Start of Something New

-I'm going to get straight A's this semester. NO EXCEPTIONS!! I've never gotten straight A's in my life, but   I want to challenge myself.

-I'm going to read Jesus the Christ! I read the first line and it had the phrase "alleged discrepencies and something about circumstantial situations" Whew. It's gonna be a doozy, but I can't wait to learn more about the gospel!

-Get out of my comfort zone! I have this weird compulsory attribute about myself where I get attached to specific people because they're awesome and whenever I'm in large groups with said person all I do is talk to them and I don't try to get to know other people. That is going to change!

-I need to get over my self-consciousness about my height.

-Tell myself I'm beautiful every day.

Reasons Why I Love My Home Ward

Going to my home ward is always an adventure.   Reason #1: My bishopric loves my guts and because they want to show how much they love me, they like to surprise me with a "...and Elisabeth Gee will now give our invocation.." Talk about a warm welcome.   Reason #2: I love seeing how much it changes. There are so many new families, I can't even keep up with all the new people! Also, they are a lot of young couples who (I just realized) are practically the same age as me. Weird.   Reason #3: All of the old ladies come up to me and tell me how beautiful I am. If I could just have those ladies follow me around all the time, I'd be a supermodel!   Reason #4: Catching up on high school gossip. I know, it's petty. But really, it's SO interesting to see what's happening in everyone's lives!   Reason #5: Okay, I don't have a reason #5, but I feel like stopping at reason #4 is awkward.  

 

Human Beings

Along with the millions of other people in the world, I am a human being. I make mistakes and I am terribly insecure. I'm prideful, arrogant, rude, and obnoxious. I was sitting in church today and I wasn't feeling particularly happy, I was letting my natural man get the better of me. I looked over to my right and there was a boy sitting on a pew all by himself. I had a prompting to go over and tell him that he should come and sit by me, but I didn't follow through. Half-way through the meeting, a different boy goes over and sits by this boy that I should have sat by. I was furious. I was annoyed that this kid had done what Heavenly Father clearly wanted me to do. I was annoyed because this particular boy was kind of a jerk to me, but then he turns around and does such a Christ like action. As I started to get more furious, I had a thought.. He's a Child of God. Just like you. My pride and arrogance trickled away. I realized that I was being a human being and I needed to be a spiritual being. My epiphany continued as I began to realize that even though this kid was kind of a jerk, he's a human being too.  He makes mistakes and I shouldn't think that he's a jerk because Heavenly Father doesn't think so. He's a Child of God. Just like me. And Heavenly Father loves me, even on the days when I'm being a jerk.  Even on the days when I don't say hi to that kid that passes me every day. Even on the days when I think mean thoughts about my roommates. Even on the days when I pull away from Him because I don't think I need His help in my life. He loves me, no matter what and having that knowledge makes all the difference in my life.

I Walked Alone To Church Today

Today was the Brigham City temple dedication and it was marvelous!! All of my roommates were gone this weekend doing various activities, so alas, I set out to go the dedication alone.  I was a little sad because as a girl, I always have a wingwoman with me, but today was the exception. As I began my perilous trek across Old Farm, I ran into some friends. Then I sat by those friends at the dedication. Then as I was leaving, I ran into another friend. Guys. This is why I make friends!! Because when I'm planning to sit all alone at the temple dedication, that fact never becomes reality.

Oops. I'm Guilty.

At church the other day I looked over at a lady who was wearing flip-flops. Growing up, my mom hated flip-flops. (Actually, I think she still does.) She wouldn't let me wear them to school, let alone to church. So when I saw this lady wearing flip-flops, I immediately thought to myself: "Is she really wearing flip-flops? That's a little disrespectful. I would never wear flip-flops to church." However, when she stood up after Relief Society ended, I saw that her ankle was wrapped up and she was limping. I immediately reprimanded myself. She was wearing flip-flops because that's the only shoe she could wear. I felt so guilty. Who am I to judge her? Who am I to judge anyone? Because really, my perspective is muddled & I'm usually looking through a dirty window.

