October 18, 2009

Sunday

It’s been a good weekend. On Friday, Kat and Mike came over to hang out. We hadn’t seen them since Dan’s birthday and it’s weird that we haven’t hung out as much, seeing as we used to all the time. They brought over dinner, a delicious pasta dish…but it had peanut butter in it, so Daniel couldn’t eat it, and they felt so bad that they had forgotten Dan was allergic to nuts. They were about to leave to make something else to bring for dinner, but we made them stay. I don’t even think Daniel cares that much, anyway. We heated him up some spaghetti to eat, and we had fun anyways.

After dinner, we played a bunch of games, all of which Mike won. Kat and I were flabbergasted (she was really upset about one of them, because she was so close to winning, but we kept setting her off, at our own expense, until Mike one), but Daniel just laughed about it. It was pretty funny. Earlier that day, I had troubled over making flan for dessert. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. So I was worried it wouldn’t turn out very well. But it was actually really good…and now, after having been in the fridge for over a day, it’s even better! I’ll just have to make it again. We had a lot of fun with Kat and Mike, but it was also a little weird. It’s almost like I don’t know how to have friends now that I’m married, especially friends I had before we got married. The last half of the time that they were over, I felt like I was not being as much myself, which I thought was strange. I wasn’t trying to do that, but it was happening. Plus, Kat has changed. The way that she and Mike were before (loud, opinionated, argumentative, sarcastic) has heightened since they got married, and I find that I don’t want to be like that, so I have to not act myself. Oh, they are still fun, and funny to be around. They definitely make us laugh. But…the change in her isn’t positive, I don’t think. It’s weird. I have to figure out how to be a friend with my old friends now that I’m married. Lots of things to learn now that I’m married.

Yesterday was busy. Dan and I had a lot of stuff to do. We slept later than we’d planned, so we didn’t get as much done. I have a test tomorrow, so I’ve been stressing about it and having enough time to study for it. And yesterday, a lot went on, and I thought I wouldn’t have time to study. Daniel was a really good husband, though, and gave me as much time to study as he could. We went to the temple to do sealings in the morning. I love going to the temple. What peace we can feel there! After the temple, Dan was in not so good a mood, and after a while of trying to get him to feel better, I wasn’t either. We cleaned up the house a bit after the temple, and then I went to Rebekah’s baby shower with Stephanie. We drove up to South Jordan together to the shower. It was fun. My family was there, we played some games, ate some good food, watched her open presents. Dan and I got her (that morning after the temple) some cute little tops of all different ages. I figured she would get a bunch of new baby clothes, but babies grow fast, and she’d need all different sizes in the next couple of years. I think she really appreciated the difference in sizes that we gave her.

The people who hosted the shower had a wicked awesome house. Their house was full of wood furniture, cabinets, and floors that the husband had done. And their backyard had a covered hot tub, a bunch of fruit trees, and a coy pond! It was such a fun house and yard. They had some interesting dogs too. Italian Greyhounds: look them up.

When Stephanie and I got back, I studied all afternoon until Dan and I went on a hot date. We went to Subway for dinner, which we ate in the parking lot at BYU. And then we went to an Ernst and Young event, a concert with Ryan Shuppe and the Rubberband. It was an awesome concert, they are really good performers, and we had a really good time. It’s amazing how much money these accounting companies spend on recruiting at BYU. They gave each couple a free CD, and in the lobby of the Joseph Smith Building, they had set up these tables with buckets full of candy that we could just take, and a city backdrop with a bunch of Smart Cookie cookies on sticks in this peg board. We walked away with two cookies, two oranges, and two bags full of candy, plus that CD. We only talked to the recruiter from San Jose for about 5-10 minutes, and yet Ernst and Young spent SO much MONEY on that event for BYU students. Amazing! How come my college doesn’t have something like that? J

We didn’t go to bed last night until almost one in the morning, so we were exhausted in church today, and I was super-grumpy. I feel like we have been in the ward for two months and we don’t know most people in our ward. I also feel like I have been making better efforts than I ever have in my life to get to know the sisters and serve the sisters in this ward, even though I don’t know them. I sign up to go and plan to go to enrichment activities, but something always comes up. I sign up to help someone out, so that I can meet them. Almost every Sunday, I try to sit by someone new or introduce myself to someone. But despite all of these efforts, I also feel like I haven’t gotten anywhere with them. I don’t know anyone, and all the people I have met feel awkward around me, etc. I thought I would be blessed for trying so hard, but I feel like I haven’t. So, today I was very frustrated and grumpy. I went into one of the bathroom stalls to be alone and to pray. I told Heavenly Father of all my frustrations and that I was having a hard time dealing with them. I still sat by myself in RS today (maybe I should’ve made more of an effort, but I wasn’t much in the mood), but I felt much comfort and love. I didn’t feel as bitter and I felt more charitable. There was a small group discussion in the lesson, and I had no problems turning around to join another group. I participated in the lesson, and I made a mental note to be more diligent in visiting teaching. I just feel like my testimony of prayer and the love of God increase. I prayed for help and comfort, and I was blessed with that. I was reminded of my place, and my responsibility to think of others and to be charitable. And I was inspired to be better with my visiting teaching. Plus, in my prayer, I said that I wanted a calling so that I could get to know some of the others in our ward and so that I can serve them. And today, (Dan answered my phone) I got an appointment to meet with the bishopric to get a calling. I just feel like I was blessed today, maybe even when I didn’t deserve it. And I learned a lot from the experience.

Dan and I took a nap today after church and lunch, for about 2 hours. I’m going to go read and make some phone calls, and then tonight, Brianna Houck (Brian’s little girlfriend) is coming over for dinner tonight, and we are pretty excited.

Hopefully this week will be good. By my birthday, I should be done with all my test craziness for a while. And that’s a relief!