed. She also did a vlog about this difference, so I thought I would share it with you because it is important to know the difference.

I know a lot of what she said was what I posted about yesterday, but she goes into detail describing what each of those steps mean.

What she doesn't mention in the vlog is that most often when people use #blessed they are bragging. She gives the example in her book that people don't really use #blessed when they are talking about their beater car. It's most commonly used on the new car and other expensive things. I'm not against people using this hashtag, but it is important to use it wisely.

#LYLBook: Comparison

The first habit that needs to change in order to love our life and be content with it is to stop comparing our life to others. Here are some one-liners and quotes that stood out to me:

• Comparisons not only steals joy it steals your paycheck
• "When we start comparing ourselves to other people, we're playing a game we'll never win."
• "The Joneses may actually be broke! What you are seeing isn't always the real story."
• "When you get caught up in social media comparisons, you're comparing yourself to make-believe. And when you compare yourself to make-believe, your real life will never feel good enough."
• "Comparing ourselves to others is essentially a coping mechanism for our own insecurities. We believe we don't measure up so we project our insecurity onto others. ... And it's those insecurities--our own internal struggles--that are keeping us from living the kind of life we love."
• "We can't blame ourselves for the thoughts that pop into our heads, but we can take responsibility for what we do with those thoughts." (This reminds me a lot about agency.)
• "Don't feel like you're losing just because someone else is winning. Their success has nothing to do with you, so celebrate their success sincerely while you keep working toward your own."

Something that really stood out to me is that comparison is not just about material things. People do it to our families (especially babies). For example, many people will ask things about how old your baby was when they rolled over, smiled, laughed, walked, etc. and compare it to when that person's baby did those same things. Rachel Cruze called this "competitive parenting." It's a real thing, too, I saw it happen many times on Facebook to some of my friends.

Another thought that came to mind as I read is that comparison works two ways. We can compare ourselves to those people who we feel are doing better at life than we are and we also compare ourselves to those we think are doing worse than us. This habit is really a habit about pride and learning to take that pride and turn it into humility.

As I read I realize that I am guilty of making assumptions about a person's life when it comes to things I see on social media, especially when it comes to people my age going on fancy trips, buying new cars, or buying a house. Rachel says that whether our assumptions are good or bad they are meaningless and that it doesn't change their or our own situation, so don't waste the energy making assumptions because it's not our business.

Going along with making assumptions about other people, Rachel talks about our perception of reality may also be skewed and not actual reality. This is something that was discussed quite a bit in my Advanced Family Processes class last year. Everyone has a different view of reality. What one person sees may not be, and often isn't, the same as what someone else sees. For example, most people perceive that millionaires live in fancy houses, drive nice cars, and wears expensive clothes, but actually most millionaires look no different than the average person. They live in modest homes and drive slightly used cars.

I hope from this post you have a better understanding of how to quit comparison. Keep an eye out for future posts about the difference between actually blessed vs. #blessed and being content (both of which will provide additional insights on how to quit comparison).

#LYLBook

I am grateful to have the opportunity to help spread the word about Rachel Cruze's new book Love Your Life, Not Theirs. It is truly an important book for all to read whether or not you struggle to be content with where you are in life. Over the next few days to weeks I'll be sharing insights that I gained from this book and that I feel is really important to know.

Her book comes out October 3, but if you pre-order it before then you will get $70 of FREE stuff. The book is only $20, so it is a really great deal!

I hope you all will learn at least one thing from what I will share from her book and that all of you can start loving your life.

Education Week

Last week I had the opportunity of attending Education Week for the first time. I have been wanting to go for a few years and seeing as this may be my last opportunity to go while we live close to campus I decided to do it.

Let me just say that Education Week was so much fun! I'm so glad I went. I didn't do classes all day because Buttercup needed to go out every few hours, but I did do 2-3 classes per day which I think was plenty for me because I was exhausted by the end of the week.

