It's Been Forever. Here's What I'm Doing!

So I thought I'd write a post and put it out there instead of trying to tell people why I've dropped off the edge of the earth recently!

First off, things are amazing here in Pullman, WA. I have learned to love this place even though the weather and I are not friends at the moment. So as some of you know, I was just released from 16 months as the Relief Society President. Hardest year + of my life- But most rewarding thing I have ever done! Wow, I tell ya what, if you want a to compile a list of all the things you want to change about yourself, get called to this calling! (For those of you who don't know, with our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we volunteer for things called callings. Being the Relief Society President means in essence watching out for and administering to all the women in the ward.) I learned soooo much not just about me, but about my Father in Heaven and about the beautiful women I get the privilege to rub shoulders with EVERY week! It was amazing and I'm still sad to see it go, but the person who was called as my replacement is someone I respect and admire very much so I'm so grateful I have had the opportunity to get to know her more (if you know who I'm talking about, she is AMAZING-Nothing but good things can be said about her!). Anywho, the point to this whole thing is that my time exploded in my face when I was released! I had all of these organization skills (that didn't come into play until the last 3 months of the calling might I add) that I needed to use now that they were a part of the new and improved me! So I put myself to work in filling up those hours.

My hubby as most of you know is a PhD student at WSU. He works very long and hard for our future and we are in this to win this so he is gone a lot. Instead of doing what I normally do (watch TV), I put my efforts and energy to uplifting things that will help me grow and become better. My motto was this: When I'm done with my life do I really want to look back and only be able to tell my creator about the vast amounts of Netflix I watched? Really??? So here's what I've been doing to add color to my life while the hubs is gone :)

First: I committed to succeeding and finally making working out a part of my life. I started doing P90X and guess what? I fell in love with it! I even make references to it that no body gets (like a pterodactyl backin' out of trouble- bacah! Bacah!) but me and I secretly laugh to myself and say, "Oh Tony..." hahahaha. I decided the best time of day for me to commit to myself was in the morning before I am exhausted from a long day of work. 4 am was butt crack of dawn early and 6am was too late, so I settled for 5am. Each and every day, I'd wake up and push myself to work out and though I am not perfect and actually haven't worked out in a week from a severe head cold (cough, cough, sniff),  I did!! And the best part is I will keep going!!

Second: And this is actually the most important part of my day: scripture reading. I have NEVER been good about reading my scriptures, but I decided the missionaries must have some good insight if they work out and THEN read scriptures so I tried it. Guess what? LOVED IT! Honestly, I chalk my success of working out to putting the Lord first. There is NOTHING more important than reading the doctrine that He has sent to us through his prophets. I am so grateful for the personal revelation that I have been blessed with on this endeavor. Again, not perfect, but trying and that is the best thing! I have even found that I am listening more to conference talks. Oh my goodness, I found myself listening to it while cleaning a lady's house this morning. It put sooo much more meaning into my day and what I was doing! I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!!

Third: I picked up piano. I have been practicing like a crazy person so that someday I can be that concert pianist I have ALWAYS wanted to be. There is an amazing lady from the UK who gives online lessons for free. Check her out HERE . I have learned sooo much from her and let's be real: free is always the best way. Which  brings me about to my next section:

Fourth: This is a scary thing for me to say especially where so many of my friends and family can read it about me: I SUCK at finances. I love spending and nickle and dime myself to death. That's a fact and I'm finally girl enough to say it...or type it...??.. Anywho, so I decided to do something about it. Me and Handsome Boy got together and created a budget. i'm usually the one who buys/pays everything so mainly it was me bein' like, "Ok?" and he nodded in agreement ha ha. Anywho, I am proud to say that after a few weeks of sincerely trying, I am makin' progress! I'm not a millionaire yet and certainly haven't paid off our credit card debt or anything, but I am on my way there! The fact that we have a 2014 Toyota Corolla, while yes it was a dumb situation in the first place (our car got stolen and we felt extremely inspired to buy a car THE WEEKEND BEFORE A ROBBER STOLE MY BABY and this was the ONLY friggin' thing out there...), has helped us immensely with learning to put our finances in order. Saying that this much money has to go to this place OR ELSE has been a great curve ball for Handsome Boy and I to learn and grow from though I do NOT recommend it for anybody else out there!!! Leasing sucks. The end. Ya live and learn right?? :S To help us get out of debt, I picked up a house cleaning gig on my weekends. $12 an hour for four hours a week doesn't sound like much, but compounded weekly for a year (Read the Compound Effect for reals), it adds up to $2496! I also picked up a mural for my doctor's office to help with Christmas. Pictures coming soon along with bags under my eyes...wait, those are already there!

Fifth: My story. I have told a lot of people about this and honestly, I haven't made much progress, but I think about it every day. Why am I adding it to the list of things I'm doing? Because it has helped me to become a better person. Brett is ALWAYS pushing books at me being like, "Wanna read this?" I usually turn my nose up at it (I am a TV fan, not a book fan-something else I've been trying to change about myself). Lately though, i'm realizing that I have sooo much growing to do! My characters, while yes intriguing lack depth and layers to them that will bring intrigue and interest from my readers. So... I'm going to put it on the back burner and learn HOW to write/tell a story before "writing by the seat of my pants" (that's a term I learned in a book! WAHOO!).

Sixth: This is the grandest, most awesomest part of all!! I am learning to love my husband. Most of you probably just raised your eyebrows or asked, "Huh?" Well, here's the scoop: four years of marriage for any couple is hard work. When that couple has someone who is constantly in school and stressed out, it gets a lot harder. I also have issues with separation/feeling loved already, then add in a man who HAS to be gone for school and you have yourself recipe for a disaster. I let myself think he was pulling away or that he didn't care about me which obviously could hurt our relationship. Well, that's ending and NEVER coming back. I love my husband and the more time I get to spend with him, the more I realize that. (Stop saying, "Duh Blondie!" I'm slow when it comes to relationships: Brett was my first EVERYTHING!) So that's what I'm giving him for Christmas: memories, time, ideas and things to do with each other that are free, already planned, and simple to execute so even on nights like tonight when I am super duper done with being awake, we can do SOMETHING to spend time together. He is my EVERYTHING and needs to be treated as such! Stay tuned for my blog post about his gift (wink, wink) and head on over to this dating site: AMAZING!


Well that's our story and we're stickin' with it. Brett is in his 3rd year of his PhD and is kind of hating life which is why I've avoided the topic altogether. But Black Friday and our Misfit Thanksgiving is coming up and I could not be more excited! I'm going to try to become obsessive with taking pictures since I'm a cyber hoarder and want to keep EVERYTHING, so y'all can see our lives together!I'm so blessed and lucky to live here and have the fri-amly I do (friend-family). Thanks to all of you who have changed my life for the better! LOVE YOU ALL! Happy Friday!