Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Doing Laundry in the Temple.

Yesterday Kyle and I went to the temple in Columbus, Ohio to do some ordinance work.  For those who don't know, here's what the Columbus temple looks like:


Due to the rigid (and tyrannical) request-day-off system at my workplace, this was the very first time that we'd been since we got married in December.  Yikes!

It was a wonderful day, though.  We left at about 7:45 AM and arrived at about 10:30 for our 11 AM session.  After the 11 o'clock, we had a little bit of time to wait before the 1 PM session began.  I received a few personal revelations in the temple that I think will help my husband and me to grow in our relationship spiritually and emotionally.  This can never hurt!  I also had the opportunity to see how much I've learned and developed since I received my very own endowments six months ago.  At the same time, however, I realized even more how much I have to learn!

So while I won't go into too much detail about all that, what I can say is that there was also another very rewarding moment that I never supposed in a million years that I would have had to opportunity to enjoy--I got to do laundry with the temple matron (the wife of the temple president)!


While I was waiting for Kyle to finish his 11 o'clock session, I decided to sit in the main lobby.  I had met the temple matron back in the dressing room and had chatted with her briefly, but I didn't realize who she was because she had on a sweater that covered up her name tag.  I just assumed she was another of the temple workers that was there that day!  When she saw me sitting patiently, she asked if I was there for another session.  I replied that I was, but I'd be waiting for another 45 minutes.  Since she had mentioned earlier that she was "way behind on the temple laundry," she asked if I was willing to help.  I agreed of course!  How often does the opportunity arise that you get to view the behind-the-scenes of how the temple is operated?  I'd most likely have to be a temple worker myself in order to find out :(


In the laundry area, she taught me how to fold some of the clothing used in the ordinances as well as where to store the white lab coats used by the cleaners.  I've never seen so many loads of white laundry in all my life!  It was truly an amazing sight.  While we worked, she asked questions about Kyle and me and our little family and I learned about her family and how often she and her husband get to come to the temple (I'm sure I sounded silly asking about it now that I know she's the temple matron).  She was such a wonderful person to get to chat with, and I loved it.

Doing laundry in the temple with her was a lot different from doing it at home.  Usually I sort the clothes quickly, toss them into either the washer or dryer, and vaguely measure the soap or add a dryer sheet.  Often the laundry won't get folded right away and we live out of the laundry basket when we get really behind (laundry is my least favorite, so it's the chore that gets neglected the most).  That would never happen at the temple.  Every fold and crease of the clothes was precise and deliberate, and we were sure to leave no wrinkles.  Even the clothes that we had discovered had ripped was folded and carefully set aside from the others.  Nothing is treated lightly in the Lord's house.  


I only spent about 20 minutes helping the temple matron (I later discovered who she was when we were leaving and she was without her sweater).  It was such a wonderful opportunity to understand even more about the temple and how it is operated by the Lord's faithful servants.  Not only that, but it really changed my attitude on laundry!  I never really considered folding clothes as a treat until I did it in the temple.  It made me understand even better that even as the Lord's house is a house of order, so should ours as well.  

I can't promise that laundry at my house will suddenly become my favorite pastime, but it has given me a goal--not to become so behind in keeping our home in order, and to, most importantly, delight in doing so.  It's how the Lord's house is patterned, so why should mine be exempt? 

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Pondering the Important Things

Next week is going to be a busy week, I think.  Usually I dread busy weeks because they feel never-ending.  This time, though, I think I'll be doing more pondering than anything.  That's odd for a busy week.

My great-grandmother just passed away.  She was 95 and was the last remaining great-grandparent that Kyle or I had.  She's not having a funeral--just a viewing for family only and then an immediate burial--and I was able to arrange my work schedule to be able to be able to make the trip to Decatur to be there.

I didn't really know this great-grandma that well (we didn't get to see her often) but I do remember her very vividly.  She said some wonderfully funny things to us when we were young, but at the same time, I hated the initial hello every time we got together because she'd always comment on just how much I look like my father (as a young girl, this bothers you, trust me.  ESPECIALLY if your father is very masculine).

This led me to remember the death of my other great-grandmother who passed away when I was about fourteen.  I visited this one all the time in the nursing home and during her burial, I cried and cried.  I was worried for my Granny.  I was worried for our family.  It was my first real encounter with death, and I remember it being unsettling.

Now I know where my Granny is, and I know where my other great-grandmother is, also.  It's very comforting to know.  I know that my Granny is being blessed in Heavenly Father's kingdom, and I've worked to ensure that her temple ordinances would be completed for her since she never had the opportunity to do them for herself here.  I was the one who did her baptism for her, and, weirdly enough, I'll be the one to do her initiatories and endowment when Kyle and I go to the temple on Tuesday...only a day after my other great-grandma's funeral.


I suspect I'll be thinking a lot about family this week.  I'll be thinking about death, life, and what to do in it.  I'll be thinking about eternity, and probably happiness and perfection.  I suppose at some point I will cry--not for my deceased relatives (why despair when they are in a beautiful, happy place?)--but instead because of this glorious opportunity to become like our Heavenly Father.  


