Groundhog Day is Right

You know how when they say it feels like groundhog day where it feels like the day's events just keep happening over and over again with little or no differentiation? That's kind of how this week was which is fitting because it was also officially Groundhog's Day. Much to mom's disappointment we did not venture out to  Punxsutawney, PA where the famous groundhog Phil lives, even though it is only an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh, maybe next year? We opened a package from mom with a groundhog craft and some Olympics and valentines goodies thrown in the mix. Other than that it was a lot of repeated days of work and school and studying. We did start Modern Family as our new show and have loved it. It is way more heartwarming than I ever realized. Really drives home the importance of family over everything. Makes me miss our own crazy bunch back home!

School and work are going well and keep us busier than ever. This week I completed my second accounting exam. Then I'll just have finance, business statistics and marketing left to finish out the first seven week block. This first block I have only been in one class that is a super condensed foundations course to catch me up and prepare me for the remainder of the program. If I'm being honest I don't actually feel like the program has truly started, I am staying very busy to be sure but until I have two courses I feel like I will fully understand the time commitment and difficulty of the program. If I have learned anything though it is that you adapt. One of the biggest life lessons I think I'll take away from this experience is the process of time management and giving up certain expectations in order to stay well rounded. What I mean by this is I have to swallow the fact that in order to stay on task at work and have a social life I am unable to dedicate more than about three to four hours studying each weekday and then most of the day on Saturday and sometimes Sunday. This probably means that my grades might be more in the Bs range. Which is a tough pill for me to swallow. I know it sounds perfectionist but it is a lesson I am learning and need to learn. Like I wrote about a few months ago we have the ability to carve out time for the things in life and sometimes you have to make sacrifices in some areas to succeed in other areas. 

During the elders quorum training that I was invited to stay and sit in on last week the stake president and his counselors repeated the following counsel to Jaden and I think it was meaningful to hear for myself: "Your first priority is your family, then it is your work and schooling and then it is your calling in the church." They talked about how each of those things needs a place in your life but there is an order in which they should go. First and foremost family over everything, but you have to provide and support for a family and in order to do that you need to work and further your education and when you are able to support your family you will be better equipped to reach out and help and serve your fellow ward members. I've thought a lot about that in my own life as I try to be a good wife to Jaden and take care of things around our apartment, support him in his own schooling, spend time with him eating meals and watching shows as well as have breaks on the weekends and spending time with friends. Because this is my priority I might not be able to devote as much time as some of my peers to school but as long as I am working hard to retain information that I can apply to my job I think that is what matters the most. That's why I am doing this. It's not to have another degree or another set of letters on my resume. It's about being able to have a better understanding of business that will help me to continue to grow in my career. I'm grateful for the opportunity and for the blessing of being able to go to school and have such a good job that fits our lifestyle so perfectly and helps me support Jaden as he does his own program that is 1000x more intense than my own.

I also have thought about how Jaden does such a good job at prioritizing family above all else. That was something that was very important to me when thinking about who I wanted to marry. It was something that bothered me about other boys I dated previously, I didn’t like when they were embarrassed by their family and didn’t want to be around them. That was something Morgann lead with when she started writing to me about Jaden on my mission. She knew he loved his family and he puts them first. And he really does and I am so grateful. I’ve said it several times but even though he’s in an intense program and has a lot on his mind he still makes time to spend with me and I think this experience has been really good for us as a couple to rely on each other when our families are so far away. I hope one day we can set an example to our kids about what it looks like to prioritize family and put them first. 

This weekend was stake conference and we had our friends over for breakfast and a watch party since it was broadcasted virtually. We did pancakes, eggs, bacon and had everyone bring a bag of frozen fruit to do a smoothie bar. It was a lot of fun and we made some pretty dang good smoothies. If you know me you know I love a good smoothie, I drink one pretty much every day. I have yet to try any places out here in Pittsburgh though but it was fun to make them all together and sit and listen to our stake leaders together.

