Sunday Post #1: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

So I've decided that I will start a weekly "Sunday Post."

Why?

Yeah, I'm a bit of a Potterhead, but ANYWAYS...

Sundays are special days for me. They provide a rest from my weekly labors and the opportunity to go to church and spend some quality time with my family.

I also try to keep my thoughts focused on the Savior, Jesus Christ. Oftentimes during our daily labors we forget to fully appreciate the sacrifice He did for us.
Many people don't understand how deep and sacred the atonement of Jesus Christ really is. All my life I've heard people bear testimony that they know that Christ died for their sins on the cross and was resurrected on the third day, but that just scratches the surface of His eternal sacrifice.

The four Gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) all mention to one extent to another the night before Christ's Crucifixion and the agony he endured there.
What did he endure? EVERYTHING. Not JUST our sins and shortcomings, but every single thing we have to pass through in this life. To name a few:
-Your sins
-Your weaknesses
-Your temptations
-Your sorrows
-Your embarrassments
-Your heartbreaks
-Your physical pains
-Your emotional pains
-Your fears
-Your guilt
-Your disappointments
-Your worries
-Your spiritual pains
-Your shortcomings
-Your sadness
-Your depression

And I personally believe (THIS IS NOT DOCTRINE) that he also took upon himself our joys and happiness, just so he can feel even happier when we have joy in our lives. He suffered these things and many other things so he could support us when we are in need of it and help us as needs be.

Whenever you have feelings that simply no one can understand, turn to the Savior. He suffered, bled and died for YOU. You ARE important, just as important as any world leader or celebrity, because you are HIS child. He wants you to be ETERNALLY HAPPY, but it will take time to achieve that happiness.
This life is a test. If you do well on this test by TRYING YOUR BEST, you will eventually have your rest and reward abundantly given to you.

I testify that Jesus Christ lives, and that He WILL return to this earth someday, and that no matter how much you mess up in your life, He's always there, holding his arms out to you; you just need to accept his atonement in your life.

Krislee Nicole

Work, Work, Work and MORE Work!

Okay, so I've been home from my mission for nearly 3 months now, -Sheds small tear- and let me say that post-mission life is busy! While I was serving I always imagined my homecoming as a relaxing, non-stressful event accompanied by endless days of vacation and reading books.

Yeah right.

Don't get me wrong-- I'm loving life and I have been able to apply many skills that I learned on the mission, such as scheduling and a little Spanish here and there, but now I have the rest of my life to look forward to! I think of my mission as my "frozen in a moment of time" period, where my sole purpose in life was to share my testimony with others and have someone else manage my housing and basic schedule.

Now it's back to real life.

So I returned home on March 13, 2016 after spending 4 days with my mother in the Dominican Republic. I had fun showing her around my areas and introducing her to my friends and "family." It was a blast. We stuffed ourselves with juicy mangoes straight from the tree and sweet coconut candy, only to be offered an entire meal at the next house we visited. It was Mom's first time out of the US, so it was exciting to be there to introduce her to a new culture and way of life.

By March 22 I was had 2 jobs. Yup. No vacationing for me!

The thing is, is that once I was officially released from being a missionary, reality hit. I need to go to school. I will (someday) have a family to care for. I need transportation, food, housing, and a little bit of fun money! My post-mission bank account wasn't going to allow that, so what did I do? I got two jobs! Woo!

The first job I was given is a cafeteria server at Maryville College. That's right, I'm a lunch lady and proud of it.
My second job is actually my primary job, from 8 am to 3 pm Monday through Friday at the dry cleaners.
I actually enjoy my jobs-- They don't stress me out like my after-school daycare job that I had before my mission. -shudders in fear of the memory-

But life isn't just work!
For Memorial Day my mom got an awesome opportunity to do a blog post trade-off with Wild Water Rafting in Bryson City, North Carolina. We stayed in a Yurt (pictured below) overnight and enjoyed the chorus of bullfrogs serenading us all night (The bed was comfy so I actually slept really well.)

 Our yurt from the outside: A yurt is a tent/cabin structure that allows you to camp in style!

Our bed for the night inside the yurt... Not bad!

