Weekend Plans

I am so excited for this weekend! The entire world has the opportunity to listen to living prophets speak to us. When I was little, I mostly liked it because I got to stay in pajamas and watch church on TV. Now that I'm older, I love hearing the various messages and seeing how they apply to me and my family. (Though, I still watch in my pajamas.) Most of the men and women that speak are significantly older than I am and because of that, they have so much more to share. They have seen so many fads and trends that they can look past that and share what is lasting and most important to the younger generation. I love their wisdom and that they are willing to share it with the whole world. They are men and women of God and they share what we need to hear, not necessarily what we want to hear.

A talk that had a big impact on me was given in April 2009 by Elder David Bednar. The title of it is "Honorably Hold a Name and Standing". The talk focuses in on the importance of the temple and the covenants that are made there. Now I didn't remember hearing this talk when it was given, but a little over a year later I was asked to give a lesson on the temple. At first I felt overwhelmed because I had not yet gone through the temple, so I didn't feel like I could teach about it. Thankfully, those feelings of doubt didn't hold me down. As I was preparing, I found this talk and it opened my understanding of the temple. The temple is more than a beautiful building that is dedicated to God. In the temple, worthy men and women make covenants with the Lord and because they are willing to do so, they are blessed with immeasurable strength. I still remember the feeling as I taught this. I knew that the words I was sharing were true. It penetrated my very soul. The Lord blesses His children with power to resist the adversary as they stay true to the covenants they make. After that lesson, I wanted to drive straight to the temple and knock on the temple President's door and ask him if he would open the temple so I could make those covenants. I knew that I would have wait, but thanks to Jonathan I only had to wait a few months.

The talks that are shared are filled with the spirit of God. These are things that the world needs to hear at this particular time. I am so grateful that we live in a time that there are living prophets on the earth to give us counsel and direction. I hope that you take some time and listen to the words of these men and women. They speak the truth and can't help but share it with the entire world.

We Did It!

Jonathan and I finished reading the Book of Mormon last night! It took a little over a year, but we did it. It was very interesting reading with Jonathan. We had a number of interesting discussions as we made our way through the book. I love the Book of Mormon. It may have been written thousands of years ago, but the teachings can be applied to our day. I love the plain and simple truths that it contains and that it is another testament of Jesus Christ. If you want to know more about the Book of Mormon click here.

Jonathan and I are going to start reading the New Testament tonight. I'm really excited about it!

A Fresh Start

This past Saturday, 8 children got a fresh start. It was their baptism day. They are now clean like the white clothing they were wearing. In my church, children are baptized when they are 8 years old, an age where they are now accountable for their actions.

I decided to go to the baptism because I know one of the little girls that chose to be baptized. Madison is one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. Everyone loves her who has had the opportunity to be with her. She looks so much like my sister Amy, with long dark, straight hair and a light complexion with a sprinkling of freckles. The only real difference is Madison's eyes are a bright blue color and they don't work. She was born blind and yet you wouldn't be able to tell by talking with her. Her lack of vision doesn't prevent her from enjoying life as an 8 year old girl. Madison can do just about everything everyone else does, but just in a slightly different way. She knows how to read and write in Braille and she loves to play on the swings.

Thanks to my mom, I've had the opportunity to meet her and I am so glad that I did. My mom works at the best little elementary school that my siblings and I went to. About a month or so ago, she was asked to be with Madison so her aid could take her lunch break. I was doing some die cuts for St. Patrick's Day and finished yearly so I went out to the playground. Eventually, Madison came out and her aid went off to lunch.  Madison has been working on being able to navigate around the school to the point that she could do it by herself if she needed to. We ended up playing hide and seek as a fun way to practice. It was so impressive to watch her navigate around the bark box to find me.

