Wrinkly old hag with scales on her skin...

Ok, so to help you understand my post and thoughts today, I would like to share a story with you. I am going to take you back around about 12 months ago, where I was at a convention. Now this is not a work convention, but more a convention for young single adults that are held annually. The idea is, those that are between 18-31 who are not married attend these conventions that are normally 4-5 days long. Young single adults attend to meet other of the same faith, have some fun and the ultimate result, is to find that special somone. Mormon's like to marry young, when I say young, I mean on average any time from 18 and hopefully before you turn 31. However, there is a stigma that if you reach your late 20's and still single, there has to be something wrong with you...

Here I was 29, still single, at a young single adult convention (YSA convention) trying to hang onto my youth and joining in with much younger YSA's at this convention. The good news was, my friend was with me, who is also the same age, so I was not entirely alone. (remeber that stigma I was telling you about... keep that in mind as I continue to set the scene). It was a hot summers NYE and I was getting ready for a ball that was being held at this venue, with 8 other girls that I shared my room with. While my friend and I were doing our hair and make-up, this young 21 yr old rushed into the room, and expressed with horror in a loud whisper her dismay that there was a 30 year old girl in the other room, who was still single and at the convention. She was saying things like" why is she here", "she is sooooo old", "I cannot believe it" and the last one was "I would be so embarrassed to be here at convention being single and 30". Until this point, I did not realise the girls I had been sharing my dorm room with for the past few nights did not know my friend and myself were indeed 29. I looked at my friend, she looked at me and we didn't know if we should laugh or cry with this situation we were in. So my friend spoke up. The conversation went something like this "Oh did you know that we are actually nearly 30?" You should have seen this girls face. It went from pure mockery to shock to embarrassment then to shame. She tried to retracked what she had just said by saying, "but you girls do not look 30. You look so young. I thought you were 23 or maybe 24. Don't you want to get married?"I felt like asking her what does a 30 yr old look like? Wrinkly old hag with scales on her skin? No, a 30 yr old can be beautiful, inteligent and full of life.

So after a year of being withdrawn from many church social events this past weekend I was able to catch up with some old friends of mine. Here is where I started to feel normal again. I was spending time with those around the same age, those who have had similar experiences and struggels. Of course I will still have friends that will endevour to set me up with men, sisters who are always on the hunt for eligible guys in their area because they love me and want me to see me settle down. But today, I feel ok about being single. Today, I feel loved by those around me. Today, I know that there is so much life and exciting things  ahead of me. Today, I will be thanking my Heavenly Father for the blessings I do have and not focus on things I don't have.  

Now those that are reading this blog who are not of the Mormon faith, may not understand the fuss and still think that being 31 is still young with plenty of life to live. This is true. But, it is hard to have that perspective when the mentality and stigma of those of your peers are different. But the truth is, it is ok. There is nothing wrong with me, I am fun, fabulous and still learning about life. This acceptance has come when I needed the most.

It's time to break up!

It was a secret affair between sugar and I. Well Not really secret, I was just in denial on how much sugar entered my life. When I say sugar, I mean refined sugar...

I am sure a lot of you can relate. Or maybe not, it could be just me, however I get a funny feeling I am not the only one that was/is in denial on how much sugar we have on a daily basis.

I recently came across an article that talks about sugar compared to cocaine in addiction, actually there are many articles supporting the fact that sugar is more addictive than cocaine. (Scary).. here is a little snippet of one article I came across:

"We've known for years that sugar isn't good for us. It promotes tooth decay, provides quick highs and lows and offers nothing but empty, nutritionless calories that pack on the pounds. However, it appears that it is even worse than we previously thought. Researchers recently determined that refined sugar is actually more addictive than cocaine. In a recent study rats were given a choice between sugar water and cocaine, and 94% them chose sugar. Even the rats that had previously been addicted to cocaine switched to the sugar once it was a choice. No wonder it's so hard to give up that 3 pm pack of M&M's, it's more addictive than illegal drugs." 

That's a scary thought. So during the month of February, I have decided to break up with my love affair for refined sugar. I am calling it, Sugar Free February... I thought I would publish this on my blog to make me more accountable for my sugar consumption. Feel free to join me in February, if you do, let me know.. strength in numbers as they say. It is time for me to kick this addiction.

When I was a girl, with pigtails and curls...

I have recently been assigned to look over the Young Women between the ages of 12-18 for my church within my area. Tonight, we got together to work on some goals for the girls to work towards to help the develop their spiritual growth, personal skills and develop their wonderful talents. While we were talking about goals, I asked the girls to write down how they would like their futures to look like, what kind of homes, mothers, wife they wanted to be and what they would like to accomplish in this life time. As they were thinking and writing ideas, I was reflecting on what I thought my life would turn out when I was their age.

When I was younger, well I mean, a lot younger I had the ideal idea on how my life should turn out. It went something like this:

When I turn 18, I will finish high school, meet the man of my dreams (would have had to serve a mission for the Mormon church of course) and get married. Have like a million babies and live happily ever after. The end. Oh wait... maybe live in a mansion, and have someone cook and clean for me and my family.

Of course, we all know life never goes according to plan. I am embarrassed to admit that even at the ripe age of 16, I still thought this fantasy of being married at 18 was possible, why not, two of my sisters married young, one 18 and the other at 19.  Now I know you are all smiling and possibly laughing at my young mind and impossible dream, but believe it or not, it happens to some young women in the church. It just never happened to me.

Now I am 31, I smile to myself and I am glad that my life didn't turn out the way I wanted it too, way back when. Although a lot of the time I find it hard to accept the plan that my Heavenly Father has for me, I know that He has my best interest and knows what he is doing. Does this mean that I need to put on a happy face all of the time? No, I don't think so, but it does mean that through times where I feel like I have been forgotten, that I can turn to my Father in Heaven for comfort.

So tonight, when my girls tell me their goals for the future, such as being a back-up dancer for Justin Beiber, I just quietly smile to myself and and love them for their dreams and ambitions. Anything is possible ;)

My first post :) Just a small introduction.

Welcome to my little corner of the cyber world where I can share, well pretty much anything. I am 31, mormon and share a unit with 2 other girls. Life is fun, challenging, surprising and rewarding.

I have 3 older sisters, who are dedicated to fix me up with any guy.... this can be entertaining at times.

I am the favourite aunty to 10 nieces and 5 nephews. Well I like to think I am the favourite.

I work full time for Stampin' Up! doing a variety of fun things. I have had all sorts of experiences with the company, from singing at major conventions, creative projects for a lot of differet occasions, customer service, public speaking, administration and the list gets longer, the more time I stay with the company. I am coming up to 5 years! Who knows what's next.

I have had many experiences in life to be greatful for, all of which I would not trade for the world. From teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to singing at Parliament House in Canberra. I have learned not all things work out the way we had planned our life to be, but I have been pleasently surprised.

So this blog will be filled with lots of different things, such as reliving my recent travels, to showing my creative side, you may get a few stories of being a single woman in the LDS church, some heartfelt, some funny and some just down right hilarious. Who knows, I guess that is the beauty of blogging, anything goes :)