How I Met My Roommates
Readers, I'm sure you're all wondering about this next part of my life - this new adventure I'm embarking on, with the gorgeous girls in the below picture.
Well, in the Summer of 2011 I graduated from BYU-Idaho with my Bachelor's Degree in history. It was an exciting and scary time all at once. I was so ready to be done with Rexburg, but I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do next.
I proceeded to move to Salt Lake City, UT, mostly because I felt impressed to. That's it. I logically laid out why it would be a good place to live, but mostly I was going off of the impression that that's where I was needed, so, packing up my few belongings, and whatever would fit into my ex-best friends car, I left my family and friends in Albuquerque and started the next chapter of my life - The Growing Up Years, as I like to call them.
I found a place with two girls who have become sisters to me - Chelsea and Suzy - and then Hailey came along after a few months and fit right in. The four of us became the best of friends, and I started putting my life together. I got a job in the Registrar's Office at the University of Utah and quickly worked my way up the ladder to where I am today. Hailey and I both decided to go through the temple at the same time in 2014, which made that process even more fun.
During this time I ended up dating a few guys here and there, one of which led to many tearful nights, and years of recovery from the abuse that it brought into my life. That shattered my trust and self worth, of which I didn't fully recover because I was also in an abusive friendship during this time.
Readers, to say that this was a hard time in my life would be an understatement. I was being controlled, and not fully able to get over the brokenness that my life had become. But, Sunday will always come, and it did, thankfully, at a time that did not feel convenient, but that, looking back on, was exactly when it should have happened. My ex-best friend and I had a bad falling out; one that left me even more broken and alone than I'd ever been. I've used this example from Batman "The Dark Knight Rises" before, so excuse me for reusing it, but it's how my life felt. I was in a dark hole, where I could see the light, but could figure out no way to get out. I was broken, and needed to heal a lot before I even had a chance of attempting the climb out. That lasted about 6 months, and then over night I moved without really telling anyone. This is the part of my life that I call Rebuilding Myself.
Now, Readers, I'm sure at this point you're wondering why I'm sharing my life history... or, really, why I'm summing up my blog posts from the past 5 years. I know. Really exciting. But, Reader, how else can I tell you How I Met My Roommates, if I don't give you at least 5 seasons worth of details? Hang in there. It's just getting good.
I happened to move in with two girls who were in completely different places in their lives than I was, and were nice, but not people who were going to force me to be their friends. This was good, because I needed time to recover without being pushed into a new environment before I was ready. I needed to find me again. I of course relied on the Lord and many visits to the temple to accomplish this. During this time I also started feeling that I needed to start working in the temple. During these months, I discovered my high anxiety, and the impact it had been having on my life. I also started discovering who I was again. That was a hard lesson, mostly because I had so many walls up that I thought were protecting me, but that actually were hurting me, because I was not able to accept myself for who I was - a really awesome person. As I struggled to find my footing again, more change occurred in my life.
Last November, one of my roommates got married, and Nicole moved in.
What can I say about Nicole? Um, I mean, besides that fact that she's amazing? Gosh.... she's so great. And she gets me. We both have anxiety problems, and I for one don't know how I would have handled this past year without her. She's amazing. We just clicked when she came to tour the place, and we've been super close ever since. It naturally makes sense to keep living with her.
The following month, I started working in the Salt Lake temple. I love that. It's my favorite thing to do. Enter Rachel. She also was working in the temple, and when we discovered that we were in the same ward and lived right by each other, we decided to carpool. We proceeded to bond over our dating lives, which were a little messy at the time, haha, and have been inseparable ever since. It just felt right when she suggested we live together. She's amazing, and loving, and one of the best people I've ever met.
Enter Madi. I actually was in the play with Madi, and then when Nicole suggested we all live together I thought, duh! This is going to be the best house ever! Madi is hilarious, and so fun! Also, turns out we both went to BYU-Idaho, and we both studied history, so we have a lot in common!
We had so much support from the ward in moving into our new place; I promise it wasn't just Dan and Austin, but they're the only ones I caught a picture of!
Moving in.... the before pictures of our living room and bedroom. Can you spot the celebrity in the room?
There is a blog post I wrote last Fall, that I keep going back to. It's called "God Knows My Struggles and My Bad Days Better Than I Do." Why do I love this blog so much? Probably because that was such a turning point for me. That was me, finally moving on. I know, Reader, maybe you didn't see it, but I did. I felt it. I was finally able to be me. This paragraph is one that I constantly re-read:
Well, in the Summer of 2011 I graduated from BYU-Idaho with my Bachelor's Degree in history. It was an exciting and scary time all at once. I was so ready to be done with Rexburg, but I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do next.
I proceeded to move to Salt Lake City, UT, mostly because I felt impressed to. That's it. I logically laid out why it would be a good place to live, but mostly I was going off of the impression that that's where I was needed, so, packing up my few belongings, and whatever would fit into my ex-best friends car, I left my family and friends in Albuquerque and started the next chapter of my life - The Growing Up Years, as I like to call them.
I found a place with two girls who have become sisters to me - Chelsea and Suzy - and then Hailey came along after a few months and fit right in. The four of us became the best of friends, and I started putting my life together. I got a job in the Registrar's Office at the University of Utah and quickly worked my way up the ladder to where I am today. Hailey and I both decided to go through the temple at the same time in 2014, which made that process even more fun.