For those of you who don't know me very well, I am not an emotional person except when I talk about my loving, sweet family and my religious beliefs. Now, I can add little Madison to that list. At first, I didn't understand why I would get so emotional about her, but I think I know why. You see, everyone has different gifts that are given to them by our Heavenly Father and one of mine is the discerning of spirits. My parents noticed when I was young that I could quickly tell other peoples feelings and would go and cheer up those that needed it. With Madison, there is just this pure love and sweet spirit that radiates from her and it just overpowers me. I can't help but get choked up when I talk to her. She is such a special child and I hope to emulate her amazing example.

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy it brings with it. It truly is a beautiful thing and I feel so blessed that I was raised in a family that taught it to me. It is there to helps us grow and become better people. I invite everyone to learn more about Christ here. You don't need to be a member of my church in order to learn more of our Savior's love of each and every one of us.

I am grateful for my own baptism day and I am grateful that I have stayed true to the covenant I made so almost 14 years ago.

My cousin David and I were baptized on the 4th of July.

My Brother, the Ultimate Loser!

Before you start accusing me of being rude, my brother Chris was part of an Ultimate Loser Challenge through his gym. It's somewhat similar to the Biggest Loser tv show, but no one gets kicked off and it is more than just losing weight quickly. They focus on eating smarter, not  just dieting. It's a change to a healthy lifestyle both by eating better and working out.

Well, thanks to working hard and the support of his wife, Chris lost 42 pounds in 10 weeks. Let's not forget that his daughter was born during the second week of this challenge. Yeah, Annie's amazing! I am so proud of him! Yesterday, Chris was interviewed on the radio about the challenge and how it's effected him. Thanks to the internet, my mom and I were able to listen. Chris had his doubts at first, but he pushed through them and now he looks healthy and sounds so happy. Happy Birthday Chris!!!

Doesn't he look great!

 I also had to share two sweet pictures of his kids, Seth and Clara!

Seth was holding Clara's hand and then Clara reached up and touched Seth.

Turning Weaknesses Into Strengths

Everyone has different weaknesses and strengths. Some people are great at cooking, organizing, giving gifts, being thoughtful of others, and the list continues forever. It seems like they were born with that talent, but in many cases they had develop that certain thing until they were good at it. We can turn anything into a strength.

Well, Jonathan is the first to admit that he isn't very good at coming up with dates. We really only went on about a dozen dates before we started to just hang out. It was fine, we were both busy with school and we only cared about spending time together. Lately, I've been wanting a little more dating and romance, after all Jonathan was the only boyfriend I ever had. So, Jonathan has stepped up his game. This past week, he decided to do something special for me everyday. It's been so fun and exciting to see what he's done for me.

On the first day, we went on a late night ice cream run.

The second day, he covered my side of the bed with hearts.

The third day, Jonathan brought home tulips for me. (I love tulips!)

The fourth day, he took a cute picture of himself since I was gone for the weekend. Later that night he sent a recording of him reading a poem in Spanish.

I love Jonathan so much and can't believe that I am the one who is married to him. He is my best friend and I love seeing him everyday. We really are perfect for each other!

A Very Nelson Weekend

This past weekend most of the Nelson family headed up to play in the snow! We traveled in the middle of the storm and luckily made it safe and sound. The next day we got to play for a few hours. Mercedes loved to wander around and eat snow. Thomas and I were able to find the perfect hill for sledding and luckily no one fell into the creek. It was so much fun! The rest of the time we ate great food, played games, took naps, and watched some fun movies.

It was a fun, relaxing weekend and hopefully next time everyone will be able to go!

What's Your Love Language?

So, one of the wedding gifts Jonathan and I received was the book The Five Languages of Love. I skimmed it and set it down on my bedside table and that's where it's been for a few months. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and found it to be very interesting. The author makes the claim that everyone has a distinct way that they perceive love and that it can be broken down into five different categories or languages. They are: words of affirmation, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Now you don't necessarily fit into just one of them, the author says that you can be fluent in one or two or just have a strong secondary language. As I was reading about the different languages, I was able to relate different experiences and feelings I've had over the past year. I also felt like there is a bit of overlap between some of them.

