Janice Kapp Perry

Yesterday Tanner and I went to his parents house in Ashton to eat dinner with them and spend some time with them.  We like to take turns going to each of our parents house so we can catch up with them week after week.  It's fun! Ya know, sometimes it's hard but I've decided that I feel very blessed to have my other family just 4o minutes away.  I learn new things from them every week, and I just love every single one of them.  Well, my mother in law and my 2 sister in laws were all dressed up to go to Janice Kapp Perry's fireside.  Tanner and I came dressed in sloppy clothes, so I was kinda mad i didn't have any sunday clothes!! Well, my sister in law Aubree lent me some clothes, and my other sister in law Whitney convinced me to go with them.  Tanner and Kevin stayed at home and had some "manly bonding time." hahaha.

  Anyway, the fireside was incredible. Sis. Perry is such an inspiring woman to me.  She's written many a songs in the Primary Songbook, and she also wrote the EFY medley.  When I went to EFY, the last day we sang the EFY medley with all the men and women there.  I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I just bawled and bawled thinking how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life.  I remember how I just couldn't stop crying and I didn't know why.  Until finally I realized that was my Saviors way of communicating to me through music.  Music has always held a special place in my heart.  Ever since I was 6 years old,  my parents emphasized the importance of music.  And boy am I ever grateful to them for that.  While I was sitting at this fireside with my wonderful sisters and mother in law, Sis. Perry had the whole congregation sing some songs she wrote with her.  It was really powerful.  I felt the spirit so strong, and I just couldn't stop crying!  We started singing "I lovto see the temple," and that one just got to me.  Floods and floods of memories started streaming back to me from the day I was sealed to Tanner.  That was one of the most spiritual days of my life, and the most life-changing experience of my life.  As I was sitting there listening to everyone around me singing about the temple, I kept repeating these words in my head: I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday.  To feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray.  For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty.  I'll prepare myself while I am young, this is my sacred duty.  I love to see the temple, I'll go inside someday.  To covenant with my Father; I'll promise to obey.  For the temple is a holy place where we are sealed together. As a child of God I've learned this truth....A FAMILY IS FOREVER."  Aren't these such powerful words? Oh man, for some reason when I heard these words yesterday, it was just what I needed to hear.  It is amazing to me that our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to hear, exactly when we need to hear it.  I've just been praying about certain things lately, and it is so bittersweet to me that even through my own sister in law, the Lord spoke through her to tell me that "maybe Sis. Perry will tell me something I need to hear."  I will be forever grateful for Whit for that because that fireside was exactly what I needed to hear.  I feel so blessed to have 2 such wonderful families.   I got to spend some quality time with my mom this past weekend in Utah, and we had so much fun!! We just laughed our heads off, sang really loud to songs on the radio, and just spend some quality time together.  It was a blast.  I also love being around Tanners family as well.  They always make me feel so loved, and we always laugh our heads off and have a good time as well.  Last but not least, I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father for giving me such wonderful families.  Family has always been a source of strength to me, and now I have double the strength that I used to have.  I love you Andersons and Stevens!!

 

The results

Well, the results of my colonoscopy came back, and they were all negative.  My doctor said he took biopsies of my large and small intestines, and took some from other random places just to see if anywhere showed anything abnormal.  The results were....nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Ya know, when we got the results, Tanner and I went to speak with the doctor, and he told us that everything looked normal and nothing looked wrong.  I was so confused.  I have had some of the worst stomach pain and have just been miserable for the last little while....how could everything be normal? It was frustrating for me. It was good news that they didn't find anything serious like Chrones disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but at the same time, I wish they would've found something, just so I would know what step to take next.  Oh well, I've just told myself to keep trucking along, and everything will be okay.

I've been thinking about a lot of different things lately.  One of them being that maybe stress is what's causing my stomach aches, or maybe im worrying too much about things, I don't know.  For all I know, it could be stress, I could be worrying too much about everything, it could be a lot of things. While growing up, I realized I never really did well with CHANGE.  Change can sometimes be huge, and sometimes be small.  Well, the biggest change in a persons life happened to me 5 months ago. M.A.R.R.I.A.G.E. one day you are single, and the next day you are married, it is weird to think about!! It is so wonderful, it is so hard, it is so rewarding, it is so life-changing, and so many other things.  Marriage is a huge step in life and let me tell you what....a LOT of things change when you get married.  Just things you aren't used to is all.  Let me name some things that have been a "change" for me in the last 6 months. Just for the fun of it.  And just so you single people can see how much your life changes when you get married!

1. Getting used to having someone else in your bed.  and not just someone else...A MAN!  Haha i love it though.  Waking up to the one you love's face every morning is special :)
2.Cooking dinner every night.  Before I got married, I never really had any 'interest' in cooking.  I loved to bake, but cooking wasn't really my thing.  I love it now.
3. Having one car, for 2 people.
4.You now pay ALL of the bills. Gas, electric, both phones, groceries, car payment, gas, entertainment, rent...oh boy does that add up!
5. You now have 2 families.  Trying to balance family activities equally has been difficult for us! especially when our families live 40 minutes away.
6. Having a budget.  It is SUPER hard trying not to spend too much money. and not going over your limit!
7. Filing your own taxes. HAHA!!! this was a struggle for us since neither of us have done it by ourselves before.
8. Before I got married, I always imagined my husband cuddling up to me in bed.  It was like a life-long dream of mine.  Tanner did it for the first week of marriage. Well, after about a week, that all stopped, and now we have to negotiate before he cuddles with me.
9.  Settling little arguments.  This is a big one.  I hate knowing that i offended someone, or hurt someone.  When you get married, it seems like sometimes the 'smallest' things bother each other! It's hilarious.  Sometimes when Tanner or I is bothered about something, we just laugh our heads off and realize how silly we are being!  And other times when the argument is a little big bigger, it's not like you can just leave and go home! because that IS your home, and you live with that person!  But eventually you make up because you realize you love them and you are married to them forEVER.
10.Getting to know and truly understand your other half.  Tanner and I were talking about this tonight and we came up with the conclusion that it is going to take our whole lives until we have each other figured out.  It's quite comical, but fun at the same time.
11. Once you get married, it's like your friends disappear.  This one has been hard for both Tanner and I.
12. keeping up with the dishes, cleaning the house, and doing the laundry.  Oh my- this was a huge change!
13. Making the bed every morning. I hate being messy.  I've always been a clean person, and I like to keep it that way! So when you live with someone who doesn't really care as much as you do, it becomes a struggle.  A funny/silly struggle.

There's many more, but all in all, Marriage is the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's just such a huge change at first. It is such a blessing to know you are sealed to the one you love and that you get to live with them FOREVER! Forever is such a powerful word, it makes me all warm inside whenever I hear it.  Maybe this whole marriage thing has caused stress to create my stomach aches, maybe it hasn't.  I guess I will never know.  But all I know is that marriage is a wonderful blessing, and I feel so blessed to be married to tanner for the rest of my life. One thing I always try to tell myself is this: Whenever you get caught thinking about all the hard things about marriage, think of twice as many wonderful things about marriage that make it all worth it.