Thy Will Be Done...

"Every one of us is more beloved to the Lord than we can possibly understand or imagine. Let us therefore be kinder to one another and kinder toward ourselves. Let us remember that as we wait upon the Lord, we are becoming “saint[s] through [His] atonement, … submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.”³⁶

Such was the submission of our Savior to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. He implored His disciples, “Watch with me,” yet three times He returned to them to find their eyes heavy with sleep.³⁷ Without the companionship of these disciples and ultimately without the presence of His Father, the Savior chose to suffer our “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind.”³⁸ With an angel sent to strengthen Him,³⁹ He “shrank not to drink the bitter cup.”⁴⁰ He waited upon His Father, saying, “Thy will be done,”⁴¹ and He humbly trod the winepress alone."

- Elder Hales, Oct 2011 Conference

I love how every conference I always seem to feel as though every word spoken is meant for me and is always something I need to hear. It has been a rough couple of weeks for me and I was so grateful to be reminded that the Lord has guided me to the place that I am in my life right now. Instead of questioning my life path or wondering why I can't be doing something different, I need to remember that I have been given several confirmations that I am doing the right thing. I need to remember that the Lord has a plan, and I just need to have faith in his plan rather than relying on myself to decide what is best for me.  Sometimes it is hard to remember that just because I may have righteous desires, it may not be what the Lord has in store for me right now. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have of a Heavenly Father who loves me and for Christ who sacraficed everything so that I can be happy and spend eternity with my family.

Halloween!

Wind Cave Hike

A couple weeks ago, we drove up to Logan for a family reunion. Karl went on a really cool hike with his parents and cousins while I stayed in the hotel and studied (I know, I am lame but it paid off).

Bountiful Baskets

A friend told me about this really cool program called Bountiful Baskets. Its a food co-op that allows you to purchase produce at really good prices. It is done all of the country, and we love it! At the beginning of the week, you order a basket on their website, and the following week, you go pick it up. Each week, you get a different mix of fruits and veggies, and you never know what you are going to get. We are excited to try all the different things they give us!

Here is what we got this week, all for about 20 bucks! The standard basket is 15 bucks, but we added the Mexican basket where we got onions, garlic, limes, avocados green chilies, poblano peppers, tomatillos, jalapenos, and cilantro. The normal basket had plums, nectarines, grapes, huge mangoes, bananas, pears, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower and celery.


Yummy!

Holy Toast!

I know this is a little sacreligious, but we thought it was funny. Karl especially enjoyed it since he served his mission in El Salvador. We are kicking ourselves for not buying it!

San Francisco

AHHHHH!!!!

Working 9 hours a day + 3 hours of studying a day for the series 7 exam + Relief Society President =

 

While trying to figure out a balance in my life, I am trying to decide how I feel about the SEC knowing every little detail about everything I do. I can't open a bank account or buy stock without a crazy approval process first (i believe 12 people to approve these actions is a little insane). They know my bank account balances and track them daily (maybe I should do that too?). I signed over rights for them to sign into my work email as well as tap my work phone calls at any time. In theory, they could do the same to my personal email and phone numbers. However, the killer benefits I receive from work will make up for it. Anyone have tips on how to buy work clothes with zero money and no motivation or time to go shopping?

I apologize in advance for my lack of blogging before the end of August/beginning of September. Series 7 and 63 are taking over my life. I have 3000 plus pages of study materials to get through. I find it somewhat daunting that my glossary alone is 260 pages. 

In all fairness, I LOVE my new job. I am learning more than I ever thought possible and know they are very valuable skills. I shouldn't complain, but learning is EXHAUSTING! Who would have thought I would learn more about the market in one week at work than I learned in my whole college career.

Please pray for Karl, he has a crazy wife!

Our newest family member

Recent Happenings

I have been going to school for the last 16 years. For the last few years, all I wanted was to finish and be done. All of a suddent, I am done with school and I have no idea what to do with myself. But here are some highlights of post-graduation life.

1. Buying a car. If the deal goes through tomorrow, I will post pictures and the story. I am not sure if I hated this process or just strongly dislike it.

2. Health insurance doubles. Yuck.

3. I got called as the Relief Society President. I am learning a lot really quickly, and I don't think that I have ever felt more humble and small in my life. But my love for the sisters in the ward has grown already and I am growing a lot. Overall, I think it will be stressful, but wonderful.

