one last day to be thankful...

November is now drawing to a close. It's crazy how fast time flies... I love fall and the Thanksgiving season. I love the reminders that I've had of all I have to be thankful for.

But today, I am thankful for the Christmas Season and for the spirit that it brings into my home, my heart and my life.

I am thankful and ecstatic to welcome December with all of the holiday trimmings complete...

I hope your December is looking as busy, full and happy as it is for the C*K*J's!

Thankful - day twenty seven

I am thankful that I didn't get trampled to death at the Black Friday Doorbuster Sales.

I am thankful for all the one-on-one time that I had with my mom today. She's a great shopping buddy and always up for an adventure. Being one of many, I always cherish and am thankful when I don't have to share her with everyone else. :)

I am thankful that I was able to cross lots of things off my Christmas shopping list.

I am always thankful for a good bargain and they were plentiful today!

I am thankful that I get to have a daddy-daughter date tonight with my dad. He and I will be getting warmed up for tomorrow as we cheer for our cougars at the BYU basketball game tonight. (See above reference to one-on-one time with my mom...the same applies here with my dad)

I am going to be really thankful when its time for bed tonight. I'm tired!

(and I'm going to be super excited and thankful to see CJ tomorrow. I missed him today. )

Thankful - Thanksgiving

An entire day devoted to offering thanks and gratitude.

That's what I am thankful for today.

(and food, it's also a day devoted to food and I'm thankful for that too!)

I am so thankful to have taken the time to really be thankful this month. This has been an incredible opportunity and reminder to me of all that I am blessed with and all that I hold dear in my life. Every single day for 26 days, I have given tremendous thought to the things I am thankful for in my life and expressed my gratitude for all of my blessings. Many of my thankful thoughts were very important and sacred things to me and some were just small trivial things, but things that still enrich my life. Each day as I looked at my thankful banner across my mantel, I have thanked my Heavenly Father for all that he has bestowed upon my life.

I have realized that although my life is far from perfect, I am blessed far beyond what I need and may even deserve in some cases. There are holes in my life and in my heart, but I know that the Lord is mindful of me and my struggles and desires. I have been reminded to have faith and to be thankful. I have an amazing heritage, incredible parents, siblings I love, the most "close to perfect" mister I could have ever dreamed of, a beautiful home that I adore, a job that I enjoy, the best friends a girl could wish for, neighbors that are good to us, we live in a beautiful place and a country that enjoys freedoms many do not have and luxuries that most of the world will never know, I have many opportunities to serve the Lord and others and to do my part to try and make a difference and most of all, I have a testimony of my Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ and of their eternal plan. With that knowledge I know that I can accomplish anything and get through any challenge that this mortal life throws my way. I am so incredibly blessed... both temporally and spiritually.

Thankful?

More than ever!

Thank you for reading my blog this month and thank you for the many nice comments. I have blogged more this month than I usually blog in many months combined and I have loved it and the opportunity it has given me to take the time to be reminded of so much. I am thankful for this little space to use as a personal journal to express my thankful heart. I am hoping to finish out the month with a few more thankful thoughts, but I am off to dinner with the in-laws and then to the UC where I will spend lots of time with my family eating leftovers and my mom's homemade pies. I'm planning to have sleepovers at my parents, get up early with my mom for the black friday doorbusters, enjoy brunch with my girlfriends and attend the biggest football game of the year. I don't know how much blogging I will get to, just know that I am out there and I am still super thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

XOXO

*K*

Thankful - day twenty five

I am thankful that my Thanksgiving pies are baked...

Pumpkin, Sour Cream Apple, Chocolate Cream (x2)

I am also thankful for the leftover apple pie filling that we baked, topped with ice cream and had for a bedtime snack.

YUM.

Thankful - day twenty four

I am thankful that my Thanksgiving grocery shopping is done.

Now, if only my baking was...

Thankful - day twenty three

Last night CJ and I had the opportunity to go to a fireside put on for the youth of our ward. The theme that the speaker talked about was "What's in a name". He talked a little about our personal given names but more specifically about our family names and heritage, about honoring our parents and ancestors and he finally concluded by talking about what it means to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. His entire message was spot on and I enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed it.

As I've been continuing to give lots of thought each day to the things which I am thankful for, I couldn't help but to think about his message and my own family heritage today.

Today I am humbled and incredibly thankful for my name and family heritage.

As I think about my ancestors and my family, both those that I knew personally and those that I didn't have a chance to meet on this earth... I am thankful for what their examples mean to me and I hope that I can always honor their name and my own. I am thankful for my pioneer heritage and for all that was sacrificed for all that I enjoy today.

I am very thankful for my grandparents and particularly for my grandmothers and the examples that they've set for me. These two women were amazing women of faith, love and service. They both faced tremendous adversity and challenges in their lives and I think about them both a lot as I go through my own challenges in life. They have both left an incredible legacy for me, one that I'm so thankful for.

