LDS General Conference Thoughts | October 2017

During the last General Conference in April, I wrote down quotes and thoughts from every single talk in the four main sessions. Little did you know, I was pregnant at the time and during one particular talk in the Sunday morning session, I was hit with morning sickness... hard. For that talk, I stole quotes from Twitter, because I had been too occupied in the bathroom to listen.

Look where I am now. Home with my twin girls.

During that conference, I didn't know I was having twins yet and didn't fully comprehend why my morning sickness was so bad. I was frustrated and upset and didn't know how to cope.

And now I'm watching conference with my girls, an official mother, tired and worn out, and not fully knowing how to cope.

It is impossible to write out notes for every single talk. It's turning out impossible for me to listen to every talk. However, I was able to fully listen to one. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk during the Saturday morning session. And one quote stood out to me more than any other.

"Here in mortality, perfection is still pending." 

Many times as a member of the church we are put under a pressure to be perfect. I remember first being married and going to a married student ward and watching my ward members competing to show they were the most perfect and holy. But knowing those people now, it was all an act. They were pretending to be perfect.

Nobody is asking us to be perfect now.

Yes, it's the scriptures a million times that we need to be like Christ, who is perfect. But every general authority has said at one point that they know we are not perfect. It is impossible to be truly perfect. But that doesn't mean we should ever stop trying.

I have said on this blog many times that I am far from a perfect Mormon. I've made millions of mistakes. I have a tattoo. I don't read my scriptures every day and sometimes take a break for months before trying again. I often struggle to pay my tithing. I haven't had a temple recommend in two years... until recently.

Recently I was able to get a temple recommend after two years in order to be there for my sister's sealing. And when I went into the temple, I felt such joy and peace. I was very much pregnant and every motion was a struggle, but not while I was in the temple.

As a new mother, I want more than anything to raise my children in a gospel filled home. While pregnant, I often felt pressure to be perfect so I can be an example for my girls. But I am not expected to be perfect. No one is perfect and I will never be the exception.

I will never be perfect. My perfection is still pending. But as long as I'm trying my hardest to be my best self, then I will never fail.

Theme Song 2017

Hello my friends! I've gotten quite a few new followers over the last year, so to all my new internet friends... hello! My name is Kaylee Farnes, and every year I pick a "theme song" to help guide me through the year. I started doing it back when I first started college and it's been the one thing that stuck... because resolutions always fail.

For 2016 my theme song was "Tomorrow Never Comes" by the Zac Brown Band. I'd say it was a fairly influential theme song for me. I took a risk and started my writing career with Heroes & Villains. I have talked about becoming a writer the majority of my life, but I finally did something about it this year, and I'm really happy about it.

I like to think the song worked in helping me begin my writing career. SUCCESS!!

This year's song is incredibly different and perhaps controversial because at first glance it should not be an inspiring song, however, over the past few months a single phrase from this song keeps running through my head over and over again.

I wanted this as my theme song but I kept talking myself out of it because it's not a positive song... not necessarily. But the other day I found this amazing quote that totally fits with the song and it secured the song as my theme song for 2017!

"For what it's worth, it's never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start over." 

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Beautiful quote by a wonderful author. 

My theme song of the year is "The Weight of Living II" by Bastille. I'm in love with this song. It was featured in my playlist of songs that describe who I am in 2016 and the lyrics honestly describe and speak to me in such an important way. 

"Do you like the person you've become?"

I have spent the majority of 2016 in a deep depression. At the end of 2015, I lost my child and I have been unable to get pregnant this year. I've spent the entire year holding back in doing the things I wanted because I never knew if I was pregnant, and once a month I would cry for basically an entire day when I learned I wasn't. Beyond that, my sister-in-law lost her child Jamison and the Farnes family has been struggling. 2016 was without a doubt the worst year of my life (and in 2008 I was suicidal so that's really saying something) and I am so insanely happy that it's over.

