Wired

I swear my mother has our house wired.

First, my sister and I have been complaining a lot since the beginning of summer how in the past few years of adulthood, our parents still treated us as children. Curfews, "you can't go out until your room is clean", wake up calls, etc.
Suddenly this summer is different. The occasional wake up call for church, but that's it. Strange.

Second, during my trip to Louisiana, my boyfriend and I stayed the night together at a hotel instead of risking getting lost from each other while staying at free housing. We really didn't do anything either. We were just way too tired.
As soon as I told my mom she said, "It's ok, I'm actually glad you got a hotel. I was talking with your [grandma] last night about that if you were going to do anything together you would have already done it. You're both adults and we can't do anything about it." Um... wait what? Definitely different behavior from my parents that I am used to.

Third, my sister and I have been annoyed lately with my mother. We all know our house is a mess, but Mom acts as if it's everyone else's mess but her own. Ugh. I have even less motivation to clean when someone blames me and can't even take responsibility for their own mess.
Today, I wake up to my mother actually cleaning the house. She's cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed rooms, dusted, etc.

Seriously though, either the house is wired or they've drilled tiny holes through the walls to hear what we're talking about. Whatever it is, I'm kind of scared.

Dericious Food

I haven't been updating much lately. :/ So... I decided I'd update now, even if it is just a little.

So I really haven't been doing much of importance lately other than shop and cook.

I'm feeling the need for a new wardrobe. If only I had enough courage to actually get rid of clothing I don't wear. I'm so attached to my belongings. :/ But I have bought some new jewelry now to add to my clothing! I love sales at Claire's and Rue 21. :)

I've been super proud of myself lately for cooking, too! The other day I made this amazing recipe for avocado corn chowder that I found from Busy Bee Lauren here. I found myself adding leftovers of this to whatever I could. It's just so good.
I also made some of this amazing snack mix. I also found this recipe thanks to Busy Bee Lauren.
And today I made tzatziki sauce for gyros! It's all been so good and it's even more awesome knowing that everyone else likes it, too.

I should cook more often. :)

P.S. Been watching American Ninja Warrior marathon today. I love the show. I hate when they call it "Mount Midoriyama". Yama is Japanese for "mountain". It's like saying "Mount Midori Mountain". Redundant? Yes.

Crazy people in Kentucky

This lady's gut was hanging out all over the place in this. Then before they left she had to have a friend retie her halter.

I was told that Kmart had a sale of these. Not sure why someone would feel it approapriate to wear this to a graduation ceremony, let alone buy a dress with text on their butt.

Older woman, so understandable to a degree. She definitely stood out compared to the rest of everyone sitting in her area.

Weekends

Sorry for not updating until now. Just another busy week!

So last weekend while in Kentucky we got to do a lot of super fun things. Visited a bunch of Good Wills and picked up some adorable clothes to add to my wardrobe. Ate at some amazing restaurants. Yum.

There were tons of ridiculously crazy people at my niece's graduation.

We went to this cool ferry on the river that can take three cars across at a time. The guy working was super cool and let us even get up and walk around to take pictures.

Had a little party with amazing grilled food for my niece's graduation. Afterward we went to a local carnival where my sister and I just walked around people watched.

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Then there's this weekend. So much fun with the boyfriend. We left at about 8 a.m. for Louisiana Friday morning. We got a bit lost but tons of fun talking and sight seeing.

Pulling into the stake center was so amazing because the first thing you see is the temple. It was like the size of my church building at home. So small. The stake center looked twice as big.

I got to see my friend. She was so beautiful and amazing. I wish I could have spent more time with her but I still felt special knowing she was still blowing off some of her other guests to talk to me.
I really wanted to cry. She really was beautiful and all grown up. I felt like a nothing compared to my best friend standing there in all her beautiful bride glory. Oh well. Maybe I'll be there someday.

Busy week!

I apologize for not updating in a while. I visited my relatives in Kentucky over the weekend for my niece's high school graduation. I'll have plenty of pictures of crazy people to show.

