Monday

Tonight I am posting about all of my thoughts and feelings at the end of another Monday.  I am going to be completely honest.  Honesty has become so important to me over the past couple of weeks...I am so thankful for all in my life who are always honest, and I want to be honest as well.  With that little note, here are the things that have been on my mind.

Letters

This weekend I arrived home to find a pile of letters just for me!  I couldn't believe it!  I felt like a missionary again!  It was so wonderful to take some time and read through all of the letters that were sent.  They were filled with words of kindness and love (except for the one from Wells Fargo...I can't say that a bank statement is always kind:)).  Because I appreciated the letters so much, I decided to take some time and give a little shout out to all who sent them!

Thanks Ruben and Nadeline!  I loved the card and the picture!  They brought back many memories from the Netherlands!  I am so excited that you have a job, Ruben, and that you will both become parents in a number of weeks!  I love you!

Zuster Everton ( in the middle), you were the senior sister missionary that I had prayed for throughout my mission!  Thank you so much for your letter and kind words!  You have blessed my life more than you will ever know!  I love you!

Zuster Harrington ( second from the left), you are such an amazing missionary!  I am so thankful that the work is going so well in Belgium!  Even though you were my first greenie, I learned more from you than you learned from me!  I love you!

Zuster Perry!  You are so kind!  Although we were never companions, I feel like we are sisters!  I am thankful for all of those tender mercy exchanges that we had together when I needed it most!  You are training...Congrats!  I love you!

Caroline (second from the left), it was so good to hear from you!  I am thankful that your letter got to me safely, especially with its extra worth!  I hope that you get feeling better soon!  I love you!

Oh  Zuster Jillian Fritz Christensen (on the left)!  Thank you for your thank you note!  I am so thankful that I was able to attend your sealing and reception!  I am so happy for you...and that I could make your marriage possible:)  Love you!

Sue Haina/Sister Martha (on the left)!  It sounds like you are enjoying every minute of your mission and that you are a valiant and diligent missionary!  Thank you for your caring words!  I love you so very much!

Zuster Wieland (second from the right)!  You are getting married!  You look absolutely beautiful in your announcement picture and your fiancé is a stud!  Congrats!  I love you and will be thinking of you on your special day!

Today I made sure that I took some time to respond to the letters I had received!  I have more than half written and I am hoping to get up early tomorrow morning and finish the rest.  These letters sure brightened up my whole week!

Roommate Dinner


If you have been around me much lately you might have heard me sharing my testimony of roommate dinners.  I LOVE them!  There are four of us who live here and we have become the best of buds!  We decided at the beginning of the school year to do a dinner rotation.  We each took a night, Monday through Thursday, and cook for each other.   Every Monday it is my turn.  I love to be able to prepare dinner for people I love so much!  We often have visitors and I love that too!  We always have oodles of food so if you are ever hungry and looking for a nutritious meal, please stop by!  I have seen how much unity it has brought into our apartment by eating together every night.  We also save money, eat more nutritiously, laugh a lot, and have a few minutes of down time to just relax and get rejuvenated!  Since I love to cook, my goal for this school year is to try out something new each week...even if it is a new side dish.  Like tonight, I tried out baked broccoli.  It was amazing!  I got the recipe from "Our Best Bites".  All you do is take 4-5 cups of fresh broccoli, toss in 3 tablespoons of olive oil, spread out on a foil lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, and then toss in a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese!  I really liked the crunchy crispy texture and the flavor!  I would highly recommend it...and roommate dinner (or family dinner if you don't have roommates)!

Emotions


My emotions have been running wild for the past couple of weeks.  I can't even tell you how many times I have started crying in the most random of places.  I have realized that sometimes it is good to have a good cry.  I have also realized that it is very important for me to be able to express myself in a way that others understand how I am feeling.  With the autoimmune disease and being tired and sick a lot, I find it harder to express my emotions.  Things are either over-dramatized or under-dramatized.  So if I am not giving you a reaction that you would normally expect from me, know that I am probably just tired or not feeling well.  I know this might sound kind of silly, but it goes back to the honesty thing.  I want to be honest with you and I want you to be honest with me.  Since my emotions aren't really dependable right now, you are just going to have to rely on what I say and know that I am telling the truth.  Thank you.

General Conference


During general conference I am usually on this spiritual high.  I just want to be better and follow the counsel of the prophet and other leaders!  I want to change and repent and become more like the Savior.  I set several large goals and then, inevitably, nose-dive the day after conference because my goals are a little extreme.  I am thankful that I know that I have a tendency to do this after every conference so I kind of know that on the Monday after, when I begin to fill a little overwhelmed or like a failure, I can actually just make my goals more realistic to actually succeed.  This conference was amazing!  I do want to do the things that I was prompted to do or change the things that I was prompted to change.  But instead of doing it all at once, I have decided to make a calendar with all of the 39 talks that were given and study a new one in-depth every couple of days.  I am really excited about my plan!  If anyone wants to study along with me, let me know and we can discuss together and support one another!

Sick

The last thing that is on my mind, not by choice but more by force, is the fact that I am not feeling well.  I don't really know how to balance my life right now so I don't get sick.  I knew, by the way the weekend started, that I would probably hit a wall today, so it is almost like I did it to myself.  There wasn't anything that I wanted to miss out on this weekend so that meant no naps, going to bed late, and getting up early.  It is kind of lame how wimpy my body has become and sometimes it becomes even a little discouraging.  But I was amazed at how blessed I was today even though I wasn't feeling well.  Heavenly Father can definitely work miracles!  I didn't get out of bed until 8 and then I spent some time cleaning our apartment because it was desperately in need of a little care.  By the time I was getting in the shower my body was signaling to me that it was tired.  I quickly got ready and then took a 2 hour nap.  After the nap, I ran to the grocery store to get a few ingredients I needed for dinner and then I through dinner together.  By this time, I was ready for another cat nap and then I hit the books.  Okay, I don't know how it happened, but I got all of my assignments done for the week before it was time for dinner.  Miracle?  Yes, miracle.  Major miracle!  Now, if I happen to be sick for the rest of the week, at least I have everything ready to turn in:)

It is getting late and I am tired.  I hope that you sleep well tonight!  I love you all!