Gratitude Post #16-17

Yup, this is a two for one.  That's because I was enjoying an evening with Kevin last night.  So yesterday, I was grateful that I don't have a broken toe.  I have not broken my toe today (yet), but I have broken several toes.  The first one came when I was so excited that I was going to start a ballet class that I started practicing in the kitchen and kicked the door frame in an enthusiastic jete.  Needless to say, the ballet class was delayed a few weeks.  The latest broken toe happened when I was laying in bed and Dillan's phone rang in our bedroom as it was charging in the early morning and I leapt out of bed to silence it and not wake anyone and kicked the frame of the treadmill.  The sad part about that was that Kevin and I were scheduled to go on a romatic weekend where there was beautiful hiking (it wasn't the Grand Canyon) and here I had a black and blue toe and couldn't wear any shoes except for flip flops.  And then I was supposed to start training for a marathon which had to be delayed by a few weeks.  So, yay me for not having a broken toe (yet). 
Today, I am grateful that I learned to dance.  I love dancing.  Love it.  I started when I was probably three in a basement tap class, and then moved to a almost ground level ballet class, and finally an above ground ballet class.  But wait.  Then I moved to a SECOND STORY ballet class.  I have just realized all of this as I am writing it down.  I guess it's good that I didn't continue my career because I may have a class in an airplane at that rate.  Which I am not opposed to dancing in an airplane as long as it did not detract from other passengers enjoyment, and if it embarrassed my children just a little bit.  I danced in high school and college teams and loved the friednships that I made there.  I remember being so sore from dance camps in high school that it hurt to walk.  But it was a good hurt.  I loved the costumes and the rehearsals and especially the performances.  I've had a few embarrsassing moments, like when I was in the middle of a kick line in college (LOVED the kick line.  Not only could I kick the highest, but since I was the tallest, I was in the front row and center!  That doesn't happen to the tall girls in a group formation) and turned to look to the side where a boy that I was dating at the time had a huge sign asking me to Homecoming that caused me to miss two critical kicks which drew attention to me.  But I loved dancing and have such fond memories.  Thanks Mom and Dad for putting me in dance classes and believing in me, even though I'm sure it would have been easier for you if I was a swimmer or runner.  Thanks for coming to all of the recitals and thanks Mom for sewing all of those costumes. 

Gratitude Post #15

Today I am grateful that grass grows, trees need to be trimmed, people litter, buildings need to be cleaned, and that the monsoon season causes havoc and downed trees.  This may seem odd unless you know that all of these things are what Kevin needs to run his business and support our family. Kevin started his commercial building maintenance company 4 1/2 years ago, pretty much at the same time that I had Blake.  It was a little stressful.  But he had been telling me for a looooong time that he wanted to start his own business.  He had been working with a partner doing the same thing and it was not working out on the business end, but he did learn a lot about the business from this partnership.  I was a chicken and thought that him starting a business was too risky.  I wanted a sure thing.  A paycheck that came regularly and didn't depend on whether or not he was able to get clients and operate a business.  I have kicked myself over and over again for not having more faith in him.  He is a natural when it comes to business.  He has exceeded my expectations for his business.  Now that's not to say that it has been all smooth sailing.  There have been plenty of bumps in the road, but for the most part, this has been a huge blessing for our family.  I would really have liked Romney to win the Presidential election to help with the taxes that we have to pay, but not everyone agreed with that philosophy.  I know that Kevin is grateful to have the business he has and to be able to employ people so they can provide for their families.  He has been able to teach Dillan about his business and had him doing manual labor out there with his guys.  Plus, I have the benefit of getting new plants and trees whenever Kevin finds a good deal. 

Gratitude Post #14

Today I am grateful that Dillan gets up on his own for early morning Seminary.  When Dillan was in middle school, he would wait until the last possible minute to get out of bed and go to school.  That minute was 7:30.  So generally from 7:00-7:30, I would start with gently waking him up, calling his name, opening his blinds, then singing a little diddy about waking up, then clapping my hands loudly, and finally as a crescendo, singing in an operatic voice that he needed to get up that instant or he would be late.  Once I smacked him on the behind with a book to encourage him to get out of bed.  But it didn't stop there.  If he was out of bed late and he went out the door without his lunch, on a couple of occasions, I chased him down the street when I was in my robe.  It was part of my plan to embarrass him into obedience. 
So, since we don't live in Zion or Zion Jr in Gilbert, AZ, he was signed up for early morning Seminary.  I was D.R.E.A.D.I.N.G. it.  Did you hear me:????  DREADING it.  Which was not at all how I wanted to start his seminary career.  I told him that he needed to be up by 5:45 am so that he could make it by 6:15.  I didn't sleep well knowing how I needed to do my motivational get your behind out of bed done early.  And I had things to do.  I didn't want to mess around.  Imagine my surprise when I heard him taking a shower at 5 AM.  You heard me right!  He got himself out of bed and was taking a shower waaaaaaay earlier than I thought. This has been going on since the middle of August.  He slowed down his pace a little bit and doesn't wake up until 5:30, but he wants to be out the door at 6 am, which means we get to the church at 6:07.  He prides himself on being the first one there.  I have a theory on this.  It is for a girl,  He swears it isn't, but I still have my suspicions. 

