thanksgiving

this whole "gratitude-a-day" for november thing has been kind of difficult for me. not because i dont have a ton to be thankful for, because i absolutely do, but every day i had to search my brain for other things to be thankful for to the blogging world because my heart was screaming to post about N. every day.

words cannot adequately express my love for him.

today is thanksgiving and i am separated from him by 819 miles. so today i am thankful for skype and other methods of technological communication that let me hear his voice and see his face and i even cry a little because being away from him makes my heart ache. i hate to be a mushy blogger, but i cannot help but give thanks and praise to the Lord for bringing this man into my life.

i am thankful for my family, and for his family, and for the love and support we get from them every day. i am thankful for ruby and that N loves her as much as i do.

i am thankful for the wonderful friends who show both of us so much love on a daily basis.

i am overwhelmingly grateful to my Heavenly Father for the trials i have been given and the mistakes that i have made in the past few years. i am blessed to have grown and progressed so much in such a short time and to have come back from a very dark and lonely place. i am thankful for the Gospel and for my Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. i would be lost without it.

i am not perfect, but i know the blessings of life are sweet and that trials make us stronger. i try my hardest every day to be understanding and loving of everyone, and N has taught me that tenfold.

i am thankful for my life.

N.

the place from where you came my mind can't see.

and even life's great mysteries have sense

but sense is lost to think that you found me.

days 19 & 20

harry potter 7.2 came out on dvd last week. and hayley bought it. unbeknownst to me, until last night when i discovered it and almost, ALMOST peed my pants from excitement.

that's 2. harry potter and hayley. 19 & 20.

also today i'm thankful for blaze. he's kind of endearing in a really big, loud, slightly obnoxious way. he's also cute.

(everybody soak that up because i might never say it again.)

16-18

sometimes i am thankful for the US postal service, and all the time i am thankful for letters from friends. i'm not so thankful for paper cuts, but i am thankful for paper.

right this minute i am thankful for dimples. :)

today i'm thankful for pinterest. i really don't know how anyone ever planned a wedding before pinterest existed.

no, that is not an announcement. i'm just saying.

it also helps me cook yummy food and do really cool slash fun slash creative projetos.

so i guess you could say i am also thankful for creativity. and the internet?

days 12? to 14? something.

school is super tough right now. but for other reasons i can't stop smiling.

i'm thankful for school, even though it's killing me. i am learning so much.

i'm thankful for my mother, and for her support and love.

i'm thankful for mary, who is the best BFOTB i could ever ask for.

that's three days worth right? i'm really blessed.

day 11

last night i made someone laugh. someone who was having a very rough day. it was something silly that i said, i can't quite remember what it was, but it produced a burst of sincere laughter and a smile that hinted at a love for life.

good-hearted laughter can heal, i believe that. and it is a blessing to laugh, and to make others laugh.

ps! today is 11/11/11. i feel like you can celebrate today with 11 reps of whatever you want. like, 11 winks or 11 butt pinches to someone special. OR 11 minutes of jumping on the bed. something like that.

days 9 & 10

yesterday i was grateful for costco. and for my sister who vacuumed the floor and couches after i swept.

today i am thankful for my dirty beach hair. it kinda gets in the way sometimes, like while kissing, but mostly it makes life easier because it takes about five seconds to do.

today i'm also thankful for aloha pineapple thick with extra bananas jamba juice and the boy who brought one to me while i was at work.

days 7 & 8

so it turns out that this gratitude-a-day thing is tough to do when you are putting every every effort into not failing two midterms in a row. but really, this is a perfect time for us to be conscious of our blessings, when school and snow/ice/frozen faces are getting us down (no, not you? just me? alright, still).

yesterday, as well as every day, i am grateful for the temple, and for the peace and happiness it brings. and really just that i actually get to go there. that in itself is such a blessing that we should never take for granted.

so far today i am thankful for hot soup in a breadbowl, cilantro, henry weinhard rootbeer and a boy who has a bigger sweet tooth than i do.

also, today i failed a midterm. super bummed on school right now. and when i got home i was greeted by the waggiest wagging tail i've ever seen. ruby missed me today. and she doesn't care that i failed a midterm. she just wants me to rub her belly. A+ belly rubber, average college student. and today, that's enough for me.

days 5 & 6

yesterday i was thankful for the sweet elderly lady behind the cash register at allen's who told me i look "very nice for so early on a saturday morning" (i was headed to the temple).

today i am thankful for cereal. and then for remembering that it's fast sunday.

i'm also thankful for the color green. and greenish brownish sweet sweet eyes.

!

oh. my gosh.

today i am also thankful for this:

go to google.com and type in "do a barrel roll" in the search bar. (in google chrome. not firefox or explorer)

YOU'RE WELCOME.

the boys.

today i am thankful for brian, ryne, and roy. also chad and tyler, who were recently adopted into our little work family (aka, new hires).

family picture circa july 2011

(looking at a picture that brian drew me)

me: "...is that a pirate?"

brian: "IT'S A NINJA TURTLE."

....they can be a tad sensitive, but i love them all.

please visit here for perhaps my favorite moment with them.

day 3

today i am thankful for peace. and comfort. and clarity.

early early early this morning, an angel came over while i was getting ready for work and warmed up my car for me, AND scraped allllll the ice off my windshields. with an id card. because the angel couldn't find my ice scraper.

i love that angel.

also, i had some chocolate milk this morning. another thing to be thankful for.

oh thanks!

i was extended a challenge via blog by my sister hayley to do a "Gratitude-a-Day" theme for November. one post a day on someone/something i am thankful for.

oh, and this is an invitation to all of you to make November your own "Gratitude-a-Day" month. (i put it in bold, was that bossy enough??) Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away, and at Thanksgiving dinner when my dad asks each of us what we are thankful for i should probably have something more eloquent and thought-out to say than "Jesus, family, and football," like last year.


today is november 1st. and really what is prevelant today as far as gratitude goes has a lot to do with what a friend of mine always says about how before you marry someone, you should date them for four seasons and a road trip.

we can officially add strep throat, food poisoning and a yeast infection to that list.

so today, i am thankful for doctors. and antibiotics. but not so much antibiotics.

happy November!