Funny Things Keep Happening

The other day my fiance and I went and did curb-side pick-up at Olive Garden. It was so funny because as we were driving to the curb, we watched another couple walk up to the doors of Olive Garden. The manager was waiting with a smile and said, "Thank you for joining us during the apocalypse, welcome to Olive Garden!" We got a good laugh out of that. 

The other funny thing that has been happening with all the stuff that's been going on is that a lot of people have taken up walking and running these past few weeks. The Provo running trail has been pretty crowded (relatively speaking, with socially distancing intact).  I didn't see any of these people running with me when it was 19 degree outside a month ago!

The funniest thing, though, is there's this older gentleman who I often see on my runs. Basically every time I see him, he's leisurely walking down the road, but every time he catches sight of me running, he also starts running! And this guy can run pretty fast. But it seems he only runs when he sees me running. I don't know if I'm his inspiration or his competition, but it definitely cracks me up. 

Anyways, with all the crazy stuff that's been going on, I feel like most everyone has been trying to cope with things in the ways that they can, whether that be through humor, distraction, appropriate social connection, or physical exercise. One thing that's given me comfort the past few days is the scriptures. I found this cool verse in the Book of Mormon though that was pretty relevant to the current events happening right now. To give a little context, this scripture is about a prophet, Jacob, and how he responds to someone who challenged his faith in Christ and Christ's sacrifice (aka the atonement): 

Jacob 7: 12 

And this is not all—it has been made manifest unto me, for I have heard and seen; and it also has been made manifest unto me by the ^apower of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if there should be no atonement made all mankind must be ^blost.

What hit me when I was reading this verse was that because of Jesus Christ, the world is not lost. As dismal as things seem to be right now, there is always hope in Christ. He paid the price for our sins so that we may live again. That's pretty cool! The world may become dangerous, the world may become unpredictable, but the world will never become lost. We can trust in that.

Thanks for reading! I wish you all the best of luck in staying safe, happy, and sane!  

Why it's NOT the end of the World and Also my Wedding Dress

On my last day working with on campus food service before everything started shutting down, I greeted everyone with a smile and jokingly asked them how the end of the world was treating them. (It took all of my self-control to not be like, "Good morning, welcome to the end of the world, how may I help you? Would you like a breakfast panini?") Since at the time I was working in the engineering building, most of the students responded to me with, "It's going good. Still got to finish my group project". I guess even a worldwide pandemic does not stop engineers from getting their homework done!

In all seriousness, though, it's been a crazy couple weeks for pretty much everyone. This week, I've been receiving emails basically every couple hours that have drastically changed what my life will look like for the next couple weeks. I've been slightly obsessively checking my email for class and school updates, work updates, and church updates. It's been a real adventure.

Despite all the craziness, though, lots of good stuff has been happening. I love this video by President Nelson that really explains to us why we can still have hope:

What I love most about this video is President Nelson saying "We're living in a remarkable age where we constantly see the hand of the Lord in the lives of His children." What a beautiful statement! When times get rough, it's hard to see the good in anything. Irrational fear encroaches on every other feeling. It can be really, really hard. But God has been blessing us individually, as a Church, and as a world in so many ways.

I've got to share one super cool way I've seen God's hand in my life. Friday was a designated girl's night. My roommate Paige and I were basically like, alright, we're bored and done being cooped up in the house. Let's go to DI (our favorite local thrift shop). I decided to try on wedding dresses just for fun. I didn't actually plan on getting one, but thought it would be a super fun, stress-releasing experience.

Pro tip: for anyone getting married, GO DRESS SHOPPING AT DI FIRST!! There were so many pretty dresses there and like three dresses I could have potentially bought for my wedding. The first one I tried on was super cute, the second one too, but the third one was what really took my breath away. I literally cried when I put it on, it was so pretty. I felt like a princess. I bought it right then and there. It was so cute because all the ladies who were working at DI got in on the action. They were making comments on the different wedding dresses and giving tips as to how I could alter them. One lady came up to us and asked if the dress was for a temple wedding. When I said yes, she gave me a Lifesaver. I seriously love DI!


Photo by Cherisse Kenion on Unsplash 

Anyways, me and Paige finished off our girl's night listening to Ben Rector and Ed Sheeran songs and watching part of the first episode of Disney Fair Tale Wedding. About as perfect of a girl's night as it can get.

So yeah, maybe it feels like the world's ending. I'm unemployed. Wedding plans are a mess. The economy's a mess. Our honeymoon plans are a mess. My room is a mess (although that's not a novel thing, it's always a mess). Through it all, though, I can have hope. I can be grateful for beautiful tender mercies like finding my dream wedding dress at a thrift shop or having super cute Ben Rector music to listen to. And I can thank God for my wonderful family, wonderful friends, and the wonderful man with whom I will someday soon share eternity with.

The future is going to be ridiculously amazing!