i've got my love to keep me warm

This is the last day of the gratitude challenge. Thanks to everyone who participated and sent me the things they were grateful for--it was so encouraging to see all the blessings that we all have. Almost every email I received contained something that I am also grateful for, often worded much better than I could have expressed.

1. I am grateful for photos so that I can go back and remember events and people that otherwise might be lost in my memory.

2. I am grateful for the knowledge that I am unique in all the world, that I am loved and appreciated, that I make and difference, and that I matter.

3. I am grateful for the way that focusing on positive things can help to dispel thoughts of frustration and disappointment.

And now, for two minutes, I will list all the things that come to mind that I am grateful for. Ready..........GO
I am grateful for Somebody, my parents, my siblings and their spouses and children, my friends, my extended family, a good heritage and upbringing, membership in the church, a testimony, a relationship with my Savior, air, water, earth, airplanes, colors, chocolate, flowers, fancy purses, a keyboard with a backspace, time, a comfortable bed, books, blankets, showers, a running car, road trips, family dinners, fruit smoothies, ice cream, digital cameras, ward choir, foam pillows, Sunday naps, gentlemen, gel keyboard wrist pad, lip gloss, good penmanship, donuts, mittens, kittens, vacation days, toilet paper, snow, sunsets, people who are tolerant, luxury hotel rooms, eternal marriage, scrapbooks, email from friends, google reader, food, cell phones, OH out of time.

I hope you all had a month of grateful thoughts, and enjoy the holiday season.

"My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life, we 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment and endorse virtue and effort"
--President Gordon B. Hinckley

we may be rushing things

1. I am grateful for options. I am grateful for choices. I am grateful that I always have a choice, and that very few things are really unrealistic options. I am grateful that through a good upbringing, a good education, and a good mind, I have the option of doing almost anything I choose.

2. I am grateful for the smell of clean laundry.

3. I am grateful for a family who loves me, cares about me, understands where I'm coming from, treats me like a friend, hopes for good things for me, prays for my health and well-being, laughs at my jokes, cries for my sorrows, and will always be there for me. There is a lot of strength and confidence that comes from having people in your life who you know will always back you up, and will always take you back when you've made mistakes. I am grateful for unconditional love.

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."
--Cynthia Ozick

he has the time for me

I have been searching for a particular photoshop template for, oh, four months now. Just about every time I get online I do a search for all the words I remember seeing on the page when I saw it last a year ago. I have tried every combination of words and topics I can think of without any success at all. I've emailed the information to friends, hoping that maybe it was familiar to them and they could help me find it. Seriously, hours of my life have been dedicated to finding this page again. Today, after so much frustration, and running out of time, I opened my computer and said a little prayer that this time I would type in the right combination of words to find the page with the template I wanted. And, what do you know? The first thing I typed in, and the third page suggested by google, and I had found this elusive template.

And then I started to cry, because compared to all the prayers offered up today, and all the needs in the world, it is such a little thing, this search I was doing. So small and insignificant, and it means nothing to anyone but me, and will benefit no one in the world but me. But somehow I am important enough to answer. And somehow want my heart needs, no matter how trivial, is important to Him. And I am truly grateful for the reminder.

the night was dark and still

1. I am grateful for slow cookers and the dinner made in them.

2. I am grateful for creativity and home made gifts. At this time of year I always find myself with more ideas for projects and crafts than I could ever have time to complete, but I am grateful that I have family and friends that I love and want to do things for. I am grateful that I have the mind and resources to accomplish at least some of the things that I start out doing.

3. I am grateful that my mom was able to stay with Heidi for a while to enjoy the first week of the new baby, and also that she is now back home safely. It only took us about 12 hours to realize that the house falls apart when she isn't here, and we all missed her terribly.

"If gratitude is due from children to their earthly parents, how much more is the gratitude of the great family of man due to our Father in heaven!" --Hosea Ballou

decorations of red on a green christmas tree

1. I am grateful for extra cars around this house so that we have one to use when ours won't start.

2. I am grateful that my dad was willing to take time out of his very, very busy schedule to check out my car for two days to try to figure out the problem. He is a good example of a good work ethic, and of doing everything you can do for yourself before you pass work off to other people.

3. I am grateful for the miracle of forgiveness. I thankful that our mistakes really are mistakes, and that, while we have to pay for them, we don't have to pay for them forever. I'm grateful for the way my heart feels light when I am forgiven by someone, or when I finally have the courage to forgive someone.

"Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart."--Seneca

"The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!"
--President Joseph F. Smith

i just knew

1. I am grateful for days when I don't hate being at work.

2. I am grateful that I can listen to Christmas music without shame now.

3. I am grateful for the moments when I think, "wow, I'm smart." Or, "hey, I'm funny." Or I just am suddenly and momentarily delighted with myself. It seems so rare that I have really positive thoughts about myself and it is refreshing to have those moments when even I have to admit that I'm pretty great.

