Nys to be a Saint

What to write about this time? That’s basically the question I ask myself for hours before I even type one word. (Cause let me tell you this, professional bloggers that have something to write about every week are impressive. I think this blogging thing is super hard! ) There are literally so many things I could write about this time though. As I jogged through titles to put out there some of them were ·        Engaged and afraid. (Kinda like Naked and afraid, but the LDS engagement version ) ·        On Dealing with Uncertainty ( Which I might still do later, because I have a lot to say) ·        The Ups and Downs of Sex ( mostly because you ate up the other article about how I thought it ruined love for me, and I am going t partner with another blogger talking about pornography sometime soon) ·        New Years Resolutions- How to be real with yourse...

OKAY BLOG FAMILY. This time we are talking about SEX. I know that’s going to immediately make several of you uncomfortable, honestly, I have battled with this topic and blog post for a while. I felt though that it was time that I talked about it. I want to be clear when I start this. I know several people married and unmarried that are sexually active. And that is totally your business. I also know many people who have been sexually active inside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints without being married, and that is totally youre business. I hope for those of you that fall into any or all of those categories, that you will relate and learn from my experiences. I will unshamefully say that I had sex with someone before I was married. I am a faithful member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. I am active in all of my responsibilities inside and outside the church and having had sex before marriage didn’t change that. I know what some of you are th...

OKAY, this blog post might sound like it’s a little irrational. And for all means, it realistically might be. But I know plenty of people out there that after a lot of failed relationships they tend to give up on the whole concept. And I would be lying if I said for a short while I didn't consider myself "Not marriage material".  Shortly after my last relationship with Tim I hopped from unfulfilling NCMOs to unrealistic relationships. I hopped between people I would never see again that gave me physical gratification, and people I never wanted to see again, that just took advantage of the opportunity. ( I'm going to be real with you- like I always am- and tell you that sometimes being a prude is okay.) I would be lying if I said that some days, I really loved being "that girl everyone has been with". But slowly the appeal left, and all I wanted to be was "that girl he's been with for what seems like forever." I wanted to be someones c...

 I know that normally I have some sort of clever little phrase as my title, but honestly nothing felt quite right. So, later the title might be completely different, but for now this is the only title that felt right. This may be blog post that never really gets the amount of clicks or reads that I hope for, and honestly the process of blogging is only slightly about the clicks. But it mostly is here for everyone to realize they aren't alone.  If you've been reading the blog since the beginning you've maybe found lots of little Easter eggs about new and upcoming events in my life. But this post will really be more about what has already happened. When I created this blog, it wasn't something to make money. ( heck I'm still not making money off of it -- although if someday I did, that would be very cool.)   I actually wasn't sure if this was going to be something that stuck and took off at all. And seeing that I had 500 readers for the first two month ...

October has been a crazy month! As you can see since I was the most awful blogger! ( I never promised to be good at this.) But, it was a big month for the blog! We reached over 1000 active readers! And you guys loved the article about marrying the wrong man! I will for sure include more about those kinds of experiences. But, October was filled with lots of time in the car! First it started with the drive to and from General Conference ( of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints) in Salt Lake City, Utah. We had so much fun going to conference and spending time in the Boise area for a few days seeing Matthew and his family. I’ll put a few pictures below... But, there is plenty more on Instagram!   Second! Both of the Brianna’s cut all their hair off! ( Well not ALL of it, but you get the picture.) They both decided not to donate the hair as it was too damaged and brittle to donate.  Third! We made it to the pumpkin patch so many times! We have been living in the mom...

 I know that the phrase "don't worry, be happy." can make many of us feel the complete opposite. In honor of National Mental Health month I thought I might address some of these things. I would never lie and tell people that I don't struggle with being happy. I am a person that knows the feeling of content very well. And for a long time I thought that not being sad equated to being happy. And somehow, to an extent that's not wrong. But, its also not right. The dictionary describes "Happy" as, feeling or showing pleasure or contentment, having a sense of confidence in or satisfaction with, satisfied with the quality or standard of, willing to do something, fortunate or convenient.  And while to many that would seem like the classic definition of happiness, that actually just sounds like settling for something almost alright. I want that happiness you see in mothers that just pushed out a baby, the happiness you see on a brides face as she walks dow...

