My soap box for the day

Sorry it's been so long since I posted last, but I literally have no time anymore. I'm lucky if I am home for a few hours in the evening, and I'm lucky if the dishes get done, so consider yourself lucky that I am able to update.

Just have a few thoughts. This semester has seriously been one of the most challenging times in my life. My classes are soo hard, that's an understatement. I am normally a good student who gets A's and 90's on her tests. This semester is not the case. I am the student that is sitting there saying, "What the heck is he talking about?" It's been a humbling experience, and I look at learning from a completely new perspective. It has been rough, and it has not been pretty, but somehow I'm still floating and passing my classes. I just pray and I can make it to the end.

This semester I have also been pretty hurt from some people. Due to the extra extra stress, it has made me overly sensitive and I have become so hurt and so bitter I was miserable. I finally realized that through the hurt I was feeling, I was becoming someone I didn't enjoy, and the negativity that I was around was really rubbing off on me. Because I have been having such a hard time, it's really hurt my self esteem and I have been beating myself up and believing the things that others around me were saying about me. Yesterday in my religion class we talked about the act of gratitude. President Monson said that the act of ingratitude is a serious sin. This is scary. How many times have we been the lepers who didn't return to thank Jesus Christ for blessing us? How many times in our lives have people done incredible things for us, and we never even thought to thank them?

It is so important that we start now and count our many blessings. Rather than focusing on all of the things we can't do and all of the things we don't have, we must focus on all of the things we DO have and all of the things we CAN do. It's incredible the difference it will make in your life. As women, we tend to compare our weaknesses to others strengths.... or at least I do anyways. We should never ever do this. We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, and we are made this way for a reason. Heavenly Father never gives us something that we can't overcome. Whether it be anxiety, bad grades, family problems, etc, we have the strength to overcome them. If the issue is never taken away such as an illness, we can always learn and grow from it and become a better person in the end. It is all in our perspectives.

We should always remember to compliment those around us rather than bring them down and trying to build yourselves up. Something that I have learned is to always show kindness to those around me, especially to those that are unkind to me, because they obviously need the kindness the most. If someone offends us 7 times, we should not only forgive them 7 times, but 70 times 7. Forgiveness is a continuous process, and it can be very difficult. It is so hard when someone does something so hurtful and so cruel, but we must always remember that it is not our place to judge, and we are taught to forgive.

By showing kindness, gratitude, and forgiveness we too can be forgiven. If we do these things the negativity will be taken away from our hearts and we can feel of the spirit. As hard as these things can be, they are so important. I am trying to live by them each and every day. I challenge everyone to do their best to compliment those around, and when we are feeling pity on ourselves consider service rather than thinking woe is me, nothing good ever happens to me. Turn the m in me upside down to we. Try to put others first and our lives will fall into place.

Sorry for my soap box, but this is something I am struggling with. I remind myself each and every day of the importance of these values, and I have seen a difference in my life when I am living this way, rather than becoming like the rest of the world and having unkind thoughts when someone offends me. I know that it is my choice to become offended, and it is my responsibility to forgive others. I love you guys and I am so grateful for all of my family and friends. You are great examples to me and you all make me a better person.

Aspire

Wow... this week has been a doozy! We're back in school and man, it's going to be a hard semester! I've been swarmed with homework everyday, and I have a sinus infection on top of it. My body needs rest but I haven't been able to give it any. Derek... bless his heart. He's been working nights and going to school. He is SOOO behind on his sleep, and he basically will fall asleep anywhere. Tonight is his last night working for the week, and then he has a full week off so hopefully he can feel on top of it again.