Now I realize that just because it's a new year doesn't mean that things will magically get better. But there comes a point where you lose all hope in a year. I lost all hope for 2016, but not for 2017. I can find excitement in 2017, where for the past few months there was no excitement to be found.

The potential doesn't come from a new year coming, it comes from me. If I put in the work, I can make 2017 a good year.

Let's go back to the song. For a long time I could not get the phrase "Do you like the person you've become?" out of my head. It haunted me. Because for the majority of 2016, my answer would be no. But if you combine the quote and the song, it describes my feelings for 2017.

"Do you like the person you've become?"

 "I hope you find the strength to start over."

Despite the dislike for myself this year, I have never given up on myself. I still believe I have potential. If I want to be a writer, I can be. I've already started on that journey. If I want to be a fashion blogger, I can be. Just because I never have money doesn't mean I can't find creative ways to do it. If I want to make YouTube videos, I can do it. Even if they don't start out very good, the more practice I get, the better they'll become.

A lot of the lyrics of this song speak to me. I could talk for a long time about the lyrics (it comes with spending the majority of my college career writing essays analyzing writing) but the only line that matters is the one I've said before.

Every time I think of that phrase, I answer the question, and if my answer is no, then it's time to make a difference.

"It's never too late to be whoever you want to be."

💗

______________________________

Do you pick out a theme song for each year? Let me know your song or your goals for 2017 in the comments below! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

One Years Worth of Marriage Tips, Tricks, and Advice

It's my anniversary month! I wanted to put up this post closer to my anniversary, but this particular post has taken me months to create and it has been delayed. But it's still May, still my anniversary month, so here it is!

No, I did not document my first full year of marriage the way I probably should have. But I have worked hard in the past year to show my love for my husband and to build our relationship. We've been through trials, we've been through changes, things weren't always the way we thought they would be. But we learned how marriage works together and marriage has been the greatest blessing of my life. Note: Just because I wrote all these down doesn't mean I'm perfect and follow every last tip, I'm not perfect and still have things to work on.

(PS, there is a very good chance the pictures won't all show up, I apologize for that but I don't think I'm going to take the time to fix them if they end up not showing. I'm trying to get ones that work but just know that there's a possibility of a blank picture. I also apologize for any grammatical issues, but again, not going through and fixing them.) 

So, here is a years worth of marriage tips, tricks, and advice... 365 days worth... A lot... As in, the longest blog post of my life... yeah... you don't have to read it all in one sitting.

1. Don't forget the kisses everyday!! 
2. When you burn the food, laugh. 
3. "Oh money, where did you go? Maybe we should keep track..."
4. Changes happen... again and again and again and again.
5. I think even grownups need a time-out sometimes. 
6. "How dare you do this! I'm so mad at you! [Insert How I Met Your Mother Quote here]" Laughter ensues, argument over. 
7. "I want to do this." "And I want to do this." Always make decisions together.
8. .....
   
9. Relax and take a trip, get away from being an adult. 
10. "Aww man, we eat out too much I'm getting fat!" You put on the weight together, take it off together. Gym time together can be super fun! 
11. "Life's a dance you learn as you go!"
12. Balancing school, work, homework, and life in general is difficult, but always, always, ALWAYS make your spouse your main priority.
13. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.
14. When you watch a couple enough on TV, sometimes you start acting like them, and there is nothing wrong with that. 
    
15. Date nights become fewer, but sometimes that makes them all the more special.
16. Your in-laws can be family too and you can learn to love them as much as your own family. 
17. Sometimes Little Caesars Pizza is the best "going out to eat" can offer. 
18. Just hold your spouse for a minute a day. Just hold them and let them know you'll always be there for them. 
19. ... 
    
20. Love is meant to make you feel happy and wonderful. Accept it. 
21. Stop looking for the negative, every day find another positive.
22. .... 
    
