A new friend, Anne, and a new question:

If you could give the world one piece of advice, what would it be?

Hmmm... this is actually a hard question for me to answer. I usually don't consider myself worthy of handing out advice, there is still too much I have to learn first. However, there are a few things that I know a little something about. First, a few small pieces of advice:

~You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Kindness actually does count for something.

~Don't sweat the small stuff. If you spend all of your time worrying about changing the little things, you miss out on the opportunity to experience the big things.

~You have the family you are born with and the family you build. Hopefully they fit well together.

~If it's a beautiful day outside don't spend it indoors. No beautiful day is worth wasting.

~Learn to laugh at yourself.

~Everyone deserves at least one pedicure in their life.

~Apologize freely.

~Love openly. This can be a life-changing experience.

But most important of all: Love yourself.

It took me a long time to figure that out. I've spent the majority of my 25 years on this earth learning to love myself for who I am. For a long time I wished I was someone else. I wished that I had a different body. I wished that I had someone else's social skills. I wished for another person's sense of humor. I wished for somebody else's hair, wardrobe, you-name-it.

It wasn't until I grew up a little bit that I learned that all of the things I wanted from somebody else were the things that made me Me. When Curious George and I first started dating I really struggled with feeling like he was dating me because he felt like he had to, not because he wanted to. Because we'd been close friends for several months, and we lived in the same student ward, I'd seen the girls he'd been dating. He'd take a girl out on a date, and after he'd dropped her off at home he'd call me to hash over the date. It wasn't until we went to do a temple session together (and ended up doing sealings) that he figured it all out. Anyway, the point of this story is this: it wasn't until I was secure in our relationship that I figured out that he'd married me because I was Me. He loved my blue eyes, my sarcasm, and my little (big) redneck streak. He loved that I wasn't perfect. He loved me.

So, through years of poor self esteem, yo-yo weight loss and gain, self-deprication, and a general feeling of worthlessness, I finally learned that I am who I am. I am worthy of my Heavenly Father's love just as much as the next person. I am worthy of deep and lasting friendships. I am worthy of a happy and fulfilling marriage. I am worthy of love.

I think this sentiment from Buddha sums it up nicely:

"You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."

Because after all, all you need is Love.

Fear Itself

So this question comes from your friend and mine... Anonymous:

What are you most afraid of/what scares you/what fills you with fear?

First of all, a few things I'm afraid of:
~Hippos
~Earthquakes (Ironic, considering I live on a fault line)
~Snakes
~Being an apartment-dweller forever.

But my biggest fear is being inadequate.

I'm afraid I'll be inadequate as a wife. I want to live up to all of my husband's expectations. I want to be attractive to him. I want to cook him tasty, nutritious meals, and I want to be the best wife for him that I can be.

I'm afraid I'll be inadequate as a mother. I don't have children yet, but I'm afraid that I'll be to quick-tempered. I'm afraid I won't be able to provide for them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I'm afraid that they'll hate me as a mother, or worse, that they won't respect me.

I'm afraid I'll be inadequate in my career. Am I a good nurse? Am I not only competent, but also caring? Am I a good charge nurse (probably too early to tell on this one)? Can I continue to be adequate at the career I love, all while balancing my other life dimensions?

I'm afraid I'll be inadequate as a friend. I'm afraid I take more than I give. I'm afraid I monopolize my friends. Am I as good of a friend as my friends are to me?

So, I guess what I'll do is take these words from Nelson Mandela and learn to live by them:

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

And I will learn to not be afraid.

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

A big thank you to my lovely friend Michelle for this question:

If you could have any career other than your current one, what would it be and why?

What an interesting thing to think about. When I was a child I threw around a lot of ideas of what I wanted to be. I could be a teacher like my mom, a marine biologist (I never quite realized that I'd have to move somewhere not landlocked for that one), a writer, or any other number of things. The one thing I always came back to, however was nursing. Nursing is what I was made to do.

Now that I'm an adult I wonder what other things I might be suited for. I could cut hair, run an in-home daycare, be a stay-at-home mom (I've been told that this is a full-time job, and I believe it!), do anything I want, really.

However, I think if I could be anything in the world I'd be a chef. I would love to be able to create things in the kitchen, to not have to use a recipe, to just know what flavors work well together. I wish I had the creativity to invent new things, flavors, and food combinations. It would be so amazing to have my own restaurant, or even be the head chef in a restaurant.

I love to cook, and I love to experiment, but if I could get paid for it that would be fabulous. Then, I would take that love of cooking (and the fabulous ability) and become the next food network star. I could be the next Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, or Rachel Ray.

In all reality I'm probably much more likely to end up on "Worst Cooks In America" than anything, but a girl can dream, right?

Faith Building Experiences

When I was growing up I was always taught that if I was able to serve in the church, I should be willing to serve in the church. I was taught to never turn down a calling, even if I didn't want it.

Just over a year ago I was called to be the primary chorister in my ward. The calling scared me, and that told me that I definitely needed to accept. I said yes and began a serious roller coaster ride.

This calling pushed me in ways I never thought it would. I was forced to be more organized than I ever had been. I had to prepare in advance, think of good ideas to keep the kids entertained but still teach the kids the songs.

