Easter Sunday

So today I went with Alex to her mom's house for Easter. Her mom wanted us to go to church with her so we got up at the crack of dawn (or so it felt like) and drove the hour and a half to get to her mom (and stepdad's) house. They live in the middle of nowhere. Really NOWHERE! So we immediately leave for church. The church was in the middle of nowhere too. It was a Baptist church.

Sidebar: I'm a little tainted when it comes to baptist churches. I have been ruined. I have a fear walking into any baptist church that they will find out I am Mormon and immediately attack me. Probably irrational, but it has really happened before...more times than I want to think about.

Anyways, we go and I have to say, that I totally fell in love with these people. You know when you think of Texas you think of people in cowboy boots, boot cut jeans with suspenders, riding a horse? Well that isn't really Texas. I mean, yes there are people like that, but I live in a huge metroplex with almost 5 million people. So we/they look like anyone else. But the people at this church were every stereotype that you can think of for Texas. When the first person got up to announce what song we would be singing first, I really had to lean over to Alex and ask if he was speaking English. I couldn't understand a word he was saying because his accent was so thick. Seriously. He was wearing "Levi's" not jeans. That isn't what you call them in the back woods of Texas. Cowboy boots. Suspenders. And talked about Jesus like He was his best friend. It was a simple message of how Jesus had risen and could help us sinners make it to Heaven because he died and rose again. Everyone was so friendly and came up and shook our hands and were so welcoming. People shouted Amen! and Praise Jesus! during the message. It made my heart happy to see good people worshipping our Heavenly Father in the best way that they were taught. They were happy people who love Jesus, and would bring him up in random conversations. Love it!

Maybe its because I grew up Methodist but it arises something nostalgic in me when I go to Protestant churches every now and then. The message is always simple. The people openly love God and Jesus and they try their best to be good people. Not to say that LDS people don't do this too. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I just get too stressed. I worry too much. I over think. But I feel like I have so many things to worry about being LDS. Am I worthy to take the sacrament? Have I been to the temple often enough? Am I keeping the word of wisdom correct? Am I working hard enough on my calling? Have I done my VT? Am I up to date on my tithing? Have I read my scriptures often enough? Are my prayers sincere enough? Are they too repetitive?

Does anyone else stress out this much? Is that how it is supposed to be? I honestly don't know. But sometimes I do miss the simpleness I felt when I was Methodist. Does that make me a bad person?? (There I go again, worrying...)

Do not get me wrong, I 1000% believe in the LDS faith. I know it is right. And I know I can be/ and have been happy living the way I know I should. I guess maybe I just worry I don't do enough. I am not doing it right, or something.

*shrug*

It was a good Sunday, though. I ate way too much delicious Easter food.

I hope everyone had an excellent Easter!

Some Perspective

Sometimes I just need to get out and try to see my life from a different view. Get some new perspective. Ya know? That is just what i did today.

Me+a gorgeous day+a park+some trails+my ipod w/ some EFY music=Perspective. Check!

I went to a park in Arlington called Randol Mill Park. It is the site of my December 5k, so I am a little familiar.

Don't I look all perspective-y? lol.

So pretty

Okay, so there was this cute little family having family photos taken. The dad and the little baby girl you can barely see in the top left corner. He was trying to get her to stand so the photographer could get a pic of it. She fell every time. He would pick her back up and put her on her feet and she was immediately plop down her her bum again. He did this at least 15 times. He was ever so patient with her. Finally she stayed up. Wobbled a little, but stayed standing. Her dad move away a few feet and the photographer snapped 3 quick photos. And then she plopped down on her bum again. This little family made me smile though. They were super cute!

This lady was reading a book with her dogs. She seemed very peaceful. Later I passed by her on one of the trials. Her dogs were terrified of me. haha. I dont know why.

Great Sunday afternoon!

What's been going on

So I feel like everyone has been asking me lately how I am. "What is going on?" "How are things?" All in reference to the bf. And all for good reason, no doubt. But I would just like to let everyone know that things are fine. We are good. Things are moving right along like any relationship does. And I am happy. :)

In other news, I feel like I have had about a million and a half things rolling around in my head that I am trying to sort out. Work through. Find time for. Finish. Get started on. Etc. (see below)

I am:

Running another 5K this coming Saturday (get excited Ames)

I have been writing more of my book/story

I just got my hair highlighted and cut (see pics below)

I am planning a party, and trying to save money by making a lot of the stuff for it myself (i.e. invitations, gift, figuring out the photography situation)

Looking for new apartments (my lease is up in July)

Trying to cut costs/expenses in my life (cheaper apt, cheaper gym membership, cutting food costs, paying off my car sooner (to save in the long run), trying to spend less money on gas)

Looking for a new job (hate everything about everything when it comes to this subject...moving on)

In completely other random news I would like to pass on some funny things that the bf says to me sometimes. The kid really does crack me up sometimes. But maybe its only funny to me...I don't know.

First of all...

He has decided I am pretty much half me and half him.

Translation of what that means...