 Carter and I had a fun time trying to catch frogs and tadpoles.

 Nothing beats relaxing in a hammock! It's a miracle Kara and Carter shared without flipping it over!

 Did I mention we got to ride the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad to go white water rafting? Well we did, and the views were amazing! They even fed us a yummy lunch of sub sandwiches, chips and chocolate chip cookies!

Kara fell out of the raft at one point, but she actually seemed proud of herself. We had an amazing guide as well who seemed to fit right in with the family. The picture above was taken on the last rapid on the course, and we were happy to have the entire family safe and sound!

And now in August I will be heading off to Buena Vista, VA to attend Southern Virginia University! I am super excited to begin my formal education and to meet new people. I'm still not quite sure on my career choice, but I'm sure everything will work out as I continue working and trying things out.

Stay positive!

Krislee Nicole

Returned Missionary= Whole New Life!!!

So I attempted to start this blog a couple years ago, but I wasn't very successful.

Granted, for 18 months of that I was in the Dominican Republic serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so don't be too hard on me.
I will talk about my mission a little bit here and there, so don't worry!

Anyways, now that I am 2 days home, I want to somehow share with the world my simple ways to enjoy my life. I'm only 20 years old, so I'm just getting started!

A little about myself...
-I was born in Mississippi
-I now live in Tennessee
-I have always longed to be a writer (Working on that-- Stay tuned!)
-I like turtles
-I am a Pinterest addict
-My cat is crazy
-I speak Spanish

I know this post isn't that interesting, but I promise that there will be more! I just haven't really done anything other than talk with my family and show mission pics... But this couch is really comfy.

With love,
Krislee

Update after a long, LONG while!

So I haven't been on this blog since November 2013... I guess school and work got the better of me!

A little about what has happened in the last however long...
-I finished my first semester of college:
        I have seriously no idea how I survived!!!! It wasn't necessarily the school work in itself; work was REALLY stressful. I won't go into details, but let's just say that I had a little trouble with a bully boss. On top of that, I had finals and research papers to complete.

-I auditioned for the Nauvoo, Illinois Young Performing Missionaries:
        I didn't make it in, but it was a good experience for me, though it was a trial at the time. I have dreamed of being a YPM since I was 9 years old, so being rejected hurt. This was also during my low point at college/work, so that didn't help. But now that I look back at it, I realized that it did teach me that good things can come from a bad situation if we let ourselves continue onward with a positive outlook.

-I finished my second semester of college:
        Ok so my second semester was stressful, but in a different way. I had done my schedule completely different than first semester. Basically I had two classes a day and two online classes. I didn't really have any challenging courses like in first semester, so I found myself getting a little bored. I thought that more time at home would help with my job situation, which it did to an extent.
        First semester I had 5 hours of school three days a week and then went directly to work. Sure, work stressed me out and I tended to stress about going back even more once I got home that night, but having two hours between school and work gave me time to become anxious about work. (I never knew what to expect... Everyone I worked with was so unpredictable and I tend to worry a lot, so...)
        I got through this semester though! I managed to get an A in my British Literature class, which was exciting. School was officially done on May 3 (my birthday!!!!).

-I was called to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
        I am a Mormon, as you might call it. Women aren't required or even pressured into going on missions for our church. This was completely my decision! I put a lot of thought and prayer into this decision, just to make sure that it was the right choice for me to put off school and work.
        My call arrived in the mail on May 2, 2014... An early birthday present! I had just taken my English exam that day and had gotten home a little early and had the feeling that it was coming that day. It sure did!
        Unfortunately, I had to work that day. Luckily, Fridays were my "easy days" at work. Fridays were always a movie day (I worked daycare.), and I was always scheduled to work from 2:15-4:30. Work had NEVER gone so slowly before! (And that's saying something!)
        I get home and have to wait TWO WHOLE HOURS for friends and faImily to arrive for my call opening. Mom had hidden it so I wouldn't peek! I was literally shaking the entire day! I was so ready to find out where I would be serving the Lord for 18 months.
        The time arrived and I opened my letter.
         Dear Sister Twiner,
You are hereby called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SANTIAGO MISSION.
     