"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, and to work, and to play and to look up at the stars."--Henry Van Dyke

pine cones and holly berries

1. I am grateful for alone time. First, because I enjoy having time and space to collect my thoughts and do/think about anything that I choose. I never want to lose my own sense of identity or my ability to function without others there. Second, because it makes me more excited to have the people I love return.

2. I am grateful that I can come home from church to the smell of dinner cooking in the slow cooker.

3. I am grateful for the chance to substitute in other callings so that I can appreciate more the calling that I have.

"In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer

the most wonderful time

1. I am grateful for the comfortable feeling of being at home.

2. I am grateful for music that inspires, motivates, energizes, soothes, delights, touches, and sets the mood, no matter what kind of mood I am in.

3. I am grateful for the tiny, clear voice that children have when they sing.

4. I am grateful for siblings who are raising the cutest, sweetest, funniest, most delightful children ever.

5. I am grateful for football games that keep you on the edge of your seat and then end the way you want them to.

"Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road." --John Henry Jowett

a different kind of healer

I walked downstairs to find Grace (2 yrs old), Jonah (4 yrs old) and Saffie (3 yrs old) in the playroom. Grace was lying down and the other two were looking over her in what appeared to be a "playing doctor" scene, which wasn't surprising at all for this very medically oriented family.

Me: Grace! Are you getting operated on?
Grace: Hab loab haas nosh.
Me: Oh, I see. It's pretty serious? That's too bad.
Me: Saffie, are you the doctor here?
Saffie: No. Jonah is the doctor.
Me: Dr. Jonah! Will she be okay?
Jonah. I'm not a doctor. I'm just plain baby Jesus.

it's beginning to look a lot like birthday

1. I am grateful for Somebody, who is wonderful in every way, and is celebrating his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Somebody!

2. I am grateful that my parents are okay getting up early and quietly leaving the hotel room so that we can sleep in as late as we want.

3. I am grateful for cells phones so that I can stay connected to my entire family no matter where we are or how far apart we are.

4. I am grateful for jeans that have that lived in, worn out comfort.

5. I am grateful for answers to prayers.

"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."
--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

happy birthday, love

31 Reasons I Love You More

1. You wear your wedding ring all the time
2. You are kind to all children, but especially to the nieces and nephews
3. You know I am ridiculous, and you love me anyway
4. You introduced me to plum powder
5. You grill the yummiest pineapple, veggies, and burgers
6. You want to make friends
7. You are honest. When I ask you why you don't want me to put in the cd of me singing, you say, very calmly, that singing should be left to professionals.
8. You are strong--you moved those boxes in and out of the storage room three times now, and are still willing to go in and move them around to find whatever random object I am looking for.
9. You are so conscientious. You couldn't even sleep those nights during the storms because you worried that water was coming into the house. Good for you, because I was sleeping just fine without a care in the world for the effects of water damage. Probably because you were the one who was going to have to move those boxes a fourth time if we were flooded again.
10. You like to take walks
12. In the early morning hours you always reach out to snuggle with me
13. When I asked what you think about all the time, you said "gardening"
14. You get giddy about little things, like bike rides, and driving the golf carts
15. You laugh so easily 16. You care about looking nice, and always do look nice.
17. You always forgive me
18. You put your arm around me at church
19. You always act excited when I come home from work
20. You pick me "cheery" tomatoes
21. You get up early to start my breakfast
22. and warm up the car
23. You scratch my back and neck even though it grosses you out
24. You wear hair gel just because I like it
25. You always tell me how pretty I am
26. You never wait to say sorry
27. You know how I like my laundry done, and you do it perfectly, week after week
28. You love to shop with other people
29. You are kind and attentive to my parents
30. You are willing to do yucky things if it will help me feel better
31. You leave the window open at night because I like the fresh air, even if it means you have to sleep with your jacket on

their case is fuzzy and circumstantial

1. I am grateful for a Thanksgiving Day meal of grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum.

2. I am grateful for a warm coat.

3. I am grateful that we got to sleep in today.

4. I am grateful that Somebody always pays attention to what I have to say.

5. I am grateful for a house full of family and friends.

"Forever on Thanksgiving Day, The heart will find the pathway home."--Wilbur D. Nesbit

"Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet. Believe in man. Soberly and with clear eyes, believe in your own time and place. There is not, and there never has been a better time, or a better place to live in."
--Phillips Brooks

sometimes I'm even persnicketier

1. I am grateful that our long drive through the snow (snow! all day long it was snowing!) is over and that we arrived safely.

2. I am grateful for a new niece who is tiny and perfect and arrived just before we did.

3. I am grateful for the moment on my drive home from work yesterday when I knew, I just knew, that my Savior suffered and died for me, and that He lives again.

4. I am grateful for happy tears.

5. I am grateful for books on cd because they help to pass the time on road trips.

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." -- H. U. Westermayer

annoy, tiny blonde one. annoy like the wind

1. I am grateful for head phones so I can listen to music at work.

2. I am grateful for my wedding ring. Although I am also grateful for the happy marriage it represents, this is more about how I just like it, and how every time I look at it I think, "wow, I really like my wedding ring" and how it just seems to match me. Also, it is very sparkly.