Two of my big takeaways from stake conference were:

1. The Lord guides us to help others

2. Involve Him in prayer even for the little things

The Lords Guides Us to Help Others

One of the most humbling and inspiring stories was shared by the mission president's wife as she talked about one of their missionaries who felt prompted to reach out to a woman they had previously taught and ask if they could come and shovel her walks after one of our snowstorms. She said yes and they did so. As they worked to clear snow from her driveway they heard a faint yell they stopped and listened closer and heard someone yelling “help!” They realized it was coming from across the street they ran over and found an elderly old man who had fallen off of his porch behind some bushes and had been laying there calling for help all day long. The mission president’s wife bore testimony that she knew the Lord knew where that man was and used the missionaries to help him. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Spencer W. Kimball: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.” I pray I can be thoughtful and humble enough to listen and be able to be used as an instrument in the Lord’s hands to help His children. 

Involving Him in Prayer Even for the Little Things.

There is a couple in our ward that truly are so inspiring. The husband actually served in Jaden’s same mission in Kennewick. We’ve been over to their house for a Christmas party and we often talk to them and their cute little son at church. The wife was one of the speakers at stake conference and she gave a great talk but one of the most impactful parts to me was when she talked about involving the Lord in the little things as well as the big things. She and her husband had their second baby a sweet baby girl, a few months ago. Due to complications she only lived for a few hours. The incredible part was that they knew this was going to be the case all along. While most expectant parents plan a new birth by putting together a nursery and explaining to their children they would be getting a new sibling these parents spent their time planning a funeral and explaining to their two year old why he wasn’t going to meet his new sister. Absolutely breaks your heart thinning about it. I can’t imagine what they’ve been through and yet you talk with them and they are so optimistic and full of faith. They talk about their daughter with love and openness and hopefulness. I thought it was striking that during her talk this faithful woman referenced their latest trial losing their daughter but shared experiences about involving the Lord in her success focused her remarks on an experience she had during her undergrad when she was struggling with her homework. She talked about how things changed for her at school when she would pray and involve the Lord in her homework. It was apparent to me that she was able to trust the Lord with amidst huge trials in her life because she found and remembered and involved Him in smaller everyday trials like completing assignments at school. She is an incredible example to me, I’m very grateful our paths have been able to cross. I want to be more diligent at involving the Lord in the little things so that when big trials hit it will be second nature to turn to Him. 

Although the week felt repetitive there really were some peaches. I’m grateful for the opportunities we have to be here and further our education to prepare us for the future and our future family. I’m so grateful for the tender mercies we’ve witnessed and the people that have taught us and influenced us as we’ve been out here.

Peaches:

• Breakfast with friends
• Passed my fourth exam
• Grocery pickup is a game changer with our new school schedules 
• Trying new recipes from Macro Friendly Food. Jaden’s sisters all use their recipes and they’re honestly so yummy. We like them a lot more than the Clean Simple Eats recipes 
• Jaden offered to go to the store for me when I had a lot going on with studying for my exam and still needed things for our Sunday brunch
• Went to PF Chang’s and it was honestly so good
• FaceTiming Jaden’s fav mission family the Parrish’s. They seriously are the best and have taken me in as one of their own! 
• Stake conference brunch and watch party with friends 
• Had dinner and game night with friends 

Get

Pits:

• My sister in law and I fell victim to a phishing scam when trying to order protein powder from a promo email. The weird part was the powder actually came and is legitimate but we still cancelled my card just in case. Turns out it was an unauthorized seller selling off the old packaging version of a product. Happens all the time with my work on Amazon. But I think it was extra embarrassing for mr. Big shot cybersecurity aka Jaden 
• Spending all day Saturday studying for my exam literally ate all three meals at the same place by my computer 

Lessons learned:

• The Lord guides us to help people
• Involving the Lord in the little things will help us involve Him in the big things 
• If a website seems primitive it probably is and you probably shouldn’t order from it 
• Priorities go: family, work and school, church callings