 WHAT?! I did not see that coming!!! Everyone was expecting me to go somewhere like Utah or England... Somewhere where I would fit in with my blonde hair and fair skin. But no, I am going to the Dominican Republic! As soon as I read it I KNEW that that was where I was supposed to serve. I just had that calm, peaceful feeling about me. I am so excited to go to the Dominican Republic MTC on September 10, 2014.

-I quit my first job:
        Ok so my first job taught me a lot. It was hard both mentally and physically, but I am grateful that I had the experiences that I had there, even though some might not have been as pleasant as I would have liked ;)
Things I learned from my job:
1)  I do not want to work with children. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE children! I still babysit and wish to have a family of my own one day, but childcare is not the career for me. Having 15-20 first to third graders in my care is more stressful than I would have thought. Nah, I'm good with babysitting no more than six at a time.
2)  If I am ever in a leadership position where I am over other employees, I want to go out of my way to be nice to them. I get that everyone has bad days, but when a "good" day for you makes someone's day worse, I think something's wrong. For a while I let other people's negativity invade my life so that I felt hopeless in my situation. I want to be an up-lifter to other people.
3) Children can say the funniest things! Yes, working with children stressed me out, but that doesn't mean that I left without good memories. One of my most memorable moments with working with children is during study hall one day:
              Kid: Teacher? Were you alive during WW2?
              Me: No...
              Kid: What about the Civil War?
              Me: No.
              Kid: The Revolutionary War?
              Me: How old do you think I am?
No joke... I think this kid was serious!
4) I can become friends with people of other backgrounds and personalities. Let me clarify: I have many friends of different backgrounds (Race, religion, culture). However, I tend to gravitate towards people who have similar  personality types and values as me. In my first job, I had to learn to work with others whom I probably would have never associated with at school. I found that these were some of my closest friends at work because everyone had a hard time there at times. We helped each other through rough days.
5) I CAN DO HARD THINGS. That first semester of work was hard. The second semester was also hard. Some might ask why I didn't quit sooner. The answer is simple: I wanted to prove to myself that I am tough. I have always shied away from hard situations and difficult people. I am an adult now. I need to be able to survive in this world.
         Some might also say that I stress out too easily about things like this. I've thought so many times as well, but remember that every experience is different for every person. What might stress me out might be a piece of cake to you. What stresses you out might be elementary to me. This was a serious trial that I had to go through... But I wouldn't trade it for the world. No, I would never go back for another day of it, but I have emerged a much stronger person than when I entered.

-My family and I went on an amazing road trip:
          It started out with us driving to Buena Vista, VA to pick my sister up from EFY (Especially for Youth... It's a youth camp for our church). Then we drove 12 hours up to Palmyra, NY to see the church history sites there and to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, which was AMAZING! After that, we drove 1.5 hours to Niagara Falls to see... Niagara Falls. Then we went to Kirtland, Ohio to see more church history sites. And FINALLY to Nauvoo, Illinois.
          I will post more detail of the trip later. :)

And now we are to the present! Life is going well for me. I am about 28 days away from leaving on my LDS mission to the Dominican Republic and proclaiming the gospel that I know to be true. I am still unsure what the future has in store for me, but I am learning to trust God in leading me down the right paths.

Halloween 2013!

So I went to a Halloween party with my Young Single Adult friends... (YSAs are single adults from my church ages 18-31ish) We had fun eating nachos, dressing up in our costumes, and just hanging out. Here are some pictures... (Note: I did not take these; I got them from a friend on Facebook!)

I was Eponine from Les Mis. Les Mis is one of my favorite movies/plays/books so I decided to go with one of my favorite characters from it!

 Group photo... There were too many people to fit into one picture!

Us before the pudding contest... We had to find gummy worms and put them on the plate. Whoever found 8 worms first won!

                                      
 We all had a hard time breathing the whole time! I was blowing pudding out my nose for 20 minutes after!

Us afterwards...

 

 

I had a great time with all my YSA friends! I certainly felt uncomfortably full of sugar and nachos by the time I left!

Nearing the Homestretch!!

