Spirit of Contention

Tonight in my studies I read the following:

"For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." - 3 Nephi 11:29

The spirit of contention is not of God, but of the devil... Why then, I ask myself, does my family allow this devilish spirit to enter our homes every night when we play Settlers of Catan!!!

As long as I can remember my parents and I have been playing this awesome yet horrible board game! I get so frustrated and so angry and SO ANNOYED almost every time I play, and yet we keep coming back for more! Tonight we only played three games... but my dad won all three of them. Lets just say my mom and I were pretty ticked off, to say the least! I really shouldn't be all that mad, considering that I won more than three games yesterday, and I won two this afternoon when we played, but tonights games were all my dad...

Side story, this is my older sister's facebook status about her 5 year old daughter yesterday:

So I was waiting for Anika in a public restroom outside of her stall when I heard, "Oh, SICK!"
Me: "What's wrong, Anika?"
Anika: "My hand just touched the toilet water!"

about 30 seconds later...

Anika: "You have GOT to be kidding me!"
Me (laughing): "What?"
Anika: "My hand touched the toilet water AGAIN!"


My whole family was just dying when we read this, and then we started quoting Anika all the time. Every time something bad would happen to us in the game we would just say, "You have GOT to be kidding me!" And then we just laugh at how funny we all are! (If you didn't know this about my family, we are all hilariously funny people).

Okay so I just re-read this blog and its kinda a lamer one, but I just kind of found it ironic how after being so mad at my dad tonight I came downstairs to study and happened to be reading in 3 Nephi 11. When I read that scripture I just had to laugh and blog about it! Sorry if this was a waste of your time!

Flaws

Guess what? I have flaws. What are they? Oh I dunno, I sing in the shower? Sometimes I spend too much time volunteering. Occasionally I'll hit somebody with my car. So sue me.

Okay, those are not my flaws, those are Michael Scott's flaws... but I thought that was a good way to start this blog. Today I spent sometime on one of my flaws. You may be surprised to know this, but I'm kinda addicted to TV shows... my biggest addiction has to be Glee.

During the Glee season finale I may or may not have bawled my eyes out, as my roommate Bri will recall. And my other roommate April will also recall coming in seeing me sobbing, asking me whats wrong, and then laughing when she found out it was all for Glee. 

Anyway... today I might have gone back and re-watched the last three episodes of the season. Why? Because I just love it so much! I cried again, maybe even more so this time, if that is possible. I have been so sad every time I see commercials for the new season (WHICH LOOKS FANTASTIC) because it comes out the DAY after I go into the MTC. Also... One Direction has a new CD coming out this fall, and the Jonas Brothers are recording together again! Um. Where have you guys been for the last three years? Why did you wait until now?! Come on! Also I just think about all the movies I will miss, like Despicable Me 2, and Les Miserables! I do take some pride in myself at knowing all the answers to the Pop Culture category on Jeopardy, will being out of the loop for 18 months take that away from me? I also saw a Help Wanted sign at my eye doctors office, looking for receptionists and managers! Am I giving up an opportunity to start my career, am I doing the right thing leaving, am I really questioning myself because of TV shows, CDs, and movies... 

See, my flaws! Then I think about it. Whats a season of TV compared to serving families? Whats a new Jonas Brothers CD compared to teaching the gospel? Whats a two year wait on a job compared to the enormous blessings I am going to bring to others, and myself... Why am I questioning all this? 

Just so you know, I am going to miss things like seeing Kyle and Natalee's baby when she's still a baby, and I'm going to miss my sister Keri moving away to college. I'm going to miss phone calls with my parents on a daily basis, and I'm going to miss sleeping in... But I know that the baby will still be here when I get back, Keri will still be in college when I get back, and my parents will still have phones when I get back, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to be okay.

As far as all the other pop culture crap that I probably shouldn't be wasting my time with anyway... well lets just say an 18 month break from this is probably just EXACTLY what I need to grow up and become a real live person! I know Heavenly Father needs me to be his servent and go to Indianapolis, and because of this knowledge, giving up everything I listed above will be exactly what I will do! Give it up! I can't wait to be a full time missionary and to devote all my time to the church! 

Wish me luck everyone! (Oh and please don't write me and tell me whats happening with Glee or Grey's, I'm pretty sure that would not help me focus!)

Also I wanted to give a HUGE shout out to the best celebrity there is... Mr. David Archuleta (and by Mr. David I really mean Elder). At least he has the decency to serve a mission the same time I did so that I won't miss any of his music being released. The two of us can pick up right where we left off March 2014! Thanks David!!! Love ya!

"The effect she can have."