As I thought about what to write this weeks blog post on I was thinking about "happy" posts I could do. Something lighthearted and almost pointless, but I kept coming back to last weeks post. All of you loved " How I knew I was marrying the wrong man." But, I realized that I kinda left all of you hanging. I made it seem as though after I realized he wasn't right for me and things ended that everything was okay. And that is a bold faced lie. There was nothing okay about me. I layed in my apartment for two whole weeks just crying about how cheated I felt. Just hours after we broke things off I went for a walk. I walked for what felt like forever in the silent snow in Rexburg, Idaho. And once I felt kinda better, I kept walking I cried and kept crying and just kept crying. I felt so cheated, used, abused, and stupid. I had convinced myself that fighting was normal, a one sided love was normal, and only being wanted because of your "hot butt" was norma...

I love night swimming with my girls. Its the perfect way to kick off fall and say goodbye to summer. And I love having those wonderful girls by my side.

The thought goes through my mind often when I stand in the mirror thinking about other people. Why am I not as skinny, pretty, fit, athletic, smart, studious, etc. as you? Why couldn't Heavenly Father bless me with similar qualities as you? Had I been punished because I had sinned differently or more intensely than you? Was I withheld talents because I missed an opportunity to gain it? But, maybe I wasn't perfect enough to be given that blessing. ALL OF THOSE THOUGHTS ARE VALID TO HAVE, BUT NONE OF THEM ARE TRUE. Your heavenly father loves you dearly and wants you to be happy and healthy in all ways. He's not withholding blessings from you because he doesn't love you. You’re withholding blessings from yourself because you don't love yourself the way he loves you. As many of you reading have done, I have stood in the mirror pinching, tucking, playing with my clothes, fixing my makeup to appear perfect on the outside, when I am falling apart on t...

  I am so grateful for the wonderful people I have in my life that show me what true discipleship is. I am so lucky to have had Zac as my life long friend and to see him go on his full time mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the area of Layton Utah! See you in two years bud! 

You know that moment when he gets down on one knee, and you've been dreaming of saying "yes" your whole life, but you also feel so nervous...? Yeah, I've been there and done that. You’re so excited and filled with love because you never really thought you deserved that person in your life or their amazing characteristics. And then you start talking about what the rest of your life looks like, and maybe you realize that there is some compromising you must do. Thinking its natural and normal you forget some of the things you compromised as things you once needed. Yeah, I was there too.  My freshman semester at BYU-Idaho I met a man that I thought was amazing. He was different than everyone else I had dated. He was mysterious and distant, but trusting and open. It honestly was the best honeymoon phase I had ever been in. The little moments were hard, and day to day it was horrible. It was filled with aggravation, arguments, and degrading talk. But, because we ...

Hey Y'all! With the start of school happening and the beginning of another fall season I thought I would do a little post about balancing school, a social life and church. While I attended a church sponsored school, it definitely was still a struggle to get up and go to church in the snow before 8 am. But, it honestly was still amazing. To start I’ll talk about little tips and tricks I learned regarding school, and then the social life, and then little church hacks!  Learning,studying,and literal death... While spending time in the library seems to be what everyone is doing, that’s not a place I studied well. I tried for many weeks looking for places to sit and study. It wasn’t until half way through my first semester that I even realized I could do this! There are little books and crannies that have wonderful couches and table to study at. Many people don’t know about them, so they’re not busy, and their usually hooked up with all the wonderful amenities. I loved spending time s...

 I love my sweet friend and her ambition to serve the Lord for 18 months on a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She will be amazing! ( And will probably convert a ton of people just because she's stinking gorgeous!) 

I’m going to start this post with a quote and then elaborate on it quickly. This is from a 2011 Ensign talk titled "FORGET ME NOT." It’s by President Uchtdorf. The quote reads,  "I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way: God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect. Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others--usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. It’s wonderful that you have strengths. And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses. God wants to help us to eventually turn all our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term...

This was my beautiful weekend at the beach with great friends, family and my wonderful man! 💕NYS TO BE A SAINT A Weekend in Oregon

It seems like everyone in college has a blog to keep up with friends and family. People try for a couple weeks and then the following tanks, and well basically you have wasted a bunch of your time. Hopefully this doesn’t become one of those failed attempts at being a blog, and that it’s entertaining for you. Plus, if you know me in real life you know, I can be a little crazy and adventurous.  OKAY, so this is what’s going down.  As you may or may not have noticed, probably not cause honestly, I’m not sure if I would have noticed,  but there are four sections to this blog. They are  "Lifestyle"- which is self-explanatory. It’s going to be me telling you little things I love that I get at target, movies I watched, etc. all the normal blog things  "The Gospel Truth"- this is my little place where I talk about what I believe, scriptures I love, conference talks, etc. this is the tab I am most excited about because it’s hopefully th...