November

This November has gone by so quickly. So busy. So trying. This is what I have learned during this month.

1.) Time goes by when you are busy. This month we have painted our living room, Primary Program (super stressful), guests staying over; which includes cleaning and setting up the room, cleaning after the guests have gone, and then setting it back up for other guests and repeat. It has been exhausting, but very fun.

2.) Events in this months has really taught me the power of the atonement. What an amazing gift it is. To be able to put our sins in the Lord's hands. Repent, and be forgiven of them. This month has truly been a soul searching month. I don't think I have ever understood or appreciated the atonement and gospel as much as I do now. It has really taught me to never judge a person by their sins, addictions, weaknesses, and trials. You never know what they are doing to fix it, what they are truly going through.

The knowledge of the gospel is not about what a person has done, or who they were; but rather what they are doing to fix what they've done, and who they are becoming. Isn't that just amazing? So much hope, so much joy in that. This month has truly has given me so much to be thankful for.

3.) I can not wait for this year to be over. Yes, many of my lessons of this month have been good, and uplifting. But this month has been so stressful, and emotionally trying, faith testing..... everything. I can not wait till it's all over. I'm ready for a break.

Next month should be better. Think to look forward to:

My birthday (big ole 23)
My anniversary (already 4 years)
Christmas (in Tennessee with family!!)
New Years Eve (and that includes a party)

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned. Remember God loves you, He truly does!

Marriage

There is a blog post going around titled "Marriage Isn't For You". This blog post bothers me a little bit. Before I get into the reasons why it bothers me, let me tell you about our story.

Before I met Cory, I was scared of commitment. There was a guy who would drag me through crap, and I was hung up on him for years. He put me through the longest roller coaster ride of my life. It was very unhealthy, but I was not confident enough in myself to voice my opinions. My self esteem was so low, I didn't even know that it was unhealthy until my relationship with Cory started.

I tried to have a relationship while a junior in high school, and it failed. It lasted only two weeks. I ended it. I never felt like I could be express myself without being rejected. I was so scared that if I disagreed or stated an opinion that was not the same as his, he would dump me, so I ended it before he could. I forced myself to stop having feelings for him. Again, not healthy.

I met Cory after I graduated high school. I knew I had to learn how to be in a relationship. Cory told me he liked me two days after we met. I can not even begin to express how scared I was. The though of putting myself out there emotionally and being so vulnerable paralyzed me. The first few weeks of our relationship, I hardly spoke at all. I never told him my feelings toward him. When he would ask me what I was the eat for dinner, I couldn't even say I wanted Mexican or Chinese. Even if he said "Would you like Mexican or Sea Food?" It was driving him crazy. He had to teach me how to stand up for myself. He is still teaching me.

Our relationship became serious and we started talking about marriage. This was not something to take lightly. Yes, I loved him. I knew that marrying him would make him happy, and I wanted that more than anything. But I also knew that if I married him, this would not be just another step in our relationship, I would be in this for the long haul. I needed to make sure that this marriage was right for me. I needed to make sure that Cory would treat me right. I have relatives that have been in abusive relationships and marriages. I have friends who their husbands did not respect them as a daughter of God. I wanted to make sure that my marriage was not going to be like that.

So, I prayed. I knelt down and prayed aloud. I expressed my love for Cory, and my concerns. I asked if Cory would be a man that would treat me the way the Lord would want him to treat me. I received the most tangible answer.

We are about to celebrate our 4th year anniversary, and we are still madly in love. But one thing that I love about our marriage is that we allow each other to be selfish. I encourage Cory to state his opinion even if he disagrees with me, or if what he has to say will hurt my feelings. I know it's out of love. He encourages me to do the same. If I don't like something Cory did or said, I tell him. He does the same to me.

The blog said kept saying that you don't get married for yourself. That marriage is not about you. I want to change that by saying: You don't get married ONLY for yourself. Marriage is not ONLY about you. But you have a right to make it about yourself sometimes. You need to be happy in a marriage. If you are not happy in your marriage, tell your spouse. Come up with a solution that helps both of you.

Yes, there are many, many times in a marriage that you have to be selfless. You need to be understanding, forgiving, caring, etc. But you can expect those things for yourself as well.

I hope this made sense. I am not very eloquent. I absolutely love my husband. He is the most amazing man for me.

Stay tuned.

Our adventures of September 2013

I know it's been forever, but in my defense, since we got back from vacation, we've been quite busy working on our kitchen.

At the beginning of August, one of my very good friends got engaged. Being the matron of honor, Cory and I made Vegas our first stop with out vacation. The wedding was amazing, I hadn't seen her or her family in years and it was fantastic seeing them. She was such a beautiful bride.

 

We spent a couple of days there. One of the nights we went down to the strip and explored Caesar's Palace. We wanted to go to more, but sadly, after driving 20 hours without any breaks or naps, we were dead tired.

After the wedding, we headed down to Oceanside, CA (near San Diego) to see another good friend of mine. While staying at her place we went to the San Diego Zoo which was absolutely amazing! I can't even describe to you how much I love animals. I was like a 5 year old in a candy store.

 

 

The animals were hams that day, so we were able to get a lot of nice pictures. There are more on my facebook page.

 

The next day, we went to the beach. It was not as pretty as Destin's beaches, but it was still the ocean, and I love the ocean! If you took away all the seaweed, it would have been a lot more prettier. The water wasn't as clear as Destin, but it looked like there were gold fakes in the water, which was very pretty. Heather was our photographer.

 

 

After the beach, Cory and I went to my very first baseball game. It was in San Diego, but we were there for the Giants! They lost, but no worries, because we were going to more games in San Francisco.

 

On our way up to San Francisco, we stopped by the Sequoia National Forest. This was right before the government shut it down. It was amazing. I wish I could live up there. It was so quiet and the air was so crisp and clear. I climbed Moro Rock, and I was a little scared, but I did it and at the top, I hardly held on to the railing. This is us in front of the largest tree in the world.

 

 

We went to San Francisco, and although the air wasn't crisp and it was far from quiet, it was still amazing. The first night we went to a Giants game. They lost that game too, but no worries, we had one more game to go to.

 

I have discovered that I love baseball! It is so exciting. I am so glad that Cory introduced it to me. Anyway, that night we stayed at my uncle Mark's beautiful home, and spent the next day exploring San Fran. We took an hour boat tour that took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Angel Island and Alcatraz's. It was amazing. We then found out way to Pier 39 and ate Delicious food and just wandered around.

 



 

We got stuck in downtown for about an hour and a half trying to just go 5 blocks. That was the most ridiculous thing ever! But we made it to the game in time. Our 3rd game. They did win this one. In fact is was almost a perfect game. Top of the 9th, 2 outs when the lame batter got a hit. But they didn't score. And I saw my fist homerun. Hunter Pence, or as I like to call him, Crazy Eyes. We sat next to my cousin and his friend. I didn't even know we were cousins till about 10 minutes after we were talking. It was pretty funny, and it was great to meat a family member. (I didn't grow up with my mom's side of the family. We always lived so far away.) That night, we stayed at my Uncle Forrest's beautiful home and spend all day with him the next day. It was amazing catching up and meeting my new and gorgeous Aunt Jenny.

 

After saying goodbye to Forrest, Jenny and their daughter Sarah, Cory and I headed down to LA. Well, Not exactly. We went to Magic Mountain. I am quite new with liking roller coasters, so I freaked out a lot, but there was only one ride that I refused to ride. Lex Luthar's drop of doom. It's just a free fall, and I hate those. It was super high too. There was a ride, though, that I started crying when they were strapping me in because I was so scared, but that ended up being my favorite ride. We had so much fun, and wish we could have stayed longer, but not only was it closing, but we didn't eat at all that day  (didn't want to puke) and we were starving.

 

After Magic Mountain, we went back down to Oceanside and stayed with Heather again before we left for our journey home. Heather and I had a glow stick party, and we went to the beach at night. So beautiful!

 

On our way to Tucson, AZ we stopped by the San Diego Temple. It was my first time seeing it. Excuse out street clothes, we were on our way out of time.

 





 





Cory served his mission in Tucson, AZ mission. I fell in love with the place and loved the saguaros! Cory showed me where he lived, and where terrible stuff happened like getting egged and almost stabbed by a sward! (How horrible is that?!) He showed me his favorite places to eat and dang, I love Mexican food! He also introduced me to a family he taught. I loved it there!

 

 Mexican hot dogs baby!!

 

 Cory's old mail box

 

 You have to watch where you step, the plants try to kill you!

 

 Saguaros!!

 They only grow in this small area of the country!

Us right next to a perfect saguaro.

 

I don't recommend doing this.

Me, right at the corner of Frick n' Mormon. Haha!

 



A family that Cory taught on his mission.

Yummy breakfast burritos!

