Me? The Bride to Be?

Lately, if I'm just sitting around I'm constantly thinking, 'There must be something I could be doing for the wedding.' This morning I outlined my whole reception. I felt accomplished.

After a productive morning, I headed over to my old friend Marie Hildreth's house for her to help me with my make up. Now, I did NOT need my make up professionally done for my bridal shower, I was getting tips on how to do my make up on the actual wedding day. She helped me look amazing and was such a patient and helpful teacher. It was so fun to talk make up. Look her up: here. She'd be great for prom, weddings, or just a great tutorial of what make up brands work and how to use them. It was a fun morning.

I headed over to the bridal shower at the Baker's house a little early. I was promptly told that my job was to sit down and look pretty. I did my job well. When people started showing up, things got real. I realized that I was the bride of the bridal shower! It was a strange feeling to have all of the attention on me, I'm not usually good at that type of thing. It all worked out great because as each person came through the door it was a someone that loved and cared about me. That made it easier and I relaxed a little bit. It was still a little surreal. I was at my bridal shower.

We played a short game, Ashleigh asked Trevor 15 questions and I had to answer them, either trying to guess what he said or to see if he got the answers right. I think we only missed like 2 questions. We're ready. ;)

Then came the presents and I am so thankful to everyone! Registry gifts are always a good choice, I really appreciate practical gifts. The funny gifts were as can be expected, funny but a little awkward. I wasn't sure how to act, but I think I took it in stride. Then some gifts are just not what you expected at all. The last present I opened was a combined gift from I'd say half the women at the shower.

They bought me and Trevor….A HONEYMOON. 

Not just any honeymoon, we are going down to Florida to visit: 

 We cannot be more excited! I can't believe I'm going, heck, I can't believe they did this for us. For the big nerds we are about HP:

this. is. perfect. 

(And I usually hate putting periods after each word, but nothing else would do.) 

More than the HP honeymoon, I'm so thankful for the love I've felt from so many people, to make my bridal shower, my wedding, and my honeymoon special (and possible)! I have so many blessings to be thankful for and I'm counting them one by one. 

Thank you again. 

Love, Arica 

A 26 Year Old Baby

My younger sister (Arin) and I lived together in college for a semester. It was a blast! She's very patient with me, as is my whole family, but she really could put up with what I call my "fake whining." It happens from time to time, especially when I'm stressed. When it does I make a face…Arin started calling it my "baby face". On these occasions when I whined about having to do homework (or just get up and get myself some milk) Arin would show me this picture:

It cracked me up! It still does. 

I just realized last week, that's me. That's what I am. I am a 26 year old baby. Nothing has changed since college. I also believe that's what a lot of my generation is these days. (And congrats if you don't fit this mold.)

We run from anything deemed hard, too much work, or inconvenient. 

I always justified my messy room, eating out every night, or my list of undid "to do's" to that mentality….'I'm an adult I can do what I please when I please', when really we're all just acting childish.

Being an adult doesn't mean anything about shirking responsibility, it means rising up to those less than exhilarating jobs and doing them anyways. Let's just face the facts…refer to the list below.

Being an adult doesn't mean I can watch whatever show or movie that is out there because "I'm mature enough", it means saying no to viewing things that will drive away the Spirit and making the better choice with what goes into my mind and how I spend my time.
There's a lot of justification that goes into this one…

Being an adult doesn't mean I can eat out whenever I'd like because "it's my money", it means making a true effort to save money by grocery shopping and actually using the groceries you buy.
My new grocery shopping day is Thursday.

Being an adult doesn't mean I can eat whatever I please, it means taking care of my body (especially my type 1 genetically passed down diabetes) in a way that will allow me to spend my time on the earth doing good for others. 
I'm hitting the gym 5 times a week…so that just happened last week, but I plan to keep it up!

Being an adult doesn't mean I can stay up until all hours of the night, it means having the discipline to say "I'm going to bed." even when everyone else is still having a good time.
Man this one is difficult for me. I'm writing this at O-Dark-Thirty.

Being an adult doesn't mean I put off laundry until I have no more undies to survive, it means making an effort complete a load a week, this includes all of the steps. Wash, fold, put away. 
A work in progress. Do not come and inspect my room, please.

Being an adult doesn't mean I always get to do what I want, it means rising up the responsibilities placed upon me by my job, my family, or my God.
It isn't always going to be conducive to my schedule, and I need to be flexible.

Being an adult doesn't mean things are going to come easy to me just because I try to be a good person, it means working harder to maximize my potential. 
I could do well at so many things if I just put in more effort. 

Being an adult is letting go of the baby face, getting up and getting my own milk. It's about putting off the natural man and becoming a saint. (Book of Mormon- Mosiah 3:19) It's about being, not just physically, but spiritually mature.

Let's grow up.

Of course through the course of my adulthood I expect there to be fun, laughter, and adventure…there's no doubt about that. Maybe I'm a little hard on myself from time to time, but I have goals. I believe if I can grasp onto the idea that I  just need to be an adult, I can accomplish most of what I stated above.

So the question stands to be answered, are you an adult?