rushley & crew

I saw this quote on Pinterest the other day: And it made me so mad. Mad someone said it, and even more mad that someone made it into a pinnable quote. Why? Because it's a TERRIBLE message that no one should be spreading. It's basically saying that you have zero say in the happiness of your marriage. It's all up to your spouse -- so they better be doing everything in their power to make you feel important!  When in fact, the exact opposite is true. Your happiness in marriage is 100% dependent upon YOU. How do you think about your spouse? Are you constantly thinking about their weaknesses or their strengths? Are you noticing all the things they don't  do for you, or all the things that they do ? Are you thinking about everything you wish they were, or are you admiring them for what they actually are? Your thoughts determine how you feel. Since love is a feeling, your thoughts determine whether you'll feel love or resentment. So what are your though...

Budget  is a word that brings fear to some and joy to others: fear to those who don't understand it, and joy to those who do. When Russ and I got married, we had to figure out how to manage money. At first, we just tried to save as much as we could and spend money as little as possible. I think a lot of people think of a budget in this way: restrictive. But having a budget is actually incredibly  liberating . Budgeting gives you the opportunity to choose how you spend your money, and as a result, it takes away the guilt that sometimes comes from spending money. Now that I have a budget, I don't think I could ever go back. Here's how to create a budget of your own. Step 1: Figure out how much money you make per month. This is pretty self-explanatory. Look at pay stubs, or calculate how many hours you generally work and how much you get paid. For instance, I work 10-13 hours each week, and I make $9/hour. Since my work time is somewhat flexible, I go on the low...

My honeymoon was seriously the greatest. It was definitely one of my favorite trips ever, because it was the first time that I was spending every single moment of every single day with my now-husband :) A few weeks ago, I mentioned my number one tip for Mormon brides . Now it's time to share tip #2: For at least the first night of your honeymoon, STAY LOCAL. Wedding days are looooong, especially if you didn't follow my first piece of advice, so trying to get anywhere else that night is just crazy talk. I once talked to someone who, following her reception, had to drive with her new husband the four hours to St. George. Talk about being too exhausted for anything after a day and drive like that . . . So after our wedding dinner, we made the short drive to the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake, though not before we were delayed . . . our friends decorated our car cute, but then filled it with balloons! We had to pop them all before we could leave . . . took forever! But we final...

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...

A few weeks ago, I read  this  article about 7 ways to be insufferable on Facebook. Then a few days ago, I read  this  article about the 10 worst things new/expecting moms can post on Facebook. And can I just say . . .  they both drove me crazy! I do have my opinions about things that people really  shouldn't post on Facebook. However, I also think I'm not the boss of everyone, so I'm not going to tell them what to post and what not to post.  People are so quick to want to tell others what to do . . . but h ere's the thing. Just like it is with life , you have control over YOUR Facebook and no one else's.  So if you don't want to see someone's intentionally-vague-in-order-to-get-attention posts or someone's bulging-uncovered-baby-belly photos, hide these stories from your newsfeed. Or, better yet, un-friend the person who posted them! Half the people you're friends with on Facebook aren't really your friends anyways, so why keep th...

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 ...

I've always been super opinionated about elections, whether I was informed or not. And that wasn't any different with this election. I was quite opinionated about Romney being the best man for the job.  But for the first time, I feel like I was at least a little bit informed. I watched part of most of the debates, I tried to understand what was important to both candidates, and my opinion stayed firm.  Regardless, it looks as though Obama gets 4 more years.  I want to get mad. I want to yell at people and tell them they're wrong. But that's just me being immature and stupid and contentious. And all this contention isn't what America is about. America is supposed to be about unity. People banding together to create something wonderful. That's what our forefathers fought for. That's what they designed for this country.  But there's just too much fighting. Too much of people caring about what they want instead of what's best for America. And w...

I didn't try cake bites until my freshman year of college--2 years ago. But since then, they have been one of my absolute favorite desserts because, well, they're delicious.  duhhh. So the other day, I was on Pinterest trying to decide what pumpkin-themed dessert to make since it's officially pumpkin-dessert-season, and I saw these Pumpkin Cake Truffles (how many times can I say "pumpkin" in one sentence?) delicious looking, right?! So I tried to make them, and this is what happened . . .  They took forever and they turned out so ugly! I didn't even do the butterscotch drizzle because I wasn't about to spend any more time on them. However, don't judge a book by its cover, and don't judge a cake bite by its chocolate covering . . . they were DELICIOUS and I'm pretty sure Russ and I have gained approximately 50 pounds in the past few days eating them. moral of the story? Don't use chocolate chips for the chocol...

So I'm feeling a little green . . . green with envy, that is. I think some people are just born to blog. They're just so creative and funny and they make their ordinary lives sound so exciting. [[Which is, I guess, how it should be. Well, maybe not blogging-wise . . . buuuuut people should be excited about their ordinary lives because a little excitement can change things from ordinary to extraordinary.]] But anyway . . . I don't really think I was born to blog, and I'm not even sure if I'll be updating very often, or if my updates will be worth reading. But I guess now that I've started my happily ever after  (and since I got a little push from a friend), I'll try my fingers at blogging once again. Since I know everyone is just dying to read about my incredibly wonderful new life with the man of my dreams ;) :) **ashleynicole