Other than that not too much is new. I am so happy to be dancing again! 3 years has been far too long! I'm taking a ballet and jazz class at the college, and I am on an amazing contemporary team called Aspire Dance Company. The new director just made a website and it was finished yesterday. Go check it out, it's amazing!! So grateful for dance in my life!http://aspiredance.weebly.com/index.html

Arizona trip

Derek and I were lucky enough to go to Arizona for a week!! Oh my word! Why did we ever leave? I miss it so much!! I can't wait until we're done with school so we can be back there again!!
Basically last Wednesday morning after Derek got off work from his night shift, we drove with Thayne and Kiama down to Maricopa, Arizona and spent the week with Raylene and Raylon. There were a lot of kids so it made it difficult to really get to go out and explore and do all the things in the city, but that's ok. We had a lot of fun family time and we were still able to do some fun things.
We went swimming 3 days, went to the Chandler Fashion Center, the girls went to Emili's bridal shower while the boys went to Jesters for Raylon's bachelor party. Jesters is an improv stand up comedy center. It's basically like watching Who's Line Is It Anyway in person. We had lots of ping pong and air hockey tournaments, and we played late night games together. I got 2 of my requests in. 1 was going to In N' Out Burger. It is so fresh and yummy, we even went twice!! I also requested that we go to RA Sushi, and luckily we were able to!! I was one happy lady!!
The best part of the trip was visiting our old ward. Our ward in Arizona is seriously the MOST amazing ward hands down!! The bishopric is amazing and that ward is so involved and active. Everyone wants to be there and everyone does their part. It was so fun seeing all of our friends. It was crazy because all of our friends now have babies and they are all so big! It was crazy but so fun catching up with everyone and seeing how much they have all grown. Derek and I were able to spend an evening with some friends from Idaho that have just recently moved literally a block away from our old apartment!! It was fun seeing them and playing games together.
All in all the trip was a blast, and we were sad to leave!! It's always hard to come back to the real world after a fun trip. Today was my last day of work and we start school on Monday. YUCK!! I am soooo not ready for it!! My semester consists of Physics and Chemistry along with 4 other classes. I am dreading it. This is what I plan on being my hardest semester. It's going to be very difficult for Derek to balance working full time all night long, sitting through class all day, finding time to sleep, and finding time to study on top of it all. I feel really awful but right now we don't really have another choice!! I hope we can come out on top after this semester! Wish us luck!!!

The Best 3 Years of My Life

WOW!!! These past 3 years have been the absolute best of my life! They have flown by so fast, I can't even believe it!! I am the luckiest girl in the entire world, and let me tell you why!!

1. My husband is hott
2. Derek is the most patient person in the entire world
3. He teaches me something new every day
4. He is the hardest worker I know
5. He knows everything it's disgusting!! I would be entirely lost without him!
6. He is incredibly talented with his hands. He can make anything, he can fix anything, and he will work at it until it's perfect. He has saved us thousands of money by hand making furniture, fixing our kitchen, plumbing, car, house, doors, yard etc. My parents absolutely adore him and they need his help frequently, considering Maeser's are the most un-handy people out there.
7. He has the perfect smooth clear skin
8. He's an amazing kisser
9. I feel safe in his arms. When he holds me the world stops. Even after 3 years of marriage, this feeling is still there with every single hug.
10. He's creative. He can come up with the coolest inventions whether it's in the house, or in the kitchen. Sometimes he's too creative, but I love this quality about him.
11. He makes me laugh soooooo hard!! His sense of humor is unlike anyone I've ever met. He is so random and it throws me off every day. You'd think I would see it coming by now, but he still manages to throw me off. It's my favorite.
12. He loves being active and outdoorsy just like me.
13. He's spontaneous and we always have a blast together
14. He has insane math skills!
15. He's not a normal boy, I LOVE IT!!! Nothing is more annoying than a single boy who's a perv and is into their material things. Derek is respectful and smart with his money. (Although he does love his toys, he's smart to know not to buy them when it's unafforadable)
16. He's thrifty
17. He has a strong testimony and he is a worthy priesthood holder, this is the best quality a girl could ever ask for.
18. He protects and takes care of me, but at the same time he lets me take care of him when needed.
19. He is gentle and caring. He's going to be the cutest dad in the entire world!
20. Everything about this boy is attractive all the way from his personality to his looks, to his voice. He is so charming!

