Two months ago, I finally graduated from Brigham University with a BS in Psychology. People keep asking me what I am going to do now. What plans do I have for the future? What do I want to do with my degree? Honest answer? Nothing. I don't have any plans in regards to my degree. Yes, it's kind of nerve-wracking not knowing what I'm going to be doing. But I do know that I have graduated and have a Bachelor's degree under my belt. That's a big step in the right direction if I ever need to move further on in my degree. For now though, my plans are fairly simple. Work, work, work, and get Devin through college. I am still working at Chick-fil-A. It's a great institution and I owe a lot to them. Thanks to Chick-fil-A (for the most part), I was able to graduate completely debt free, having paid for everything entirely on my own. Thanks mom and dad for teaching me to be responsible and save money. I've learned a lot about being frugal and putting off present wants for greater rewards later on. I'm so blessed to have a husband who also understands this and am grateful to my new parents for teaching him how to live frugally.
Speaking of my husband, this summer has been kind of tough. We both decided that what was best, was for him to head back to South Carolina for the summer and work pest control again, and for me to stay behind in Utah and stay with my job. So he's been gone for 2 months now and it's really kind of lonely at home. I'm grateful for my sister and old roommate who are keeping me company and from going insane. But only a month and a half left! I did get to go visit Devin for 2 weeks, and it has been great! Best two weeks of the summer, but also the fastest. Here's to hoping that these last 6 weeks go by faster than the last 6!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Why Psychology?
I have successfully started my final semester in my undergrad career. SO STOKED!!! After four and a half years of school, I am ready for a break. My choice of major is psychology. No. I am not analyzing you. No. I don't have a career that I'm interested in, besides the career of a mom. No. I am not planning on going to grad school (as of now). So why major in psychology then if I don't plan on doing anything with it? Believe me... I have asked myself that question almost everyday since I declared my major. In the beginning I picked it because the major was short. I was almost a junior and still hadn't declared a major. I was enrolled in an introductory psychology course and found it to be enjoyable. So I pushed forward into the world of psychology. I've studied its history, how the brain works, different theories and therapies, written research papers, performed studies, studied gender differences, but even after all of that... I was still just doing it to graduate. This semester I am currently enrolled in a class that is called LDS Perspectives on Psychology. So tonight, I was reading the required reading for class this week and the article happened to be by a professor at BYU, whose writings tend to be my favorite. This article was entitled, "Restoration and the 'Turning of Things Upside Down": What is Required of an LDS Perspective". I would like to give you a somewhat lengthy post of some of the things Dr. Williams has to say.
"Shortly after the death of the ancient apostles, the presiding authority and the guiding revelation were lost from the earth. Mormons accept without question that theologians and thus religious traditions went wrong somewhere around the third of fourth centuries (or earlier) and that they have continued to be wrong throughout the night of apostasy until the Restoration. We might well ask, however, if while religionists went irrevocably wrong for fourteen hundred years, philosophers stayed on track and stayed right. Or, we might ask if scientists simply went on their own way discovering truth, even though the light of truth had gone out elsewhere. Are we to assume that only religion went wrong while science, philosophy, aesthetics, and moral theory went right (i.e., that only religious truth was compromised)? I submit that the effects of the apostasy were not confined merely to religion. Rather, since the Lord proclaimed that what was wrong with the religion of the nineteenth century was that it taught for doctrines the commandments of men, we must assume that those commandments---the philosophies and precepts compromising nineteenth-century theology---must also be wrong." (p. 5-6)
I had never considered that idea that the apostasy could be applicable to other areas besides religion... When the apostasy occurred after the death of Christ, the truth was taken from the earth. So how would it have been possible that areas such as science were finding "truths" when it wasn't on the earth to begin with? So why am I studying a science that is full of the truths of man, but not the truths of God? ... I finally found my answer. And I've been taught this answer since my days in primary. As Dr. Williams says:
"A few years ago at BYU, a group of intellectuals organized themselves and issued a sort of proclamation to the effect that (a) LDS bishops might profit from clinical training, and that (b) bishops as well as the Church, might be very useful in the therapeutic process. The implication was that bishops and the Church might serve as a support system to help people while the real change was produced by therapeutic intervention. It seems that, in the minds of many, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ that heals; the gospel of Jesus Christ merely supplies us with a support system while the principles and practices of therapy-derived from the secular social sciences really make the change. The failure to believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the source of real healing of the human soul is a repudiation of the gospel itself... We can be entirely confident that ideas and therapeutic practices founded on revealed truth, no matter how unpopular they may be, will work infinitely better than other kinds of therapies not so grounded." (p. 7, 20)
I know now that I did not choose psychology for the purposes of finding a career.Choosing psychology as a major was meant to help strengthen my testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ. It took my 23 years in life and 4 and a half of those years at school to tell me and help me know that Christ is the ultimate healer. There is no therapy, no procedure, no medicine that can heal the hurt, depression, anxiety, of an aching soul better than the healing hands of our Savior can. HE is the one whom we should turn to. When searching for help, we must search for truth. I love my savior, and I know that he loves each and every one of us, and is calling out for each of us to come to him, and feel peace and healing.
