Days of Gratitude #3, 4, 5 & 6

Day #3
Grateful for the beautiful weather. Not only is it so pleasant, but the kids were able to play outside, we grilled burgers and pineapple that night, and when I have to teach PE outside, things go so much better when it's nice outside.

Day #4
Do you ever have that day, or days, when it seems like the house just never gets cleaned, it's always a mess, and then you're grumpy? I've been feeling like that. And so, Thursday evening, we all pitched in and storm-cleaned the house. It was so nice to get things dusted, vacuumed and even the Hallowen decorations put away. Now I'll give a few days before I worry too much about it again.

Day #5
So grateful to have Friday's off. Since last year, Steve has been working 4-10's, so he has Friday's off. This year, I also have Friday's off, so we always get a long weekend. This usually means that we get the work done on Friday's and play and relax on Saturday's. It really is nice to have short work weeks and long weekends every week.

Day #6
Grateful for a Saturday to relax. Often, we end up going places on Saturday, so Saturday's aren't always relaxing (although fun). Today, we relaxed, watch a few football games, worked on getting my 2 year-old potty trained, and relaxed some more. What a perfect day!

Days of Gratitude #1 and #2

Day #1
I am so grateful for a loving and patient husband, who is a wonderful father and provides for our family.
Steve is an amazing person. He has never expected me to have a perfectly cleaned house with dinner on the table as soon as he gets home from work. He loves everything I eat, and if he doesn't he wouldn't say otherwise (I actually begged him to tell me he hates something I made when we were first married, but he told me that he really does love everything I make...he's somewhat easy to please). He is always so willing to step in and help with whatever I need, whether it's cleaning the house, fixing dinner, or even making a late night run when I'm pregnant (I think he felt bad that I never sent him on one when I was pregnant with Aydon, so when I was pregnant with Eri, I made sure I did). And on top of that, he is so great about helping out with the kids. He puts them to bed most nights, he bathes them, he even watches them for me while I go grocery shopping. And he willingly changes the poopy diapers. Now that's a man for ya!
The other day, my mom and I were talking about one of her friends who has a daughter that she was concerned about. Apparently, the daughter's husband has decided that he is done with working (he's in his 40's) and he now relys on his wife's teacher salary to provide for their family. Sadly, I know of a lot of these types of cases...husbands/fathers who don't seem to have a lot of direction in life, and leave it up to the wife to take care of, in all manners, the family. Isn't marriage a partnership? I know that there are cases where the husband stays home with the kids because the wife's salary is better, but what about the cases where the husband has no marketable skills, can't hold down a job, or won't have a job because it's "just too hard?" Man...I am so grateful for a husband that does everything he can to provide for our family!

Day #2
I have the right to vote...and I did!
When I taught Civics a few years ago, I think it really made me realize just how important voting is, and what a privilege it is to vote, not just as an American, but as a woman. I will forever be grateful for the women who were continuously persecuted for fighting for their write to vote. What a blessing it is to let my voice be heard.

Days of Gratitude

Since I haven't shared some of my joys in a while, I figured I better get my tail in gear and share a little joy (it's that time of year, right?). But these joys will come a little differently.
When I first got out on my mission, I really struggled. I was so disappointed in myself that I couldn't be happy with where I was. Afterall I had chosen to serve a mission, and I was in such a beautiful country (have you seen "The Best Two Years?, that was my mission), with so many new opportunities wide open for me. But, it came down to missing home...my family, the familiarness of home, speaking english...it seemed like so many things that made me homesick. Then, after talking with my mission president and lots of prayer, I started to keep a different kind of journal. A gratitude journal. Everday I wrote down something that I was grateful for, including something about the country and something about missionary work (2 things everyday). Somedays it was something as simple as seeing 2 cute little kitties in a window-sill of a house we were knocking on (and I'm not really a fan of cats) and sometimes it was getting to take my picture by a windmill along a canal while sitting on top of an overturned row boat...I need to get some pictures scanned from my mission. After a very few short weeks, my attitude completely changed and I started to love everything about my mission (okay, it still wasn't fun have doors slammed in our faces, but it was funny hearing people tell us in english that they weren't interesting ...you read that right, interesting, not interested).
So, my point...once in a while I need to keep a gratitude journal to remind me of my blessings.
Since it is the beginning of November, I have decided that I am going to share my "Days of Gratitude," one everyday through the month. I am actually posting my gratitudes on Facebook daily, but I'll being going into a little more detail on this blog every few days. So, I hope you enjoy and I hope that this might inspire you to look out for your little blessings everyday.

The Silhouette

So, many of you have a Cricut and make some really cute things with it. My sister recently bought one and I've been using it. Talk about quick, cute projects!!! But, there is something new out there that I read about on SugarDoodle. It's the Silhouette. They are doing a give-away and wouldn't that be awesome to have?! You can even do glass etching with it. Go check it out at http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6344

Sweet Peas

Since moving to Utah (and to a place with cooler weather and seasons) I've enjoyed growing some fruits and vegetables in our backyard. Our first year in the house we planted a few strawberry plants and tried some tomatoes and peppers. We've continued to do the tomatoes and peppers (and the strawberries never go away), but now we've added spinach, carrots, sweet peas and a variety of herbs. We enjoyed a lot of spinach this spring until they went to seed because of the heat. We've also enjoyed a LOT of strawberries. We have to pick them about every-other-day and we'll eat a few and then freeze the rest so we can make some freezer jam (that will happen as soon as all the crazy summer activities slow down).

This morning we decided to try some peas to see if they were ready to eat (I popped one open last week, but the peas were still a little too small). They certainly were ready and both the kids gobbled up the peas. In fact, by about 8 am, both kids had had their full serving of veggies for the day (okay, almost their full serving). They are yummy and we are looking foward to picking some more.

We're not trying to stock up on fruits and veggies and live solely off our garden, but it sure is fun to go out into the yard and get a sweet treat.

Random Acts of Kindness

I've always been a big fan of Random Acts of Kindness, I just wish I were better at doing them. With our recent job situation, we seemed to be the recipients of a lot of Random Acts of Kindness. We will always be so grateful for those that shared that kindness (the problem with random acts of kindness is you don't know who did it, and thus, who to thank).
The most recent act came Sunday night. The cutest basket was left at our doorstep full of soup mixes, jam and a beautiful (and yummy) loaf of bread with a little note attached that read, "Just Because We Care!" I couldn't believe that someone out there was kind enough to be thinking about us!
We pray that the Lord will bless those who act with such love and kindness. They truly are disciples of Christ!

The Love of Family

One of the hardest things for me in life has been when I've lived away from family. I have such a wonderful family...they are always supportive, we always have a lot of fun and it's easy to be in my comfort zone with them.
I know so many families that don't have any sort of relationship with their family members. Next to my husband and kids, my mom and sisters are my best friends. I know that I can always count on my dad and brothers to help us with projects around the house.
Since our unfortunate financial situtation, the love of my family has been even greater. We've recieved a lot of help from my family. Nothing big, and usually not in a monetary nature. However, it's the little things that have been blessings. Phone calls of concern, offers of babysitting, info on job openings, etc. My parents and siblings just seem to know what we need and how they can help us. They don't ask us what they can do for us, they just do it. I feel so blessed and loved.
I do feel bad for those people that think they can do it alone. That's not what life is about. I know that my family never expects anything in return, but I hope that one day I can help them out. I don't hope that they get into a financial bind, I just hope that I can return that same love.