Out with the old month, in with the new!

So March came in like a lion today, and Ruth slept in like a...bear (!?!?!??). Seriously, it was 9:30 am when I finally woke up enough just to go take a shower, and then, even with the added time from not having to wash my formerly super-long hair or even eat breakfast (yea, Fast Sunday!), we barely made it to church in time for the last of the announcements before the sacrament hymn. Much too close for comfort! So, Valerie and I have decided that we definitely need to start leaving here to catch the Metro earlier, to be on time for once for the opening hymn and prayer (especially if the Metros are going to make us have 10 min. delays – *scowl* ) at church. Which probably means we oughta start going to bed on Saturday before midnight.

But, in fairness, last Saturday actually wasn’t too bad. We—Valerie, me, and Noelle, our Barlow Center roommate next door—were on a date with three Barlow Center guys from 5:30 – 9:30, and then after that we just stayed in the Barlow Center, chatting and vegging (cool new word I learned! It means pretty much everything I do between 5 and midnight every day!) and watching movies (Red Eye—Eek! Scary! But good! Great heroine, and handsome yet despicable villain (squeal)! But naughty language!—and Over the Hedge—Ok. Funny. Not that funny. Kinda cute) until, well, before midnight. Then we went to bed.

Today was pretty good, all things considered. It was fast and testimony meeting at church, and all the testimonies were good. I’d like to get up the nerve to bear my testimony (my last chance—April 1—is coming up!), but the trick is that you have to get up RIGHT AWAY or you will NEVER have the time to come up later without having to wait 20 min. and maybe lose your nerve, because there are ALWAYS ten or eleven people on the stand waiting to bear their testimonies (and I have NO idea how they keep the order straight...). Today we actually went 20 min. overtime, just so everyone from the second wave could get in. But I enjoyed all the testimonies, and didn’t mind going over.

After church, I went straight home, but it still took an hour, with the Metro delays...*furrowed brows and scowl.* At home, I took a nice long nap, ate the last of my grapes and leftover pizza from our date for dinner, and called home. I got to talk with Daniel, Dad, and Mom, and they all seemed to be in good spirits. Things are apparently all a-bustle with Dad trying to figure out how he’ll be living in an apartment over the week while at this new job, and Daniel starting a new class at the mid-point of the semester (Yikes! Is it really half-way over?!? Guess it’s time to start cracking on that research paper!!). I didn’t get to talk with Sarah :( - but will have to schedule another time to call her back, as I have a LOT of girl-talk business to take care of.

At 8 pm we all went downstairs to hear the CES fireside with Elder Robert D. Hales, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I’ve never particularly enjoyed his talks, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this was one of the most beautiful, insightful talks I’d ever heard from any General Authority that I can remember. He spoke about standing on high ground and overcoming temptations by having the Holy Ghost with us at all times. I was particularly impressed with the following points he made:

Enticements of the adversary are always short-lived and poisonous. (This is so true, and also, sadly, so easy to forget. I loved the crisp, clear way that Elder Hales put it though—very memorable)

We are not the only ones who are affected by our mistakes—our future companion and even future children need us to be strong. (I definitely felt the Spirit here—and also knew that I had some key things I needed to work on to change!)

Sometimes we forget who we are. We are CHILDREN OF GOD. We want to eventually return and live with God, our FATHER. To do this, we have to live worthily. (This really struck a nerve with me. If I knew that I had to do something to return and live with my parents and family in Utah again, I’m pretty sure I would find a way to do it, just because I love them so much and desperately want to see them again. It’s the same way, only much more so, with Heavenly Father)

Satan does not have a body and does not have power over us—when we tell him to depart, he MUST. Understand that. (I really liked this point, since I had never really considered it before in such literal terms)

There are four very tender words of caring between spouses—we can’t afford it. (Great quote, and so out of character for Elder Hales—it made me laugh!)

You can lose all the blessings that are in store for you, if you are not careful. (This really scared me, since I know I do NOT want to lose those blessings in store for me. Sooo...I’m going to be careful.)

I took more notes, but these were my favorite. And I am definitely now a fan of Elder Hales, and will be looking forward very much to his General Conference talk in April. What an inspiring, wonderful man.



Not to detract too much from the spirit of the post, but I did want to let everyone on the blog know that I got my hair cut yesterday. Without going into too much detail, I got 6 inches off, then I had it layered and styled with curls and things. Everyone liked it, but I doubt I’ll be maintaining all the wavy things on a regular basis, so don’t expect me to come home looking like...well, like this, for instance:


Or even like this, as I looked on our "date":