I adore this boy, and I honestly don't know what I would do without him!!! I can't imagine life without him, and I wouldn't have it any other way!! People said we couldn't get married young, but to be quite frank, we have the best marriage I've ever known!! I wouldn't have done it any other way, and I am in love with Derek with everything that I have!! Thank you Derek for all that you do for us. You are incredible and you are an amazing example to me and to those around you! Thank you for being my family, and thank you for going through life with me hand in hand! I adore you, and I think the world of you!!!

Love always,
Your wifey Mary

SUMMER!!!

Yes!!! We officially made it to our summer break!! Somehow I managed not to fail any of my finals, and came out with pretty good grades. I was .4 points away from getting a full tuition scholarship, so that is frustrating, but luckily I am eligible to receive a half tuition scholarship, and Derek that smarty pants received a full tuition scholarship!! It is such a blessing and I don't know how we would be able to afford college if it weren't for grants and scholarships!
I am working at Access Point for the rest of the summer, and I really do love it! I am only working 2 days a week as of right now, but hopefully I can get some more hours. I work with developmentally delayed children and I just adore them!! It is a very challenging job, but a very rewarding job overall. Other than work, I am dancing on the Aspire Dance Company, and I am really enjoying it.

As for my amazing husband, he starts his new job tomorrow!! We are so blessed that Derek was somehow able to get such a great job! He got the job almost a month ago, but he had to wait for his background check, and he had to get all his shots and test for TB and whatnot. But now that he is officially starting training tomorrow, I thought I would share with ya'll! He is working at EIRMC (Idaho Falls hospital), and he will be working as a Medical Transporter in the E.R. I could NEVER do that, but Derek is a macho man! He will be working the night shift from 7pm to 7am. 6 hours of his shift will be transporting patients, and the other 6 hours will be doing clerical work such as filing, paging doctors, paperwork, etc. He will be working 3 days on and 4 days off. It will be really hard once he's in school trying to find any sleep, but I know that he can do it!! Derek never ceases to amaze me!! It really is incredible that he got this job, let alone an interview. They only look at the first 50 resumes out of the hundreds and hundreds that come into the hospital. From there, then they choose who is a potential candidate and they do interviews for a couple weeks. Derek was so grateful for the interview. When he left they told him that they would get back to him in a week..... and they called him 3 hours and later and told him that he got the job!! We were so ecstatic!! Our patience has finally paid off, and he has been given the opportunity to grow and develop, and to gain knowledge and experience in the field he is planning on going into.

Other than that, we have been LOVING having nothing to do or worry about. We have loved not having homework, and we have really just enjoyed spending time with each other. Thus far I have read a book, and we have been able to go to Table Rock with Thayne and Kiama. We had so much fun, but I will say... this hike is a real butt kicker! It is the second hardest hike I have ever done, and it feels like one of the greatest accomplishments when finished.
It really was quite the experience. We started out the day before 5 am, we missed the turn off and drove WAY out of the way. Once we got there, a man told us the wrong trail so we hiked 3 miles up the wrong trail, discovered we were on the wrong hike, and we ran the 3 miles all the way back to the car. We then decided to take a little break to try and find some motivation, so we carb loaded in the car before starting the brutal hike. The hike is incredibly steep for almost the entire way. Once to the top of table rock, we sprawled out on the rocks totally exhausted, we ate more food, and talked and laughed. We didn't get home until 7 pm. It was the longest day of my life, but we honestly had a blast!!

I hope that the rest of this summer will be filled with fun adventures. I hope to go boating, camping, read the Hunger Games, and go on a small trip. I hope the rest of you are all enjoying your summer and staying safe!!