The Time When Wheat Thins Made Me Think About Missionaries

I know. I know. Wheat Thins & Missionaries? What the !@#$%^ do wheat thins & missionaries have in common? (Me & Brooklyn already established that I have a potty mouth. Okay. That's a lie. I don't swear. ha) They are related though, I promise! As many of you know, I've been tackling a missionary project. I sent 25 individual packages full of letters from girls to all the missionaries who graduated with me. It was a lot of work, but so incredibly amazing! I don't currently live in Idaho, so trying to coordinate getting letters from the girls I graduated with, printing the letters, sealing envelopes (which is disgusting. Have you ever licked 100 plus envelopes? My tongue is in desperate need of some TLC), getting missionary addresses, contacting people...blah, blah, blah. Whew. Just looking at the list is wearing me out. But really, it's been the most spiritual experience and yesterday, I FINALLY MAILED THEM!!! Yes, ladies & gentleman, I did it!

(follow me on instagram: @fashioncrime) The first time I went to the post office, the mail-lady told me that sending the letters in the original packages I had them in was going to cost me $5 per envelope. 

That would have cost me like $200! No thank you! So, I asked her if there was a cheaper way and she told me to get tan envelopes instead of white ones. I went to Walmart, bought the envelopes, sat down at my kitchen table, and proceeded to transfer the addresses from the white envelopes to the tan ones. As I was doing this though, I was eating wheat thins and pondering. Now, wheat thins are great because they are slightly sweet, but at the same time very satisfying. I think that's how a mission is. It's sweet. It's crunchy sometimes, but mostly it's spiritually satisfying. I was also thinking about what those boys faces will look like when they open the envelope and a butt load of letters fall out. Like really?! I squeal every time I think about it!! Can you just imagine? They are going to be stunned. Especially the boys that don't ever get mail. I hope they will be so excited! I was talking to one of my co-workers about getting letters & he told me he would get SOO excited when someone would hand-write him a letter. He loved them so much that when someone would e-mail him, he would hand-write them one back. It's little acts of charity like that, that make me so happy. So, guys, that's how wheat thins made me think about missionaries. Sidenote: Have you checked out the Brittany Chaver giveaway on The Gentle Flower??  You should because her jewelry is SOOO cute!

My Spiritual Awakening {Harley & Jane Link-up}

Last year, I was roommates with my amazing cousin, Megan. I was so afraid that we were going to hate each other by the end of it. But really, we became the best of friends.
As we started out the year, I had an expectation of what was going to happen: 1. I was going to get a boyfriend. 2. I was going to be best friends with all my roommates & we were going to have so much fun together. 3. I was going to be a teacher & a fabulous one at that.
However, none of those expectations happened. Especially number one.
I was so heartbroken that things weren't going my way.
Then one day, Megan came home with a fiance.
We were grocery shopping & I was joking and said "So...are you guys engaged yet?" *snicker*
Megan didn't say a word.
And I looked at her and said "Are you serious?!"
She replied, "Yeah. He hasn't gotten me a ring or anything, but we are 'unofficially' engaged."
I almost started crying.
How could Megan be getting married and I hadn't even gotten a date yet?!
I was a little upset. Why did this happen to her and not me?!
Immediately, I had a very intense thought pop up in my mind:
"Heavenly Father has bigger plans for you."
My immediate response was "What's bigger than marriage??"
Then I had another thought: "What if you're supposed to go on a mission?"
Holy crap.
What?
I was immediately humbled from my act of pride.
I realized that getting married was the way Megan's life was supposed to go, not mine.
And that's okay!
My confidence should not be based on whether members of the opposite sex are in love with me.
Who knows what is supposed to happen in my life, but I believe my spiritual awakening began that fateful day in the grocery store & I haven't stopped awakening since.

