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!

Summer Movies

This summer Dallen and I did what we rarely ever do: pay full price to watch a movie in a first-run theater. I can count the times on one hand that we did that in the three years of marriage. First time was Les Miserables, second was Catching Fire, third was Inside Out, and fourth was Minions. The last two movies are the ones we watched this summer.

Out of those last two movies I liked Inside Out more. Super cute movie and it made me wish that was how emotions actually worked. Oh well. Haha. It's one that we would probably buy for our future kids to see. Definitely a must see.

Minions also wasn't bad. I didn't know quite what to expect from the movie. Originally, I thought the movies would be a continuation of what happens after Despicable Me 2, but once the trailers came out it was the exact opposite. Essentially, it was a history of the minions before Gru. Don't worry Gru does make an appearance, but he's definitely not the focus. If I remember right none of the girls Gru adopted are in the movie. It had some cute and funny parts. If you like stupid humor then this is a movie to see.

As for movies I want to see within the next year, there are a few. The Peanuts Movie is one. I think it would be especially fun to see it with my mom because she loves The Peanuts. My family's dog, Droopy, reminds her of Snoopy. Finding Dory is another (I'd share the trailer but it seems that there isn't one yet...). I loved Finding Nemo and feel bad that my siblings and I didn't take better care of the DVD. Dory was one of my favorite characters from the movie. She is just so funny. For awhile I wanted to have my own Finding Nemo aquarium. I thought it would be so cool. Salt water tanks are more high maintenance than fresh water, so Dallen and I got ourselves a goldfish instead. The one I'm looking most forward to is The Secret Life of Pets. Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE animals! I volunteer at a rescue and shelter and have a couple of my own pets (that should give you a rough idea of my love for animals). I think this movie looks so hilarious and has me curious of what Little Fishy and Buttercup are up to when we're not home. Sometimes I'll tell them not to throw any crazy parties. ;P

Because I'm looking forward to this movie so much I feel it deserves to be embedded into this post. Enjoy!

Where Did Summer Go?

It's crazy how fast time can go. It's been nearly 3 months since my last post. Since my last post, Dallen and I adopted a dog from the rescue we volunteered for. We fostered her for a couple weeks before deciding to make her part of our family. She is super cute! We were originally told she was a Chug (chihuahua pug), but when we took her to the vet for an orthopedic exam, the vet believed she has dachshund in her because of her bone structure. Now I call her a Chugshund. Her name was originally Tipsee, but we changed it to Buttercup, as in Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride. She learned her new name very quickly. I think she likes it better than her old name.

Here she is!

Can you see the resemblance?

Because we adopted her it means that we can no longer foster anymore pets due to having to pay extra money to have more than one pet in the apartment. No worries, though, because someday when we'll get our own house we'll foster as many animals as we like without having to pay extra money. :)

Over the summer Dallen and I took a day trip to Arches National Park. It was a lot of fun! We didn't do any extensive hiking because it was already getting late when we got there, but it sure was cool (the only lame part is that they didn't have any mugs with my name on it--or any names for that matter). I took a whole bunch of photos that I still need to upload to my computer and put into a scrapbook before the end of September. We were originally going to try and hit up all the national parks in Utah, but that didn't happen. Partly because they are not very pet friendly and because other plans come up. We do have a goal though to travel to all of the national parks in the US, starting with the rest in Utah.

My mom came to visit for a few days last month and it was nice having her around. We mainly just chilled at the house, went to visit the animal rescue that Dallen and I volunteered and fostered for, we went out to eat, and attended the temple. 

This week Dallen's parents will be visiting, so I'm looking forward to time with them as well. I'm not sure of all that we'll do, but that's okay. :)

It's crazy to believe that school is starting at the end of the month and that summer has basically come and gone. I look forward to learning new things and finishing my final semester (that's right Fall is my LAST semester of college! CRAZY!). Plus, school will keep me from Netflix-binging. :P

We'll see if I'll post again before school starts...I'm looking to do one post on a couple movies Dallen and I watched over the summer, as well as movies that I'm looking forward to seeing this upcoming year.