Even I'm Surprised

Hola friends!

This is a completely unrelated picture to anything I blog about today. But, it was one of the highlights of my week and made me incredibly happy. I love this movie!


Now back to business. This post has a lot of writing, so if you don’t have time please don’t feel guilty skipping to the bottom for the pictures.

So, many of you are probably wondering about how my job search is going. And if you aren’t, well, you are now. I will tell you how it is going.

It has come to a halt.

Hold your horses though, and before you go all judgey on me I’ll explain myself, even though I probably don’t owe anyone an explanation. Here is my story:

As many of you may already know, Texas was the very last place we thought we’d end up. In fact, Glen only decided to apply to UT-Austin on the very last day possible. We had decided that if we were going to move away from Utah, we were going to move to someplace completely new and different from what either of us was used to. When Glen got his acceptance letter, he called his parents, and although they congratulated him, they said they weren’t going to get excited because they knew we wouldn’t be going there.

However, we quickly learned that our plan was clashing with the Lord’s plan for us. We found ourselves on our knees praying about every single school Glen got accepted to. None of them felt right. As the deadline was approaching for us to make a decision for BYU, I started feeling nervous and anxious. I really wanted to stay in Utah, and that had been the plan since before we got engaged. But for some reason, that didn’t feel right either.

Prayer after prayer, and discussion after discussion, Glen and I finally knew our answer. We would be moving to Texas.

Now, at this point we knew without a doubt that this was where we were supposed to go. It’s like when you have a thought in your head and you know it is the Holy Ghost because there is no way that you would have that thought on your own. Even though I was not happy about going to Texas, we felt it was right.

So, like many of you may have experienced in a situation like this, the Lord made it possible for this to happen. We were having absolutely no luck getting into the student housing, which seemed like a good idea. Glen called all the bishops of the family wards in Austin (about 4) and asked for suggestions on where to move. One bishop in particular gave us the Elder’s Quorum President’s phone number and before wishing us luck, told us that he really hoped we ended up in his ward. The EQP directed us to a complex that came highly recommended, and that we had actually been referred to by a couple others. Unfortunately, it was out of our price range. Then, one day while I was browsing craigslist, I found a listing posted by someone who was selling her lease. It was for the complex that we were looking at, but the girl had signed her lease at the perfect time, so she was paying almost $200 less than the market price. We got everything squared away and were very grateful for that.

Things like that started falling into place, the kinds of things that confirm that you are making the right decision. Even when we got here things went smoothly. We were blessed to be in a ward with several other young couples that we got along with immediately. We even had people here in our ward that we had met in our undergrads at BYU, which was remarkable.

Like I said, everything started falling into place, except for finding a job. I had been applying to jobs that I found on UT’s campus, because they paid well and I would have all the same time-off that Glen did. Also, we could ride to school together since we only have one car. Sure, I looked for jobs other places, but only here and there. Every time I applied for something on Craigslist or something like it, it always ended up being some sort of scam. I also didn’t feel comfortable sending my information to someone without knowing what company it was, only knowing that they were looking for an administrative assistant. There were some options for some bridal stores, but I decided I wanted a break from retail pay and hours. I wanted something more secure and stable, especially now that I had no other obligations and didn’t need flexible hours.

There was one job in particular that I interviewed for 4 different times. It would have been the perfect job for me. It was a campus job, but it was in a different location than main campus, which was near our house and right next to the train station where Glen gets on to go to school every day. I loved the staff that I met there, and I felt very confident. I had so many people praying for me that I knew that if I didn’t get this job, it wasn’t right.

And you can guess what happened. I didn’t get it. I got an email from the lady telling me that it was a very tough decision and they liked me a lot, but decided to choose someone else.

I continued applying at the University. I thought about applying at nearby retail stores but Glen and I both decided that it wasn’t worth getting a job that was going to wear me out and that I didn’t enjoy as much. My plan B was to apply at the banks nearby as to be a teller. The only requirement was that I have at least 1 year working with customers, which I definitely had. As I was about to submit my application, it didn’t feel right. I was frustrated because I was going crazy not being busy, and not working. I wanted a job and didn’t know why I didn’t feel right about applying for a job I knew I could get.

So, while I waited to hear back from the University jobs, I started filling my time with other things. I started reading my scriptures more. I started playing the piano. I decided to take cooking more seriously, and make dinner in time for Glen to come home so we could eat together. I started doing family history, and reading the Ensign, and books written by the prophets and apostles. I began cleaning regularly, and doing the laundry. Pretty soon I was making my own schedule. Monday was shopping day, Tuesday was laundry, and Thursday was clean-the-whole-apartment day. The rest of my time I spent doing the things I mentioned above. I went to the local craft store and picked out something I wanted to learn: cross-stitching. My friend here shared a blog with me that had several craft projects for holiday decorations, and I started getting into that more.