I'm Expecting A Letter

Never before in my life have I actually been excited when I check the mail.Every time I drive by my mail box, I think...maybe I got a letter today?I never expected that I would WANT to check the mail every day.It's kind of a new & surreal feeling.Maybe that's what my mom was talking about.When I asked my mom whether I should write a missionary, she said, "Write all those boys you went to school with" She said the names of a couple of boys I knew and I immediately dismissed them. Why would I write them? They were never really friends with me. Also, mom?! What?! Why would I write THOSE boys. You're ridiculous.I think what my mom was trying to convey to me was that it's not really about the missionary you write, but about the feeling you get when you receive a letter and vis versa.I'm sure those boys that I write to get just as excited as I get when they receive a letter.Writing a missionary isn't complicated.It's all about making someone's day.And why wouldn't I want to do that?

What I Feel: My Viewpoint on Missionaries

Today I feel happy, ridiculous, and vulnerable. How all those emotions can co-exist, I'll never know. I've been thinking a lot about missionaries.My heart aches for the well-being of all the missionaries out there.Last night, I prayed for missionaries.Yesterday, the Relief Society lesson was about missionaries.Today, I wrote a missionary.Next week, I'm sending packages of letters to 12 missionaries.SO MUCH MISSIONARY-NESS!!I love it!My viewpoint about missionaries has flipped 180 degrees.All the hype and fluffiness has died and  the reality that there are boys on missions has hit me hard.Missions have always seemed so intangible and irrelevant to me. They seemed so far off in the distance and I've always thought "they'll get here eventually" never really believing that they would.I sincerely pray for missionaries every night. I hope they are having joyous experiences that will change their life for the better.

Since It's Sunday...

I'm co-hosting Since It's Sunday today!! Go ahead and link up and go check out Courtney @ Thoughts From The Birdhouse & Shaylee @ Mother At Heart
I absolutely LOVE Sundays.It's my day to chill, drink some lemonade, and indulge in a cookie or two (or four).A lot of what I've been thinking about lately relates to missionaries.As I was driving in my car, I had a brilliant idea begin to formulate.Me and some of my girlfriends have decided to make packages to send to all the boys from our high school that are currently serving missions.It's going to be a neat experience.Missionaries have such a divine role in Heavenly Father's plan and I'm so extremely grateful for the sacrifice and service that these young men have gone through so that they can do what the Lord wants them to do.Today in church we talked about missionary work (which I thought was extremely ironic considering what I'd been thinking about the whole week). We talked about the money that goes into it, the death that occasionally occurs in families while the boys are gone, and how hard the actual mission is.It's such a big testimony to me of the work that is happening here on earth because of the sacrifice of valiant young men.
 
A little thought from Courtney:

Writing Missionaries

As an average 19-year old girl, I am at the age where writing missionaries is kind of a big deal.I know there are some missionaries I should write to.However, I don't really want to.Ehhh..I don't want to because I don't want to get caught up in the hype of writing a missionary.Explanation: I don't want to write a missionary to expect something to happen when he gets home. Ya know what I mean?People always tell me that missionaries LOVE letters.But I'm not so sure.If they love letters then why don't they write back?Or better yet, why do we put missionaries all in the same category?What if some missionaries are so popular that they are constantly getting letters from girls and they hate it?I don't want to get put in that "every girl writes to me" category.What are your opinions?Yay or nay to writing missionaries?I'm very stumped on this subject.

Eating Skittles

I would like to preface this post by saying that I'm super embarrassed right now.Mostly because I gave a talk in church today & all I did was ramble about adversity.Which (of course) means that I spilled my guts all over the pulpit.Gross & embarrassing. I know.I was trying to impress a cute boy while also trying to appear normal.That's never a good combination.So, to relieve myself from my self-inflicted horror, I am eating skittles.Their expiration date was probably the year 1997 and they taste a lot a little stale, but oh well.I am eating the skittles anyway.

Whoa! I'm SOOOO blessed!

I can't even tell you the terror I experienced on Wednesday.
As I was jauntily driving home from a very successful trip to Wal-Mart, I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a sight that made my heart drop.
Flashing blue & red lights.

I rolled my eyes, groaned, and had a mini panic attack. Tears started to well in my tear ducts.
My thoughts: No! I can't get pulled over again! I have no money. I have no way to pay for the ticket.
I wasn't even speeding! What the heck?! Oh my gosh. I'm gonna cry. No. Don't cry. Wait till the nice policeman leaves then let it all out....blah, blah, blah.


