Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
with a classic cherry almond scent
--Denis Waitley
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
here's looking at you, kid
Monday, November 09, 2009
they call it puppy love
1. I am grateful that twenty years ago today my family happened to be in Berlin and was able to witness the opening of the Berlin Wall in person.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
channeling my inner porcupine
1. I am grateful that Somebody forgives me and continues to love me even when I am stubborn, irrational, and mean.
2. I am grateful that books come in paper format and audio format so that Somebody and I can "read" the same book at the same time and then discuss it.
3. I am grateful that we were able to enjoy so many vegetables fresh from the garden this summer, and that the late summer items--the squash and sweet potatoes--were ripe just in time to be made into Oliver's first baby foods.
"Don't wait to start. Open your eyes, open your hearts, and open your arms. I promise that as you do so, you will feel greater joy and happiness. Your life will have a new level of meaning. You will forge relationships that will transcend this life and endure through the eternities."
-Joseph B. Wirthlin, "'Live in Thanksgiving Daily'," Ensign, Sep 2001
Saturday, November 07, 2009
the closet isn't going to organize itself
1. I am grateful for yummy, dried cranberries to mix in with my oatmeal each morning.
2. I am grateful for slow cookers so that I can put food in it in the morning, then go about my day with errands and chores, and know that when I return home and am ready to eat there will be something hot and (hopefully) yummy just waiting for me.
3. I am grateful for weekend mornings (okay, really just Saturday mornings) when Somebody is home and can take Oliver downstairs to play and allow me to get just 15 more minutes of sleep. Somehow that makes a big difference.
"Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable. Gratitude turns a meal into a feast and drudgery into delight. It softens our grief and heightens our pleasure. It turns the simple and common into the memorable and transcendent. It forges bonds of love and fosters loyalty and admiration."
--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Friday, November 06, 2009
more than sunflowers and sunsets
1. I am grateful that I live near my parents. I always thought that living an hour away from family was the perfect distance--you were close enough that visiting for the evening or weekend wasn't a hardship, but far enough away that there was no obligation to see each other every day. I was wrong. My parents live just 10 minutes down the highway (a significant distance compared to how close they have been the last couple of years) and I am grateful every day that it is no inconvenience at all to go over to visit them. I love them. Somebody loves them. Oliver loves them. Being near them continues to bless our lives in countless ways.
2. I am grateful that Oliver knows my parents and loves them almost as much as he loves me and Somebody. I love watching him with my parents, love watching them adore him, love watching his face light up when he sees them, love watching them play together.
3. I am grateful that we decided to move to Kansas. Leaving Utah was difficult for us because we were leaving behind amazing family and friends, and because we both had such wonderful experiences there. Utah was where our story began and we were afraid to move away from the warmth and security we knew there. Kansas, though, has been more than good to us. I feel like we, as a family, belong here in ways we never belonged before. I have been especially blessed with friends who enrich my life (I can't say enough good things about them, but I can't say anything more about them here because this gratitude is about Kansas life and not about friends). We are finally growing up and this is the perfect place to do it. I can't even think about how challenging it will be to leave.
"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some."
--Charles Dickens