 

We then drove to El Paso. We spent some time with another family that Cory taught and again, ate some delicious food! And I saw Mexico!! My very first time seeing another country

 Mexico!!

 

Us with Lylia. Cory and other missionaries would have breakfast at her house every Saturday at her house.

Horchata. Yum

A 13 inch burrito!

Just over the bridge is Mexico.

 

One last stop before we headed home. The White Sands of New Mexico. Pretty much, out in the middle of no where, there are white sand dunes. So pretty.











 

 

Sadly, after that, our vacation came to an end. We had a blast! Thanks to all those who let us stay at their house, it was amazing to catch up/meet you!!

 

Hope you enjoyed. Most of the pictures are on facebook. The pictures of Cory's mission area is not yet on there, but we will get them up there soon. Stay tuned and remember God loves you!

Monkey at Walmart

I can not believe I forgot to write about this! After Cory and I bought the house, we made several trips to Wal-Mart for various objects needed for one thing or another.

At one of our visits, we picked up soil and other yard tools, but that is not important at all. ANYWAY as we were leaving, a lady drove up, I wasn't paying any attention to her at all, but Cory said "Is that a monkey in the front seat?" I looked over and there was a monkey jumping up and down in her front seat of the car. I suddenly became very giddy.  Holding a monkey is on my bucket list, and I met that goal at Wal-Mart. The little monkey was so cute with it's little diaper on. It shook my hand, and scratched me. (I still have the marks!) Apparently, you do not have to have a license to own a monkey in Oklahoma. But before I could make any plans of actually owning a cute little monkey, Cory dashed all my hopes by saying "Don't even thinking about it."

There, I have topped any Wal-Mart story out there. If you think you can compete with this, go ahead and try. :)

I wrote this post around midnight (way past my bedtime), so I don't know how fluent it is..... but anyway, stay tuned, and remember God loves you!

Garden, laundry, home, and more.

It has taken me a while to update because for some reason, BlogSpot would not let me manage my blog. I could see it, but that was it. I don't know what I did, but I was finally able to get it working again. So.... my life.

Our garden is quite prosperous. We have had so many green beans since they have started blooming. They have started to slow down a bit, but we are still getting quite a few. Our Cucumbers took over the entire garden. Didn't see that one coming. We are getting so many cucumbers though. We picked 14 in just one day, it's a good thing we love cucumbers. Though we have different preferences on how to eat them. I like them plain, just cut them up and I will eat them like chips. Cory likes to soak them in Italian dressing over night and eat them that way, which I like, but the Italian dressing overpowers the cucumber. We have not been getting a lot of squash lately. At first we couldn't eat them fast enough, but we haven't had a squash in several days, which is sad. Our peas died. I planted them too late, so they never had a fighting chance anyway. Our okra are finally coming in, and I have had my first serving of slimy okra. Delightful! Once you get past the fact that it looks like someone blew their nose on them, they taste very yummy. Next year I will definitely do things a little differently with the layout of the garden.

We haven't really made any upgrades to the house yet. It has been too hot for that. We don't have insulation in the attic, so when we turn on the AC, well, the cool air goes through the roof, literally. So we have not been turning on the AC. Our house has gotten up to 95 degrees several times. Don't worry, we aren't living in the heat. We bought a small window unit and put it in one of the bedrooms, said bedroom has become our cave. We have a TV in there, our computer, our bed. Once fall comes, it will be cool enough to put insulation in the attic, and then we can continue with painting and other projects.

Speaking of TVs, Cory finally buckled down and bought a 60 inch beauty. Those of you who know Cory, know what a huge step this is, and know how cheap it must have been. Cory is the most frugal person I have ever known. We got the 60 inch LED smart TV for around $700.

In the church, I have two callings now. I am now Primary 2nd councilor, and primary chorister. The months that I teach sharing time, those poor kids will be sick of me. I'm excited about it, but a little overwhelmed. I'm still getting used to my chorister calling, learning how the kids learn new songs. What songs they actually know. How to make it fun. Now I have to add sharing time. Pray for me.

Our dryer has stopped working, which makes my life a whole lot harder. So instead of doing chores while I wait for a load, I have to spend half a day at a laundry mat. Have you ever notices that when you go to a laundry mat, the people don't really know how to react to the other people there? It's always so quiet (unless there are children there), and people communicate with weird smiles. It's like everyone expects everyone else to rapist murderers, or they are just there to steal other people's clothes, or quarters. They sit there on total high alert, watching, guarding their property, keeping it so close to them. I am guilty of it. But I can't help it, everyone else in the hot room act as thought there is going to be a massacre at any moment. So, needless to say, I hate laundry mats.