Well, in the back of the book, there is a questionnaire so you can find your primary love language. I did it and as I tallied up my score I am fluent in not only one or two, but three different languages. (Yeah, I'm a complex woman.) Mine are words of affirmation (I regularly ask Jonathan why he loves me), quality time (I just like having him around all the time), and acts of service (I get so excited when Jonathan does something around the apartment without having to ask him to do it). Jonathan also filled out the questionnaire and it was so enlightening to see what  makes him feel really loved.

I think this book does a really good job of simplifying the various aspects of love and helping couples be more aware of what their spouse needs to feel loved. I haven't read the entire book, but I feel like it has already made me more aware of Jonathan's feelings as well as my own. Here's a website that goes along with the book. You should check it out.

Another Great Weekend

I love it when my oldest brother's comes up for a visit. It always makes my weekends so much more fun! We had some lincoln log fights, hot dogs, sun splash, lots of laughing, and cousins. And that was just on Saturday!

Sunday was my sister's birthday and we slowly all got together by that night. Garrett and Kyle were so sweet together. We wanted some pictures of them and so they sat down and folded their arms. Amy (my brother's wife) tried to get them to put their arms around each other, but they immediately went back to folding their arms.

Such cute cousins!

I think my happiest moment was getting Lyla to giggle! She has such a sweet little voice and is not easy to tickle, but I got her at the right time. I think Jonathan's favorite part was talking to Andy about the various computer classes and teachers they've had. Jonathan loves having a nerdy older brother.

This weekend was a blur, but it was so much fun! I love my family and can't wait for our summer trip to Idaho! All 17 of us will be together for the first time! Clara will be shocked by how much noise we make!

My Favorite Place in the World

For the past few days, I have been in a funk. I get into these weird moods every so often and I struggle with them for a few days. The fastest and easiest way to get out of them is to go to the temple. When I am there, I feel like the weight of the world is removed and my thoughts are raised to a higher, heavenly level. It reminds me of Isaiah 55:8-9 (thank you 4 years of seminary for helping remember this wonderful scripture)

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 


The temple provides clarity for what is truly important. When I have my priorities straight everything else falls into place. While I was pondering about various things going on in my life today, I started to realize that I was asking the wrong question to a problem of mine. It was wrong because the answer wouldn't have helped me grow and develop. It would merely bring me peace today. I thought for a few minutes about what would the right question would be. It was so much better because I instead focused on my own weaknesses and sought to help improve them into strengths. In my heart, I still want that first question to be answered right now, but I know that with patience I will be better for waiting.

This is my second home.

I also took a peek into the room where Jonathan and I were sealed before I left. As I was standing in the door way, I could feel the spirit of the Lord pour over me. It was an amazing moment. I know that the temple truly is the house of the Lord and that He is there. I am so grateful that I live so close to the temple. It is one of the biggest blessings in my life.

Here's a video that explains more about our temples and shows the interior of them. They are incredibly beautiful and yes, they are always that clean.

Turning a house (or in my case apartment) into a Home

Jonathan and I have been living in the same apartment for a year. It slowly has been changing into a home by adding drapes, bookcases, and decorations for all the holidays. My next major goal is to start hanging pictures and other things on my blank walls. Thanks to pinterest, I've been able to come up with quite a few ideas and I thought I would share some of them.

1. It's so easy, all you need is empty toilet paper rolls. I started making it, but ran out of rolls. The instructions are here.
2. I think this would be a great addition to the kitchen. Click here for the tutorial.
3. A very clever way to hang up pictures without frames. Here's more inspiration from the same apartment.
4. A super easy way to add a little color to the walls. It's electrical tape! Click here to read more about it.
5. Last but not least, a wall of frames. I already have a wall picked out, now I just need some frames! Here it is on pintrest.

With all this inspiration, I am ready to make myself at home.