Williams, R. (1998). "Restoration and the 'turning of things upside down': What is required of an LDS perspective. AMCAP Journal, 23(1), (pp. 1-30).
(If you have any questions regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and would like to know more, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org)
"Shortly after the death of the ancient apostles, the presiding authority and the guiding revelation were lost from the earth. Mormons accept without question that theologians and thus religious traditions went wrong somewhere around the third of fourth centuries (or earlier) and that they have continued to be wrong throughout the night of apostasy until the Restoration. We might well ask, however, if while religionists went irrevocably wrong for fourteen hundred years, philosophers stayed on track and stayed right. Or, we might ask if scientists simply went on their own way discovering truth, even though the light of truth had gone out elsewhere. Are we to assume that only religion went wrong while science, philosophy, aesthetics, and moral theory went right (i.e., that only religious truth was compromised)? I submit that the effects of the apostasy were not confined merely to religion. Rather, since the Lord proclaimed that what was wrong with the religion of the nineteenth century was that it taught for doctrines the commandments of men, we must assume that those commandments---the philosophies and precepts compromising nineteenth-century theology---must also be wrong." (p. 5-6)
I had never considered that idea that the apostasy could be applicable to other areas besides religion... When the apostasy occurred after the death of Christ, the truth was taken from the earth. So how would it have been possible that areas such as science were finding "truths" when it wasn't on the earth to begin with? So why am I studying a science that is full of the truths of man, but not the truths of God? ... I finally found my answer. And I've been taught this answer since my days in primary. As Dr. Williams says:
"A few years ago at BYU, a group of intellectuals organized themselves and issued a sort of proclamation to the effect that (a) LDS bishops might profit from clinical training, and that (b) bishops as well as the Church, might be very useful in the therapeutic process. The implication was that bishops and the Church might serve as a support system to help people while the real change was produced by therapeutic intervention. It seems that, in the minds of many, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ that heals; the gospel of Jesus Christ merely supplies us with a support system while the principles and practices of therapy-derived from the secular social sciences really make the change. The failure to believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the source of real healing of the human soul is a repudiation of the gospel itself... We can be entirely confident that ideas and therapeutic practices founded on revealed truth, no matter how unpopular they may be, will work infinitely better than other kinds of therapies not so grounded." (p. 7, 20)
I know now that I did not choose psychology for the purposes of finding a career.Choosing psychology as a major was meant to help strengthen my testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ. It took my 23 years in life and 4 and a half of those years at school to tell me and help me know that Christ is the ultimate healer. There is no therapy, no procedure, no medicine that can heal the hurt, depression, anxiety, of an aching soul better than the healing hands of our Savior can. HE is the one whom we should turn to. When searching for help, we must search for truth. I love my savior, and I know that he loves each and every one of us, and is calling out for each of us to come to him, and feel peace and healing.
Williams, R. (1998). "Restoration and the 'turning of things upside down': What is required of an LDS perspective. AMCAP Journal, 23(1), (pp. 1-30).
(If you have any questions regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and would like to know more, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org)
Friday, July 20, 2012
The First Summer of Being Married
Well... Let me begin with saying that being married is pretty much the most superawesometasticest thing ever! Look that up in a dictionary :) Anyway! So this summer was/is not anything I had imagined it to be... Devin and I got married on a Saturday.