Another thing I hate, is Windows 8. Do I need to say anything else?

I saved the best news for last. I don't know how many people read my blog, so I might make this announcement to absolutely no one. But................ I am writing a book! (Sorry for those who thought I was going to say I am pregnant. I am not.) I want my story to be a 3 book trilogy, but we will see if that actually works out. I am already on chapter 4, and I am loving it! I have the big picture in mind, but as I write, the in-between stuff comes to me. I love it. I love the characters I create. I don't know if the book will go anywhere, or be any good, but I hope so. I have an awesome idea for it, I just hope I can do it justice.

Well, that is my update. Hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned, if BlogSpot will let me manage my blog, I will write again soon. In the meantime, be happy, be helpful, and remember that "God made you special, and He loves you very much." -Veggie Tales.

Random Rantings

You know when you want to write a new post in your blog, but you have no idea what to write about? Nothing interesting has happened to you lately. Nothing funny. That is where I'm at right now. Just having this desire to write, but being stuck with a boring time in my life right now.

I planted a garden a couple weeks ago, and it is looking great! It's small this year, but next year, we will make it bigger. We have peas, cucumbers, squash, okra, a tomato plant, and green beans. The green beans are winning in the growing contest. I am so excited. We also have 2 blueberry bushes that currently have about 5 blueberries on them. This is their first year. Our back yard is full of black berries, which is both awesome and annoying. Our yard is mostly wild. It has never been tames, we are currently working on that. But as the blackberries start becoming ripe, we will have to march through other blackberries to get to more. All the thorns. Ouch.

Have you heard of Rocklahoma? I hadn't until a couple of months ago. It's this huge even that happens in Pryor (of all places) where about 30+ bands come and put on this huge 3 day concert. Well, everywhere around the nation, people come to this. Pryor is not big, at all. Luckily, we drove out of town this weekend to stay away from the madness. It took us about 30 minutes to get out of dinky little Pryor. We saw people from Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Alaska (why you would drive from Alaska is beyond me), Kentucky, well you get the point. We also saw the Budweiser carriage and horses at Walmart, which makes this even bigger then I thought. Don't those guys come only to big events? There were miles and miles and miles of cars lining up to get into the camp area and I assume that is also where the concert it. So glad we left this weekend. Walmart was completely packed.

Well, I guess that's it. I hear little voices, they are probably awake now. Bring it on. As always, stay tuned, be good, eat your veggies, and remember you are loved.

New Home

Oh dear. My last post was in January? Dang it. Well, I do have a pretty good excuse. Well, I believe so. Around that time, Cory and I started seriously looking into houses. Our lease ended April 30, and we did not want to stay in that apartment any longer.

We found that house middle of March, and decided it was the one for us. Built in 1950, the house needed some work, but nothing too big, and the foundation was sound, and that was our main concern. While we were looking at it, the previous owners were living in it. So I couldn't be as nosey as I wanted to be. But they were living in it, so it couldn't be too bad, right? Yeah, well.... haha.

We closed on the house on April 12, She said they were going to clean up the house that afternoon so we wouldn't move into a messy house. Lies. After work, I rushed over to our new home, so excited to get moved in and get started on making it pretty. I walk in the house, and it looked nice, and I open the cabinets.  (If you have a weak stomach, you might not want to read on.) They were so nasty. Dead bugs, bug poop, a very thick layer of dust.... they were living here, right? They were so bad, we had to vacuum out most of the cabinets and drawers. We cleaned with bleach, primed and painted all cabinets and drawers. Making sure to leave no trace of the nastiness that was there before.