3. I am grateful that I can fall asleep while Somebody reads in bed. I think we tried this arrangement at the beginning of our marriage and it didn't work out, and he was banished to the living room. But now I think it's working and I like that he is there when I fall asleep.

4. I am grateful for the long weekend coming up.

5. I am grateful for nieces and nephews, and that I'm going to have one more niece tomorrow.

"Thank God every day when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know." --Basil Carpenter

you need to go see the wizard. ask him for some guts.

1. I am grateful for mornings that are warm enough that I don't have to scrape ice off my car windows.

2. I am grateful for a vcr so that, even though I wasn't able to take time out last night to watch The Race, we can watch it tonight for FHE.

3. I am grateful for ward members who are willing to help me fulfill my calling.

"Find the good -- and praise it."--Alex Haley

"How wonderful it would be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child's personality. A child is resentful, negative—or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people." --Sir John Templeton

it's dessert for dinner tonight

1. I am grateful that I feel like this ward is "my" ward. I am so glad that I actually look forward to going and that I have made so many friends at church.

2. I am grateful for fleece blankets.

3. I am grateful for leftover birthday cake.

"There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance."
--Joseph Addison

if you're asking me to the prom again, the answer's still "no"

1. I am grateful that Somebody and I enjoy being together in the kitchen. It is so nice to have two brains and four hands getting the work done.

2. I am grateful for yummy recipes that make staying in just as fun as going out to eat.

3. I am grateful for the laughter of my nieces and nephews.

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you?'"
--William A. Ward

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
--Thornton Wilder

i'm so impressed you fit a pony into my room

1. I am grateful for clothes that I feel pretty in.

2. I am grateful for my hair. I like it quite a bit, and it usually behaves. I'm getting it cut tonight. Short. And coloring it much darker. Although remember last time I said I was going to color it brown, and then I was all, "hey, look at my brown hair," and you were all, "um, it's still blond?" Whatever. I'm still grateful for my hair, and for the fact that I still have some.

3. Last night we read this scripture: "And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I saw wars and rumors of wars among them; and in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away." (1 Nephi 12:21) I am grateful that even though I could be one of the people that Nephi saw, a generation passing away in wars and rumors of wars, that I do not live in a place where the sights, sounds, and fear of war threaten me every day. I'm grateful that I feel safe enough to leave my house every day, to plan for a future that I have no doubt will happen, to have faith and hope and excitement for tomorrow. I'm grateful that people are passionate about defending freedom and are willing to dedicate their lives to keep me free and to preserve this way of life that I enjoy so much.

"Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth." --Sarah Ban Breathnach

i believe cartoon birds braided your hair this morning

1. I am grateful for the hope of something better.

2. I am grateful for examples of good leadership, good management, and good character.

3. I am grateful for yummy new recipes.

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude."
--Denis Waitley

"Gratitude is of the very essence of worship. … When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives"
--President Gordon B. Hinckley

murphy's cinnamon ice cream

I tried a few new ice cream recipes this summer (fruity, light, and fresh) and loved them, but we had packed the ice cream machine away for the winter. I mean, who makes, or eats, ice cream in the winter, right? Crazy people. And me. The idea of a cinnamon flavored ice cream, though, appealed to the "fall" side of me. Enter Murphys Ice Cream (I always knew I liked Ireland) and their request for bloggers to try their recipes and give feedback. Well, twist my arm.

The recipe:
MURPHYS CINNAMON ICE CREAM
Ingredients:
130g Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
220ml Cream
200ml Milk
1 Cinnamon Stick

What to do:
1. Put the cinnamon stick in a saucepan with the milk.
2. Bring the milk to a simmer.
3. Remove from the heat.
4. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
5. Remove the cinnamon stick from the milk.
6. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
7. Pour the mixture back into pan, and place over low heat. If you want a strong cinnamon flavour, add the cinnamon stick back in.
8. Stir until the custard thickens (around 60C).
9. Remove the cinnamon stick.
10. Allow the custard to cool.
11. Whip the cream and fold into the custard.
12. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, then cover and place in the freezer.

Don't be afraid of the measurements being all metric. I used a very basic measuring cup and it had the metric measurements that gave me quantities close enough to accurate that everything turned out just fine. (Although, if you copy this recipe and send it to your mom for a grocery list, you might want to attempt to convert it so that she doesn't cry in the store.)

I followed the recipe exactly as written and opted to leave the cinnamon stick in longer for the stronger flavor. I thought it was the perfect amount of cinnamon flavor and would do it that was again. My only disappointment with using the cinnamon stick was that the color of the ice cream was an even vanilla--I would have liked some flecks or other indication that it was flavored.


My big complaint about your average homemade ice cream is that it a) coats your spoon and your throat in an unappetizing way, and b) has a funky, bitter aftertaste. This ice cream had neither. It is rich (from it's custard base) and creamy, but just tastes smooth--not artificial. We ate it over apple pie and everyone (all ten of us) loved it. A definite hit. I would make it again, to serve with pie, for sure. This is a great compliment to fall flavors.

Murphys Ice Cream