rushley & crew

Years ago, Russ and I decided that we wanted to have a white stocking for Jesus to hang alongside our family stockings. Throughout December, it's to remind us to think about what gift we'd like to give to Jesus in the upcoming year. Then, on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or sometime in December, we take time to really think about what gift we're going to give, we write it down, and put it in the stocking. However, we've actually never followed through with this. December is busy and all, right? But when I was reading my scriptures the other day (maybe in Moroni 7, but maybe back in Ether, can't remember), I received a prompting for what I want my gift for Jesus to be in 2019, which is to really focus on repentance . I haven't committed any major sins like murder or adultery, but I'm most certainly guilty of being unkind, judgmental, lazy, rude, etc. on occasion. However, despite all of my shortcomings, I've never really taken part in the repent...

Recently, a friend of mine asked me to write a blog post on Mormon marriage, more specifically on our tendencies for a short courtship and engagement. Since this is actually something I'm kind of passionate about, I'm obliging her now :) **The following reflects my personal experience and opinions coupled with my observations. I do not claim to be laying down any sort of Mormon doctrine for short courtship/engagement, though some of what I share will be doctrine. My first date with Russ until the day I married him covered about six months. The first time I met Russ until the day I married him covered about ten months. Such a short courtship and even such a short friendship sounds like a foreign concept to those who date for at least a year, if not three to five years, right? But to me, dating for so long is the foreign concept. Mormons believe that " marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for t...

In my last 5 on Friday , I had pictures of all the fun family that was coming into town! For today, I have some of the funny things that have happened with the kids this week :) one.  The very first night, 11-month-old Joseph and 19-month-old Hadley were getting acquainted. Joseph crawled right up to Haddie and grabbed her face and started kissing her! He continued to do so over and over until she pushed him away and started screaming. The whole interaction was adorable and hilarious, but sadly, no camera to capture it. :/ two . Six-year-old Naomi was in Russ's way, and she demanded a password. Russ: What's the password? Naomi: Your last name! R: Okay, Holmes. N: That's not your last name! *5 minutes later* N (to me): What's your last name? A: Holmes. N: What?! No it's not! A: Yes it is. What do you think my last name should be? N: Petersen! And then I had to explain that when I got married I took Russ's last name :) Not sure whether she quite...

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever! Weird since it's only been like . . . two days. But I have just been chilling in Boise with my husband and his family, and it's been so relaxing that it seems like forever! Have I mentioned that I love love love holiday breaks? :) This December, I've been reading some posts from The Small Seed , a blog focused on God, faith, and joy. They've been doing a mini series called the  12 Days of Christmas  where they discuss ways to put Christ back in Christmas. As I've read some of the posts, it's made me wonder . . . What can I  do to put Christ back in Christmas? Commercially, Christmas is all about the gifts. But I think spiritually, Christmas is still all about gifts.  The two things that stand out in my mind of how I can turn my focus to Christ during this Christmas season (and those to come) are: 1. Be more grateful for all the gifts in my life. It's been so easy to spend this December thinking about ...

I was supposed to graduate this upcoming April. By then, I will have finished my generals, major, and minor in eight semesters. I was feeling pretty good about myself because most people take some extra time to figure out what they want to do with their lives, but I knew from the beginning that I wanted to have an English Language major and an editing minor. I prided myself on the fact that I've only taken two classes outside of my major/minor/generals. But two weeks ago, I found out I won't be able to graduate in April; apparently, you have to have 120 credits to graduate, and I will only have 110.5 credits.  At first, I was furious. I cried in both the office where I found out you have to have 120 credits and the office that told me there is pretty much no way they'll make an exception. I was just devastated because I'm so ready to be done with school and move on with my life! But slowly, I've come to terms with it. I am now excited to take a few fun clas...

This weekend, something very sad happened. For the first time in our marriage, Russ and I weren't together for the night! It was so weird not sleeping next to him . . . I don't know how anybody does distance for long periods of time. After 30 hours, I was definitely anxious to see him :) But the reason for our separation was a good one. I went to Time Out For Women with my Mom, two aunts, and several of my cousins. Time Out For Women is basically just a conference where you hear lots of uplifting talks--somewhat geared toward women, but mostly quite applicable to anyone. I heard so many amazing and uplifting talks that it's difficult to choose just one to talk about, which is why I've narrowed it down to two speakers who had related messages. The first is  Mary Ellen Edmunds . She talked about how powerful our thoughts are. Since our thoughts can be so powerful, it's important for us to recognize what we are thinking about, and to give more consciousness t...

Most people know about Alcoholics Anonymous and other such addiction recovery groups. Those programs typically have 12 steps to overcoming your addictions. In my  church , there is a similar program with similar steps, only there is a lot more focus on bringing God into the process. Several months ago, instead of the normal third hour meetings, we had some people come talk about this  Addiction Recovery Program .  I thought the program was just for addicts--of alcohol, drugs, pornography, or other such things. i was so wrong. The speakers helped me realize that pretty much all people are addicts--of something or another. Because we're all addicted to our "favorite sins" or even just our favorite bad habits.  I have at least some level of addiction to things like TV, food, and trying to control everything in my life.  Now these aren't horrible things that will get me kicked out of the running for heaven, but they're definitely things I could be wor...

Wahoo! Finally made a graphic! ^^ Nothing too fancy, but I like it anyway :) So today in church , I heard this quote: Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man . . . It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone. C. S. Lewis I thought that it was pretty profound, maybe because it's something I need to work on . . . I do a lot of comparing. I've always known that I have my pride issues, but I had never connected  pride  with  comparisons before, so hearing the quote opened up a whole new box of issues that I should probably be working on. And because it's something that I need to work on, I really don't have any light to shed on the quote; nothing really to add. So I guess I'm just going to leave you with the quote, because I've been trying to figure out what else I might add for about half an ...

Spiritual Sunday If you could keep just one thing with you when you died, what would you keep? For me, it would be my amazing husband, Russ. I had to put a funny one . . . cuz my husband is funny! :) And just cute :) He's wonderful :) But, if I could keep one thing collectively, it would be my whole family: my parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, my grandparents and aunts and uncles, and my future children. And that is what I love about my  church . I get to!  We believe in life after death, and we believe that we will be able to share that life with all of our loved ones. Relationships don't end with death; they continue on into eternity. Today in church, we talked a lot about doing genealogy: learning about ancestors, writing down our own histories for future generations, and basically just linking generations together.  It made me want to learn more about my family. I want to learn things about those who have already passed on, but I als...

Spiritual Sunday [Cool graphic coming soon . . . ] If you're new here, and don't know what Spiritual Sunday is, head on over to  this blogpost  to see what it's all about! At the most recent  General Conference , Elder Uchtdorf gave a talk entitled, "Come, Join with Us." I was sick that day, so unfortunately, I fell asleep. But I watched it the other day, and I just love it! I highly recommend reading or watching it  here  :) (unfortunately, I can't embed the video . . . ) He spends a lot of time inviting people to come and join with the Mormons  (hence the title), but if you want, you could ignore that and you'd still find goodness in the things he shares. What I really enjoyed about the talk was how much he focuses on telling people, "You're not perfect, and that's okay." I think people spend so much time thinking that they're not good enough, that they're hopelessly flawed, and that they'll never be able...