Christ, Coffee, and Cornfields

   It's been a hot minute since I've written anything....becoming a parent warps your sense of time, I tell ya what! These past few months have been nothing short of magical, though. Being a mom is something I've wanted and prayed for for basically my entire life, and so far it has exceeded my expectations. It helps that our daughter is basically a perfect baby and Jordan is the best husband and dad ever, but still. I know that many women have a difficult time being new moms, and I do not take my experience for granted in the slightest. This is basically going to be a quick rundown of what I've gone through since I last wrote, so snuggle in and enjoy!   First of all, the last month or so of my pregnancy was very uncomfortable. My nausea/vomiting resurrected itself (I don't want Chinese food for a veeeerrrryyyy long time now) and I felt like an elephant. I also had constant Braxton Hicks, which was fine except I was basically psyching myself out every few days, think...

  I've written before how patience is something I would really like more of. Something I'm still working on. Someone once said that God answers us in one of three ways: "yes", "no", or "I have something better"....the last one is code for "just wait." It seems like I get that answer from Him quite often.   It's really frustrating when we don't get the answer we want, and especially when it isn't immediately following our request. This doesn't just pertain to prayer, either. It might be waiting for test results or waiting to hear back on the offer you put in for a house. You may also be waiting for the right person to come along to marry or maybe you're like me and are waiting to become a parent.   Life is full of waiting.   It's inevitable, really. So what do we do when we're faced with a time of waiting? Well, there are two options: you can focus on the wait and stress about it, or you can choose t...

  NFP. Natural Family Planning. Mucus. Sympto Thermal. Creighton. Basal temp. Charting. Sex. Abstain. Babies. Lots of words get thrown around along with the topic of NFP, or Natural Family Planning. What is it, and why would it be important to Jordan and me when we aren't even married yet?   There are so many reasons that Jordan and I practice and believe in NFP. I could talk and talk about it, but I'll just touch on a few main reasons we do it. First, though, let me give a general overview of what NFP actually is because it is widely misunderstood.   Natural Family Planning is a method of guiding married couples' physical intimacy that focuses on the signs a woman's body gives throughout her cycle so that together they can choose to participate in the marital act during appropriate times for their intentions of having a child. It also is used to forge a stronger bond between the husband and wife by encouraging communication and other ways of intimacy (spiritual, em...

Our world is obsessed with sex. It seems pretty obvious given that the majority of movies or shows have sex scenes in them, or at least allude to hanky panky going on when the camera isn't watching. You don't even have to look hard. It's like the people on floats in parades throwing out candy by the handful. Sex, SEX, SEX.    It's particularly interesting to me because the way intimacy is portrayed from the perspective of secularism isn't even accurate . What do I know, though, right? I'm almost 20 and still a virgin. My fiance is 23 and likewise has not bedded anyone. Sex is a bad word, isn't it?! I couldn't possibly know anything about passion or love since we haven't slept together yet. I'm still so naive compared to those sleeping or living with their significant others or hooking up after a few drinks. Right?   Wrong.   Being a college student, I'm constantly surrounded by people who see sleeping with someone to whom you are not ma...

  Whenever I go grocery shopping and I see Cosmopolitan Magazine on the shelf, I flip it so that nobody will have the temptation to have wandering eyes at the nearly naked woman on the front cover. It's an injustice to expose anyone to a possible occasion of sin, so I flip them. Well, today Cosmo and its atrocities got delivered to my front door.   My dad owns a business, and lately we have been receiving magazines that we have not ever subscribed to. We think they're for his office to entertain customers as they wait, but nonetheless these magazines have shown up at our house uninvited. Today, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take a peek at what is actually inside Cosmo's covers before throwing it away. I wanted to know if it is really full of the trash I assumed it was...I was right! Immediately as I opened to the first page, I was assaulted by odors that I can only assume are meant to be used as a tool to lure men into the bedroom. I found them rather at...

  Being engaged is one of the most amazing stages of life, but it's also one of the most exasperating! You've found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, and you love them with everything you are....well, almost. There's this little "issue" with practicing chastity. Couples who aren't married yet choose to not share their bodies.   This isn't restricted just to engaged couples, either! Jordan and I definitely felt the frustration during our dating period, as well. We have discerned that God wants us to marry each other, so we're moving toward the sacrament. Jordan and I are constantly learning new things about each other, which strengthens and deepens the love we share. The closer we get in a nonphysical way, the more our bodies want to catch up.   The human body is a complex network on multiple planes, and everything is connected. Our minds and souls are connected to our bodies, although the two former aspects of a person are co...