marry me...

Beside the picture of the above, the title of this post was inspired by this song. Go listen :)

Yesterday I had the opportunity to be apart of one of my best friend's wedding.This blog post has a lot of insights and pictures...so brace yourself. The first insight I will share ties back to this post.

When my dad passed away, obviously it was easy for me to see a lot of hardships and trials that would follow in my near future. Because I'm human, I wasn't able to see at the time the blessings that event would also bring. My dad was a car dealer/mechanic. When he passed away I was working on a car with him (I'll blog about this later), and I needed money to pay for everything we were doing. Aside from wanting a car, when my dad passed away I was the oldest living at home, so my mom NEEDED me to have a car to be a second driver. So, I got a job working at Cold Stone to earn money for my car. This is where I met one of my best friends Lindsey Hehl. I was fifteen and she was sixteen.

Lindsey has been such a blessing in my life. She has such a strong testimony of the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is not afraid to be honest, so you can always trust what she is saying to be her real opinion. She is always up for an adventure and doing something crazy. Because of Lindsey I have had some of the best times of my life. Because of Lindsey I met a boy whom I fell in love with who has highly influenced my life, while we dated, and even when we haven't been dating (that part of my life is a whole different story....maybe we'll go into that another time). Because of Lindsey I came out of my shell a whole lot and learned to take more risks and have fun....even if it means having the cops called on us for "launching missiles from a vehicle in motion".....AKA throwing water balloons from a car at the Provo 4th of July camp-out instead of doing drugs like most other attendees....excuse us. Lindsey has been a friend of mine through thick and thin.

Yesterday, on Aprill 22, 2011, I was able to go wait outside the temple to see her and Logan come out after being sealed, attend their luncheon, and see them off at the reception. At the luncheon there were some good words of advice about love and caring about each other in a relationship and marriage that I wanted to mention:

*No secrets. -I love this and totally believe that this is very important in keeping an open and honest relationship.
*If it's not about love, it's not worth it.
*You ALWAYS have to respect each other.
*No marriage can function without the guidance of the Holy Ghost and prayer to Heavenly Father.

Here's my favorite: *If it's hard, if it's heavy, if it will make you hot or cold, if it takes a large amount of energy, if it's not pleasant, if it's tiring..it's the husband's job. If for some reason the wife does not want to do the rest of the jobs, they can automatically by default turn into the husband's jobs. Also, the husband should not have to be asked by the wife...he should be able to know just by "the look".

Okay, obviously the last one was supposed to be kinda funny...but in all seriousness, I learned a lot from being a part of Lindsey's day.

As I have grown, I have found that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the ability to love others easily, and He has blessed me with a loving and caring heart. At times I have found this to be difficult...as weird as that may sound. I think we all learn a lot from dating and meeting friends, new people, etc. What I have found is that love is not something that can be controlled. It can be worked on and improved, but I've never found a way to keep it from inside if you if it's something that naturally comes. Sometimes you love or care about people who might not feel or act the same way back. I have found this both in friendships and in dating. However, I have also learned that whether it's reciprocated, appreciated, understood, or whatever it may be, loving others, regardless of the type of love, is Christ-like. It is something that we are blessed with and a tool we are to use to become close to God and more like Christ, which is what our eternal goal should be.

I'm so excited for the day that I get to be sealed to someone who loves and cares about me, and someone who I can love and care for....for forever and ever and ever.

 St. George Spring Break '08

St. George Spring Break '08

                                         

4th of July (post "missile-launching") '10

Little Linds...and tall Kels :)

Our "trick"....please compare this with the next 2 photos. April '08

Ogden Drive-in theater, June '10

AF Haunted Forest, October '10

My little best friend!

Wedding Day!!! 4.22.11

Congratulations Lindsey Anne REYNOLDS!

I'm so excited for Lindsey! Her example of getting married in the temple, having faith and patience until she found Logan, and her diligence in all she does, makes me excited and inspired to do the same.