23. Have confidence in your spouse and they will return the favor.
24. Make a cake, celebrate!
25. How do two people use so many dishes???
26. "I don't want to clean." "Me neither." "Let's make a game out of it!!!"
27. "Love is never ending!" 
28. Act like a child sometimes. If it's real love, your spouse will allow it.
29. You don't have to be exactly the same and like all the same things all the time... that just sounds exhausting.
30. A Disney movie sing-along and some popcorn is an excellent date night.
31. Marrying a fisherman means fish for dinner. 
32. And marrying a man who can cook fish very well is a good idea... because I dislike cooking. So I'm so grateful Chris can do it and do it well. 
33. ... 
    
34. Sometimes you have to remind your spouse how sexy you can be. And slutty. But you're married so it's okay. 
35. "Don't worry, be happy!" 
36. Car rides can be the absolute funnest thing with your spouse! Sing-alongs, car games, and long talks. Best thing ever!
37. Take time to step out of your comfort zone and do something the other one likes. Don't hide in your shell.
38. My husband is a soccer player and he's obsessed with the sport. He can tell you almost all the players in the EPL, he always knows the most current stats and news. Sometimes it can be hard with him always looking up soccer news on his phone, but when I go to his soccer games I can see that it's all just for the love of the game and it's so incredible seeing how happy it makes him. I'm proud to support my husband in something he loves.
39. Cooking together, making messes together, all means having fun together.
40. Hold hands. Be an otter.
41. Make your spouse feel beautiful... or handsome, pretty, ravishing, etc.
42. Just because you're married doesn't mean basic manners go out the window. Say yours please's and thank you's.
43. Take care of your spouse, "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health." 
    
44. Remind your spouse why you love them. Never let them forget it.
45. RESPECT. It's not dead. 
46. Make couple friends. Eat dinner together, bond over movies and games. 
47. "How can I help? What do you need?" ...are some of the greatest questions you can ask your spouse.
48. Spend as much time together as you can. He's going to the hardware store? Join him! Hold his hand as you walk through the aisles. 
49. Clean the car together and get in a water fight. Fun! 
50. Always look for ways to help. Helping others is incredibly important. 
51. "I love you" everyday. Every. Single. Day.
52. Let your spouse become your life. It's the greatest feeling in the world. 
    
53. "Nice butt." {wink wink} Let your spouse feel loved and sexy.
54. Laughter is the best medicine, especially in marriage.
55. Yes, you may be married for forever, but never let a single day go by without being grateful for your marriage.

Realizing You Can't Do It

I believe that everyone has a moment in their life when they realize that just can't do it. People can say "You can do it" and give you an enthusiastic thumbs-up, but when you really sit down and think it over, you know you can't.

At one point in my life I had to face the fact that I would never be as flexible as the dancers on So You Think You Can Dance. I tried so hard for years and I could do the splits most of the time, but I would never be able to use my flexibility in my dancing as well as they could. It just couldn't be done.

Another time I had to find out that my horrible knees would prevent me from doing a lot of things. They held me back. While I learned to work around them and deal with the pain, there were always things that I wouldn't be able to do.

After receiving a failing grade on an essay in college I had to come to terms with the fact that I just wasn't as good at essay writing as the others in my class. I continued to work hard, despite constantly feeling discouraged, and faced the fact that it didn't come as naturally to me as it did to some other people. I just couldn't do it the same way they did.

There are always things in life that we just can't do. I'm facing a lot right now that I don't really want to go into, but sometimes we become stronger by realizing what we can't do, coping with it, and moving on. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

I will never be a famous dancer, I've faced that fact and I can't worry about not being good enough anymore. I did my best so why worry? I have other talents. I have other likes and interests, so why get so hung up on a single aspect in my life that I can't do? Perhaps that's just not what I'm meant to do. Perhaps I'm meant for bigger and better things.

Sometimes you can't do things, but it's nothing to worry about. It's a lesson to be learned. We can all move on from the things that hold us back. All we have to do in life is our very best, and our very best is always good enough. 