My Grandma Leah -
One of the most cherished and beloved people in my life. You can read more about her here and here. Her influence on my life is something I am eternally thankful for.

My beautiful Grandma Mary -
She passed away after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's disease when my dad was only 18 years old. I'm so sad that I never got to know her in this life although I know she was an amazing woman and I am very proud to be her granddaughter and thankful for the legacy and example that she left for me.

****

I can't think about my name and family heritage and not think about my amazing parents who are the perfect examples of what I hope to be in life. They lead by example and love unconditionally. thankful somehow seems inadequate this time.

I'm also pretty thankful for the rest of my family that I get to share my name and heritage with. I love them so much...

Eight was Enough...

...until we started adding two more generations in there:

Now, we're now thirty nine and counting.

I hope that the next generation is as proud of and thankful for their name and heritage as I am of mine.

I also hope that I can contribute to the "counting"...

Thankful - day twenty two

I am thankful for early church and lazy Sunday afternoons to reflect and regroup.

Thankful - day twenty one

I am thankful for traditions and what they mean to me.

Today was another great day spent the way my family always spends Saturday afternoons in the fall... watching BYU football. It is always a fun time, especially when they win. But today, I mostly spent my time being thankful for such an amazing family and something that we can all share. As I looked down the row today, I saw 3 generations of people I love screaming, cheering, hugging and hi-fiving (okay and swearing a bit too, but that's beside the point). It made me happy and thankful to see my dad, brothers, nieces and nephews all being together on a Saturday afternoon and enjoying one another. I definitely felt thankful.

I also felt thankful that we stopped to buy these on our way down. I needed them.

I was thankful for the yummy hot chocolate that my sweet mom made to warm us up once we were back home. It was just what we needed to help us defrost. I am thankful for her. She's the best.

I was thankful for the opportunity to spend some quality time with my cute niece and her "boy" friend. They hitched a ride down to Provo with us and it made it lots of fun to have them along. Plus I love watching teenage romance. :)

And lastly, I am thankful that we have a nice, warm house to come home to tonight. I recognize how blessed we are to be able to come in from the cold and turn up the heat a bit. There are many who are not so lucky and I do not for a minute take it for granted.

Yes... I am blessed and I am thankful.

Until tomorrow...

Thankful - day twenty

First of all, I can't believe it's already day twenty of november. How did that happen so fast? I wish I could slow life down a bit. Although, that's the funny thing about time...so many times I've wished I could fast-forward through events or hard times only to blink my eyes and realize how quickly time really does pass. I have to remind myself to take a deep breath and enjoy the moments!



Today I have lots of really random things I've been particularly thankful for....

• I am thankful that I finally got a much needed haircut and color. Between our fall vacation and my sweet hairdresser/niece having a baby in October... it was desperately needed. I couldn't believe that I had waited this long as I looked at my roots this morning. It may seem trivial and materialistic...but I really do feel thankful and refreshed. It's amazing what even a little trim can do to make me feel better!

• As I was driving to and fro the UC today, I felt so thankful to live in this amazing and beautiful place. It is easy to take for granted just how spectacular and beautiful it really is. I feel lucky and thankful to be able to call two of the most beautiful valleys in the world HOME.
  
  Salt Lake Valley

Utah Valley

• I also felt very thankful when I realized that it was a 60 degree day. It felt nice to just wear a light jacket. Although I hear it's short-lived and snow is expected by morning!
  

• I also felt very thankful that I no longer have to commute and drive on the freeway everyday. I couldn't believe the mid-day traffic. So aggravating. I really am thankful and love living in a community where I live, work and shop all within a mile of home.
  

AND

it's Friday... I'm pretty thankful for that too!

Thankful - day nineteen

Today I am thankful that I got a good nights sleep last night

(went to bed @ 9:30...slept until 6:30, yay for me!)

and I'm once again thankful for caffeine so that I can stay up all night to see

this

with them!

(who I'm also really thankful for!)

Thankful - day eighteen

Today I am thankful for answers to my prayers and gentle reminders that often come through the actions and thoughts of others. They're called tender mercies and I am thankful for them.

Yesterday morning, after I finished my hot chocolate and thankful post, I checked my email and found one, lone email from a friend of mine, a friend that I know understands much of how I'm feeling these days. A thoughtful and personal note was accompanied by the following quote from Elder Richard G Scott, originally published in a 1996 Ensign article:

"The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not. When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you."

I couldn't stop thinking about this all day yesterday. It almost consumed me. Even into the night and now morning again, I am still thinking about these words. I think it might be time to stop questioning and digging in my heels and thinking that life isn't fair. I desire the blessings the Lord has in store for me way too much.