An Antoine Dodson kind of day...

"You are so dumb. You are really dumb. Fo' real."

That is kind of how I felt today. In case you have better things to do with your life than watch extremely popular YouTube videos... watch this. I'm not blog-smart enough to do the cool little "here" button where it takes you to the link...so watch this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNhaLUT520

ANYWAY. So this blog post is way lame compared to my first two because it's not inspirational, nor is it somewhat entertaining. It's more just one of those blog posts that if you had an Antoine Dodson kind of day today, too, you could think, "Ugh, I totally know how she feels". So if you're lookin' for something super happy and upbeat, probably go watch video clips from the movie "Enchanted"...or something.

Anyway. So today it was pouring rain. All. Day. Now, don't get me wrong: I normally love the rain. However, sometimes, like today, the rain makes me feel like its just coming down on me yelling, "Just give up now, Kelsey! It's finals week, you stink at relationships, your car registration is TOTALLY expired, AND you look homeless with no makeup on today!" Okay, obviously this is not really how it is, especially since rain is inanimate and therefore doesn't talk. However, this is what it felt like to me today.

I have procrastinated some studying for some of my finals (but really, who doesn't?), and I still have 4 to take in the next three days (I had 7 total). I also always end up finding myself saying the wrong things to. This is the reason I have had Antoine Dodson's crazy voice ringing in my head all day screaming, "You are so dumb. You are really dumb. Fo Real."

However, I've found that things are always okay. Antoine Dodson's sister turned out fine, and so did my day. I     F I N A L L Y   got my dance composition class solo done. I also ended my night with two things I'm sure could help out Antoine Dodson's sister, and that always help my day: Smith's runs with my roommates and friends (it's our local cure-all, "let's go out and do something" place)...especially when your favorite candy bars are buy two get one free, and also McDonald's cheeseburgers from the dollar menu. Yes, I am a dancer and a girly-girl,  and should be one of those health-freaks who counts calories like it's a commandment, but I LOVE cheeseburgers.

So in an effort to make this post not seem totally worthless and a Debbie-Downer, or should I say Johnny-Raincloud, here's a little shout-out to any of you having an Antoine Dodson kind of day: Things will get better. At least you're not REALLY homeless, even if you look the part, like I did today. Now go buy yourself a dollar-menu cheeseburger and hang out with the people who make you happy because in reality even if you feel it, you are so not dumb. You are really not dumb. Fo' real. And that's all.

"choo choooo" says the A.D.D. train.

Okay. So, as previously stated. This blog is probably going to be a little random at times because....well, simply because it is written by me.

My life has been pretty interesting so far--but so is everyone's. One thing I've learned, mostly through trials, is to try to accept things. I've learned recently that I'm kind of a control freak; I fear the unknown; I want to know the outcome before time has even passed. I know this is kind of anxious behavior. I'm workin' on it. One thing you should probably know, but probably already do know if you're reading this, is that my dad passed away at the young age of 43. I had only just turned 16. This trial, as you can imagine, was a HUGE trial, and still is at times. When this happened I felt a lot of hope because I'd think to myself, "If i can handle this, I can handle any other trial I come across". In my mind I was thinking that I'd never really have a hard time with trials because nothing else I'd experience could be as hard as losing my dad. However, I've come to gain a testimony of not comparing trials--and I've learned that that includes not comparing things among your own trials. This might sound confusing--but I'll explain.

When my dad died I wasn't ever bitter. I was blessed to not play the "What if" game, or ask questions. Most of all, I was blessed with peace and the ability to not be upset with Heavenly Father because of that trial. I realized that one thing that really helped me get through this trial was the fact that I really couldn't change anything about it. My dad had passed away from an unexpected heart attack; It wasn't anyone's fault, nor was it something that anyone could go back and change or fix. I only had one option, aside from staying close to the Lord and the gospel, to get me through this trial: acceptance. Acceptance is the golden word that helped me to be where I am today.