Pinterest Sunday: DIY, Foods, Neon, Cruel, Disney, Pink, Pinwheel, Roadtrip, Scriptures, Disney Parks, and Phoebe

This week I've pinned a ridiculous amount of clothing/fashion pins because I just want to shop and I'm so sick of my current wardrobe.... but I am going to save most of those pins for a Fashion Friday post this week. So stay tuned for all of those and I hope you enjoy this Pinterest Sunday post! 

As one of his Christmas presents, I promised my husband I would make a board/frame thing for the pictures of fish he catches. I had a pretty good idea in mind but then I saw this and knew I have to do this! But I could use like fishing wire and hooks! It'll be great! Stay tuned for a tutorial and video on it when I finally get around to making it. 

New Year, new me. I'm trying to lose one pound a week up  until my one year anniversary, because then I'll be at my wedding weight (yes I strayed that far off in the last 8 months). So I'm always looking for healthy foods and ways to lose weight. 

P.S. -I am already behind. I got sick so I didn't go to the gym at all last week and we still have tons of left over candy from Christmas (I have a theory that Santa gives us all so much candy so he doesn't feel as overweight himself) but this week I'll be starting a new routine (even though I still feel sick) and I'll be writing about it on here soon. 

Pinterest Sunday: Shirt, Money, Rebel, Glitter, Memento, Olaf, Hair, Psych, Motivation, Leggings, Red, Travel, Map, and Shrek

I don't really have an introduction for this post today. It's just another one of my Pinterest Sunday posts. But I hope you enjoy it! 

This shirt is super cute! I've never been a fan of long sleeves. I'm wearing one right now and I have the sleeves rolled up because I just can't handle sleeves, I don't know why. So I'm not sure if this shirt would actually be practical for me but I think it's super cute. 

Cut Your Spending by $400 a Month

I really love this list! It has a ton of really great ideas to cut spending, which I always need. 

Is there anyone who doesn't like Rebel Wilson? She's so awesome! And I love Ellen so much as well. Best pin I've ever pinned. ;)

Umm, I super need this! I have a glitter obsession and I just want to glitter-ize everything! 

I'm not a scrapbooker but I love to keep mementos from all my trips and general outings. I want to start doing this with all the fun things my husband and I do together. 

Pinterest Sunday: Christmas Edition

It has been much too long since I've done a Pinterest Sunday post! But I'm excited to do this one because it all has to do with Christmas!! Christmas is coming up so soon and I'm not even ready for it! But it'll be great! It's my first Christmas as a married lady and we're super poor, but I really am excited to just spend some time with family and my wonderful husband. So anyways, here is Pinterest Sunday, Christmas Edition!

This awesome sweater is from Buzz Feed's 13 Ugly Holiday Sweaters That are Almost Too Ugly to Wear. I will be talking a bit more about holiday sweaters after Christmas and hope to make a good one next year. 

Family Tree Skirt

I think that this is the cutest idea! And you just add hand prints with each new child or maybe evenwith a visitor. I think I'll be making this next year as a part of my new crafting segments I'm hoping to do.

I think this wreath is so adorable! This is another craft I'm hoping to pursue this next year. I'm so behind on my crafting, but with the move, lack of money, and school everything has been crazy lately. 

DIY Ornament Garland

This is adorable. I don't know where I would ever be able to put it but it's super cute and very do-able.

This is the cutest idea ever and I absolutely love it!! I didn't mean for all these pictures to be crafts because it's a little late for that at this point, so I do apologize, but I'll find some non-crafting pins from my Pinterest for the rest of this post. 

Pinterest Sunday: Perfect, Dance, Music, Blessings, Puns, Turkey, Christmas, Friends, Pumpkin, Peaches, Coasters, Birds, Church, Red, and Taylor Swift

Goodness, it has been far too long since I've done one of these posts! So I may or may not have a lot of pictures today, we'll see. :) You can find all my new and old "pins" by CLICKING HERE and feel free to follow me on Pinterest! I'd love to see your "pins" as well!