For those who don't know or haven't been to Education Week before, let me give you a brief description. It's like school, except it's all the really cool and fun classes that aren't usually taught at school and there is no homework. There were classes on anything you can think of: religion, media, political-ish, gardening, organization, family, stress relief, cooking, you name it! For all you Upward Bound-ers out there, it's like UB but only a week long instead of all summer.

The classes I took were on time management, home organization, media, a cooking demonstration with Chef Brad, family history, personal finance, safeguarding homes from pornography, and square foot gardening.

I hope to implement the things I learned from these classes to help me become a better version of me. I also hope to come back again sometime and learn even more about neat things.

A Chef Brad creation!

Devotional with Elder Holland

Look at how full it is!

Second time for him and first for me!

Garden Update

It's been awhile since I mentioned anything about the little flower garden my husband and I planted a few months back, so I figured I would give everyone an update.

All of our dahlias sprouted (6), meaning they have plants but no flowers. I think one of the plants died already and a couple are maybe headed that way. Growth seems to have stalled on all of them.

Out of the 20ish blazing star liatrises we planted, 2 sprouted but I think have stalled on growth and might be starting to die. None of the English daisies or lilies (6ish) sprouted. I think a couple of our asters bloomed, but not where we planted them...I found a couple flowers yesterday that look a lot like asters growing in the parking strip/gutter.

Ivy seems to be taking over our last section of garden, which we find rather annoying, so we'll see if anything will ever grow.

I hope we'll get some flowers this fall if not then hopefully in spring before we move.

From this experience I learned quite a few things. First, I'll only plant what can actually grow and bloom where I'm living. Just because something says if you plant it at this time then it should grow does not mean it is true. Soil quality has a lot to do with it and Utah soil is just not cut out for the flowers we planted; it is awful at taking in water properly. Second, I'll go to the store or a greenhouse and buy the beginning plants that way I will actually know what the plant is supposed to look like and it will actually have a better chance at living. Third, I will water the plants in the morning and not night in order to keep the bugs, mold, and other stuff away.

Hopefully the next time we do a garden we will have much better luck.

Where is the Love?

If the Black Eyed Peas thought this song was applicable back in 2003 when it came out, I wonder what they think about it in today's context of all that is going on.

I know love is out there. I know good still exists in the world. I know that people are inherently good. I also know that we should not judge an entire race, occupation, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc. of people based on the acts of a few.

Not all cops are bad (I know some cops who are really great people). Not all black/Hispanic/other race of people are criminals. Not all white people are racists. Not all religious people are homophobic. Not all Muslims are terrorists (I know a couple of Muslims who are good people).

It really saddens me to see all the hate going on out there. This hate is what will bring this great nation and eventually the world down. We need to focus on our similarities; look past our differences. We need to realize that ALL LIVES MATTER (including those not yet born). We all have someone who loves us. We all came from a family. We ALL are sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us tremendously.

In the words of Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1995-2008:

Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving. We can put behind us our weaknesses of the past, and go forth with new energy and increased resolution to improve the world about us, in our homes, in our places of employment, in our social activities.

I know that as we come together and show an increase of love toward each other we will be a strong nation. Peace will abound. Crimes will decrease. I really believe that each of us are trying to do the best we can do and be the best we can be. I don't think most of us have the intent to hurt others just because of some difference. Please, can we just love each other more and realize that no one group of people is better than another and that all lives matter?

I Want a Queen...

...Size bed.

Nothing like a two week long vacation to make you see what you've been missing out on. Lots of our nights were spent sleeping in hotels on queen size beds.

I never really had a problem with our full size bed; we always found a way to fit us and Buttercup (yes, she sleeps with us), but our bed just seems a bit too small for all of us (yes, we could probably train her to sleep on the couch or in her kennel or train her to sleep in a dog bed--that she doesn't have--but I like my Buttercup snuggles--especially when she sleeps like a human!) now.

With a queen size bed we were all able to fit comfortably on the bed with no complaint of Buttercup being in our foot space. Unfortunately, our bedroom is too small for a queen and the bed we want to get is $1000. Bright side to all of this though is that someday we will have this bed, even if it means waiting a few more years. For now I will appreciate all the weird ways in which Buttercup sleeps, even if it sometimes is up in our space (which it thankfully isn't all the time).