The past couple of weeks has about killed me! Here is a list of things that I have done within the last 14 days...
- Turned in 3-5 page paper for English
- Took Psychology Exam (And studied... I got a 90!)
- Dressed up as a molecule of helium for extra credit (Will explain)
- Turned in a 3 page paper on aerobic respiration for my lab class
- Went to work every day (2-5:30 pm)
- Did 2 stay-over babysitting nights
- Taught my first Relief Society lesson (Women's Sunday School)
- Got signed up for second semester classes
- Did a BUNCH of math homework
- Went to institute on Tuesdays (7-8:45pm)
- Attended several S.I. sessions (Monday 5:30 pm, Tuesday 7:30 am, Thursday 8 am)
- Study for Biology exam (due Friday! ahhhh!)
- Study for Math exam (due Friday... HELP!
- Got my Ecclesiastical Endorsement for SVU (mailing it tomorrow)

So you can imagine my stress! But I found out today that I have only 3 more classes in my Biology lab class... And then my lab practical! That means that my other classes aren't far behind!

Ok so my extra credit was due today for biology... 30 extra points is just too good to give up! We had to dress up as something to do with biology. I decided to go as a molecule of helium. I had a hula-hoop suspended around me with fishing wire, paper protons and neutrons taped to my shirt, balloons as electrons, and a cape and crown. (Helium is a noble gas... my sister had the brilliant idea of the cape and crown!) My professor loved it!

 

I'm just glad it's done! Now tomorrow is Halloween, and I have a DENTIST APPOINTMENT at 8:15 in the morning! At least it's before the candy! I have a party with my Young Single Adult friends from church... I am NOT dressing as helium... I'm going as Eponine from Les Miserables! The next day is a full day at work because the kids are out of school, so it's going to be interesting! I will post more hopefully tomorrow!!

 

Happy Halloween!

Confessions-- A little bit more about me!

I haven't really taken time to introduce myself. I have mostly posted about college, so I decided to do some confessions to let you know a little more about me.

1) I am a Mormon. I will share my beliefs in my posts, but to learn even more, visit www.mormon.org.

2) I am a self-proclaimed nerd. Okay, so I don't stay up until 3 am playing video games, but I do get excited (sometimes over excited) about things like Harry Potter, Dr. Who, Sherlock... You name it. I am also a history nerd... I love visiting old houses and museums to see how people used to live.

3) I love to read. I haven't had as much time as I would like lately, but I love curling up with a good book. I like a variety of genres, but I especially enjoy fiction/fantasy/sci-fi because it gives me the opportunity to "escape" the real world.

4) I play music. I am a fiddler/violinist (fiddle first) and I play piano by ear. I hate reading music, but I will if I am forced to.

5) I am addicted to Pinterest. No explanation required.

6) I am shy, but once I am comfortable around someone... Watch out! I like to be goofy and crazy with my friends, but in school and other situations, I am usually pretty quiet.

7) I like to "invent" recipes. I like to take a recipe and make it my own. If I don't have a certain ingredient, I like to improvise and put in other yummy ingredients. (Once I made peanut butter chocolate chip Nutella cookies... Talk about sugar!)


8) I love my family. I will be posting a lot about what I do with my family... But let me say now... They are crazy! At least I know where I get it from ;)

 

9) I am a Mississippi girl. I lived in MS until I was 15. I like to talk about my childhood experiences I had in MS... Just you wait!

10) I am Just Being Krislee. That's why I named my blog this. Anything I post in here is a reflection on something about my life or personality.

Busy, busy busy!!!

I haven't posted all week because of my hectic schedule!! I will post more tomorrow... With all the painful details!

Busy Week Ahead!

I am about to call it a day and head to bed. I have had time to look over my schedule for this week... And it's pretty daunting, though I have seen worse!

I have school/work all week... Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have class from 8:25-1:50 (Biology, English, Math and Psychology), and then work from 2:15-5:30. Monday I have an SI session (Supplemental Instruction for Biology... It's basically a study group because Biology has such a high fail rate.) from 5:30 to 6:30-ish... PLUS my sister's 15th birthday is on Monday!!

