With Great Mercies

I know that I have already shared this song a long while back, but I cannot stop playing it this week. An unexpected loss occurred on Sunday in my family and although I sadly was not close to my cousin, (mainly due to distance and age) I can say that families are forever, I will get to know him better someday, and the Lord will gather his children with great mercies. I am never disappointed with my knowledge of this gospel. It brings me more strength, comfort, and motivation than any other force on the earth. Most importantly, it has helped me develop a relationship with my Savior and I know that he will always lift us up when we are feeling down.

Because Studying can Stink

Because studying can stink and I am putting it off at this very moment to quickly blog, I wanted to share some songs that get me through. I'm not a hipster, I don't like only indie music, but I have never loved the typical music on the radio. So without further or due, here are some songs that get me through school!

Violet-Thao

Oslo in the Summertime- Of Montreal

Be Your Man-Ivan and Alyosha 

(just skip past the hat intro)

Lazy Projector- Andrew Bird

Whole Love-Wilco

(One of my very personal favorites. It was on our wedding video. Aw..)

Duties

Did you know that we, as people, make first impressions of others in the first 1/10th of a second that we approach him or her? It's true. These first impressions last, they attempt to describe a person's true character, background, and attitudes. It's so unfortunate that these judgments are made so rapidly without any true information about the person. It's shown that the judgements we make about a person in that first 1/10th of a second are the same judgements we have of a person after 5 minutes being around them. So how do we get out of this habit of trying to hold onto our first impressions of others?

I've found that as I truly get to know someone, not just associate myself with him or her for several minutes, but truly take an interest in his/her life, I end up liking the person. I have made way too many hasty judgements of people in the past and at the very least, 95% of the time, once I get passed my stubborn first impressions, I really do like them!

Getting Personal: I recently have made an association with somebody whom I first thought to be rude, self-centered, and condescending. Guess what I discovered? She has SO many more difficulties in her life right now than I can imagine in my own and she is dealing with them the best she can. I have now found the opposite to be true of her. She is stronger than I fear I would be, selfless, and tries to pull the positive out of the difficulties that face her. 

Moral of this post? I've learned (and am still working on improving) to try my best to disregard first impressions I create about people. After all, who is the true and just judge? It's not our responsibility to fill. Our duty here is to love our brothers and sisters and help them strengthen their weaknesses as they will for us in return.

My Main Man

Happy Birthday to my main man! Never have I known someone to have so much patience with me, sacrifice more, work harder, or basically is just as down right cool as this birthday guy right here.

Not to mention he is going to be a super awesome dad.

Baby Mama

HEYOO!

(I am going to be perfectly blunt today but I am also going to keep my writing light- hearted.)

Before I start out my post, let me first show a picture. 

BAM!

I am sorry that this picture... 1) May be awkward because we are holding the test. 2) Is incredibly unflattering in every way. 3) Wasn't posted earlier because we've known for almost 3 months now!

That's right. A Freeman babe is on its way and we could not be any more thrilled. Before all of the 85-90% of you who are freaking out at the thought of this go any further...

1. We prayed about this decision.
2. We fasted about this decision.
3. We have both learned throughout our lives to follow the Lord's instructions NO MATTER HOW DIFFERENT it is from OUR plans.
4. Can't you tell we are glowing? Maybe it's just the poor lighting but we truly have been so excited/anxious/ecstatic/nervous/every feeling any other couple has had and we are so happy to be going through it.
5. We already love our little prune more than anything (The internet tells me that's how big it is right now) and I do not care if anybody thinks we are nuts because the Lord obviously wanted us to do this with our lives right now.

 


So I am very sorry if you think I am crazy but guess what? I am going to finish school, I am going to keep being who I am and doing what I am doing (with refinement of course), and I am going to have this baby in August. 

August? Yep. August 9th is the estimated due date. We haven't had our official ultra sound yet but on Monday we will get to know the exact date for sure! Today I had my first appointment and was able to hear the heart beat and make sure everything was lookin good. Perfect! It was so neat to hear my baby's beats today and we can't wait for Monday when we both get to see our little person on a fancy screen.

 As of now, I couldn't feel any more blessed or privileged to be trusted with such an important responsibility from Heavenly Father. I sure hope I will not disappoint!

One fish, two fish.

Disclaimer: This post is most unstructured. I recently just found some forgotten photos that I wanted to share and briefly describe.

I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends over the years and it is so fun to see where everyone has ended up. It's been a very eventful year for us all.

 Marissa McDaniel on the left- Going to Texas on a mission.

Rylee Rogers (Now Zylstra)- now married!

We all know Skyler. She's livin it up in Hawaii attending BYU. Miss her all the time!

 Miss (soon to be Mrs.) Rachel Martindale. She's getting married to an awesome man this March! I was privileged enough to be both their friends during high school so this is fun for me to see.

 Calista Whipple- already took off for her mission in Tampa, Florida.

There are so many more girls that I could account for in this post but I think you get the just of what I am insinuating. Missions and marriages and new college experiences galore! It's so nice to live in a world where technology can still keep us all connected. Congrats to everyone! Maybe in my next post I will actually fill in what's been going on the past two months.

 Just maybe.

Holidays Rule

YES!

 Simply having a wonderful Christmastime.