Sugar.

I've done it. I've been off of refined sugars for two weeks now! Days 1 and 2 were the hardest, but it's as if Canada is my Promised Land and the things I've needed for my health for quite some time are all coming to pass now that I've moved up here - the strength to go without sugars, the strength to wean off of my most important pain med! I've come down from 3 pills daily to 1/2 a pill for the past week now, and again - it's been so difficult! But Heavenly Father has provided the strength, and the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, is infinite and reaches down deep into my needs and desires - both of these desires being GOOD desires. I'm only down about 4 lbs. and I'm not feeling much better yet, but I'm excited for what the future holds. Especially because I'll be starting Shakeology here pretty soon! Truly, I'm SO excited for all the rich nutrients, healthy benefits, for my energy to come back which I haven't felt in years, for the inflammation to go down in my joints and muscles - everything!

On top of the health changes I've been making, I've been reading more - some dystopian young adult fiction, as well as a non-fiction autobiography by Al Fox Carraway called More Than the Tattooed Mormon (here) and it's so good. I resonate with it a lot as I'm a convert - just like Al - and her points and messages are just so good - I highly recommend it!

Dustin has been a great support in everything lately. One thing I really hold dear to my heart is how often he asks me how I'm feeling. It feels so particularly thoughtful to me that he's always asking it, and reminds me that he remembers that I don't feel well. He's also been mostly off refined sugars as well and is so supportive of the Shakeology because he trusts me and my decision to try it out! Especially because of their 30-day money back guarantee! Woo hoo!

The Okanagan Valley

Five Years.

5 years. That's how long I lived in sunny, gorgeous southern California. Well, it would be 5 years on May 31st, but can you believe it? 5 years ago I moved from western Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh to be exact - on my own, across the country, because Heavenly Father urged me and opened up a door wide for me to walk through. Now, 5 years later, I've walked through another door up north to British Columbia, Canada to a husband - Dustin - a new family, a new home, new everything! The mountains and rolling hills are gorgeous, the sunshine is brighter, the sky is bluer, it's just so beautiful to be up here. I do, however, already miss the beaches (of course), and my family (another of course), but I'm thankful to be here. And I'm thankful to have time and energy to jump back into blogging again. Will you join me? I hope you will. I'm looking into advertising and being a part of some giveaways coming up soon if I can. Please include me if you know of any!
I'm excited for this new chapter of my life!

O, Canada!

Where am I? I'm currently sitting on my couch in my living room in my condo in Kelowna, British Columbia! I live here now! Crazy, right?! I know, I know, my only updates have been on Instagram and Facebook (if we aren't Facebook friends - you can add me here), but now that I'm not going to be working for a while and I'm married! I'm going to have time again to get back to blogging! And I'm so excited!

So, let's do a little update:

Currently:

Living in: Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

Married to: Dustin, a Canadian, my sweetheart.



A member of: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Loving: The mountain views, Lake Okanagan, long drives with my husband, my in-laws, the list goes on.

Like I said, I hope to be blogging more now that I have more time on my hands! More about Canada, about my move, about what I miss (California, family, etc.), redecorating the condo slowly but surely, maybe even cooking! Who knows! But please leave any questions or notes in the comments below! Missed you guys so much!

2016 Bucket List

As it's January 1st, 2016, I decided to do one of my favorite things and make a bucket list for the year! I usually do something like, 26 before 27 since I just turned 26 last week, but 10 things seems less daunting and I never seem to finish that many things anyway. So, here we are! What goals have you set for yourself this year? I also want to clean up my diet, as well as have the best February 14th ever (as it's the day after my divorce is officially final), but these are the top ten that made the cut!

1. Renew my passport.
2. Go to Canada to visit my dear boyfriend, Dustin.
3. Take out my endowments.
4. Blog at least once a week.
5. Lose ten pounds.
6. Read at least 5 books.
7. Go to the temple once a month.
8. Get a gym membership and go at least once a week.
9. Read my scriptures daily; finish the Book of Mormon.
10. Move from where I'm currently living now.

My Testimony, Part 1

Happy New Year!
What better time to restart my blog than in the new year! I decided I would share my testimony to the LDS church as my first few posts to ring in 2016, so here we go! I'll break them up into parts 1, 2, and 3 all shared throughout the next few days. Enjoy!

Part 1

My path to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints began years before I even realized it had. Isn't that so absolutely incredible - being able to look back and see Heavenly Father guiding you along the road He wants you to be on to get to a certain specific stop on the eternal journey we're on?

I guess I'll begin by saying that my foundation was lain by growing up in the evangelical born-again church my whole life, raised by two great parents who loved God and Jesus Christ and who taught it in the home; my faith was my identity - it was all I knew and everything that made me who I was. Because of this, during my junior year of high school, I went to Michigan to visit a small Bible college called New Tribes Bible Institute to see if it was for me. Their goal was to ultimately send students to their MTC (ironic to LDS missionaries, right? It even stands for the same thing!), to prepare and then send those students off to "the tribe" (hence New Tribes Bible Institute) to translate the Bible into the language of those people so they could then share the gospel with them. This was my goal. This was what I believed the Lord was calling me to do. (Aren't we crazy how we think things are forever, when we really should take things as they come: one day at a time, and for a season? Anyway...) I believed I would be a tribal missionary, and immaturely believed everyone else should be too (which is another story for another time), so

I went to Bible school for my first year and learned so much about the Bible, so much about the truths of the Old and New Testaments, and started having some health issues come about that couldn't be explained. Joint and muscle pain were the worst, as they were deep in my bones and distracted me from class, took me from prayer, stopped me from sleeping: it was horrible and I could barely live my life because of the pain, so I began going to doctors in Michigan, away from my family back in Pennsylvania, which was really hard as this was the first time I was away from home. When I went home that December over Christmas break, I met with a reumotologist and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and was told that 19 year olds barely ever get it, that mostly women in their 40's get it, so that was rough to hear. It was also rough to hear that there's no cure for the disease; I wanted a quick fix so I could go back to living a normal life again - but Heavenly Father had (and continues to have) other plans. So, I didn't change any meds or diet or anything yet, but I did go back to school in the spring, then started school early that following summer, as well as the third semester, but things started getting worse health-wise.

I couldn't ignore it anymore. Having a diagnosis didn't change the pain. The sleep was still lacking, I could barely exercise or move, couldn't sit through class, so by October I began to feel faced with a decision. That decision was: do I leave and take care of myself or do I stay and suffer through this? So I sought counsel from many people that I looked up to and trusted, I prayed a lot, and I kept getting the same answer: it's up to me. Which was very very difficult for me, as this was the biggest decision I had ever had to make in my life thus far on my own, and I was scared to make the wrong one, but I just kept getting the strongest impression that the decision was mine to make. During that time, I was taking a Romans class, and we had just made it to Romans 12:1 where Heavenly Father tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, and I read that in a new light as I never had before. God was asking me to present my sick body as a sacrifice to Him, in the condition that it was, and by going home to take care of myself, I would be doing that. So on October 20, 2009, I left, and moved back home to Pennsylvania.

This was the first big way that I look back and see how God protected me and kept me on the path of finding the LDS Church. If I had not gotten sick, and followed through going to school all the way to the end, I might be in the tribe and wouldn't have found the fulness of the Gospel. I am so grateful for being saved, for being found. I am so thankful for the restoration in these latter days.