I was incredibly excited when they released the program theme for 2010: I Know That My Savior Lives. Amazing! Immediately I thought of probably 20 songs that I wanted to teach the kids, and then I heard the theme song for the year. It was beautiful! I taught it to my primary and teared up every time I heard those little ones bear testimony through song. "Yes!" I though, "This is my year."

And then today the bishop pulled me aside before singing time. Turns out our ward is reorganizing the entire primary, and all of the leadership is being released... myself included. A few people were being put back in, but not me.

I have never before cried when I was released for a calling. Today, I can't seem to stop the flow of tears. I will miss my primary so much. I will miss hearing them bear testimony through song. I will miss seeing their faces light up when the message of the song hits home.

So, for now, I will have faith that Heavenly Father has something else in store for me. Another calling will come that will stretch me, make me grow, and challenge me in new ways. I will miss my primary, but good things can, and will, come from whatever new opportunity presents itself next.

But I'm still going to cry.

I Love My Cousins!

It's that time again... time to start answering your questions. (If you still want to ask me one go here for the instructions) Thanks to my cousin Andrew for this little beauty:

On a scale of 1-10 how amazingly amazing are your cousins, and which one would you trade places with for a day?

I have some pretty fantastically, awesomely, amazingly amazing cousins. On a scale of 1-10, I would probably go with about a 12. I am very lucky to actually know my cousins and consider them some of my best friends. On my mom's side of the family there are 19 of us that range in age from 29 to three. I'm the third oldest, so a lot of my cousins are younger, but I still have a good relationship with them. I even lived with one of my cousins for awhile.

Anyway, I had a really difficult time deciding which cousin I would trade places with. We're all so different and doing such different things in our lives that it was hard to choose.

Would I be Greg, who spends his life in front of an audience (an audience of third graders most of the time...)?

Would I be Pete, who is going on a Mexican Riviera cruise next week?

Would I be Liza, the little one with a big personality?

Would I be Josie, the extremely athletic tomboy?

Would I be Haley, the only 16-year-old I know that speaks Latin?

Would I be Andrew and experience fraternity life for a day?

Then it came to me... I would trade places with Jake.

Jake is 18 (I think), incredibly sweet, loves his family, and has pretty severe Down Syndrome. Why would I trade places with Jake? Let me tell you:

~He always has a smile on his face.

~His family is right there with him, every step of the way. No matter what is going on, he always has a sibling there to help him through it, hold his hand, or offer words of encouragement.

~He's bald. How great would it be to always know what your hair is going to look like?

~The simple things make him the happiest. He loves Harry Potter, Parent Trap, and Herbie.

~Chili. Yeah, I want to see what it's like to love chili as much as Jake does.

~I want to know what the world looks like from Jake's point of view. I want to see what he sees, think what he thinks, and feel what he feels. I want to know what it feels like to communicate with other people the way Jake does.
~He has the ability to make anyone around him smile.
~The sweet, sweet innocence that he carries with him. He never offends, hurts feelings, or is passive-aggressive. Everyone is his friend. He doesn't care who you are, he'll give you a hug if you need it.

So there you have it: the reasons why I would be Jake for a day.

Every Girl Needs Pearls!

Hey everyone, I'm still waiting for a few more questions to roll in, so be sure to check out my last blog post. In the meantime: here's a little project I've been working on. I've seen these around and fell in love with them, so I took a few supplies I had lying around, bought some pearls, and made myself one. (Don't worry, I'll give you step by step instructions so you can make yourself one, too.)Isn't it pretty?

The supplies:

~A piece of fishnet stocking or nylon about 1.5" x 8"
~Some pearls or beads (I used cream pearls)
~Two pieces of ribbon, whatever length you'd like.

What you do:1. Tie a knot in one end. Place a bead inside and tie a tight knot on the other side of the pearl.

2. Repeat with as many beads as you would like. I was making a short necklace so I only used 9. Double knot at the end.
3. Hot glue a piece of ribbon into the remaining stocking at each end of the beads.I didn't like the raw edges after I glued in the ribbon, so I used the leftover lace from the top of the stocking and made a flower for one side, and wrapped it around the other side. I secured both with hot glue.

The whole thing cost less than $5 and was super simple to make. I look forward to wearing it!
P.S.~I got the initial instructions for this at Get Craftin' (who is also doing a jewelry giveaway right now!).

Who's Up For Round Two?

So, awhile back I played a fun little "Getting to Know Me" blog game. Since I'm feeling a little low on bloggable material right now I thought I'd revive the game.

So, here are the rules:
1. You ask me a question. In return, I'll devote a whole blog post to answering your question.
2. You can ask me anything you like, but please keep in mind the others that read my blog (for example: my mother, people that stumble across me from Mormon Mommy Blogs, etc).
3. Be creative! Challenge me, make me think, stretch, grow. If it is a mundane question, I'll still give it the consideration as the others. Keep in mind how much more fun it is for me to write, and you to read, if the question is humorous, thought-provoking, or unusual.
4. Leave your question in a comment on this particular blog post. I'll answer the questions as they roll in.

Let the games begin!