In Gratitude

I passed yet another course. I am slowly but surely making my way towards a degree. Sometimes I wonder how I actually pass some of these classes because during them I feel as if my brain is to the class material and information as the concrete side walk is to a rubber ball. Nothing sticks just bounces around. What bliss and shock I feel when I get my grades and find that I will not have to retake a class!


So with this said I feel I need to thank those that make it possible. For with out you I would not be able to do it.

Diet Coke never let me down when I needed a little surge of caffeine.

Sour Patch watermelon chews always gave that party in the mouth, got to eat something or else I will go crazy comfort when I ever I needed it.

Thank you, for with out you I question my abilities to study and pass any class.

single with a few extra pounds

Spent last weekend visiting Oklahoma. My brother Adam blessed the newest addition to his family- Baby Brooklyn. Most of the family was able to go so it was a pretty good time. I got a lot of baby holding time in- it fed any baby hunger I had. There was also a lot of baby crying that fed any baby hunger I had. (5 little ones under age 2)
Saturday night we took the kids to this sweet little Farm. They have a petting zoo, a carousel, a train ride, and PONY RIDES!! I was excited about those. But blast! There was a sign saying no one over 100lbs could ride the pony. Boo. Now, I am not saying that I am actually over 100lbs but lets just say IF I was... like 35lbs or more over 100lbs. Why cant those little ponies carry a bit more?! Sheesh. Whats a few extra pounds?
Most of the time when I am visiting family out of town I sleep on the couch. It is like they think married people ALWAYS have to sleep in the same bed or something. :) This trip I opted to go to the hotel with my brother Jed and his wife Valerie. I ended up on the other bed with my 2 year old niece Ashlee. Ashlee was a bit congested so when she fell asleep she was snoring. Yep, 2 year olds DO in fact snore. (who would have thought??) I wasn't worried though, her snoring was kind of sweet. Sweet until her dad chimed in! I awoke at 12am to a snore-a-thon. Yikes it was brutal. My sister in law was sleeping through it so I thought I would give it a try. After 20 minutes I decided I could handle no more and went and shook my brother till he woke up. I begged him to give me some earplugs (he just happen to have some) and put those little gems as far up my ears as they would go. You know, those things actually work?!?! I was able to finish up the night with out the symphony of snore.
Lesson I learned here? I am VERY single. Yep, I love my own quite bedroom with my own comfy bed. And in my single world all ponies can carry and will carry those of us.. er those out there that weigh a bit more than 100lbs.

Grateful

My mom and her family have always been wonderful cooks. Through out the years I have been blessed with delicious home cooked Thanksgiving feasts. This year my brothers were all away with their families and so it was with Auntie Kay's girls too. So we did something out of the ordinary and went out for Thanksgiving dinner. We arrived at Little America at 11:00am to find a very long line of hungry people and waited...And waited some more... (Mom and Auntie Kay)
still waiting...

And then we ate. A lot. Turkey, prime rib, crab legs, potatoes...


Yes, it was worth the weight. Er I mean wait. :)



After dinner we went and saw that adorable movie Enchanted. We loved it. We had great time together and I am so grateful for these three wonderful people who mean so much to me. They each do so much for me, and I hope they understand that they are staples in my life. I can't imagine not having them. But with that all said, I really missed my brothers and their families today. (missed my cousins too) It just isn't the same with out the excitement, the conversation and even the noise. I would have loved to watch my sweet nieces and nephews eat and play with one another, I would have loved to talk with my amazing sister in laws, I would have loved to watch my brothers push each other around, I would have loved to just laugh with everyone and even would have liked to see my family argue a bit.(although me and the parents did some of our own :) )

Every year our family goes around and says three things we are thankful for. With all our Little America excitement today we didn't go around and share. I will not let the tradition die. Here are my three:

1. I love the history of the first Thanksgiving. Grateful for the pilgrims who sacrificed so much. 102 came over on the Mayflower and only 52 survived that first year. They didn't give up when it was hard. They had a dreams of freedom and now we are blessed to have that valuable freedom.
2. Grateful for the modern conveniences that allow me to be able to keep in touch with my family so easily. Having them all so far away is difficult, and I miss them constantly but I am grateful to be able to call or email them any time.
3. Grateful for having the Lord in my life. What a sweet peace this gives to know that some one else has a greater love for us all. How fortunate I am when I stop and look, and recognize all the blessings he sends.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Eve

Today in honor of one of my dearest friends Rachael, we celebrated her 25 years of life by going to the restaurant she loves... Carrabas. Rach, Brad, JD, Matt, Riley(Matt's daughter) and me enjoyed a lovely meal. The best calamari, superb steak and delicious chicken. I washed my meal down with several slices of bread soaked with oil and vinegar and of course 3 diet vanilla cokes. It may seem like a bit much the night before a holiday dedicated to eating and being grateful. But I say, why only one meal?? Let the gratitude begin!Rach, Brad and Riley (Not quite sure what Brad is looking at.....)




Matt, JD and me (thanks for buying my dinner too!)

Rach and I met years ago when we both were working in the back stockroom of Mervyns Department store. Oh the lovely memories of working retail. We have been friends ever since. Thanks for being born Rach!! Love you!

Confessions

So I need to get a few things of my chest. Uh hm...

I absolutely hate Wal-mart. I think they are trying to take over the world and it kind of creeps me out. BUT sometimes I still shop there. It is convenient sometimes?!

For most of my life I have been very adamant about hating country music. Through out the years I have become more open to it, and in the last few months I have grown to love it. There I said it.

I always use the handicap bathrooms. They are always spacious, often cleaner and many of them have the sink in the stall- so that means I can check my teeth and hair in privacy. Is that so wrong?

I feel much better. Anyone else need to unload a few secrets?

Boogies

So my brother Jake called me tonight and shared a story about my little nephew Luke. I guess earlier today they caught Luke picking his nose. My brother said he was digging deep(up to his knuckles deep-eww). He and my sister in-law Carolyn began talking about how disgusting, gross and bad it is to pick your nose. A few seconds of silence from Luke and then he said this:
"OK Mommy, I will put the booger back in my nose."
hahahahahahaha
I laughed so hard. It is completely gross BUT it made my night.

comfort food

These lovely gals are my best friends from high school. In September (should have posted a LONG time ago) we all met up and went to lunch and did some shopping. The two on the right- Suz and Becky still live in Pocatello. Emily and I now live here in SLC. We don't get together very often so it was a welcome treat. We all are at very different stages in life- Becky has been married for 5 years, Emily married with a baby and Suz and I are stilling living the singles life dream. It is pretty fabulous we have managed to stay good friends.

It is like comfort food(analogies with food I get) when we do get together. We were so silly and giggling that one of us probably peed our pants. Yes, Emily is flipping off the camera- we were all acting VERY mature that day.

Hooray for old friends, hooray for new friends, hooray for friends! :)