During this time I ended up dating a few guys here and there, one of which led to many tearful nights, and years of recovery from the abuse that it brought into my life. That shattered my trust and self worth, of which I didn't fully recover because I was also in an abusive friendship during this time.
Readers, to say that this was a hard time in my life would be an understatement. I was being controlled, and not fully able to get over the brokenness that my life had become. But, Sunday will always come, and it did, thankfully, at a time that did not feel convenient, but that, looking back on, was exactly when it should have happened. My ex-best friend and I had a bad falling out; one that left me even more broken and alone than I'd ever been. I've used this example from Batman "The Dark Knight Rises" before, so excuse me for reusing it, but it's how my life felt. I was in a dark hole, where I could see the light, but could figure out no way to get out. I was broken, and needed to heal a lot before I even had a chance of attempting the climb out. That lasted about 6 months, and then over night I moved without really telling anyone. This is the part of my life that I call Rebuilding Myself.
Now, Readers, I'm sure at this point you're wondering why I'm sharing my life history... or, really, why I'm summing up my blog posts from the past 5 years. I know. Really exciting. But, Reader, how else can I tell you How I Met My Roommates, if I don't give you at least 5 seasons worth of details? Hang in there. It's just getting good.
I happened to move in with two girls who were in completely different places in their lives than I was, and were nice, but not people who were going to force me to be their friends. This was good, because I needed time to recover without being pushed into a new environment before I was ready. I needed to find me again. I of course relied on the Lord and many visits to the temple to accomplish this. During this time I also started feeling that I needed to start working in the temple. During these months, I discovered my high anxiety, and the impact it had been having on my life. I also started discovering who I was again. That was a hard lesson, mostly because I had so many walls up that I thought were protecting me, but that actually were hurting me, because I was not able to accept myself for who I was - a really awesome person. As I struggled to find my footing again, more change occurred in my life.
Last November, one of my roommates got married, and Nicole moved in.
What can I say about Nicole? Um, I mean, besides that fact that she's amazing? Gosh.... she's so great. And she gets me. We both have anxiety problems, and I for one don't know how I would have handled this past year without her. She's amazing. We just clicked when she came to tour the place, and we've been super close ever since. It naturally makes sense to keep living with her.
The following month, I started working in the Salt Lake temple. I love that. It's my favorite thing to do. Enter Rachel. She also was working in the temple, and when we discovered that we were in the same ward and lived right by each other, we decided to carpool. We proceeded to bond over our dating lives, which were a little messy at the time, haha, and have been inseparable ever since. It just felt right when she suggested we live together. She's amazing, and loving, and one of the best people I've ever met.
Enter Madi. I actually was in the play with Madi, and then when Nicole suggested we all live together I thought, duh! This is going to be the best house ever! Madi is hilarious, and so fun! Also, turns out we both went to BYU-Idaho, and we both studied history, so we have a lot in common!
We had so much support from the ward in moving into our new place; I promise it wasn't just Dan and Austin, but they're the only ones I caught a picture of!
Nicole and I piled all our stuff in the living room of our old place! We were so excited!
Moving the piano in was the hardest part! I have the greatest guys in my life!
I built this bookshelf! And it fits all of my books... for now....
There is a blog post I wrote last Fall, that I keep going back to. It's called "God Knows My Struggles and My Bad Days Better Than I Do." Why do I love this blog so much? Probably because that was such a turning point for me. That was me, finally moving on. I know, Reader, maybe you didn't see it, but I did. I felt it. I was finally able to be me. This paragraph is one that I constantly re-read:
The Lord knows us all individually. He knows our struggles, our temptations, our pitfalls, our accomplishments, our strengths, our understanding, our testimonies. As I've struggled this year trying to rebuild myself, I've heard myself cry to the Lord a lot of "Don't you know I'm growing too independent to get married? Don't you know daddy has multiple sclerosis and can't do that? Don't you know my parents are in Idaho, away from all our family? Don't you know I miss having a best friend? Don't you know I've never been trained in IT? Don't you know I'm trying my hardest?" Elder Clark's talk reminded me that God does know. He knows me. God knows my struggles and my bad days better than I do.Readers, as I've been reflecting on the journey that has led me to this new and exciting adventure in my life, I've grown to realize how much the Lord loves me. He has been preparing the way for me to end up right here, in this moment, with these roommates, in this townhouse, in this neighborhood in my wonderful ward for years. He's had this planned for a while; I just needed to move to Salt Lake, get a job in IT, go through the temple, date a bunch of wrong guys, get out of bad friendships, lose my trust and self-confidence, dye my hair a million different colors, move into a ward where I was broken, draw closer to Christ, discover I have high anxiety, build my confidence back up, work in the temple, meet new, amazing friends, and believe in myself again. It was a hard road, but when has anything good ever come easily? Sometimes, Readers, the Lord has blessings waiting to shower us with, but we need to get to a point where we not only will appreciate them, but will want them. He isn't withholding blessings because of unrighteousness, or anger; He's waiting for us to be at a place where we can fully take advantage of the blessing. How grateful I am that the Lord has been so patient with me, and allowed me such wonderful blessings as great friends, roommates, uplifting advisers, and overall wonderful funny girls to travel on this next part of my journey with me!
And, that, dear readers, is How I Met My Roommates.
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