Here's just a few (several) photos of the ways Buttercup sleeps: 

 

 
 
 

A Wild Idea

Sometimes when I am up late at night and am disappointed at the way our country is headed, I get this wild idea that I should maybe run for president when I'm old enough. I don't know if I ever will actually run, but I think the things I believe in could save America. I would help bring America back to the way the founding fathers had intended it. I think I could be a good president. If I were to run for office I wouldn't want to do it the common way, i.e. being a senator/house representative. I think many Americans are getting sick of those types of people being president because they don't really care about the state in which they represent they only care about their own personal ideas. Because I would want to go the non-traditional route I know it would be a lot harder because I am neither rich or famous. I would find a way to get myself known though.

I then had the not as crazy but still crazy idea that I would go to graduate school and then law school. I probably won't actually go to law school because I don't have the intention to become a lawyer or judge, but it would be useful for the background on all the laws that exist in our nation. However, if I do go to grad school I would want to continue in my field of family and see if there are any emphases on law and religion. Religion and family really need help because they are under serious attack.

With these two ideas I think I could have a unique perspective that most don't have when they run for office, which just might be able to help me. Maybe in another post I could share the stance I have on certain topics, but for now this is all just a wild idea.

P.S. If any of you have ideas of how I can make a difference in our nation without becoming president, please comment below. I really want to help our nation rise.

Growing a Green Thumb

After seeing 2 tulip plants and a hyacinth plant, Dallen and I decided to put in a flower bed alongside the fence at our apartment. This is the first time we had a garden of any sort. Ever since I took Floral Design a couple years ago I thought it would be great to someday grow cut flowers. Our apartment already has rose bushes, so I enjoyed making mini-bouquets (really just cutting one here and there when they bloomed) with them.

I look forward to seeing the asters, dahlias, lilies, and Liatris spicata blooming. So far we got all the asters and dahlias in. Tomorrow we'll put in about half of the lilies and liatrises. There is a lot of purple/magenta/pink going on with the flowers we chose. The tiger lilies break that trend with their orange. It'll be good to have something a little different, especially come Halloween.

The reason we chose the flowers we did is because they are pretty low-maintenance since most of them are perennials, so they'll grow back year after year (with the exception of dahlias--they can be though if you put mulch on top of them at the end of the growing season to keep them warm throughout the winter). Since we already had a few rose bushes and tulips, we wanted flowers that got along with what we had. Dahlias and asters fit that qualification. As for the Tiger lilies, we chose those because they have some medicinal properties and are edible, but the main reason is because that is what my grandma had when I was a little kid and thought they were pretty cool flowers. As for the liatris it provides another line/filler flower. I wanted flowers that would look great in a bouquet.

I hope all the flowers will blossom, as this is the first time ever gardening on my own. I also hope after we do all the initial weeding that the weeds will stay at a minimum. Weeding is sure a lot of work (I used to hate doing it as a kid--always afraid of pulling out the actual plant instead of the weed), but it is rewarding when I see how far we have come.

This is only the first half of the first section. There are 3ish other sections.

#LDSconf Weekend

Let me just say I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! I look forward to it every six months. It is some of the greatest times of the year because it is like a spiritual boost that puts you on a spiritual high and leaves me wanting to do and be better.

I particularly enjoyed it this year because I did not have to worry about getting homework done in between the sessions (leaving me with ~6 hours to do homework). Conference weekend is SO much better when no homework is involved. I really feel like I was able to enjoy and get a lot more out of conference than the past few years because my mind was able to fully focus on what was being said by the speakers and what I felt from the Spirit.

Here is just a bit of what I loved from conference:

I feel like I gained so much this year. Everyone said things that stuck out to me. I really appreciate the talks that were geared toward the topic of family, such as Elder M. Russell Ballard's about family councils. Who knew there were so many different types of family councils? I didn't. About a month and a half ago my husband and I started holding regular council meetings of our own and it really helps us know what is going on in the upcoming week. I suppose we technically did family council meetings for about 2 years, but it was us checking how the other was doing throughout the week. Elder Ballard's talk gave me ideas of how I would like the various family council types to be implemented for when we have kids.