Kyle and I don't go to the temple enough.  We don't read our scriptures enough.  We don't volunteer enough.  We don't pray enough.  We don't spend enough time together as a family.  We don't say I Love You enough.  You see...there is never enough of the important things.  


This week, I'm only working about 11 hours.  I just wasn't scheduled for very many for some reason.  Kyle wasn't either.  Now, because of the funeral, I'm only working two days and he's only got three.  Our paychecks won't be big this week (that's for certain) but I have a feeling we're going to be rich in understanding.  We'll be able to spend our days off with our families, at the temple, or at home close to one another.  At first, we were both worried about having enough money for this week, but now...I've had a reality check that the paycheck is NOT what's important.


This week, I'm going to make some more time for the important stuff :)

 

Friday, June 25, 2010

Worth My Weight in Gold

Today I'm worth my weight in gold!  Or at least a few pounds of gold :)

I've been very busy and productive throughout the entire day to make up for my lack of energy and motivation last night.  I woke up early, went to an aerobics class, weeded the flowerbeds, made pancakes for Kyle (this was the point in my day where he was waking up), showered and went into work to give the girls a lunch break (because I like to be generous when I can), cleaned the house quickly and efficiently, went into work for my own shift, and have just now come home to wait for Kyle's shift to end at 10 PM.

I'm still going to make us some pasta salad for dinner and probably some banana bread for dessert and hopefully get to some laundry before the boy comes home!  

I'd love to make this post a little longer, but time's running out...not to mention that since I've sat to take my break, I can feel my energy beginning to fizzle...

Gotta get moving before the motivation runs out!

I love being productive :)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Sleeping Problem.

I can't stay awake for anything anymore!  Seriously....I can't even make it through a two hour movie or cleaning the attic.  It's really beginning to get annoying :(

On the other hand, summer's been great!  It's so wonderful having days off where there's nooooooo school (this hasn't really happened since last August)!  Kyle and I have been working on house projects and cleaning.  We've also been able to spend LOTS of time together and watch movies (a favorite pasttime of ours).  Well, when I'm not falling asleep, that is!

I've been working on Kyle trying to get him to watch Sarah Plain and Tall.  He's not buying into it.  Any suggestions?

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Aerobics :)

So, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually enjoyed my PE requirement that I had to take this summer!  Classes are coming to an end in two days, and since we have to take finals (the PE final is over health information), today was our last day to work out.  Instead of doing aerobics, we did a body composition test/post test for the semester.  We did this at the beginning of the semester as well (only then it's called a pre-test).  

These tests entail seeing how many abdominal curls and sit-ups you can do, how flexible you are (using the sit-and-reach box), what your waist and hip measurements are, what you weigh, and how quickly you can walk a mile (my instructor was pushing us to get the mile walked in less than 12 minutes...and if you've never timed a mile walk, that's fast!).

So....the results?  I've only lost half a pound, but I've also lost an inch and a half off my waist :)  This means that I've lost fat and gained some muscle!  How exciting!  

I really like aerobics because it pushes me in a way working out in the gym really doesn't.  I feel like I could work out in a gym religiously for an hour every day of a semester and not get the same results that 10 days of aerobics could get me.  So, my instructor invited our entire class to keep working out with her during her class next session...

...and I think if I don't have to work in the morning, I might just take her up on it!  
 

Sunday, June 13, 2010

One more week!

Aaaahh...thank goodness this past week is over!  I had so much stuff going on and barely had any time to spend with Kyle...or even to sit and think!  But, on the bright side, I got all my Aerobics homework done, all of my American Lit texts read, my paper written, my blog post completed, talk for church written (in our church we take turns addressing the congregation by assignment.  It was my turn today), Young Women's lesson completed, Visiting Teaching reports compiled...and I wasn't late for work or class ONCE!  Plus, to add to our accomplishments, both Kyle and I found out that we passed Ball State's Writing Competency exam (necessary for graduation)!

So, this week.  I'll be working a few more hours than last week, but it should be pretty much smooth sailing compared to last.  I do have finals to study for (because summer session is ending after this week!) and a blog post to do, but otherwise I think that pretty much puts school to rest until August :)


Kyle's been doing great as well, despite his having to work over 30 hours a week in the terrible humidity.  He's been complaining lately about extreme fatigue and exhaustion from pushing carts and the heat's not helping.  Because he's so tall he doesn't have the best ankles and knees as it is, and I worry about him sometimes.  But, pained as he is, he's been even more cheerful about going to work (if that's possible).  Basically that means he just doesn't comment about work at all.  We often don't talk about his work haha.


So after my summer classes are finished, I think that we're going to work harder on getting some work done around the house that we kind of left off on last summer.  We're working hard to get the attic organized and all of our junk boxed up, and we're almost finished!  We just have Kyle's "man room" to do (a chunk of the attic that Kyle has claimed as his).  I'm pretty excited about this!  Kyle has also done a wonderful job of laying out mulch and spraying weeds around our house.  Pretty soon it'll look great!  


