Finding Joy in the Journey

This new semester has proved to be more trying than last semester! We are both working two jobs. We are both doing the early EARLY morning cleaning jobs, LJ is still a teachers assistant in the business department and I have been hired as a "mentor" for a music theory class (I teach classes 5 hours a week). Work keeps us pretty busy and LJ is also serving on the student representative council as the rep. over Academics and I got cast as a lead in this semester's Opera. I am performing as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni. I am very excited! All of these activities have us going non-stop but we really try to apply the principle of "find joy in the journey." These years are going to zoom by and eventually we will remember these times and think "Oh, if only we could go back." Some days, I just want these years to be over but then I realize how truly blessed we have been and continue to be. We are very happy. We are healthy, we have great friends, we have sufficient for our needs, and through all of this our Father in Heaven continues to bless us with the physical and spiritual strength we need to complete all of the tasks which are required of us. I am gaining such a strong testimony of simple obedience. What I mean by that, is when we do the "simple" things, Heavenly Father blesses us tremendously. When I say my morning prayers (even though some mornings I feel half asleep) I know that Heavenly Father hears me and answers my righteous desires. When I study the scriptures I am blessed to understand what I am learning in my classes. The mercy and love of our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, are incomprehensible. I know that if we turn to the Atonement, even through trials (or busy times), we will find joy in the journey for we know that our experiences are for our benefit.

Coulda' Woulda' Shoulda'

The title is how I feel about writing on my blog! I cannot believe how crazy life gets and it goes by SO fast! We are already at mid-terms...I have no idea where the first half of the semester went! LJ and I are doing well in school. We love BYU-Idaho! We haven't had anytime to relax until this past weekend. We went to LJ's parents house for the 3 day weekend and it was AMAZING! They always pamper us when we visit! We had a blast eating, watching the olympics, eating, shopping, eating, relaxing, eating...did I mention that we ate A LOT? I think we came back 10lbs heavier! As much as we love school it is always nice to get away! We didn't do anything too special for Valentine's Day...LJ bought me 2 roses and some chocolate covered strawberries and he wrote me the sweetest note EVER! In a nut shell it said that he feels bad that he couldn't afford to buy me anything big or take me out to a fancy restaurant but that I will always have his heart! CUTE CUTE CUTE HUSBAND!!!!! Coming back to Rexburg has been rough - reality is never as fun as relaxation! We have been a bit disoriented and our house would prove that - it is a mess! But, I think we are getting back into the groove of things. I am heading down to Vegas next weekend for Becca Stewart's wedding - woo hoo! I am excited to go home, but LJ isn't going down with me - that is going to be awful! He has so much going on though so I don't blame him. OH, while we were in Utah, LJ had a conversation via webcam with his mission president. President Anderson is a very VERY successful business man and has spent 28 years in China doing so. LJ told President Anderson that his goal is to be a corporate lawyer and that he is interested in working in Hong Kong. President Anderson said that the market for corporate law is BOOMING in Hong Kong and that if he does well in his undergrad and goes on to a prestigious Law Program then he will have no problem getting a job in Asia...WOW WOW WOW!!!! That scared me to death at first, but after discussing it I don't think it sounds so awful. It would be a huge change for me and I would be nervous to be so far away from the U.S. but I think it could be amazing! We wouldn't have any financial problems and there is a temple in Hong Kong. Maybe LJ and I would have neat opportunities to serve the Lord over there. We aren't planning on moving to Hong Kong but it is a possibility! Who knows, maybe in a few years I will be blogging from China! Well, I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all!

Sorry I haven't written in a while, life has been crazy! With work, school, chores, and trying to spend time together - my blog has fallen through the cracks. So, now it's time for an update!

We are still going to bed at 8pm and waking up at 3am every morning. I don't think my body will ever adjust. Once we get home from school we do homework after which we are so tired that we usually eat dinner, clean the house a bit and go to bed. LJ and I are both part of the Student Representative Council (SRC) this semester and we have meetings Tuesday night. LJ hopes to run for student body president next summer (2011). I am participating in Opera Scenes and have rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday nights until 7:45. LJ is working as a teacher's assistent for a few hours in the afternoons - he never complains but I'm sure he feels overwhelmed. We are trying to keep up on our social lives, but it's difficult when we go to bed so early. We have Jake and Bre Bierstedt over about once every two weeks, we see our friends Todd and Ashleigh at our SRC meetings are we are actually going to their house on Sunday for a Super Bowl party - YAY - And we spend as much time as we can with our friends Chris and Audrey Lambert - in fact we are going over to their house tomorrow night for Navaho tacos - mmmm! We got a new TV this week which is VERY exciting! Yesterday we got all of our homework done early and watched the Dark Knight! It was AWESOME! We love the new TV!
I always end my posts this way - I LOVE LJ! He is the greatest husband I could have ever hoped for! He really is my dream man! I hope you all are doing great! Love You!

School House Rock

We made it back to Rexburg safe, sound, and reluctant haha We were able to find jobs on campus working as custodians, but we are EARLY morning custodians and by early I mean 4am-7am!! I am not a morning person so this has been quiet the change for me. We go to bed at 8pm and wake up at 3am! I have been cleaning bathrooms everyday this week - I have never really minded cleaning toilets so this job doesn't bother me at all. LJ says he likes the job because now if he hears people complain about their jobs he can say "I have it worse...I take out trash at 4am" haha LJ also has a job as a teacher's assistant and he works about 8-10 hours a week in the afternoons (poor guy). He really likes the job luckily and the teacher is one of the heads of the business department so it is a good connection to have. It's rough, but we are making enough money to take care of ourselves. We are always so blessed! School is going well thus far. LJ has been a little disappointed because he was not able to get into very many classes he wanted but at least he is taking classes he needs. His favorite class is Mandarin Chinese! He is interested in doing international law and Chinese is a valuable language to speak so its a good thing he is really enjoying the class. My classes are pretty awesome this semester. I am taking 4 music classes, a religion class, and an upper level English class. OH, I forget to mention that we have religion together - that is super fun! We both have lite loads and are done with school by 1 at the latest. One of our new years resolutions is to both get 4.0 gpa's and having a lite load will hopefully make that goal possible. In our spare time we have been either cleaning house or doing homework haha Last night we got to go on a date which was really nice, but by 9 o'clock we were DEAD! Our bodies are adjusting to "early to bed, early to rise" so we were asleep at 10 haha I am so glad that LJ is so helpful around the house and that he is so darn fun to be with! It is nice to know that he is always here for me! I know that we can make anything work as long as we are living righteously and stick together! In the words of John Lennon...All You Need is Love!!!!

Home for the Holidays

This was our first Christmas as the Nielsens and it was absolutley fantastic! LJ was a little nervous that I wasn't going to like any gifts he bought me because I continually warned him "Don't buy anything I haven't specifically asked for." I am pleased to say he did great! LJ also had a very VERY good Christmas! He got every book he asked for, a movie projector, and his pride and glory AN IPHONE!!!! He loves it, but I have hardly had any quality time with him since he pulled it out of the package (haha). We have been at my parents for a week now and I am LOVING all the relaxation and the pampering! LJ is enjoying the pampering but he is excited for school to start next week. Yes, school. (sigh) I am getting very worried about all of our responsibilities that start the minute we get back to Rexburg. Finances are my number one worry and everything else just falls underneath that category! Isn't that awful? Luckily, LJ isn't a worrier. He keeps reminding me that as long as we pay our tithes and offerings we will make it financially. He is an amazing example to me! We have been talking about New Years resolutions recently so as soon as we have ours written down I will post them (that way I feel more determined haha). I think one of my New Years resolutions will be keeping up on my Blogger posts haha!

Lately...

LJ and I have been married a little over 3 months! Can you believe it? I can't!
Married life is the greatest! I fall more and more in love with LJ everyday. I couldn't have found a better man for me! We moved back to Rexburg at the beginning of September and began working at Gandolfo's Deli in Idaho Falls. After about a month LJ and I were both promoted to the position of closing manager! It has been great - we have the same schedule and are getting paid very well. We have been so blessed with financial security! But, due to school starting in January we will not be working in Idaho Falls. We have already registered for our Winter classes and we will both have class every day from 7:45 to about 12:30 which isn't bad at all. Now were are in the process finding jobs on or off campus that will work with our schedules. We have had such a fun few months thus far! LJ's mission companion and his wife live directly below us - WE LOVE THEM!! And we have also been able to make friends with a lot of young couples in our ward! We just have so much fun with them! We have had a few parties here and there and had some late evenings full of games, teasing, and laughter - it is the best! In the slide show I have posted there are some pictures from our newlywed adventures...we went to Yellowstone one Saturday and saw Old Faithful, we had a Halloween party where (naturally) we were dressed as Anikan and Padme Skywalker - we are such geeks! And there are some pictures of our fabulous honeymoon - Hawaii was AMAZING [thanks Tomom and Tasha ;)] We headed down to Utah for Thanksgiving! It was so nice to get away from stress and work and IDAHO haha LJ's family always pampers us when we visit - I love it! While we were there we got to meet our niece for the first time! LJ's sister Jennifer had a little girl in October, Reagon Marie - she is SO STINKING CUTE!!!! She is such a beautiful and well behaved baby! It was really exciting for me to see LJ with a baby because I have never really seem him around little little kids...speaking of which - we were called as primary teachers! There are only 40 kids in our primary so we teach 2 age groups. We have the 6 and 7 year olds! We love them! We have a few rough weeks but being the primary is so wonderful because the children invite the spirit just by being there. We are getting so anxious for Christmas! We put our Christmas tree up so early in light of us not being here for Christmas haha We wanted to enjoy it while we could! LJ is awful to shop for! haha He does not like surprises so he basically knows everything he is getting haha Last night we had a Christmas party! It was an ugly sweater party and let me tell you - I HAD THE UGLIEST SWEATER haha It was probably 4 sizes too big! It wasn't too exciting but we had friends over and played games and ate so many sweets haha Life is going great here in Rexburg...it's freezing cold but we are having the time of our lives! Thank you all so much for your love and support! I hope I write again before Christmas, but if not...Have a great Christmas! We are so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, who was born in a humble stable, who lived a perfect life, who suffered in Gethsemane then died on the cross that we might be saved. He is the literal Son of God and in the Christmas season may we all remember what we are truly celebrating!

Mary Poppins

LJ and I are only 33 days away from getting married and the pressure is insane! I'm pretty sure my mom has it worse though - she is pulling her hair out - poor thing! LJ and I are doing the "long distance" thing until we get married on August 29th and it is very trying, but we're doing alright so far. Anyways, I had to post the top 10 things I love about him...

#1 - His faithfullness to the Lord
#2 - He respects me and lets me be ME
#3 - His silly sense of humor
#4 - His orange hair on the back of his head!!!
#5 - His story telling skills (no one tells a story like LJ)
#6 - His positive attitude about life
#7 - His Wookie noise! haha
#8 - His smile!!!!!! CUTE!!!
#9 - His constant desire to grow and improve
#10 - His hugs - wow I feel so safe!

LJ is like Mary Poppins...practically perfect in every way!