We were able to go to a nice resort for Saturday night and Sunday, and then that following Monday morning, we crammed into our little Civic and started the cross country trip to South Carolina for our summer job working with a pest control company. We decided to do this because this job would allow us to make bank over the summer and earn enough for school.
So we arrived in South Carolina that following Sunday evening, and then started work the very next day. And thus began a summer of nothing quite like I expected... Devin began the summer as a sales person. In this job one treks from door to door in an assigned neighborhood from 12-9 pm, knocking and re-knocking sometimes 3-4 times. This was Devin's life. A sales person's paycheck comes from their sales, so somedays they can work 9-10 hours and not make anything. Talk about stressful! But Devin did pretty well.
Now me? I have the lovely task of drenching the houses with pesticides and in the process usually end up drenching myself. What is required of me is I usually end up walking around the house 4-5 times depending on the house. 1 for taking down all webs, wasp nests, mud daubers, and any other pest creation (except bird nests) that might be on the house. 2 for spraying the entire house, top and bottom, around doors and windows. 3 for granulating the lawn. 4 for dusting the crawl space. And 5 for another go-around of webs that I missed the first time and found while spraying. I also have to go in each home and spray the inside. EVERY room around the baseboards. I then have to take down all the webs in the garage, spray in there, and hide little sticky traps, meant to catch bugs. Did I mention that the uniform I wear is all men's clothing? Yeah. I guess they never thought a girl would voluntarily choose to spray over sell, so I'm stuck dressing like a man 6 days a week 12-14 hours a day. Sweating constantly. No makeup. No cute hair. I can't even wear my engagement ring for fear of losing it. So why did i do this? Now that IS an intriguing question. It's probably because I can't even convince myself that I'd be a good sales person. If I can't convince myself, how am I supposed to convince people to buy something that they could easily do with their shoe or a can of Raid? (Granted, our pesticides are a little safer... Go Green!)
So the summer plodded on. Devin selling. Me spraying. Devin goes into work at 11. Me, whenever my first stop is. Usually 9 or 10. So the only time we see each other is for about 30 minutes every morning, if that..., and for about an hour or two at night... I'm beginning to regret not going on a honeymoon... Well, come June, Devin is having a rough time with sales so he decides to switch over to a technician position like me. Meaning he is gone by 8:30 every morning now and home generally between 9:30 and 10:30. Sometimes later. So now we get to see each other even less. On Sunday, the one day that we can see each other, if we're not at church we're sleeping... But we try to spend as much time together on Sunday as possible. One of our favorite activities to do is make dinner, since it's the only time we can make a legit one. So, Sunday family dinners are always the best :)
This job really makes me miss days off... We were able to make a family trip with me, Devin, Kellen, and Rylan, down to Six Flags in Atlanta, Georgia, on the 4th of July. That was a much needed, purely fun day! And it was really nice to escape Greenville and spend time with family. But about two weeks ago I ended up getting mono. For those who don't know what that is, imagine strep throat, but a bajillion times worse. It's the strep throat of all strep throats. So I've had my share of time off recently. I'm getting really bored just sitting at home by myself all day on the computer. I've cooked, and baked, and cleaned, and read, and even started compiling recipes that we've tried and liked, into a family cookbook. But I'm ready for summer to be done. I'm ready to get back to school and Provo, and *hold your breath* Chick-fil-A!!! But you know what? As much as I complain, I am not ungrateful toward this job... In fact I am extremely grateful for it. I've learned a lot. I've learned what it's like to work a physically exhausting job with a pleasant reward every two weeks for your hard work. I've learned how much I hate bugs, but I've also learned a new respect for salesmen and women. These guys (and girls) put up with so much crud from other people, but they're out there just trying to make a living too... Just like anyone else. Yeah, it may be annoying that they knock on your door when there's a "No Soliciting" sign at the front of your neighborhood. But it's gotta take a lot of confidence and will power to have door after door slammed in your face and still continue on... I have a new respect for them. I've learned even more how much I want to be a stay at home mom. I love having a place I can call home that's my responsibility to keep clean ***Yes Devin, I know it's your responsibility too, and not just mine :) *** And I really enjoy cooking meals for the family and just doing all those little small things that make a home feel like a home. I've learned a little bit more patience I think... But not too much :) I've learned that I'm not Wonder Woman, and that it's okay to ask for help. I've learned to get over my fear/dislike/hard time of calling people I don't know and talking to strangers... Don't worry Mom... I'll still never go up to a car where someone offers me candy... Not THAT kind of stranger :) I've learned that I'm more of a crier than I thought I was, but that I married a really good tissue for that :) But the most important thing I've learned? Is how much my husband loves me and how much I love him. It's the little things like in the pictures below that make me smile big and feel warm inside after a hard day's work. These hard days are bearable because he is working hard too, and because we're both working for the same goal--to be able to support ourselves during this upcoming school year. I love learning how to work together to support our family. And it sure is nice coming home to each other, give each other a hug and a kiss, and then leave everything else behind as we close the front door...