Peeta Melark says about Katniss Everdeen, "She has no idea. The effect she can have." Well I think I will open that up to a more broad statement. Nobody has an idea what effect the whole series has on me! (not really as good as his... but its the best I've got!) Its pretty weird how crazy about the Hunger Games I am. Okay, not so weird considering I have obsessed with things in the past (David)... but to obsess over a book series is pretty unusual. I mean I liked Twilight as much as the next girl, and yes I do own all of those movies, and yes I am a huge fan of Jacob... but that is so minimal compared to my love for the Hunger Games.

Saturday I woke up not able to focus on anything besides the fact that I needed to go to the store right away and buy the DVD. Once we had it I wanted so badly to watch it on repeat, but I thought Keri would want to watch with us so we waited for her. Then that night we watched it, and yes I did cry again! We finished the movie around nine thirty that night, and the only thing I wanted to do after we watched it was watch it again, but my family wasn't up for it. So instead I go find my book and just start reading from the beginning. I didn't plan on re-reading it, I have never re-read a book in my whole life... but there is no putting this book down! I didn't read it to sleep, shower, and go to church, but the rest of my Sunday was spent engulfed in it. I finished it around nine that night, and went and found my copy of Catching Fire and started that too!

I had to take a little break from reading it yesterday as I had errands to run and real life to attend to. But today I had nothing stopping me! I didn't even come out of my room today until about 1:00 because I was reading. I read the first two books... and the last three pages of the third. The only thing I like about the third book was the ending anyway, so instead of waste time being mad throughout the book, I just read the end!

But now I'm at this weird fork in the road. I'm not sure what to do now. I've already seen all the bonus features on the DVD (which were fantastic), watched the movie, and re-read the books. Do I try to move on... or go pop the movie in again!? I'm just like really addicted to it and haven't been able to really think about anything else since Saturday!

I think this E-Card sums up how I'm feeling right about now...

Forever 21

Thats right, I'm 21 now! Not forever, for like 362 more days... but that seems like forever, right?! hahaha.

My birthday was really great. It was on a Sunday so it was actually pretty chill. I went to an 8:00 Sacrament meeting to see a friend give her homecoming talk, and then I went home and had pancakes, got ready for the day, and went to my singles ward at 1:30. The highlight of the day was the mission prep class we went to for sunday school. I'm just a huge fan of everything mission prep-ing!

The rest of the week has been spent in stores working on my mission wardrobe. Today I tried on what I have up to this point. So far I have bought 1 new dress, 5 new shirts, 4 new skirts, and 4 new cardigans. Plus I have 1 skirt and 1 dress that I already had that I still love and am taking with me. With that I made about 11 cute outfits!!! So I'm thinking just a few more blouses, and maybe 1 or 2 more skirts, and maybe another dress or two, and I should be good to go! Oh and I need to make sure I have jewelry too. And then of course I need to get shoes, a new bag, some new make-up... oh gosh, I have a lot to do before I leave!

Besides going shopping and going to see the movies like The Odd Life of Timothy Green, my days are pretty boring. I watch some TV, spend way too much time on pinterest, and I listen to Taylor Swifts song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" about 50+ times a day. In fact I'm on the 3rd time listening to it since I started writing this post! Its. Just. Soooooo. GOOD!!!

What else do you need updates on... Oh I know! A long time ago I had an idea of a novel I would write when I return home from my mission, and today Gaby gave me the idea of what the sequel should be! I'd like to tell you all about it, but I'm afraid someone would see it and write it before I get the chance to, so I'm keeping the premise to myself... but you should know that its gonna be good! I'm thinking of starting it as a blog, and if its popular I will try to make a novel out of it, and I'm like dead serious about it! I think it would be hilarious!!! So stay tuned for the RM Sister Cordner blogs! They will be bomb!

(Just started the song for the 4th time, never gets old!)

I guess I will just end this blog with a joke: What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!
-And before you give me all the credit... you should know I saw that on pinterest.

You Know You're Bored When....

Did you know there is actually a point where you can get tired of watching Say Yes to the Dress... I never thought it was possible, but it has come to this!

Luckily the Olympics have been on to distract me from my boredom, but even that is sometimes not enough. Once Ryan Lochte was done swimming I was basically done watching. Whats the point if you're not seeing Ryan!

Sometimes when you don't have a reason to wake up in the morning, you spend hours at night watching Youtube videos of the Ellen show. I'm not even sure how it got started but three hours later I had to force myself to close my computer and go to sleep.

I sat in the office and watched my dad work on his work schedule for the month, because there was nothing else to do. He told me I need to get a hobby.