Now it's time for the Fridge.... How can I put into words how nasty this fridge was? Well, on the inside of the door, and on the walls, it looked like they melted caramel, and smeared it all over, and since it was cold, it took forever to get it off. There was a layer of molding food smeared and crumbled on the shelves. The shelves are glass, so you can see through them, well, you are supposed to, if they were clean. I cleaned the shelves only to find the metal thing holding the shelf in place was sandwiching food between it and the self. It was like this on ALL the selves. What looked like cherry pie filling without the cherries was splattered all over the fridge. All over. The drawers in the fridge had bits of rotting fruit in them. There were dead bugs in there. Not from being stuck in the fridge where it's cold, no, they were dead because they stepped into the smeared caramel, and splattered cherry pie filling. After taking all the shelves, drawers out and pretty much anything that can come out, I bleached the whole thing about 5 times. But as I was down to last little bit. I was almost done with it. It was almost clean. I had worked on this fridge for a week and a half, all by myself. Almost throwing up in the process many times. I get to this last little bit, and I found one more bug stuck to the red nasty crap. That was it. I couldn't do it any more. I am about to break out in tears (probably a little high from the bleach) I gag so violently that I thought I was actually going to be sick. I call Cory in the room and I can barely get the words out because I am concentrating on not vomiting and making a new mess to clean up, I say "I can't do this anymore. I can't, I am so close, and I can't do it. You have to finish it." and I leave the room. I am so angry at this point. Why on Earth would someone leave a fridge like that? Their cabinets and drawers like that? How could they LIVE like that? They were living in the house up until we signed off? How could they open their cabinets, see dead bugs and say "Rats. more dead bugs, oh well, time to make pancakes." or look in the fridge and see all the rotting food, not in containers (because I know that happens to everyone) but on the walls and shelves, and drawers and think "no big deal, there is no way I can get sick from this, so I won't clean it up."

And then I go to the bathroom. The toilet and tub were cleaned, which was a surprise after seeing the kitchen. It was actually the drawers in the bathroom that they didn't bother to clean up. I'm pretty sure that one of their kids got a tooth paste tube and squeezed it all out in the drawer and no one bothered to clean it up.

I know I sound harsh. I've tried to think of way that would defend them. Maybe they forgot about it, their lives were busy and they never got around to it. But when your moving out, packing, wouldn't you see that and think "I should clean this up for the next owners."

That was the worst of it. That was my rant. Right now, we are in the process of priming and paining the living room. We planted our veggie garden and the plants are coming up. So excited about that. We have a big yard. 1.3 acres. It's really long and skinny, and we love it. There is still a lot to do with the house, but now that the nasty stuff is over with, I'm looking forward to doing it.

Thanks for reading, sorry if I made you sick to your stomach. Stay tuned, and remember God loves you.

Turkey!

So, remember my new years goal about getting better at making dinners? Well, I made my very first turkey. I was nervous about making a turkey, because I was pretty sure that my first turkey would be really dry. With these worries, I looked up about 10 different ways to make juicy turkey. Luckily, I picked the right way. I brined the turkey for a day in salt water. Buttered it, and put that sucker in the oven. It came out perfect.

I am so proud of myself. I really thought this was going to be a train wreck. What is better then turkey sandwiches? I made fresh mash potatoes, and Cory made the gravy. Mmmmm. I also made Green bean casserole as well. Easy, but I did it. Man, I am the best wife haha.


In addition to the turkey, I made steak. I've been wanting to try this for a while. One day, I wanted to go out to eat with Cory, but he didn't want to. We compromised that we would buy steak and I would make it. Let's just say, it was perfectly done. Medium Rare to perfection. Let's just say this will be happening again. :) Pretty huh? I heated the skillet up, added olive oil, then put the steak on for about 4 minutes, then flipped and cooked the other side for about 3 minutes. YOU ONLY FLIP ONCE!!! When checking to see if it's cooked enough, the best way is to feel the steak, if you can't tell, then you puncture the steak. The problem with that, is if it's not done, and you want to cook it longer, juices leave the steak, and it becomes dry. Good luck. Let me know of ways you prepare your steak.




This is all. Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned! Remember, you are a child of God!

Happy New Years!

OK, so I'm a little late, but that seems to be how I am. What did I do for New Years? I spent it with some friends up in Joplin area. We went to see Les Mis, and then spent the rest of the evening talking or watching Downton Abbey. It was very relaxing and enjoyable.

2013 is going to be amazing! These are my goals for this year:

• Get into shape.   I know I share this with everyone else in the world, but I'm hoping that I will be one of the few that succeeds. 
• Become better at making dinner. I'm very good at making desserts, but with my goal above, I should get better at making good, healthy dinners.
• Earn enough "fun money" for another trip to Florida.
• Buy a house. This apartment is getting a little too small. Plus, I would love the spend the money on something that will be mine. Not just on rent. 
• Have Cory and I finish the Book of Mormon together. This is not our strong suit. But we are working on it.

• Visit the temple more than last year.

 I'll leave it there. Better not make me too overwhelmed. I'm excited for this year. It should be an amazing year! Wish me luck on my list, and I will do the same for you. :)

Have a great day, Stay tuned, and remember that you are loved!!!