Tuesdays and Thursdays I have only one class... Sociology. Let me tell you this now... I HATE Sociology. It is one of the most pointless classes I have ever taken. This weekend I had to write a two page paper on a documentary that my instructor didn't even watch himself... SERIOUSLY???? I honestly sleep during the class period, but it doesn't really matter because he emails us the test and we can use any resource we want. SO I can just Google the questions and voila! I get an A on the test.
      ANYWAYS that's my only class that day from 10:45-12:05... and then I work from 2-5:30.

Tuesday nights I have institute... It's a religious study group kind of like a Bible study. We go and learn more about our faith (LDS or Mormon) and then hang out afterwards (Chipotle is a favorite!).

Wednesday I have to leave work early for my Biology lab... I pretty much hate it. Luckily it's only one day a week. Once I'm done with lab, I feel like the worst of the week is done, because Thursdays and Fridays go by pretty quickly!

Thursdays are pretty laid back, though I occasionally go to the SI session. Fridays are awesome (when I don't have tests) because once I am done with school, I go to work, where we watch a movie. I work at one of the local elementary schools' after-school program... So I get PAID to watch a movie!

Then once 5:30 rolls around on a Friday, I can finally go home and relax for two days... If you count staying up until midnight doing homework as relaxing...

I managed to get my massive pile of homework done this weekend, which I will tell more about later, but for now I need to get to bed!

My College Decision... (Drumroll Please!)

Okay, so I know that my posts so far have all been about college, and I promise that I will start posting on other things, but college has been the #1 thing in my life right now... I am currently preparing to transfer out of Pellissippi next year, so for the past few weeks I have been trying to see which college I will attend for the next few years. I had three choices... Brigham Young University-- Idaho, University of Tennessee, and Southern Virginia University.

SVU has always been my first choice, but it is a private Liberal Arts college, so it was too expensive. BYU-I is a religiously affiliated school (LDS or Mormon to be exact) and it was my second choice... But I hate the cold, so I know that I would not survive in Idaho!!! My third choice was UT, which is a good school and I love going to the football games, but it is literally 20 minutes from my house and I want to go to a college that is further away from home.

SVU has a REALLY REALLY small student body and campus... Which I like, because it means that a student is more than a number there. With less than 1,000 students, the faculty is able to form personal relationships with each of their students. The school president has a picture of EVERY SINGLE STUDENT in his office, so he keeps his duty to this school in mind. With such a small, intimate campus, I would be able to make more meaningful friendships instead of just passing by people on a bigger campus.

So I was heartbroken about not being able to attend SVU, so I was planning on BYU-I. I was trying to persuade my parents into letting me go... (They don't want me to go to school too far away.) So I was researching pros and cons of going to SVU and BYU-I. The biggest thing was tuition, so I was researching tuition for both schools... BYU-I is no more than $12,000 a year. When I was looking up SVU, however, something caught my eye. There was an article that said that the school president announced a lowering of the cost of tuition for the 2014-15 school year. You can see the article here.
THEY LOWERED THEIR TUITION BY ABOUT $10,000!!!!!
You can only imagine my excitement! With this new cost, I will be more willing to take out student loans and it will be easier to bridge the gap with scholarships! My parents are UBER excited! I will be an SVU Knight next year!

 Main hall and the famous Knight statue!                   Behind Main Hall... I have heard that many
                                                                                     ultimate Frisbee games have happened here!

Here are some more pics from behind Main Hall in autumn and winter... SO pretty!

 



 

 The institute building... (I will explain more
 about institute later for those of you who
don't know what it is!)                                             Beautiful town of Buena Vista, VA!

Main Hall                                            Students behind Main Hall!

Campus!

 

I seriously can't wait until next Fall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Busy schedule? Me too!

The past few months have put so much stress on me that I swear my hair is going to start to fall out! It always seems that tests line up on the same day (Sometimes I swear that professors hold secret meetings to schedule tests on the same day!). I always have a paper due in one class or another (I just finished a paper last night on a documentary that my instructor hasn't even watched himself.). I have often wondered to myself: "How can I make more time for fun? I am constantly busy!"

LUCKILY I managed to get into the swing of things quickly! Here are some things that I did to help me manage my time better.

