Finding Myself Again: The RM/Newlywed Life

Yesterday Dallin and I came home from work, went and sat next to our apartment hot tub, and we started talking about books.

I told him about the book I’m currently reading and how he just has to read it.  We talked about how we both loved to read as we were kids.  We talked about how maybe kids are reading less these days because they just play on their phones instead.  We talked about why we loved to read.

The year (2015) I got home from my mission and started dating Dallin and everything, I maybe read 3 books that year.  That’s it.  3 books.  Between school and planning a wedding and adjusting to married life… I forgot how much I loved to read.

In a whirlwind of changes, from being a returned missionary to getting married, life has been crazy and it has been hard to adjust at times. I remember when my sister got home from her mission, that was my advice to her – take time to find yourself again.

Coming home from a mission is hard stuff.  I tried to completely lose myself in the work.  I found new parts of myself in Italy that I didn’t want to lose.  So when I came home, I had forgotten my hobbies and just didn’t see the importance of having any.  Then I started dating my to-be husband and thinking about hobbies was the last thing on my mind 🙂

Now that I’ve been home from my mission for a year and a half and married for one year, I’m realizing that having my own hobbies and passions is actually really, really important.  For both my sake and my marriage’s sake.

Since the beginning of 2016 I’ve already read 6 books in the first 3 months.  (Granted, 3 of them were audiobooks but I fully support that because it allows me to multitask in unbelievable ways.)  It’s been so good for me.  I’m getting emotionally attached to characters.  I’m thinking about ideas.  I’m feeling motivated to change the world.

I’m remembering that I’m passionate about reading. It’s important to have something else to look forward to other than just going to work and school every day and then coming home, doing homework, and watching Netflix.  I’m also remembering that I’m passionate about writing.   I’ve made a goal to start writing on my blog again because, even if no one reads it, it is so therapeutic for me.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is, adjustments are hard.  Figuring out what I like to do and who I am is still happening for me.  But books are helping me remember.