4. My family came into town for graduation. We really enjoyed spending time with them and we are looking forward to seeing them in a couple weeks.

5. Kameron is back in town. Karl has been looking forward to this for a long time.

6. We had a wonderful Easter dinner/dying eggs party with some friends from the ward. It has been so nice to make some friends and Karl and I both love that I know have a girl to talk to and go shopping with so he doesn't have to deal with it!

7. Tomorrow I begin my preparation for the Series 7 test. My job is contingent on passing this test, so I will be studying really hard!

8. My newest project is to organize our apartment. There is a lot I want to get done before I start my new job.

Overall, life is good and I have no complaints! Karl has been so supportive and patient with me during these changing times, I have been a little bit of an emotional mess and a lot of a stress case. I think I will be learning some stress management skills in the next few months! Luckily I have a lot of people who love me and are supportive of me!

Graduation

March Madness

We have had so much fun watching March Madness. We have been rooting on BYU with our friends Katie and Ashton, who are wonderful It is so great to have good friends in the ward. Last night Karl was so excited about our win over Gonzaga that he made me take a picture of his new favorite shirt. I think he would wear it every day if he could.

Macaroni Grill Bread

We made this tonight and it was really yummy!

Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

1 packet yeast

2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 c. flour

2 tbsp dried rosemary

1 tsp salt

1. Mix the yeast and sugar with 1/4 c. lukewarm water. Let sit until foam, about 5 minutes.

2. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, flour, 1 1/2 tspb rosemary, salt and 3/4 c. warm water. Knead for 10 minutes, either by hand or using your dough hook. 

3. Brush a large bowl with olive oil, put dough in and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until more than double. (recipe says 2 hours, mine doubled a lot faster than that)

4. Brush 2 baking sheets with olive oil. Form the dough into 4 square shaped loaves. Let rise, uncovered until doubled. (once again, it did not take me 2 hours, but that is what the recipe calls for).

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Take it out, brush the top with olive oil and top with remaining rosemary. Let bake for another 8-10 minutes. ( I did 10 the first time and it was overcooked. The second batch I only cooked 8 more minutes and it was perfect). 

I stole this recipe for the Food Network magazine. This recipe was VERY similar to Macaroni Grill. I love eating there, but can't eat much of their food since my gallbladder surgery. The bread was my favorite part and I was amazed at how similar the recipe was. It definetly fulfilled my cravings. So yummy! We had it with a turkey breast, and it was a really yummy dinner.

4 papers in 2 days

 

I feel like I have written this much jibberish as well. My brain has never been so tired. I have never been so excited for a semester to end. Only a 5 weeks left until I am a college graduate. Wahoo!

My new employer!

as of May!

I am super excited about this job. I had my second interview with them on Wednesday afternoon. I left the interview a little after 4 pm ( it was a 3 hour interview) and had the call by 5. I was shocked and so happy. I will be working as a financial representative as soon as I pass my series 7 exam. The exam is a killer 6 hour long exam in which you are asked questions about the stock market, ethics, how to advise customers and much more. I will have my hands full studying for it, but when I am done I will be licensed to sell mutual funds and advise customers on how to invest their money.

Yay! Karl now calls me his sugarmomma. Nice...

Good News!

1. Our marriage license has finally been completely ammended. I spent an hour and a half on the phone trying to get a hold of a live person rather than a recording and forced the guy to finish it while I was talking to him.

2. I got a job interview. And Karl let me go shopping for an interview outfit! The interview is on Monday so more details to follow.

3. We get to see each other on campus every day! It's nice to see eachother during the day, since I have class late 3 nights a week. 

4. I graduate in April! And Karl only has a year after that. Wahoo!

5. I made a really yummy pork and pineapple stir fry yesterday and it was yummmmmmy.

6. No bake cookies.

Luckiest People

This week while walking from work to school, a girl driving through the law school parking lot lost control of her car and slid into me. I was hit on my right leg and hip, but she didn't even hit me hard enough to make me fall down. After getting over the initial shock of being hit by a car, I realized how lucky I was that I walked away feeling relatively normal. Most people who are hit by cars are not so lucky. I said a quick prayer thanking my Heavenly Father for his protection. And I have a wonderful husband who lets me complain all I want, even if there really is no reason to be complaining. I have a bruise on my leg and I have been a little sore all week, but I really can't complain. After relating this story to my boss at work, he sent me this video. I found it pretty entertaining. Hope you enjoy.