1) Buy a planner!!!! I can't stress this enough! I am literally addicted to my planner. My life depends on it. I write down due dates, upcoming events, etc. There have been so many times where I have forgotten about an assignment... Luckily it was in my planner! Seriously though, invest in a planner. You can thank me later. :)

2) I can't stress this enough, but... DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!
Didn't hear it? Well I will say it again! DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully that got through to you. This is the key to anyone's success. If you want time to hang out with friends, set deadlines for your school work... DON'T think that putting it completely off will make it go away.
                Here's a couple of scenarios for you:

             Your friends ask if you want to go to the mall with them (or anywhere) tonight.

You look at your handy-dandy planner and see that you have an English paper due next week, a math assignment due in two days, a Biology test in three days and a lab practical in one week. Your friends are coming over soon, so you decide to push your homework back until tomorrow, I mean, you have lots of time, right?

Wrong! Who knows when you will have time next? It's okay to hang out with friends, just make sure that your priorities are done. Here is what could have been done to make the situation better...

On Sunday you take time to study out your week in your planner. You just got the assignment for the English paper, so you make goals in order to get the task done. On each day of the week you write "write 1 paragraph on English paper" so that you don't have to sit for hours at a time in your desk staring at the computer. Same thing with studying... Write "study X minutes a day" in you planner and you will find that to be much more affective than cramming it all in the night before.

On Tuesday your friends ask you if you want to hang out. You already have 3 out of the 5 paragraphs done on your paper, have studied quite a bit for Biology and your lab practical, and have finished half your math homework. BECAUSE YOU BROKE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS INTO SMALLER SEGMENTS YOU HAVE MORE TIME FOR FUN... INSTEAD OF HAVING FUN ON MONDAY, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AND THEN SLAVING AWAY AT YOUR HOMEWORK THE REST OF THE WEEK. This is a lesson that I have had to learn numerous times, and I still am tempted to put off assignments at times. But I have seen the positive effects of a little bit of work per day over cramming everything at the last minute. Trust me. Your life will be more enjoyable and your grades will skyrocket.

 





Advantages of Attending Community College

I decided that community college was my best choice for my freshman year. I had originally planned to attend Southern Virginia University, but the $28,000 tuition and fee check was one that made my wallet hurt.

Just know that while community colleges aren't the most exciting things in the world, they do have several advantages!!
Here is a list of advantages I have made...

1) Community colleges tend to be MUCH cheaper than other colleges and universities.
   ~I am attending Pellissippi State Community College right now, and the total tuition is no more than $3,000... MUCH less than SVU!! Besides, I am planning to transfer to SVU next year... That's almost $30,000 I saved myself by going to a community college.

2) Community college courses can be simpler than other colleges and universities
 Disclaimer:  This does NOT mean that they are "easy..." While they may be easier than other universities, they should not be taken lightly!!!

3) Community colleges are a great transition from high school to college.
    ~Several people complain that Pellissippi is just like high school... I found similarities, but there are significant differences. You have more freedom in your schedule. Also, you are attending school with people of all ages. Several people in my classes are married and/or have children. But yes, it is very similar to high school in class structure.

4) Attending a community college gives you time to figure out what you want to do.
    ~There is a variety of courses available at most community colleges, ranging from English to Culinary Arts. If you don't know what you want to study at the end of you senior year, a community college will buy you time to decide what you want your major to be. Several colleges even have agreements with 4-year universities that allow easy transfers IF you are able to maintain a certain GPA.

5) Community colleges are easy to get into!
    ~ Unless you have like a 0.00 GPA, you can pretty much get into a community college. So if your high school GPA isn't as high as you would like it to be, go to a community college! Your GPA is a clean slate, so with hard work and dedication you can get a better GPA and be able to attend a college of your choice!

All-in-all, I am glad that I chose Pellissippi this year over SVU... I am taking 16 credits (talk about stress!) that will transfer to SVU next year. There have been disadvantages to going, such as missing out on dorm life and having significant time to meet new people. I pretty much go to school, listen to a lecture, go to work, then come home and do homework. I have a busy schedule, but everything I do now is going towards my ne life at SVU. I hope this helps with your college decision! Remember that going to a community college is not something to be ashamed of!!

Update: I have posted about my official college decision! Plus there are pictures of campus!