• General Family Council
• All family members 
• no electronic devices
• predesignated time
• more formal
• discuss things like family problems, finances, plan making, support & strengthen each other, and pray for one another & the family unit
• Executive Family Council
• Parents only 
• no electronic devices
• review each child's various needs and progress 
• talk about personal relationship with each other
• Limited Family Council
• Parents with one child at a time 
• no electronic devices
• decisions about what a child does/does not want to do with their future
• listen to concerns & challenges that this child has
• can be more informal
• One-on-One
• One parent and one child at a time 
• no electronic devices
• think Daddy-Daughter/Mommy-Son dates
• more informal
• special spiritual & emotional bonding time

This time around I actually watched the Priesthood session, unlike past conferences in which it was playing in the background while I did homework. I got so much from it, even though it wasn't directed at me. I was able to feel God's love for President Russell M. Nelson. I know that he is doing the Lord's work. I particularly loved President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk. Maybe it's because he spoke about families and I graduated with a degree in Family Life, but it was great. I took almost a page worth of notes. Two things I liked most from President Uchtdorf's talk are what he said about choosing love rather than being right (this is something I learned in my family life classes and it has always stuck with me; I try my best to apply it when a disagreement arises) and what he had to say about relationship pebbles. If I were any good at making uplifting quote memes I would do them on these two things.

“No matter how flat your relationship may be at present, if you keep adding pebbles of kindness, compassion, listening, sacrifice, understanding and selflessness, eventually a mighty pyramid will begin to grow.”

From Sunday's Session I liked President Monson's talk about choices. I liked how he repeated his quote from a past conference that decisions determine our destiny. I also liked his new quote about choosing to do the harder right than doing the easier wrong. Choosing the right, even when it's hard to do so will provide us with blessings. I also enjoyed the humor Elder Holland had in his talk; that was a great way to end conference weekend.

These are just some of the things that stood out to me from conference. I hope you all had a great conference. If you didn't get a chance to watch or listen to all the talks, they can all be found at lds.org.

Life as a College Graduate

It has been a little over a month since I graduated. I got my diploma a week and a day ago, so it's official that I'm done. Just have commencement and convocation in April then it will all be complete. On the whole it is great being done with school. I love not having any homework and tests. I miss the daily learning.

Since graduating school I am left with tons of free time. For me it has been a struggle to figure out what to do with it all this extra time now that school isn't "deciding" for me. I realized I spend way too much time on social media (*cough Facebook cough*) and too much time watching the Amazing Race (which apparently BYUtv is coming out with a show that is a combination of the Amazing Race and genealogy--2 of my favorite things) and not as much time with my dog as I would like.

To help me be a better steward of my time I base it off of a few things. First, the scripture John 6:28. I ponderized this a few weeks ago and I really like it. It's a good scripture to remember. I try to let what I do each day be a work of God.

"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" -John 6:28 (KJV)

This scripture also reminds me of Elder Lawrence's talk "What Lack I Yet," which is the second thing. I really liked this talk. I know there are lots of things I can improve of myself and when I do I think it will help me in all aspects of life.

The third thing I try and do to be a better steward of my time is live by a schedule. For the most part it works fine. I just have to really try harder at getting ready for bed and waking up when I have planned. I like having a schedule because I purposely don't schedule time for social media to help me not go on it.

Since I know that not scheduling time for social media hasn't worked on its own I decided on Saturday or Sunday that I would only go on social media every other day. If I go on it during an off day then I go 2 days without. Sunday is an exception to the every other day rule. I don't go on social media at all on Sundays.

I really do appreciate all of this free time. It is a much needed break. I also enjoy being able to help out at the local animal shelter (among other hobbies that school didn't leave time for me to do) more now that I'm out of school. All this time has provided me with an opportunity to really think about what I want to do in life, e.g. for work, which is really great.

