Undercooked

Holli: "yeah I think I read somewhere that the human brain finishes developing at the age of 25."

Me: "what?! This is it?? This is how my brain is going to be for the REST OF MY LIFE?!"

I am in soooo much trouble if this is true.

i have such a girl crush on patricia holland right now.

this comes from a 1987 ensign article from patricia holland: "one thing needful: becoming women of greater faith in Christ." granted, this was written before i was born, but it applies to today more than ever. i would've really loved to copy and paste the entire article onto this post, but it was pretty lengthy. however, i highly encourage that you follow the link though to read it in its wise entirety. 

here are a few paragraphs that i particularly liked. i highlighted my favorite parts. 

read and be edified.

"If I were Satan and wanted to destroy a society, I think I would stage a full-blown blitz on women. I would keep them so distraught and distracted that they would never find the calming strength and serenity for which their sex has always been known. 

Satan has effectively done that, catching us in the crunch of trying to be superhuman instead of striving to reach our unique, God-given potential within such diversity. He tauntingly teases us that if we don’t have it all—fame, fortune, families, and fun, and have it all the time—we have been short-changed and are second-class citizens in the race of life. As a sex we are struggling, our families are struggling, and our society is struggling. 

Through the last decade, Satan has enticed all humanity to engage almost all of their energies in the pursuit of romantic love or thing-love or excessive self-love. In so doing, we forget that appropriate self-love and self-esteem are the promised reward for putting others first. “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Luke 17:33.) 

With charity, real growth and genuine insight begin. But the lid to box four seems nearly impossible to penetrate. Unfortunately, the faint-hearted and fearful often turn back here. The going seems too difficult, the lock too secure. This is a time for self-evaluation. To see ourselves as we really are often brings pain, but it is only through true humility, repentance, and renewal that we will come to know God. “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart,” he said. (Matt. 11:29.) We must be patient with ourselves as we overcome weaknesses, and we must remember to rejoice over all that is good in us. This will strengthen our inner selves and leave us less dependent on outward acclaim. When our souls pay less attention to public praise, they then also care very little about public disapproval. Competition and jealousy and envy now begin to have no meaning. Just imagine the powerful spirit that would exist in our female society if we finally arrived at the point where, like our Savior, our real desire was to be counted as the least among our sisters. The rewards here are of such profound strength and quiet triumph of faith that we are carried into an even brighter sphere."

babies...the enemy of productivity

all-star week for amy hansen.

well it seems like everything goes on the internet these days, so let's talk about some really inappropriate details of my personal life this past week. (you've been warned)

i can't really decide what my favorite part of last week was. it's such a toss-up between:

pyrotechnic vomiting out of a car window (from which some of the passengers apparently did not escape unscathed...)

urinary tract infection

sooo much writhing and vomiting

peeing in a cup 3 times in one week

bed-ridden and drugged out of my mind for 8 days

getting an enema, from my mother (i cried from sheer humiliation)

passing a 4mm kidney stone

it's so hard to decide, amiright??

but seriously, i'm really grateful for a few things:
-modern medicine
-a mom who loves me so much that SHE cries when i'm in pain
-a dad who is a worthy priesthood bearer