Beginnings

I have had thoughts about creating a blog since I came to college. I see so much value in insights and real life experiences. Some things are good to laugh about, and sometimes it is neat to open things up to discussion. There is value in sharing important things to you with others. So as I am on winter break from BYU and newly married, I thought maybe my blog could have its beginning as I have some new beginnings of my own.

So as an introduction, here is me:

I turned 19 this summer and just finished my third semester in a Neuroscience undergrad at Brigham Young University. I love my school and my friends and what I study. Most of my life I grew up in Prosser, Washington after moving there at age 8, and I am proud of my small town blood and welcomes home. At school I found something I love more than anything before.

His name is Andrew, and now we share a last name. We were married November 19, 2016. Part of the point of this blog is trying to better learn about life and loving others, because I have come to see how vital that is in life. Among all the modern technologies and travels and adventures, when it really comes down to it the moments that matter most to people aren't their successes but their happy relationships with others. This boy has sure taught me a lot about that. Christ like love makes all the difference in a person's life.

This is our family.

Sometimes I think I am great at insights and sometimes I am honestly really bad, but I wanted to put more than just some pretty pictures here even as I just begin. So here are some things I have thought about that I believe have really helped me get where I am in life now, and some of my goals moving forward.

Sometimes I already feel like one of those old ladies in a nursing home who seems so kind and wise but when asked what advice she has, she said something like, "Oh, sonny, good luck. I don't have any advice." Sometimes I feel pretty lost not just at where I am going but how I got where I am. A few things are certainly consistent though - people believed in me, I chose faith, I followed through on things I new would be beneficial to me, and I didn't give up. These people believed in me quite a bit.

They're my parents (: I have learned a lot from them how imperfections in practice can melt away in perfection of purpose. I don't know how exactly what the parents most want their children to learn somehow gets communicated to them perfectly, and parents sure don't see it as they are frustrated with the impossible curveballs parenthood throws, but it does. That sure gives me hope for the future. I can guarantee I will share some advice from my parents, whether in word or example, because they have changed me by who they are. They love and support me and believe in me, and I know that in that regard I am already extremely lucky and so very blessed.

Somehow I am extremely blessed not only in the family department when it comes to people. My dad gave us simple advice in making friends growing up saying to say hi to others in the hallway and call them by name, and Dale Carnegie gives good advice in saying you will make more friends in 2 weeks being interested in other people than you will in 2 months trying to get people interested in you. Those things are great to know and work, but they work best because they change you and lead you to the real point - when you care about other people, they care about you too. I am repeatedly blown away that my imperfections in serving and loving others and thinking outside of myself turn into this. And in harder times, the love people have for you will really blow you away. I love how it works in college too, how we're all so busy and live such full lives, but when you somehow decide that you like living full lives better together and talking and studying and going on double dates, that both happinesses and saddnesses become better. You can celebrate good days and laugh about bad ones. People make life so much better it's crazy. They don't have to be many, they just have to be there.

I love my Savior. I had a real crisis of faith my senior year in high school (believe it or not to those of you who knew me then, haha), but through my prayers and frustrations, I still can't deny that my Savior lives. There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon where Nephi says that he does not know all things, but he knows that God loves his children, and I couldn't say it better myself. God has to live because I can feel him live in me. Everything is too beautiful for it not to be true. You can count on me expanding on my thoughts on faith for sure, but if nothing else, I know that choosing faith has made me the happiest and best person I have ever been, and maybe that can speak for itself.

Another scripture says to be anxiously engaged in good works. My daddy told me to always be working toward a worthwhile goal. College carries with it several inherent goals of trying to do your best in your classes and still keep yourself mentally and physically and emotionally healthy. 

At the end of a semester and after the huge goals of getting married and finishing finals and moving into our apartment are past, I have a chance to reevaluate my own goals. Something that has really changed my perspective lately has been the distinct impression, among everything going on, to be confident in the righteous (or you could say worthwhile if not wanting to look at this from a religious perspective) efforts you make. We sometimes put our value in the end point when the real growing happens in the process and we forget to step back and be proud of that.

Though highly imperfect and full of quirks that have a tendency to just come out because I don't care enough to hide them, my faith, my family, my friends, and continuing to put forth good efforts have done so much to get me where I am now. I'm excited for the new adventures and experiences I have ahead of me moving forward. And I am looking forward to sharing some of them and the things I learn with you through this blog - Learning to Love (: