Summer!

Holy cow world, can you believe how much I have been slacking at this whole "journaling" thing? I've been doing this for how long now, and the moment things actually start happening in my life, I never take time to document them.

Pathetic.

Ha ha, but seriously, when did life start getting so busy that I didn't have time for the good ol' blog? Unheard of!

Only two posts for the whole month of May?

Unheard of!

Anyhow, I am resolving to be better. Besides, I have a family road trip to Austin coming up to document (can you say, STOKED???), plus a move and I will have pleeenty of things to keep up to speed on here.

As for the important things...life has been getting a little bit more real for me. I have had the beautiful and bittersweet opportunity to get a taste of what it really means to be an adult and I am so grateful for the trust that Heavenly Father has in me to handle it. It isn't all milk and honey like I've imagined it to be.

Adulthood is a lot of working, a LOT of driving, a lot of time spent outside of the comfort of your own home. Adulthood is expensive, lots of rent, lots of groceries, lots of unexpected expenses, and lots of money-related stress. Adulthood is taking responsibility for your own management of your time, money, and attention as well as the responsibility for the consequences of those decisions. Adulthood is making extra efforts in order to keep in touch with people you love but don't often see on a regular basis... and that is hard... at least for me. Adulthood is finding contentment with the things you have while dreaming of the things you would like to have, and it is also being able to discern the line between dreaming/aspiring for the future and being happy with the present.

Why didn't anybody warn us about these things when we were younger? Why didn't our teachers, parents, and church leaders give us a heads up for how difficult it was going to be? Couldn't my Young Womens leaders have prepared me for how difficult choosing my husband was going to be? I mean...it's easy enough to fall in love with somebody... but it's another to be able to discern what God has in store for you and whether or not this wonderful man you've found fits in with that plan. It takes a lot of humility, quiet moments, and sensitivity for the gift of discernment.

I have found that listening to the Spirit in these situations becomes hard not only when we cannot discern between our own desires and God's desires for us communicated through the spirit, but also when we cannot discern between poisonous doubts given by Satan and genuine warnings from God made manifest through reasonable doubts. There is a lot of confusion, and there is a lot of doubt, but more than anything there is a lot of peace.

I have felt so much peace. :)

I have also been feeling SO MANY BUTTERFLIES because guess what my wonderful boyfriend found for me for my birthday?

Can you say, "what a keeper"?

Her name is Lois, and she is from the late 1800s, and she is dirt cheap and in good condition and she is going to be such a fun project for us to refurbish when we get married (oops, did I just say that on the Internet...?), and I am absolutely in LOVE with her!!!

We get to pick her up at the end of the month and I couldn't be more excited.

All in all, things are going well. I am growing up. And I am excited (terrified, yes, but still excited) for everything that is happening/is going to be happening in the near future in my life.

Sorry for the mysterious vague-ness.

...but not really. ;)