Thank you for just the reminder that I needed. You'll never know how thankful I am.


***The title of the article is "Finding Joy in Life" and it's absolutely worth a read. You can find it here.

Thankful - day seventeen

This morning as my sleepy eyes opened bright and wide at 5:47am... all I could think about was how cold it was in our bedroom and how cozy it was with Mr J's warm body next to mine. Although we have replaced all of our windows with the energy efficient kind and got a whole new HVAC system, this is still an old house that can be a little drafty at times, especially in our master bedroom which sits directly above our poorly insulated garage.

As much as I wanted to stay in our cozy, warm bed... once I'm awake I have a tendancy to be very restless, bored and fidgety. I have a hard time laying still and enjoying the quiet of the morning. My inclination is to do something... turn on the TV and flip through the morning news programs or fumble around with my phone, checking messages or surfing the interenet or even turn on a lamp and read. All of these things are appropriate morning activities...but not neccesarily with a sleeping husband next to me. I can be pretty disruptive to CJ's beauty sleep... he's one who enjoys every last possible minute in bed fast asleep, before racing around in a mad dash to get out the door in the morning.

Alas, I resisted the temptation to stay in bed and turn on the TV, a reading lamp or even to "quietly" play brickbreaker on my phone. I pulled myself out of bed, into the cold morning air and hurriedly wrapped myself in my cozy bathrobe and warm slippers. As I came downstairs, I found a way to make it all okay....

On a twentysomething degree morning... I was so incredibly thankful for warm, yummy hot chocolate to warm me up and stir my soul...

(PS... this is the best hot chocolate in the world. trust me. i love hot chocolate and i wouldn't lie to you. come on- look at it... it's real chocolate.)

And most of all, I was especially thankful to enjoy the quiet of the morning, my way.

*Side Note: You won't be sorry if you put a dollop of fresh whipped cream on this hot chocolate. I promise you won't. In keeping with my "non-disruptive morning", I didn't want to turn the mixer on.... plus I figured I'd save those calories for the weekend! :)

Thankful - day sixteen

Today I am incredibly thankful for friends. Friends that I've had my whole life and also friends that have come into my life in the last few years. They are all so important to me. Heavenly Father clearly has known how important strong, amazing women are to me and he has put some of the very best in my path through the years...

"A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future and accepts you just the way you are." -author unknown

(just some of the friends that have blessed my life... I'm lacking photos of many others)

*****

Today, November 16th, I am especially thankful for my Aimo!

It's her birthday, shout hoorah!

XOXOXO

I hope it's the best day ever!!!

I miss you like mad!

Me and my lady friend enjoying sleepovers before each of our wedding days!

Left: Feb '07, Grand America, my wedding eve

Right: Nov '08, Hotel Monaco, the morning of Aimo's big day

There is no one I have more fun sharing life's big events with! I'm sad I'm not there to celebrate with you today! Have a giant piece of cake for me!

Thankful - day fifteen

Today I am thankful for a day of rest.

Today I am thankful for an afternoon spent at home.

And I'm also very thankful for opportunities to be reminded of truth.

We had the incredible honor and opportunity to be spiritually fed at our twice annual Stake Conference both last night and this morning. Our visiting general authority was Elder Joseph W Sitati of the First Quorum of the Seventy who was joined by his lovely wife. Their sweet and powerful messages, combined with the testimonies of others as well as heartfelt words from our amazing Stake President was just what we needed at our house. We have taken full advantage by resting and letting it all sink in and enjoying a lazy and thoughtful Sunday afternoon.

The month is already 1/2 over and I'm still feeling more thankful than ever.

Thankful - day fourteen

Today I heard a Christmas song on the radio for the first-time this season. I realize that they've probably been playing for weeks now...turns out I must not listen to the radio much. I'm usually listening to my ipod or one of my favorite "mixed tapes" or I must confess... even, talk radio. Sometimes though, I just like the peace and quiet. Anyhow, today I was enjoying local radio as I was out and about and as the Christmas music played, it made me so happy and completely brightened my mood.

For that, I was thankful!

***

It was especially appropriate because today it looked like this outside:

I LOVE Thanksgiving and I'm definately not done being thankful yet....



but...



is it too soon to start thinking about putting up my Christmas Tree?

Thankful - day thirteen

Today I am thankful for Costco.

You've gotta appreciate a place where you can buy toilet paper, creampuffs, ink cartridges, books, vanilla beans, a wreath for your front door, a big screen tv and have new tires put on.... all while you're enjoying free samples of delicious meatballs and pickled asparagus.

I really do love an afternoon at the Costco!

(although, I learned today that they no longer carry coke products?!? seriously. that's total crap.)

**DISCLAIMER**

Although I did buy lots of great things, I didn't buy most of the things listed today (except tp). I did however eat meatballs and pickled asparagus.