Now it might be easier for you to understand why I might struggle with other things. I struggle with the trials and events that have to do with agency--the things in life that CAN be changed if you really wanted to, or if someone else really wanted to, but maybe they shouldn't be, or just won't be. This is where my struggles come. I question myself a lot. I questions the decisions I make and don't always understand others' actions and the things they might choose that affect me. This is where I have learned that I have to remember the golden word again: acceptance.

The reason for this post is a quote that I found just barely:

"Letting go doesn't mean moving on. It's one of the hardest things a person can do. We feel that letting go is giving up, quitting, and that as we all know is cowardly. But as we grow older we are forced to change our way of thinking. We are forced to realize that letting go means accepting things that can't be. It means maturing and moving forward, no matter how hard you have to fight yourself to do so."

So whether it's being teased all through elementary school, losing someone close to me, not being accepted in the major I originally wanted, or a recent breakup, acceptance is the key. Acceptance is what taught me after those trials to love everyone and have empathy for those who aren't accepted by others, strengthened my testimony of the Plan of Salvation, helped me find the major I ACTUALLY want and love, and it is what will help me to learn more about love and faith.

                                                       My dad and me on my 16th birthday
                                                             (best dad EVER, just fyi :)

:)

Nice to meet you

Welcome to my very first blog post! I do not know what I am doing exactly....so on this Sunday afternoon I will kindly remind you of a very important message: Patience is a virtue. I decided to dedicate this post to my blog title: "I just like the "B" and that's all".

My full name is Kelsey Beatrice Nielsen. When I was in elementary school, many kids liked to play the game that would be called "What's your middle name? You HAVE to tell us!" if it was a real game with a name. One girl would go first and say, "My middle name is Anne", or "My middle name is Jo!". Then there would be the girl most proud and confident in the group who would say, "Well MY middle name is Marie!". Of course, after the all the excitement that came from sharing super-unique middle names was over, they'd ask me what my middle name was. I'd try to proudly share with them that MY middle name was Beatrice. Pretty much any six-year-old living in the '90's wouldn't be familiar with the name, and therefore feel the need to laugh and make fun of it. When I was little I did not like my middle name; I thought it was weird that it was so different. Most of all, I did not like that it wasn't the same as those of everyone else.

During this time in my young childhood, I loved to read (yes, there WAS  point in time where I read books and enjoyed it) the Junie B. Jones books. In the beginning of every book, the outspoken and confident main character, Junie, gives an explanation: "My name is Junie B. Jones. The "B" stands for Beatrice. Except, I don't like Beatrice. I just like "B" and that's all." There were a few things I loved about this: The main character of a well-known children's series had the SAME middle name as I did. She was famous! She was way cooler than the "Ashley Jo"'s at school. I also loved that she made her middle name a very distinct part of her, even though she didn't like it. This all sounds so childish--well, that's because it is. I was a very sensitive and dramatic five-year-old. Anyway, ever since then I decided not to tell anyone my middle name; I was going to just go by Kelsey B. Nielsen. And that's all.

When I got older I learned more about my culture and heritage and where my middle name came from. My great-grandmother on my mother's side's name was Beatriz Moreno. She raised my grandma, Elida Galan, who is an AMAZING woman. Because of this, as well as the fact that I grew up and don't really care what other people think about things like my name anymore, I LOVE my middle name. I think that it is very elegant and pretty. And it has a story.

However, I grew up as Kelsey B. Nielsen. I have nicknames because of it, my legal documents have me listed under that name, letters from all over the world from friends on missions and letters sent to me from my best friend while he was in boot camp have all been addressed to "Kelsey B. Nielsen".

So. While this blog post may seem useless or boring. It is an explanation about who I am and where I came from. In case my story-telling didn't give you a good enough picture of what I may have been like in kindergarten...here's a little extra help:

I know. I was a little bit awkward. Okay, maybe a lot. But that's me. Kelsey B. Nielsen. And that's all.