the big move

the time has come. after seven years, i'm moving out of provo.

well, not quite yet--after the summer. i've gotta have one more provo summer. what else is the pass of all passes for?

but in the fall, i'm heading up to salt lake. i'm breaking up the beesley sisters, starting a new chapter, moving on. it's time.

so, i'm kind of on the lookout. it's hard to know where to look for housing, so any advice is welcome :) i feel like it's a little too early to find somewhere for the fall, but i really have no idea what the possibilities are.

anybody up for partying with me in salt lake come september? 

to my future children: installment four

i want you to figure out who you are and what you like for yourself, so i'll try as hard as i can to not force you to figure those things out before you are ready. i'll try to teach you what it means to be a good and productive person and member of the church, but, as far as your own unique personality goes, i'll do what i can to let you develop that on your own. (and hopefully you'll turn out pretty great, not weird or creepy :))

we'll have family scripture study. as much as i hated getting up even earlier during my school years to read (and as much as i hate to admit this, i kind of miss getting up so early back then. i will probably regret saying this in the future, but i got so much done then. but anyway.), it's good for you to have some experience reading the book of mormon even when you don't quite get it yet.

and, you will know that, though we love all of heavenly father's children, marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman. i don't know what the world will believe or teach about this when you are growing up, but i'm going to make sure you know what's up and what we believe/know.

conference weekend

i wanted it to be a lovely weekend, and it was.

sheesh, i feel like i don't even know what to say; there were so many great parts.

my overwhelming feeling after a weekend of general conference is always a desire to do and be better. it is so amazing that i can listen to the prophet and other chosen leaders and know what i need to do.

this conference a couple things really stood out to me. first, i can't wait to be a parent. several talks focused on raising righteous children, including elder perry's. in his talk, elder perry discussed how we can create strong family cultures so our homes are sacred places that our children cherish. in the past, i would tune out during the talks directed to parents, but for some reason this has been on my mind a lot lately. and as the youth choir was singing for the saturday afternoon session, i started thinking about how crucial it will be when i'm raising kids to make sure i teach them well so they can withstand those crazy trials in this crazy world.

also, and i've talked about this a few times, but i need to be constantly reminded of the importance of faith in driving out fear and doubt. for whatever reason, it is fairly easy for me to feel discouraged about so many things, and i have to remember that miracles can happen with faith. literally, miraculous things can happen when we believe. and it's gonna take some miracles to get me out of some of the pickles i'm in currently. president uchtdorf's talk was also amazing and somewhat related. if i want to live a life without regrets, i need to appreciate each day and do the things each day that will help me become more like Christ. have we not reason to rejoice?

and, lastly, i want to be converted to the gospel rather than just have a testimony of its truth. this is important, but i want to be converted to the Lord so i cannot be shaken by the winds of adversity and persecution that are surely coming. i want to give my whole soul to Heavenly Father. really though, how awesome was elder bednar's talk? that's one i'm going to be thinking about a lot in the coming months.

apart from these inspiring messages (and many others that were also great), i had a great weekend with friends and family. it was a party in north salt lake this weekend, and i loved it.

i loved that our basement couch was full of some of my favorite people on sunday morning. i loved how we spent what seemed like hours discussing the implications of the just-announced change in age requirement for missionaries (18 for elders, 19 for sisters--what will this do to freshman wards? to the mission field? to the idea of "waiting for your missionary"? the questions are endless!) i loved that we stayed up late on saturday night visiting nielsen's and talking about important things. i loved that our girls' night consisted of dinner at a steakhouse, a trip to the shoe store, and rice krispie treats. i loved that we got to be in the conference center, which is typically the highlight of any conference weekend (though other things this weekend maybe rivalled that, including my two new pairs of shoes with which i am in love). i loved that we ended the festivities with a roast dinner and chocolate chip cheesecake, two things that will forever remind me of my childhood, which was pretty darn awesome.

basically, i remembered this weekend that life is good, due both to the uplifting messages of general conference and to being with loved ones. happy conference!

to my future children: third installment

we will go on adventures, whether that means taking a trip to the grand canyon or to the public library. i'll teach you to look at life as a series of adventures that help you to grow and learn. and it will be pretty dang fun.

i'm not going to let you be bad daters, so we're going to start early. not with the actual dating, because that would be weird, but with the theories and principles that make up good dating practices. chivalry, how to be a gentleman/lady, communication (which includes, but is not limited to, asking someone on a date, telling someone you like them, being honest even when it's scary), and dating etiquette (like no marathon first dates). never fear; i'm not going to send you out into the dating world, a terrifying place on its own, unprepared...like some people i know. it might still be hard, since dating isn't easy, typically, but at least you'll have a good foundation.

to my future children: second installment

you will watch classic disney movies. by classic, i mean the ones that came out in the nineties. you need to know about the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, aladdin, pocahontas, tarzan, mulan, the lion king, and others, including the real classics, like cinderella, snow white, sleeping beauty, and 101 dalmations. my kids will know that music so we can have family sing-a-longs in the car and around the piano. there also might be some dancing required.

as much as i hated it when i was a kid, we'll have chores. and you'll probably have to help in the yard: raking, mowing the lawn, weeding, which was the bane of my existence at several times in my life. but you'll also be responsible for cleaning your room and taking out the trash and helping around the house in general. but you'll appreciate me and your dad for it later.

to my future children: first installment

no matter how much you whine and beg, how much you want our house to be the "cool house" that you can invite all your friends to, with all the cool toys, no matter how much you try to convince me that i need to be the "cool mom," the mom who is "with it" and "hip," we will never have a game system. no wii for you.

i don't know how much the world/the media/school is going to teach you about how to use your imagination and what that even means, so we will have imagination days, where we play games together outside and make up stories and play house and play doctor and play school and read stories. i want you to be able to unplug from the craziness of the world and reality (within reason (haha), of course).