Gratitude Post #12

Today I am grateful for the time when I can breathe without any obstruction.  It's been a long time since I have been sick, but it came on suddenly today and now I am unable to breathe with ease.  Whenever this happens, I remind myself to be more grateful to breathe easy when I can.  It's like when I was pregnant with Olivia and I had whooping cough, pleurisy, and a broken rib.  I kept thinking how when I was fully recovered, how grateful I would be that I wasn't coughing all day and night, and how easy it was to breathe in and out without pain in my chest.  My doctor told me that I would cough for one hundred days.  I coughed for 114.  I guess you might say I am an overachiever.  That or I was an old man while I was pregnant.  Either way, I am so grateful that I am not coughing right now.  And that I don't have pleurisy or a broken rib.  And that there is only one Olivia.

Gratitude Post #12

Today I am grateful that my mother in law inspired me to become a better cook.  My mom did her fair share of teaching me to be a good cook, don't get me wrong, and she has a slew of people that love her cooking, especially any kind of bread that she makes.  But my mother in law has a natural talent for gourmet cooking and presentation of food.  I remember when Kevin and I were still newlyweds and she was showing me recipes and took me to fancy grocery stores and what to buy.  She expanded my cooking skills so that I love entertaining, and I mean like when people come over to have dinner at our house, not like one of Chloe's friends told Kevin that I was after I was their chaperone to Catalina Island.  I love having people over so that I can try new fancy recipes out on and then wow them with what I have done.  I feel very close to domestic.  Her influence also extends to my daughters.  I know that Chloe loves to go see her grandma and get one on one time to learn how to cook and craft, etc, that I don't always seem to have.  And Olivia, well, she is a mini Cathy.  If I say the word "party", she has a plan already in place for every aspect from the decorations, to the meal, to the party favors, to the entertainment.  Thank you, Cathy, for being a positive influence on me and my daughters. 

Gratitude Post #11

Today I am grateful for President Henry B. Eyring.  That may seem a little off the wall, but let me explain.  Today we had our stake conference and it was a mutli-stake conference and it was a broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake to 95 stakes in Arizona.  It was fantastic.  And a little shorter than a usual stake conference which is very much appreciated by parents of small children.  Not that they really heard much of the conference anyway, but at least the Battle on the Hard Seats was over earlier.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke about missionary work and getting our missionaries ready and being ready to accept the missionaries that come to our ward or stakes.  It was a fabulous talk and I took copious notes that I hope to follow.  But it was President Eyring's talk that he gave that I had actually been thinking a lot about the subject and was planning on blogging about my gratitude for it anyway.  He was taking about being an optimist and how an optimist will have a much greater ability to deal with life's challenges than a pessimist.  I had begin to think about this subject when I attended a school district sponsored presentation from an organization that helps children/teenagers stay out of trouble with drugs, internet, bullying, or whatever is going on with teens these days.  The topic was specifically Cyber Bullying and what we can do to protect our children.  The speaker had statistic after statistic of how our children are exposed to pornography, violence, predators, and any kind of evil that you can think of out there.  I was with a friend and she commented how grateful she was that her children were raised and that she didn't have to worry about this and how daunting it must be for me to be raising my children in the middle of it.  I replied that there are many challenges facing parents to raise their children to adulthood and to give them the protection that they need from outside forces, but throughout time, there have been other challenges that have faced parents that have prevented them from raising their children to adulthood at all.  I told her how grateful I was that I didn't have to worry about my children dying from small pox, or getting eaten by a mountain lion (that's the dramatic me), or freezing to death in the cold.  I know that there are troubles out there and I try to educate myself to prevent my children from exposure to these other dangers, but how grateful I am to live here, now, with all of the advances is everything from medicine to technology to education to housing.  My friend told me that I am a little Pollyanna, and I agree.  I believe that I get that from my mom, which is funny because it used to bother me when she would look on the bright side.  That gives me hope that my children may get some of my better character traits.  But most of all, I am grateful that I live here on the earth at this time when there is a living prophet of our Heavenly Father who gives each one of us direction and all of the apostles that serve with him and share with us their knowledge and testimony. I love that I can listen to general conference whenever/wherever now.  I believe that the messages have become much more powerful over the years or maybe I have just matured and can gain more insight into them, but I am amazed at how many of the talks I think "I needed that right now!"  It's amazing. 

Gratitude Post #10

Today I am grateful that my parents are serving a full time mission in the Washington D.C. South Quantico Marine Base Mission in the Special Forces Division. That may not be the real title, but they are in Washington D.C. and they are on the Quantico Base for the Marines.  And they have a special force with them.  My mom sends out a weekly email each week detailing what has happened the past week.  In her email today she warned us that the emails are lengthy.  I told her how grateful I am that they are serving their mission and giving us all of the details.  I love reading about all of the people that they are helping and how they are trying to find more people every day that have fallen away from Church activity or those who need extra support as they are serving our country in the military. I think that it is so wonderful that they get to experience both of the joys of the restored gospel and those who are fighting for our freedoms every day.  My parents are so spiritually strong and are so giving to everyone that I am honored to be their daughter.  I know that it was not easy for them to leave all of their grandchildren and friends, especially when their grandchildren are so busy and there are many life events and covenants that their grandchildren are making that they would love to witness, but I believe that all of us in their family have been blessed because of their service.  I can feel it in our family for sure.  Plus, my parents are getting a bonus of enjoying the sights and historic landmarks around the area.  So despite me saying that I was going to write a Dear John letter to them and that they timed their mission perfectly so they could avoid my 40th birthday celebration, I am very grateful to them, their commitment and the love they have for each other.  Way to go, Elder and Sister Gillette!!