My mom has been talking about projects to do, so I asked her if I could do some of the photo collages. Hoping they would take a few days I got started on what ended up only being a three hour project. It was super fun while I was doing it but it was over too fast.

I'm contemplating doing things by myself for the first time. Like going to the movies by myself. I have never done that before, but I've been thinking about it lately. I refuse to go bowling by myself, but no one will go with me and its just really sad! But with my birthday coming up I think I can force a few family members to go!

In Rexburg if I was this bored I would just go places, like Walmart or campus or somewhere just to get out. But when its 115 degrees outside, the very thought of leaving the house disgusts me. So I just stay in! And when I do go out, all I want to do is get home.

I need to go shopping for my mission, but I just haven't been feeling up to it. I think it has to do with the above paragraph. The thought of shopping for clothes and going to all these different stores is not appealing because I have to go outside in order to do that... so instead I just stay home.

The best part of this retired life I have been living is the time I have for the temple. I have been going a lot more frequently lately because I can, and thats just been the best! I just love the temple!!!

Anyway, if you haven't noticed, I'm kinda bored out of my mind. Everyday I think about how much I miss Rexburg. Everyday I wish I was just on my mission already. Everyday I miss being in classes, or doing something with my time that feels worthwhile. Mostly I just am in a rut and cannot wait for a month from now to just be on my mission and get out of it.

Wow when I just re-read that it seems like I'm very negative. I'm really not, I'm actually really happy... just really bored. Also I have a new favorite song, Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson. That and Call Me Maybe are my current repeat songs. (Well lets be honest, Call Me Maybe has been a repeat song for about 5 months now). Its just the best! *Before you came into my life I missed you SO bad, I missed you SO SO BAD!*

Most Important Meal of the Day

I thought I would give you a brief look at my Denver week, starting with breakfast of each day!

Monday: I wasn't really in the mood for food this morning on account of me being rushed out of bed by a wake up call from my dad. Due to this early and rushed morning, I had little time for food, and downed some chocolate milk to hold me over. Then my dad and I got in the car and drove until we got to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The drive wasn't too long, and the company was great! Also listening to Pandora in your car is basically the coolest thing ever, so no complaints about this day!

Tuesday: Continental breakfasts are the best, sometimes! The little tiny hotel we stayed in had breakfast for us, and I decided on the waffel! I thought that was a great choice, and it really was! A perfect way to start the day. Then we made our way to Denver and had a great evening with the Cordners! This day's drive was a little less exciting than the day before, as most of New Mexico was a whole lot of nothing. Note to self, never move to New Mexico!

Wednesday: I woke up to the smell of french toast. Not only was it french toast, but it was made with french bread. This was a little confusing since just the very night before we were talking about our dislike for the french whilst watching the olympics, but the breakfast turned out to be quite delectable! The rest of the day was filled with Olympics watching and Denver exploring. I was shown the city by a friend who has lived here his whole life... and then we went bowling! I had been wanting to go for some time now so I was quite thrilled that I finally got to go! To top off a great day Kyle, Natalee and I ended with a Wendy's frosty and some Just Dance!

Thursday: Natalee made pancakes! This is when I decided that when I'm a wife I want to be just like her, and that before I get married I'm going to stay with them again and take wife lessons from my sister-in-law! I have been feeding myself cereal for 20 years now, and she made us breakfast two days in a row, so I'm pretty sure she wins! Then we put in some Pysch and watched some of their favorite episodes! We also had a trip to the fanciest mall I have ever been to and probably will never be able to afford to shop at! We finished the rest of the day with more Pysch and pizza!

Friday: Omelets! Kyle made my breakfast this time! Apparently he is really good at making eggs, and I pointed out that he doesn't really make them, he just cooks them! But he is really good at that! We tried to go mini golfing, but the traffic was quite horrendous, which was weird for a Friday at noon, but we figured with all the liberals in Denver who don't have jobs, Friday afternoon is when they all get on the freeway! (Ouch, was that mean to say... oh well, I already said it!) So instead we went to Old Navy and Chipotle. Both good ideas! The night ended with some Slurpees from 7 Eleven and a redbox!

This week has been absolutely fantastic at my brothers house in Denver! (Well Aurora to be exact). They have been so nice to let me stay so long, and as much as I hate to do this, I have to leave tomorrow. But no worries, I am fairly certain that one of the first trips I make when I return from Indiana will be to meet the newest member of my family up here in Denver! (Also we find out next week if that new member is a boy or a girl, so thats pretty darn exciting!) Also I don't really know why I felt the need to tell you all what I had for breakfast everyday this week. I just was thinking about it when I decided I should update my blog, so I went with it! Hope you enjoyed!