Blessings galore in a world of mishaps

Seth and I are at a point in our lives where at least once a day one of us mentions something along the lines of "Can it get any worse" or "When it rains, it pours." One thing after another has brought stress and frustrated feelings into our life.
It started out when I lost my job. After that day, nothing seemed to ease up or make life any easier. I was bucked off my horse. Our colt died of an infection. None of our plans for our house were falling into place until recently.
But with all those problems going on, it is still nice to be able to stay calm and remember that we are not alone through all of this. It makes it much easier to be able to look at the bigger picture of the rest of our lives instead of just this moment. This makes it easier to realize all the many blessings we have throughout these crazy times.
Our Father in Heaven is looking over us and he knows exactly what He is doing. These might all seem like awful things now but there are always reasons for our trials. They make us stronger for whatever the future might hold for us.
I am thankful for all the good and bad things that might befall Seth and I. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to feel my Lord's presence in my life and to know it is Him all the way throughout my life. He is here to stay.

Seth and I are still working towards building our house. I am working towards my career in Medical Coding and Billing. We are hoping to achieve many of our goals by the end of the year, including living on the ranch in our own home and not having to drive in to town for work or anything. We will see if we can do it!

Isn't Beauty Really Everything?

When I was a teenager, I had a really low self-esteem. All the time I would rag on myself about how ugly I was compared to all the other girls in my school. I tried to compensate with other things that usually just blew up in my face. There was no making me happy, no matter who would tell me I was beautiful. This made me fall into many traps set my the male gender. I was a mess. I tried in so many ways to change myself with the hopes of being better. I cut my hair super short, dyed it many different colors, and even tried changing my eye color with contacts. My daddy always tried to talk me out of it by telling me how beautiful I was naturally without all the stuff, but I never believed and it only made me want to do it worse. I have no idea what made my mind think this way, but it did. I had no confidence in myself whatsoever.
Now that I am maturing, I have noticed little things about myself that make me beautiful. Things I have never noticed before, or wanted to notice before. I look in the mirror and think, "dang girl! You got it!" I don't wear makeup everyday. I don't even really do anything with my hair any more honestly- because it is just right the way it is. I am not sure what switch was flipped but the has boosted my confidence within myself. I am kinder to people around me. I feel like I can do more with my life. I feel like a more beautiful person- inside and out. 
So I came to the conclusion that beauty is everything, but not in the sense that the world identifies with this phrase. I believe that one's own personal conception of their beauty is everything. I don't mean in a prideful "I am more pretty than you" kinda way, but a "I am more pretty than I think" kinda way. The world shouldn't take away our confidence by making us feel lower than everyone else. We should overcome this feeling and realize who we truly are before we are consumed by hatred and self-pity. 
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!!!

On another note, Seth is on his last week in Casper. He will be back the eighth and will be starting our cabin soon!! We are hoping to be moving in by the end of the year! Woopee!
He also was called as the new Gospel Doctrine teacher in church. Yay! I am so excited for him because he is such a great teacher and it will be a great experience for both of us to get to know the scriptures better! 
I am currently getting Raimee's room ready for her to get home because there is only 76 days left until she gets here!! 
I also found out that I will be graduating next semester! I will have to take 17 credits to do it but I am going to buckle down and only focus on that! I will have an interdisciplinary associates degree which isn't exactly what I was going for, but I will have a degree and have business classes to help with the ranch. 
I started working at the grocery store here in town. It will definitely not be a career but I think it will work for a temporary position. It hasn't been too bad. 
Our lives are busy and getting busier so I hope everyone keeps following me on here to see what is going on! See you next week!