Cutest quote and picture ever. There are no words. 

I miss dance so ridiculously much! I went to Ballroom Fest this weekend and got to watch dance and compete (I got 4th) and I realized just how much I miss it! I'm going to talk to my old coaches and see if I can teach at their studio, because I really really want to! 

When I first saw these pictures I thought "That would be really cool, I love Carrie Underwood" but I didn't think it was actually happening!! I'm getting excited for this, Carrie Underwood (AKA, one of my favorite female singers) in The Sound of Music (AKA, one of my favorite musicals)! Her voice is so incredible so I'm not worried about that, it's just a really difficult task to try to replace Julie Andrews, because Julie Andrews is a queen. In the Princess Diaries she played the perfect role, because she is honestly a queen. If I could only meet one celebrity, I'd probably pick Julie Andrews. She's so incredible! 

This is called a "Blessings Bag". You're supposed to carry some around in your car and hand them out to homeless people. I wish there was a link with a list of what to include, but you can see some things in the picture anyways. Where this is the Month of Gratitude, I feel like it's time for us to give back to the world. I personally am so blessed everyday and there are people out there who can't afford the things that I can. I think this "Blessings Bag" is a wonderful idea to help others to feel a little better and maybe make a change in their own lives. I hope all my readers work this month to help others. 

Halloween is over but I couldn't resist all the puns! It's cute and funny and I love it! 

Use Nerf Guns to try and get the most points? Yes please!! When I'm a parent I want to have fun games like this for my kids while we're preparing dinner for Thanksgiving. Right now though, I think this would be super fun with my husband. Ha ha, we're like children sometimes. :)

While I typically avoid all things Christmas until December, I just can't help it this year! My coworker has been listening to Christmas music since September and I'm getting super excited for our first Christmas as a married couple (not with my coworker, that sentence makes it sound like I'm married to my coworker, but I'm not, I meant my husband and I). I'm just so excited! I need a good Christmas playlist and all these songs are fabulous, so I'll be getting them together soon. :)

This is quite possibly my favorite episode of Friends ever! Everything about it is fantastic, but especially Jason Alexander. He added such a great character in this episode. 

This is the exact recipe I used to make cookies for work on Halloween. It turned out wonderfully! You can read the full recipe by CLICKING HERE and I definitely would because everyone loved them! 

Pinterest Sunday

I have been on Pinterest so much this week it's ridiculous! To see all my pins, feel free to CLICK HERE. Below are just some of my favorites from the week. Thanks for reading!

I would like to have a better job. That would be really nice for me. This article had some really good tips and it's a great reference for me for the future. To see the article CLICK HERE. 

4 EASY SCHOLARSHIPS ANY STUDENT CAN WIN

I don't have the best GPA right now and yes, being married brings a bit more financial aid, but we could always used more money for college. This is a great resource because you don't have to have a fantastic GPA to apply to these scholarships. 

I am NOT excited for winter to come, but I cannot get over how beautiful this picture is! 

I really miss ballet. I'm hardly even flexible anymore. I just love this picture and like to look at it and wish I could be doing that again... 

These are so simple and quick to do and can be incredibly effective! I'm sick of being at this weight, this is the biggest I've ever been in my life, so I'm working on changing that. These simple exercises are great for inner thighs, which are always a trouble spot for me. :)

I'm sick of going through a lot of cleaning on Saturdays and then letting everything pile up through the week. So I'm thinking of making a checklist/routine like this. This is a great example and something that I think would be great for my little apartment. 

Pinterest Sunday: I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

So I have a Pinterest board called "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" where a put beautiful pictures and quotes from my church. In honor of General Conference Weekend, this Pinterest Sunday post is dedicated to that board.

(I got married in this beautiful temple!!)

Photo Credit: www.simpleelegancebylaura.com