Something that I really wanted to do last summer was spray out the basement.  Now it needs it for sure, because so much traffic has gone through the basement.  Kyle will also work to get the food storage room completely dry-walled, and it'll certainly be amazing :)  When this happens, we can finally stop keeping canned foods in our plate cupboard!


There are so many other things to do, too, but I don't want to list them all because then I'll just feel like the list is never-ending and we won't get them done.  I've discovered that this definitely is not the attitude I want to have right now, especially when my summer is officially beginning at the end of this week.


YAAAAAAY!  Oh happy day!  Summer is finally HERE!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Nightmares

I've been having an awful lot of nightmares lately.  I'm not really sure why, but it's been pretty bad trying to get back to sleep after all of them.  From being hunted by some guy with an ax to getting beaten up and severely injured to getting disowned from my family to our home being robbed to being fired from my job...I'm not really sure which one was the worst this week.  Lots of them have been just plain scary.  In last night's dream, I got fired for the way I look.  That was no ego booster, I can tell you that.

Kyle's been working morning shifts this week, so sometimes when I wake up from my dreams he's not there.  It's such a bummer.  I can't wait until tomorrow when he closes.  We're planning on waking up together and having a breakfast pizza before I go to class!  I think we're actually both pretty excited.  I've never had a breakfast pizza before (I know...sheltered, sheltered) but Kyle's persuaded me that they're delicious and he's a pro at making them (he made them at Papa John's when he worked there in high school).  

So I hope there are no nightmares tonight.  But I suppose if there are, I can be sure Kyle is there and will be until I wake up!  And then I can forget about my sorrows with breakfast pizza.

Sounds good to me!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Summer school...bleh.

So, so, so many things going on here! I can't wait for summer school to be finished so we can get work done on the house and maybe be able to HANG OUT with my husband (jeez is that so wrong?).

Summer school is swell. I actually hate it with a passion because...it's summer! I'm of the opinion that students shouldn't be in school during the summertime, and, being my first summer that I've ever had to be in school (unless you count driver's ed classes that lasted about a week and isn't really a class at all), I've really found pity for those students who go to summer school all the time. Like my brother. Poor Nick goes to summer school each year because he keeps missing points on the ISTEP. Huh.

It's not that the material is particularly hard. I'm taking my PE requirement for the university, so half the curriculum is basically just health that I learned in my sophomore year of high school. The other half of the curriculum is fitness...so I get a grade for working out! The nice thing is that it doesn't matter how good you are...so long as you try and you have a good attitude about it. I actually quite like aerobics (the fitness part anyway)!

I also have an American Literature class with a professor who has a reputation for being a tough grader. Kyle has had this same class with this exact professor in the past, and by listening to him discuss what he had to do for his grade, I've decided that our curriculum is completely watered down due to time. My paper requirement is shortened, our discussions aren't in depth. Plus, I don't even have to attend class for one of the five weeks because my prof has summer plans as well (don't worry, I'm still doing major homework over that week). So I feel like I've gotten off easy in my summer school choice.

But still. The awful (and actually, the worst) part of it is just the fact that I have to GO to school during summer. It's not a normal thing for me, and I always say to myself, Gee, I could be working full time and making lots more money for our family instead of spending money to go to school for the summer. Or, hey, this isn't normal for me. Don't I deserve a break like everyone else?

But I'm about two classes behind from graduating on time. I suppose I have absolutely no right to complain, because these two classes are very common and are definitely offered during the academic year. I could have bumped one semester to 18 hours and another to 17 instead of taking 15 every semester since my freshman year. The reason I didn't, though, is because I took 18 credits once and it nearly killed me. I had no friends or any social life to speak of and had to go to counseling for depression. This was also the semester that I developed my bad sleeping habits, which is something I'm STILL trying to come back from. No 18 hours ever again!

The past two semesters I've had plenty of time to take my fitness class, but I didn't because it would have messed up my class schedules in which I had complete days off during the week (the first semester I had Tuesdays and Thursdays off, and the second I had Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). This wouldn't have been important but it opened up more hours for me to work during that entire semester. In the end, we figured up that it would be more cost efficient for me to take the class for five weeks, pay a little money for it, and help me to work more during the two semesters that I could (plus I'm still working, so it's not like I'm losing hours).

*Sigh. I just wish I didn't have summer school. Everyone else is going to the pool and having picnics or doing landscaping and so many other things I want to do, and I can't because I have homework and class every day. I feel like it's not fair to Kyle either because all he seems to do is go to work and come home to pick up the slack at home for stuff I don't have time to do because I have both work and school (pick up groceries, doing the dishes, making dinner everyday, etc.). He's been awfully cheerful about it, though, which is helpful.

Although that's probably because he knows he doesn't have to go to school and is secretly laughing at me. Ha!

Oh well. Only two and a half more weeks....!