Beginnings and Ends

Haven't written on this blog since before school started. It has been just that crazy. Plus, some of my time has been more focused on another blog. Now that the semester is winding down (can't believe tomorrow is my LAST day of class as for-like-ever--at least as an undergrad) I feel like I can devote some time to giving an update on the last almost 4 months (even though I have 10 pages to read, a quiz to take, and two 2 page papers to write all for tomorrow).

First, let me start by talking about the classes I took. They all were family related except for one class. This semester I was in Eternal Families, World Lit part 1, Family Life in World Religions, Advanced Family Processes, and a capstone research class.

Eternal Families is a new course. It is part of the new cornerstone thing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came out with for its Church schools and institutes. For anyone that took Eternal Marriages and Strengthening Marriages and Family at BYU it is like a combination of these classes. I took it because I like learning about families and marriage (hence my major) and because I needed 2 credits in order to graduate this semester. I didn't need it for fulfilling my religion requirement I filled that out last semester or the semester previous.

World Lit was a pretty good class. Definitely a lot of reading (thank you Sparknotes!), but I tried to do as much of the reading without the use of Sparknotes (although it was used quite a bit to allow me to have time for other homework and responsibilities). Not too difficult. Three exams (that includes the final) and two papers (one 1-page and one 4-5-page) and about 10 in-class essays (open book but doing the reading or as much of it is helpful). At first I was not too sure of how well I was going to like it, but I ended up getting the hang of it and liked it just fine.

Family Life in World Religions was awesome. I really enjoyed learning about Judaism, Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and Islam. I loved learning how we are similar and how they live their lives and just learn about the religions because most of them I did not know much about them. I really am grateful for taking it. I have my husband and hopeful job to thank for inspiring me to take the class (I used to think it pointless to learn about other religions when I have one that I am perfectly happy with and love, but now I know it is important for us as a people to come together and focus on our similarities). There's only a midterm and final and a few other assignments. I'll post a picture of something I made for one of the assignments (it was really fun and not too difficult, especially when I have a husband who is really good at math).

What I like to call the Proclamation Principles Temples Clock

Advanced Family Processes was a class that I was terrified to take. I was not looking forward to taking it AT ALL. However, when I switched sections it was not so bad. It was actually great. One of my favorite classes. There was no midterm just a final (which I am a little bit nervous for). There is quite a bit of reading, but it is manageable. The professor I took it from is great. He is a really nice guy and sincerely cares about the students. So, if you are a Family Life major, especially Family Studies take it from Dr. Loren Marks if you can.

The research class was also pretty good. It only met once a week for 50 minutes and we didn't even meet each Monday. There is no test or final. Just a five page paper if you take it as a capstone. Otherwise, it is just 200-300 articles to code. I know that number seems daunting (I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do that many), but the more you do the easier it gets, especially if you get studies that are multiple samples or international.

I will certainly miss being at BYU. It has been a great 4 years. Definitely made some really great friends and best friends (who I'm pretty sure we're like sisters just because of how similar we all are!), which I hope we will all stay in touch (and get together occasionally) as we move on from BYU and into the "real" world with grown up jobs wherever it may be. Learned so many things. Became a better version of me. Loved being surrounded by so many people who share the same values and beliefs as me.

The girls I like to call sisters. Us back when we were young lasses just barely starting college. My how we have grown up over the years! :)

Although I'll still be in the BYU area for another almost year and a half at least, I'll miss going to class and learning things everyday (not the homework and tests though!). I look forward to hopefully coming back for a Master's degree in 20 or so years (who knows maybe I'll come back to school when my future kids go off to school--how neat would that be!).

It has been real. It has been fun. It most certainly has been real fun. Here's to a beginning of a new chapter of life!

(Just a few pictures to summarize this semester)

LAST FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

WOMEN'S SESSION OF GENERAL CONFERENCE

HOMECOMING/BYU SPECTACULAR

David Archuleta!

 HALLOWEEN

Twinning! She was getting tired of all pictures I was taking.

Don't worry she didn't eat any of it. There was nothing left for her to eat!

RELIEF SOCIETY SUPER SATURDAY

LIFE

Her favorite hobby: fetch!

Doggy Selfie!