What the heck?

All of a sudden it hit me. I had just started a new load of laundry and was sitting on the couch, cross-stitching while watching Anne of Green Gables. What was I doing? I was enjoying myself, but I saw a different side of myself that I had never seen before. I had always been the independent, hard-working, the-only-thing-I-dread-about-having-kids-is-staying-home-because-I-love-working-too-much kind of person. But I was so happy. I was developing hobbies! I didn’t even have any! Glen brought this to my attention while we were dating. He noticed that when people asked what I liked to do in my spare time, I never had anything to say. “Sleep,” was my usual response.

After watching conference and listening to a number of talks, particularly President Uchtdorf’s, my answer was confirmed. It was okay, even a good thing, for me to be at home right now. One thing Pres. Uchtdorf said in his talk was that it was important for us to get to know ourselves. Doing this helps us to see ourselves the way Heavenly Father does. Hearing that made me happy because I had started to have these same feelings.

I emailed my Grandpa Nielsen the other day, to give him an update on my life here in Austin. He wrote something very profound to me, and I hope he won’t mind me sharing it here. But it further confirmed what I had been feeling:

“I think it is good for you to "decompress" a bit after years of school and work. You need to find your identity as a person now. I think it is great that you are working on developing skills that are associated with homemaking. The Lord did not put you on earth to be a student and a wedding dress consultant. Your principal purpose in life is to be a wife and mother. That is, of course, not to exclusion of all else. There can be many meaningful and worthwhile dimensions to your life. As a husband and father I just know how important a "real" wife is. I was blessed to have a wife whose principal interests involved her home, children and husband.”


So, for now, I will be staying at home, and learning things that will make me a better, happier person. The plan is to get through the holidays, and then pick up a job at a bank in January, if nothing else comes up. I also decided that it was very important to make it to my cousin’s wedding in November, and to go home during the Christmas holiday. Getting a new job may not permit me to do that. So, I have bought my ticket to Arizona and will be able to spend a whole week with my cousin before she gets married, and even attend her endowment in the temple. That makes me so happy!

Heavenly Father has a plan for us and I’m glad that I’m starting to figure out the plan he has for me and Glen. And I hope that nobody reading this feels like I’m saying you shouldn’t work or that everyone should have a time to be at home. I’m definitely not saying that. I am just saying that this time is going to be so good for me personally, and will make me a better wife and mother when that time comes. The last few years of my life have been fast-paced and high-stressed, so much so that I have been ignoring myself and my own needs.

Okay! So here are some pictures of our latest adventures. I decided I will post the final products of my crafts once they are all done, hopefully sometime next week. Anyway, enjoy!

Some food that I've made:
Note: This isn't that impressive but if you know anything about me and cooking, you will be impressed.


Some things we've done, and places we've gone:

Rita's, the best Italian Ice place ever

Walking Downtown. The pictures turned out pretty bad so just know that it was a lot cooler than these pictures show.

A creature that freaked the crap out of me when I opened the door:

After taking a few pictures of him he hopped over to the place next door. We left before seeing if they ever opened their door...

Well, that's all I have for now. I will post some more pictures in the next few days but this post is already long enough. Until next time!

For My Sista

My younger sister Lydia had a birthday last week, and when I realized that she was turning 17, I just about fell over. I know it’s cliché, but it seems like just yesterday that she was a small, chubby little baby (see figure A). As the oldest child in the family, I had the privilege of watching all my younger siblings grow up, starting from the day they were born. So, I can truthfully tell you that Lydia was just as stubborn and strong-willed as a child as she is today.

Figure A.
Now, her stubbornness is not necessarily a bad thing for her. But when she was younger it was kind of hard to deal with. For example, on occasion Lydia would disobey my mom or break some small rule and she would get sent to time-out. She was told that she could come out as soon as she apologized. Well, let’s just say that nobody saw Lydia that day.

We would also see Lydia’s stubbornness by the way she would only allow herself to control her emotions. If she didn’t feel like smiling, she wouldn’t. Not even if we were taking a picture and everyone was yelling her name, snapping their fingers and making funny faces to make her laugh. It was like she knew what she was supposed to do, but she wasn't going to do it if she didn't feel like it. (See figures B and C).

Figure B.

Figure C.