Life is only going to get better from here on out... Oh, and if anyone has some bugs they want to get rid of... I'm a pro. :)
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Something I've Learned this Week
So... Something I've learned this week is that I am not a very good public speaking. At least in the school setting. Give me a sacrament talk? No problem. Make me stand up in front of people for a grade? Gross... So as I was thinking about this, I started thinking about when I took piano lessons as a child, and how public speaking and piano lessons are somewhat similar for me... When I took lessons, I could practice all I wanted and it would be great. I wouldn't mess up, and things sounded great! Then came the dreaded recital... Put me in front of people and I mess up all over the place. Such it is with me at public speaking. I can practice my speech before hand with no hitches. However, when it comes time to present, I'm a nervous wreck... I don't feel very confident in my abilities in voicing my opinion, and if I don't talk a lot around big groups of people (or even small groups of people), it's generally because I never feel like I have much to say that hasn't already been said that could add to the conversation. Even in writing this blog I am hesitant because I read other blogs were people write really well. But you know what? I'm okay with that. Some people can write well, and some people are just listeners, and that's a great skill to have too I think. There are always people out there who need someone to just listen to them and not give advice. So, even if I'm not good at talking in public... I'm REALLY good at listening in public! :)
Anyway, on the brighter side of things, the thing that has been pulling me through these last few weeks of school is that fact that I'm getting married in 20 days to the most amazing man ever! SOOO stoked!!! In 2 weeks, I won't have to think about school. I'll be in the car, on the way to Vegas, getting even more excited for life and the things that lay ahead. So, once the dread of finals are over, life is going to be good :)
Just some final thoughts. Tomorrow is Easter. I know for many, the first images that come to mind may be bunnies, or eggs, or candy, or baskets, or pretty colors, or various other fun things. However, I encourage everyone to remember the most important thing, the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
I KNOW that My Redeemer Lives.
Anyway, on the brighter side of things, the thing that has been pulling me through these last few weeks of school is that fact that I'm getting married in 20 days to the most amazing man ever! SOOO stoked!!! In 2 weeks, I won't have to think about school. I'll be in the car, on the way to Vegas, getting even more excited for life and the things that lay ahead. So, once the dread of finals are over, life is going to be good :)
Just some final thoughts. Tomorrow is Easter. I know for many, the first images that come to mind may be bunnies, or eggs, or candy, or baskets, or pretty colors, or various other fun things. However, I encourage everyone to remember the most important thing, the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
I KNOW that My Redeemer Lives.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Welcome to Me!
Well... Blogging... Truth be told I got one so that I could follow my friend's posts, but I might as well say a little something too :)
So, here are the top ten things that are on my mind recently:
1) I'M GETTING MARRIED IN 59 DAYS!!!!!!!! 8D So. Freaking. Excited!!! I'm marrying the best man I've ever known and ever will know. He's my best friend.
2) School is really stressing me out... I'm majoring in a subject that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with it... In all honesty, I just want to be a mom. That is one of the most important jobs in the world I think. If we don't raise our children well, who will we be able to trust our country and lives to in later years?
3) My family is really amazing. They've done so much for me and are doing so much for me. I can't seem to tell them just how much I appreciate them, but I should certainly tell them more often. Everyone should. You don't realize until you're older how much you rely on them and how much they put themselves aside and do everything in their power to help you. Tell the ones you love every day that you love them.
4) I love my church. I love the blessings it brings. I love the principles it teaches. I love the truthfulness of it. I love that I have been able to live a pure and chaste life and have been taught the importance of marriage. I am grateful for my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. For the Atonement. For the Resurrection. For the Restoration. For living prophets. For people who stand up for what they believe in.
