Happiness is...

• Sitting down to write this list in my family room with candles lit and a diet pepsi nearby.
• Walking around my favorite park on a gorgeous Sunday evening with my husband.
• Sharing faithful teenagers' testimonies everyday for my internship.
• Running to the grocery store late one Tuesday night in PJs because my husband and I were really craving Captain Crunch.
• Taking my first bite of rolls I made that morning and realizing that I can actually make something scrumpcious. 
• Opening snapchats from all my favorite people and feeling like they're closer than they are.
• Listening to podcasts that open my mind to completely new trains of thought and ways of thinking.
• Singing "Families Can Be Together Forever" in Relief Society as a wave of gratitude hits me for my great family.
• Planning for upcoming three-day weekends and adding to the Taylor Family Adventures list.
• Having a question I sincerely want the answer to and finding the answer in my scriptures.
• Talking over lunch with my grandparents and darling aunt.
• Playing a nerdy game my husband loves and realizing I am actually enjoying myself.
• Ditching whatever important things I need to accomplish to play the piano until I really can't contain my happiness anymore.
• Laughing as our Saturday cleaning turned into a spontaneous kitchen dance party.
• Ordering tickets to a local play, reserving seats to 5 dollar Tuesday movie night, and booking spots to adventure to the Timp Caves in a few weeks.
• Looking through my wedding photos for the millionth time realizing that we are in fact married. 
• Learning that life isn't about the things you do, but the people you do them with. 

Moments of Inspiration

There have been very distinct points in my life where I can see that I am on a good, comfortable path. And then, a bell goes off in my head and I am continually reminded that there is a better path I haven't considered.  Naturally, it's always a scarier, more challenging path (makes me feel like Chad's facial expression on the right).


A decision has to be made. Do I stick with the easy path that I'm content and comfortable with, or do I pick a better, unknown, scary path that feels right?


My life is littered with these little moments of (somewhat bothersome) inspiration. The first one I remember acting on was when I was 17 and deciding who to room with my first year at BYU. I had one comfortable option that I knew and liked, and yet I felt the Spirit whisper to ask another girl I didn't know as well. These moments have continued over the last 5 years, helping me to continually pick the better path, instead of the good path my safe self naturally heads toward.

Without these moments of revelation, I wouldn't have found a kindred spirit in my freshman roommate, (who also introduced me to my future husband-fun side note). I wouldn't have gone to Cambridge as a naive 19 year old and fallen in love with school and England. I wouldn't have applied soon enough to go to Jerusalem. I wouldn't have had the courage to leave all that was safe and homey to serve a mission that helped me become so much more of who I'm meant to be. I wouldn't have started dating Chad so quickly after my mission.

And even this week, I wouldn't be at the point I'm at with school. Since getting home from my mission, I've had a very clear plan when it comes to my education. I like it that way. (Doesn't everyone?) But this week after someone asked a simple question, the Spirit began whispering repeatedly again that there was a better way than the one I was holding so tightly to.

So here's to harder, scarier, better paths. These are the paths that lead us closer to Heavenly Father, and therefore, closer to complete happiness. Thank goodness for moments when the Spirit inspires us to change our lives.