Did some shopping and got some adorable new clothes! Can't wait to wear them and show them off. :)

Unfortunately, I've got stuff going on again this week so I probably won't be posting much. I'll try to post something small at least about what I've been doing.

I'll give you a little more insight into my weekend later. :]

♥

Cool things

Decided to visit a local church's garage sale today. Found a couple of neat things like a bamboo steamer for a $1 and a really lovely candle holder for $1.

Then I came across this beauty.





















They wanted $75 originally. They were packing everything up and after much bargaining I paid $25 for this lovely record/CD/cassette/radio player combo. Got home and checked everything out. The CD player is the only thing that doesn't work. Figures. lol. I'm hoping to find someone to help me with that. I'm super excited that the record player works; it plays 78s and 45s! :)

Also, got to talk to the boyfriend yesterday on his way home for the weekend. Turns out he found someone who works for the Physical Plant and is going to recommend him for that custodial job I was trying to help him out with. He just has to come in on Monday and apply in person. I'm super excited for him. I really hope he gets this, he needs it.
I'm supposed to be headed that way to school in about a week and a half. I'll finally get to see him! I miss him a lot. I really hope if he does get that job that he'll still be able to come to my friend's wedding with me. I'm crossing my fingers. :]

Temple Symbolism

Last night I ran across a blog for "Mormon Boy". I discovered he was an excommunicated LDS because of his open homosexuality. He no longer believes the church is true and was openly mocking all that goes on inside the temple. He was going to publish all this in a book.
I was hurt and confused, even by the things he said that did happen in the temple. I was unsure and decided to search more on the temple. I found a forum of ex-Mormons who were talking about the temple. I was even more confused and nervous about what people were saying really happened in the temple. After reading their words, why in the world would I ever feel comfortable going though a wedding or take out my endowments in the temple.

I prayed before bed. I was hurt, confused, and feeling uncomfortable. I asked Heavenly Father to give me comfort, to help me understand.
This morning I googled "preparing to enter the temple" and found this talk. Maybe a fourth of the way in did I really find what I needed.

"Before going to the temple for the first time, or even after many times, it may help you to realize that the teaching of the temples is done in symbolic fashion. The Lord, the Master Teacher, gave much of His instruction in this way...

"We live in a world of symbols. We know nothing, except by symbols. We make a few marks on a sheet of paper, and we say that they form a word, which stands for love, or hate, or charity, or God or eternity. The marks may not be very beautiful to the eye. No one finds fault with the symbols on the pages of a book because they are not as mighty in their own beauty as the things which they represent. We do not quarrel with the symbol G-o-d because it is not very beautiful, yet represents the majesty of God. We are glad to have symbols, if only the meaning of the symbols is brought home to us...

"We live in a world of symbols. No man or woman can come out of the temple endowed as he should be, unless he has seen, beyond the symbol, the mighty realities for which the symbols stand. (“Temple Worship,” page 62.)"

It was this that really struck me. I belong to a sorority where we have our own ritual. Things are done in private and are sacred to us. Many of the things that happen during our ritual are symbolic. Our founders left it open to interpretation to each and every member, past, present, and future. No one knows if there was a specific meaning meant to come out of it, but each member interprets it their own way and it means something different to each and every one of us.

I relate this to the temple. I know I haven't been through but after reading about it I feel that I can relate the two. Things that go on in the temple are sacred, too. Things in the temple are all symbolic. No one know exactly what is meant of them but we interpret to an understanding that we can relate to personally. If we aren't prepared to enter the temple and look at the things that go on as symbols then we aren't getting what we need from the temple.

The people and their experiences that I read about were not prepared to enter the temple. They looked at everything too literal. We have to prepare ourselves to look beyond what is really happening to see the symbolism that will direct our lives.

I'm glad that Heavenly Father listens to me and can answer my prayers. This definitely brought my mind to ease. I'm glad that he tests me. I could have easily stopped reading that talk (it's ridiculously long) before reaching what would really touch me. I'm thankful for my Heavenly Father and all that he does for me.