Lydia was born just one month before our cousin Morgan. Sometimes my grandma would tend them both at the same time. We had one of those baby swings that hung from the top of the door frame, and when she would put Morgan in, she would just happily bounce, and bounce, and bounce, with a huge smile on her face. Those who were watching would laugh and smile with her, making Morgan bounce and giggle more. Then my grandma would put Lydia in. Most of the time, Lydia would just sit there. She might stick a foot out, pointed, and just twirl back and forth, but she was not going to put on a show just because we wanted her to. And although my grandma was worried that something was wrong with her, we started to figure out that this was just her personality.

Neitzche once said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” We have attributed this phrase to how Lydia has always lived her life. When Kelsey (our sister in between us) was 5 years old she had 15 cavities. My mom took Kelsey to the dentist to have them filled, and, not surprisingly for a 5-year-old, Kelsey was screaming and crying the whole time. They could barely keep her down long enough to get the job done! Two years later, my mom was dreading taking Lydia in, who unfortunately also had 15 cavities at the same age. She was preparing to deal with the worst, which would be a reaction like Kelsey's. But Lydia was different. As my mom tells it, she sat next to Lydia while she squeezed her hand, and watched in amazement as only a single tear trickled down her face.

I lived at home my freshman year of college. That year, Lydia was starting her first year of middle school. As I would prepare to leave for my classes, I watched as Lydia gathered her things, ready to walk to the bus stop. One chilly November day, I noticed that she wasn’t wearing a jacket. “Lydia,” I said, “Why aren’t you wearing a jacket?” She looked at me with a straight face and said, “Oh. I’m training my body to resist the cold. Soon I won’t even feel it anymore.” With that she threw her bag onto her shoulder and walked out the door.


Lydia has always seemed to know what the most important things in life were. As I have gone through pictures of the last few years of my dad’s life, Lydia is in most of them, along with the two youngest, Christopher and Andrea. There are hundreds of pictures of her with those kids and my dad, hanging out at my dad’s shop or at different family reunions that, as an angsty teenager at the time, I felt I was too busy for. Those activities probably weren’t on the top of Lydia’s “fun” list, but I feel like, even at such a young age, she knew the importance of family, and her role in it.



It also became apparent to us that she knew the importance of scripture reading, praying, and writing in her journal. The night my dad died, I witnessed as my 13-year-old sister opened her scriptures, read them, wrote in her journal, knelt at her bed, and then went to sleep. I will never forget that image in my head, for it will stand as the ultimate example of diligence as we learn from the scriptures.

For these reasons and many, many others, I really look up to Lydia, even though I am 5 years her senior. I respect her so much, and have been grateful for the aid she’s given me through the hardest times in my life.

On one particular occasion during my sophomore year at BYU, I was having a really hard time focusing, which I guess isn’t that unusual for me but it was much worse than usual. It was only 2 or 3 months after my dad had passed away, and I was struggling with my school assignments and even my social life. Everything seemed to be so unbearable, and I just wanted to give up. I remember coming home from school late one evening and sitting on the couch. I sat there until my mom came and sat next to me and asked how I was feeling. I sobbed in her arms for a long while. My mother then went upstairs and gathered the other 4 children and brought them downstairs. She explained to them that I was having a really hard time, and that we were all going to kneel and pray in my behalf. As I listened to my mother’s prayer I continued to cry, but because I felt so loved by my family. When we said Amen, I looked up and saw Lydia was also crying. She hugged me real tight and I knew she really was hurting for me, especially because I didn’t see her cry too often.

Lydia has turned into a remarkable young woman, and really, it is amazing that she has gone from crazy baby (figure D) to beautiful adult (figure E).

Figure D.


Figure E.

Note: Lydia is NOT married. This picture was taken by Elizabeth Taylor Frandsen (whom I also used for my wedding) during a just-for-fun photo shoot. Click here to check out more of her stuff, and click here to see more pictures from this shoot.

I love her so dearly and look up to her so much. In many ways, she is much like our ancestor, Lydia Goldthwaite Knight, who dealt with so many trials of her own but was always so strong. If you have the time, click here and read her story that was printed in the Ensign. It’s a great story, and if you know Lydia, you’ll agree that she shares many of the same characteristics as the woman whom she was named after.

As my dad would sing to Lydia in the mornings to wake her up, I quote him, imitating Lydia’s childhood speech impediment, “Yiddia oh Yiddia, I yove my yittle Yiddia. Yiddia, oh Yiddia, oh Yiddia.”

I love you Lyd!

Matching jeans/genes

With Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen

Getting to the airport only to realize that Lydia left her suitcase at home.
We were going to Hawaii...
You can see the tear in her left eye. She won't let it drop!

Lyd's birthday, 2010

Miss you!