Kick the Can

What a fun weekend! Of course I forgot my camera, but oh well, I will still blog about it. Finals week is this week, and I am freaking out, not gonna lie. Instead of studying like crazy this weekend,(which I probably should have done), I had a great time with friends instead.
Friday night, Derek and I went to Ryan's parent's house on the river, and we played volleyball with Ryan and Syd. The first game, Sydni and I dominated, the second game, we weren't as fortunate. We grilled some hot dogs and enjoyed each others company. Afterwards, we invited more friends and we went to Freeman Park and played night games. Now.... when I was a kid, we played night games on a weekly basis, so I was very excited to play night games again! We played a game of kick the can, and next we played Grey Wolf. I am the only one that calls it grey wolf, everyone else calls it Ghost in the Graveyard..... so that's what we called it. It will always be Grey Wolf to me though.
Saturday I went to my friend Sarah Stanger's bridal shower. She is an amazing girl, and I adore her! I couldn't be happier for her, and her and her fiance make an adorable couple. After the bridal shower, Derek and I went shopping and we bought a SUPER cute bed set. We were in dire need of a new set, and we found the perfect set for the perfect price! The sheets, pillow cases, and the comforter are all reversible, so there are like 8 different combos you can do. So if we get bored with one, we can switch it up to another design.
Last night we went to Joe's parents with Joe, Lindsay, Drew, Kenye, Dalin, Ryan, and Syd, and sat around the camp fire roasting marshmallows, coconut marshmallows, starbursts, and sour patch kids. It was delicious!!! I LOVE the summer and I love my friends! I can't wait to be done with this week of finals so I can have more summer adventures with the friends and family that I love!

10 Things

10 Things I Do Every Day Without A Doubt

1. Go to the bathroom
2. Eat
3. Brush my teeth
4. Wash my face
5. Get ready (hair, makeup, get dressed, etc)
6. Tell my husband I love him
7. Homework
8. Kiss my husband
9. Think about family
10. Attempt to get things done off of my to do list

10 Things About My Personality

1. I am pretty Sensitive
2. I care WAY too much about others. I stress when something bad happens to other people and I hate watching them suffer.
3. I am the hardest person on myself
4. I am an overall very happy person, and I laugh everyday
5. I have anxiety and I do my best to control it, although it is difficult at times.
6. I would do anything for anyone
7. I am a perfectionist about certain things
8. I'm not ok with just meeting someone. I love knowing people, helping people, and building close relationships with them.
9. I have a sarcastic sense of humor, and I love when I meet others with the same sense of humor as myself.
10. I don't ever deny something that I've experienced or felt, and I'm proud of it.

10 Things I Absolutely Hate

1. Repeating myself. I don't know why, but I can't stand when someone doesn't hear what I said and I have to repeat the entire thing.
2. Liars
3. Judgmental people. I've known too many people who have fallen away from the church because of these types of people.
4. Bragging and people who are cocky and think the world of themselves. We all know you're not perfect!
5. Sluts... I feel bad for you, you have no self respect.
6. Bad drivers
7. People who only have one volume and that's loud. I hate when people don't know how to whisper at the appropriate times.
8. I hate when people are unaware of something that's called a bubble. They're in their own world and don't even realize they are now standing right in front of you with their hair in your face and they stepped on your toe.
9. People who deliberately hurt others
10. Watching someone suffer

(Sorry, I didn't mean to base that entirely off of others, apparently other people bug me at times)

10 Things I'm Ashamed Of

1. Not treating my mom the way I should've as a teenager
2. Losing a best friend over a boy
3. Having serious boyfriends at such a young age.
4. Not standing up for myself
5. Being too scared to have a missionary moment
6. Treating one of my best friends poorly and falling so far apart for so long
7. Hurting anyone's feelings
8. Fighting with anyone
9. Holding myself back in fear of other people's opinions
10. Letting someone control me and not doing what I wanted

10 Things I Absolutely Love

1. Derek Ray Dawson, he is perfect for me!
2. My family
3. My in laws
4. The close friends I have made over the years
5. Dance!
6. Sunny days and beaches
7. Popcorn ( it is my comfort food)
8. The Gospel, don't know where I'd be without it
9. Having deep conversations with people
10. Laughing until I cry