5) Recently I have been doing this diet called Thrive. It's great. If anyone has been trying to look for something that works, just look up Thrive. It is based in Georgia and really only requires some self-discipline. But I've lost 20 pounds in the past 2 months. Thanks Thrive!
6) I'm fed up with school and ready for a break... Even better? I'm so ready to graduate.
7) I'm really excited about this summer. I'll get to spend time with my fiancee (by then my husband!) and my brother-in-laws. There won't be a curfew when I have to send my fiancee home because his home will be my home! I'm looking forward to getting to know my new family better. His brothers are awesome! I'm excited to add 5 more brothers the the 3 I already have. Yay for boys!
8) Baking and Cooking... Recently I've just been wishing that I could raid the cooking/baking aisles at the grocery store, take it all home, and make everything that I've been wanting to try... Problems with this? I'm a college student with a severe lackage of money... And I would have to eat all of it! Welcome back to those 20 pounds that I lost! :) But seriously... Someday I just want to have a day where I can bake all day, or even a couple days and make tons of delicious things and share them with my family and friends.
9) I'm excited to do a different job this summer. I love where I work now, but I think a small break of doing something really different will help me appreciate the job that I have now even better, when I come back in the fall.
10) Donuts... Yes... Donuts always seem to be on my mind, and those who have spent some time around me recently will back this up. Haha... There is just something about a donut that is so satisfying... A warm, sugary, carbolicious delight topped with frosting and sprinkles... Or a bavarian cream-filled mound of happiness... Or that glazed orb that melts in your mouth... How could something like that NOT make you happy? I rest my case.
So, here are the top ten things that are on my mind recently:
1) I'M GETTING MARRIED IN 59 DAYS!!!!!!!! 8D So. Freaking. Excited!!! I'm marrying the best man I've ever known and ever will know. He's my best friend.
2) School is really stressing me out... I'm majoring in a subject that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with it... In all honesty, I just want to be a mom. That is one of the most important jobs in the world I think. If we don't raise our children well, who will we be able to trust our country and lives to in later years?
3) My family is really amazing. They've done so much for me and are doing so much for me. I can't seem to tell them just how much I appreciate them, but I should certainly tell them more often. Everyone should. You don't realize until you're older how much you rely on them and how much they put themselves aside and do everything in their power to help you. Tell the ones you love every day that you love them.
4) I love my church. I love the blessings it brings. I love the principles it teaches. I love the truthfulness of it. I love that I have been able to live a pure and chaste life and have been taught the importance of marriage. I am grateful for my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. For the Atonement. For the Resurrection. For the Restoration. For living prophets. For people who stand up for what they believe in.
5) Recently I have been doing this diet called Thrive. It's great. If anyone has been trying to look for something that works, just look up Thrive. It is based in Georgia and really only requires some self-discipline. But I've lost 20 pounds in the past 2 months. Thanks Thrive!
6) I'm fed up with school and ready for a break... Even better? I'm so ready to graduate.
7) I'm really excited about this summer. I'll get to spend time with my fiancee (by then my husband!) and my brother-in-laws. There won't be a curfew when I have to send my fiancee home because his home will be my home! I'm looking forward to getting to know my new family better. His brothers are awesome! I'm excited to add 5 more brothers the the 3 I already have. Yay for boys!
8) Baking and Cooking... Recently I've just been wishing that I could raid the cooking/baking aisles at the grocery store, take it all home, and make everything that I've been wanting to try... Problems with this? I'm a college student with a severe lackage of money... And I would have to eat all of it! Welcome back to those 20 pounds that I lost! :) But seriously... Someday I just want to have a day where I can bake all day, or even a couple days and make tons of delicious things and share them with my family and friends.
9) I'm excited to do a different job this summer. I love where I work now, but I think a small break of doing something really different will help me appreciate the job that I have now even better, when I come back in the fall.
10) Donuts... Yes... Donuts always seem to be on my mind, and those who have spent some time around me recently will back this up. Haha... There is just something about a donut that is so satisfying... A warm, sugary, carbolicious delight topped with frosting and sprinkles... Or a bavarian cream-filled mound of happiness... Or that glazed orb that melts in your mouth... How could something like that NOT make you happy? I rest my case.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)