I May or May Not

Sometimes, life gets rough. For me... for you... for all of us. I have rough days/weeks, just like everybody else. And this may or may not have been one of those weeks. And it's not over yet.

I may or may not have gone for 42 hours straight with no sleep on Tuesday/Wednesday.

I may or may not be sick right now.

I may or may not have sat on my bum and helped with nothing at rehearsal tonight because I'm sick and tired.

I may or may not be changing my major.

I may or may not be tired of taking 11 classes at once.

I may or may not have lost my voice. And I'm in charge of music at Seussical callbacks tomorrow.

I may or may not have gotten angry at Provo for snowing earlier this week.

I may or may not have a super busy weekend ahead of me.

But ya know what? I'm still SO blessed. So very, very blessed. There could be far worse things that I have to deal with in my life, and I am fortunate to be where I'm at and who I am. Besides... I have so much to look forward to! Only two days of classes left. Just one oral report and one written final left to take. I can sleep in on Wednesday for the first time in forever. Doug and I are going to Tucanos that same day. My father-in-law is coming to visit us in just a couple weeks. Seussical is going to be so fun to work on.

I saw this list on facebook. And I basically agree with every single thing on it:

I should always strive to think positively, count my blessings, and find things to look forward to. Doing that can brighten the days where I want to collapse and do nothing. I know I will be okay! And that is such a great thing to know.

Plus... I have such a great husband. Picking me up from campus even though it only takes 15 minutes to walk, giving up his time just so he can be at home with me while I'm sitting and stressing over homework or projects, smiling the biggest smiles I've ever seen when he finally sees me again after a long school day, making me food and doing dishes, telling me I'm beautiful when I do not feel pretty at all... yep. He's a keeper. I'm so glad I'm with him forever.

The time I met Tad R. Callister

Today, instead of regular church, we had a special stake conference.
(For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mormon lingo: a "ward" is just another word for a congregation, and a "stake" is a collection of wards that exist in the same area. It's kind of like how a school district is a collection of schools in the same area.)

My stake got to listen to Tad R. Callister, who is currently a member of the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka... the Mormon church).

Elder Callister is one of my favorites. He has already made an appearance on my blog when he came to BYU almost a year ago to give a Devotional address, and I posted about what he talked about.

I had the privilege of singing in a choir that was seated up on the stand where Elder Callister, his wife, and others were sitting. After the conference was over, I went up to Elder Callister. I got to shake his hand. He asked for my name. I got to thank him for speaking to us, and tell him that I absolutely loved his book The Infinite Atonement. Because... I do. I really love that book. He thanked me for taking the time to ponder it.

It was so great to personally speak to him! Even if it was only briefly. His wife is very nice too. Bucket list item... check!


The focus of his talk was on the relationship between husbands and wives. He gave several different ways to make your marriage a celestial one:

1. Adopt the attitude "I will make it work." Be committed, and make the effort to do all you can to make your marriage work.
2. Adopt the "Is it I?" attitude. When there are problems, look for ways you could change instead of trying to find ways that your spouse should change.
3. Pray with your spouse every morning and evening.
4. Make you spouse happy. Love each other with all your heart.
5. Avoid pornography at all costs.
6. There are no secrets between spouses. Confide in each other about everything so that you will have that sure foundation of trust.
7. Multiply and replenish the earth. Yeah... have babies. Do not let worries about schooling and money be detrimental. Where sacrifices are made, the Lord will bless us.
8. Do not neglect daily scripture study. Both individual and with your spouse/family.
9. Stay out of debt.
10. Speak in soft, kind voices.

Can I just say... Elder Callister is a wonderfully straight-forward speaker. Not in the same way that Elder Holland is straight-forward (there's no beating-around-the-bush with Elder Holland!) but in a gentle way. I've noticed that he really likes using lists in his talks... and that makes it easier to take notes and get the main idea, in my opinion.

I love being at a University where I can have the opportunity to hear apostles and prophets of the Lord. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to personally meet and talk to one of my favorite General Authorities. And to top it all off, we gained an hour. I got to sleep in. It's been a magical Sunday.

How... PINteresting

This week, from Ashley's Pinterest boards... I know, so exciting...

Happiness is a choice.

                                                                          Source: findtheglasspenny.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Wallpapering the inside of a bookshelf... crafty!

                                                                                   Source: google.ca via Ashley on Pinterest

Precious!

                                                                      Source: attackofthecute.com via Ashley on Pinterest

True story.

                                                                  Source: daniellescraziness.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies... must make!!!!

                                                                     Source: thenonpareilbaker.blogspot.ca via Natalie on Pinterest

I've been on a chocolate/peanut butter craze recently.
You don't even know.

Don't worry, dear followers.
I'll be back with non-pinterest related posts soon!
Until then... keep pinning!
Hahaha. Ha. ha.