Thankful - day twelve

Today I am thankful for diet coke. plain. and. simple.

Yep, I'm an addict. There. I said it. I don't have many vices. You gotta please let me have this one.

You see, my local grocer has a sodie fountain right there in the deli. I park in their parking lot for work and every morning I stop in for a cold one. (yes, I drink diet coke before 10am. don't judge.) However this week they've let me down. Monday morning (and tuesday. and wednesday.) there was a big "out of order" sign on the diet coke. What the what? You can't just be out of diet coke? Life is already hard enough. Geez.

Well today, finally, everything was right with the world again and I've never been more thankful.

Cheers!

Thankful - day eleven

I love my nieces and nephews...A LOT. They have always filled a huge void in my life. They were the little brothers and sisters that I never had and I've always loved my relationship with each of them. They continue to fill a void in my life, even as they grow up, go on missions and to college and get married and start families of their own. Many of them are my dearest friends. I am very thankful to each of them for the role that they continue to play in my life.

Today I am especially thankful for my niece Tasha... you see, today is her 18th birthday. (oh my, how did that happen??)

This amazing, talented, funny and beautiful GURL means the world to me. I had the opportunity to live with my sister and her family for several months about 5 years ago. I could never have imagined how much I needed this sweet, adolescent girl during that difficult time in my life. We had more fun and laughed more than at any other time in my life. She healed my heart and brightened my life.

As you can see...we've managed to have lots of fun over the years...

Now, she's all grown up and she's an aunt of her own. I hope she and Mae are lucky enough to always have the kind of relationship and as much fun together as she and I always have.

I love you guurrrl! Thanks for brightening my world!

Happy Birthday!

Thankful - day ten

Our youth speaker on Sunday gave an amazing talk about showing gratitude this Thanksgiving season. She shared some staggering facts about hunger in America and throughout the world and reminded me just how very blessed and fortunate I am. Her sincere message of gratitude touched me very much.

Today I am very thankful to have food in my fridge...

Some U.S. Hunger Facts:

•35.5 million people—including 12.6 million children—live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. This represents more than one in ten households in the United States (10.9 percent).


•4.0 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. 11.1 million people, including 430 thousand children, live in these homes.


•6.9 percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger. Members of these households have lower quality diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. 24.4 million people, including 12.2 million children, live in these homes.


•Research shows that preschool and school-aged children who experience severe hunger have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety and depression, and behavior problems than children with no hunger.

There are many, many worthy causes in need of our help this holiday season. I hope you will join me in including your local food bank among them.

Thankful - day nine

I am thankful when Mondays are over....

especially when they end like this...

Thankful - day eight

Today I am thankful for Sundays and the opportunity to

fill my cup.

I am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve.

I am thankful that our YW in Excellence turned out beautiful and perfect.

(and I'm very thankful that it's over)

I'm thankful for lots of things today.

My cup runneth over.

Thankful - day seven

Today I am thankful that all my laundry is clean, folded and put away...

I am especially thankful for clean sheets tonight...

...Sweet Dreams...

Thankful - day six

Today, I am thankful for Fridays!!!!!

Thankful - day five

Today I am incredibly thankful for...

I can't imagine a life without him.

Although I know that we are very blessed, our lives are far from perfect and we've had a really difficult year. I'm thankful that he's always there to love me, hold me and wipe away my tears.

I love him. I need him. And I'm thankful for him.

Thankful - day four

Today I am thankful for cupcakes, cake pops, amazing women and fabulous parties...

{all of which seem to brighten my mood when I'm feeling down}

"Cirque du Bebe"

DeeDee, our fabulous 1st counselor in YW is having a baby girl in just a few short weeks. An amazing baby girl is a pretty good reason to celebrate... so with the help of our girls, we threw her one heck of a baby shower, invited the whole ward and had a blast!

A few of the hostesses with our guest of honor...

****

These are the pretty ladies that I am lucky enough to get to serve with...

I'm pretty sure that I got this calling because I needed them in my life.

Maggie, Danni, DeeDee, Kim, Gina

Yes... I am very thankful, indeed.

Thankful - day three

Today I am thankful for democracy...

AND...

this awesome "I VOTED" sticker.

I plan to wear it all day!

Thankful - day two

Today I am thankful for a November 7-day forecast that looks like this:

67*... seriously?

I can handle that.

November: a month to be thankful...

It's that time of year again, the time of year where I once again have visual aides to remind me each day to be thankful. I am not only going to be reminded to be thankful... I'm gonna express it too!

thank·ful
Pronunciation: \ˈthaŋk-fəl\
Function: adjective
Date: before 12th century
1 : conscious of benefit received
2 : expressive of thanks
3 : well pleased : glad

Today... I am most thankful for my testimony of Jesus Christ.

I had a beautiful Sunday. I hope you did too.