As my thoughts turned to the fact that I could get arrested, I saw the policeman walk up to the my car. He only had my driver's license & registration in hand. No ticket.
My heart leaped.
Policeman: "Alright, I'm going to let you off with a warning this time..."


Pretty sure I could have kissed that policeman.
Pretty sure I started bawling & pretty sure I started sending prayers of thanks to the heavens above.

I guess Heavenly Father really is looking out for me after all.

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Summertime is here people!
My little sisters know how to do summer right:

(instagram: follow me @ fashioncrime)

In the summertime, I make goals.
Yup.
I'm a goal-maker.
I decided that there were three things that I needed to improve upon in my life:
1. Being Healthy
2. Being Smart/Wise
3. Being Spiritual
And how do I go about accomplishing that?
With these three goals:

1. Go running EVERY DAY!! Even if it kills me (which it might).

2. Spend money WISELY! Basically, only spend money on food this summer. I've gotta start saving my money.

3. Read my scriptures EVERY NIGHT!! When I'm dead tired, that's when I should be reading my scriptures the most. I'm also going to record what I read & the promptings I get from the passage that I read.

Alrighty, now that you know about my overzealous ambitions, you have to hold me accountable. Mmk?

Something Special

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you. Words can't begin to express my gratitude for you & for the life which you have provided for me by sacrificing your son. I am eternally in your debt.

Thank you for the spirit which I feel on a daily basis. The spirit which tells me to have faith & that everything will work out the way YOU want it to, not how I want it to.

Thank you for giving me people who love and care about me. Namely, my family. All I can do is say how extremely blessed I am to have a family that's patient and kind with me. Even when I'm not patient and kind with them.

To love someone without getting any reciprocation is true love. Thank you so much for everything.

Love,
Elisabeth

The Priesthood

Are you a worthy priesthood holder?

Then who cares if you're good lookin'. 

You've got the whole world in your hands. 

Today, I was thinking about what to blog about and an instantaneous thought popped into my head:

THE PRIESTHOOD

As many of you know, I only have one brother. Our home is filled with WAY too much estrogen. So, the only men in my life are my daddy and my little brother.

My dad is an amazing example of a worthy priesthood holder. He would never do anything that would harm himself or his family. He knows that Heavenly Father trusts him with the most magnificent power on earth. What a blessing it is to have a father who realizes his self-worth and is willing to be an amazing example to me.

About a year ago, I was feeling very discouraged. I was having a lot self-esteem issues. (As every girl does) and I just remembered getting this feeling that I needed to ask my dad for a priesthood blessing. However, I was scared. I was scared that my dad would judge me. Which is an extremely ridiculous and illogical thought because my dad would always love me no matter what. It was terrible and I hated feeling like I couldn't turn to my earthly father. Ever since then, every time I've felt like I needed a priesthood blessing, I ask. No matter what. I have a deep testimony of the power of the priesthood.

I love the priesthood and the worthy priesthood holders that I get to associate with every day. Every week at church, I see the young men sitting in the benches waiting for the sacrament to start and I can't help but find those young men so attractive because they know their worth and their duty as future breadwinners and patriarchs. Thanks guys. You rock. :)

You Seriously ROCK!!

I forget.

A lot.

I forget that I have an appointment with my math professor,

I forget that you DON'T add water to Chunky soup

AND

about a month ago, I almost forgot about a date. 

Oops.

(Add ritarded photo for affect)

However, in Institute today, my teacher pointed out something that EVERYBODY forgets.
We forget our worth, we forget our passions and dreams
AND (even worse)

We forget that we believe in lies.
Women especially believe in lies.
We believe that we're not pretty enough
OR
we're not good enough to deserve something/someone.
We believe that because we're not doing the same thing as Sally Jo, that we're doing it wrong.
Which is totally absurd.
Did you know that, that little voice inside your head that says you can't ask that cute boy to marry you is a lie?? Stick that in your crock pot and cook it!
:)
But really people, Don't settle for less. Always know your worth. Be a daughter of God. :)
Because you seriously rock!!!