He calls me half African all the time. He says this because I am willing to try the food that he eats from Africa. And I like it. I am willing to eat with my hands, like Africans do. AND I come from Indiana. Which he has decided is like a village. Yes. He calls Indiana "the village." He has never been to IN. And he only knows what I tell him, but somehow I have managed to make IN come across like it is a desolate, third world, farm country. I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I think maybe its just more me, than IN that he sees that way. Maybe because I come from a smaller city. I enjoy simply things. I love to make things instead of buying them. I know how to sew, and cook, and have made clothes for myself. I offer to patch up his ripped uniforms. I rarely let him spend money on me. etc. It cracks me up when he calls it the village, though. I keep telling him I will take him there someday and he can see for himself. I really blew his mind one day when I told him about Amish people and how you can find them in IN. haha. He likes to ask me silly questions like "do they have highways in IN that have 5 lanes or only 2?" or when I was driving on a gravel driveway today "Are all the roads like this in IN?" or "Are there very many black people in IN?" haha. silly man. I just laugh at him. Oh, and since I am half African, that means, I am half black too. Not like I am mixed, but half of me is white and half of me is black. go figure. haha.

One time I said something like..."well, I am African, right?" And he was like... "Half. You are only half." He just shook his head at the thought of me being all the way African. haha. It is super cute when he says "half" because he doesn't pronounce "H's" when they are at the beginning of words. Kind of like in spanish. So "half" is "alf". "House" is "ouse". "Hands" is "ands". "Happy" is "appy". "Hips" is "ips". (that one was my personal fav)

The other reason he says I am half him is because he has recently decided I am also half (or "alf") Muslim. This, I dont really know why. I mean, the Muslim and Mormon faiths are pretty similar, I have come to find out. Which is nice in a lot of ways. But he just decided that I was half muslim as of yesterday. I just laugh.

So I guess, I am half White-American-Mormon and alf Black-African-Muslim.

Amy requested pics of my new hair. The first pic was taken before, and is just a really good pic of me. The rest are post-highlights/cut.

Can you even tell? The Man about freaked out on the phone when I told him I colored and cut my hair. His exact words where "but it was so beautiful." I explained that it is more blonde now and only has about an inch or two gone. He then said "oh, maybe it is more beautiful now." :) love him.

High Occupancy Vehicle

*A disclaimer: I metioned on facebook the other day that i have been writing this post in my head for a couple of weeks now. I didnt post it before now, because I felt like its story is a little sad and pathetic. But, whatever...I guess i dont care.

I drive a lot. Half an hour each way to work. (it used to be an hour) I have been going to church 35 minutes away from my apartment. The bf lives about 35 minutes away. And i seem to be driving him around a lot lately. I joke that i cant afford to date him due to gas prices. :) But its worth the gas to spend time with him.

I get stuck in traffic a lot too. It makes me a little crazy sometimes. But i deal, with little to no road rage. ;) I get jealous though. I see the cars in the HOV lane just flying by probably laughing at all of us one-person-occupied-vehicles. Ive never been able to drive in the HOV lane. I am always alone in the car. I am not sure why, but when i am in the car, i do some of my best thinking. I can feel the Spirit pretty easily as well. And i love to drive, so im happy. But i am not going to lie, their have been times where i wanted nothing more than for someone else to be in the car with me, just purely for company. I sometimes imagine who it would be, and what we would talk about. In the past i would sometimes think of some faceless guy who would be sitting next to me, holding my hand, and smiling at me, as we talked about life...or something. It would make me sad sometimes to look over at the empty seat and know there was no one to fill it.

Their were also times when i would be with the family that i used to live with here in Texas. Tom and Debby would be in the front two seats of the van. Bre and her bf would be on the far back bench, probably snuggling. And i would be in the middle row with an empty seat next to me. Usually we would be going somewhere far away, if it was all of us. Like to Tom's family's house for Christmas, or to NM to go skiing. I would again look over at the empty seat and feel like it was a metaphor for my life. Me, surrounded by couples, wondering if i even remembered what it was like to be in a relationship, because it had been so long. Again, my sad face would come out.

So 2 Sundays ago, the boy called. I asked what he was doing. He told me he had dropped off his car to be looked at and he was waiting on his ride to come get him and take him home. He mentioned that his ride hadn't called in a while, though, and he wondered if he would really come get him. I offered to come pick him up. He accepted. I went and picked him up and we headed back to his house. On the way, though, a friend of his called and told him that his car had broken down and asked if he could come get him and take him to work that night. I told him i didn't mind going to get his friend. So we changed directions and headed towards his friend's place. He leaned over and pointed at the HOV lane and said, 'you can get in the HOV lane. we will be on this interstate for a little while.'

For the first time in the weeks that i had been dating him, i realized that i had enough people in my car to use the forbidden HOV lane. I was so excited! I think i even said out loud, "oh my gosh, I can finally use the HOV because you are with me!" he just smiled at me, and said, "yes you can." It may be a small thing that i get to use the HOV lane every now and then, but to me it was huge. (i know. i told you this was pathetic. *See disclaimer.) He was even holding my hand at the time :) And again felt like it was a new metaphor for my life. I am not alone anymore. I mean, i am still alone a lot. but i have a guy who thinks about me, wants me around, calls me, hangs out with me, and makes me feel good. great, even! And...i get to pass by all the traffic and people alone in their cars. haha.

Here is a much anticipated picture of me and him. Don't be fooled by his non-smile. He smiles a lot. And has adorable wrinkles that form around his mouth when he does. Love it! He was super tired though. it was super late. and he doesn't really like pictures. Some day i will get a good one of us. :)