So Much to Be Thankful For

I loved this Mormon Message recently posted on YouTube. It has gotten me thinking about the things I'm thankful for. There are so many things, from random simple pleasures (I'm thankful for the Andes mint cookies my mom and I discovered at the store today, for example) to the very big things, like being thankful for my faith in God and my knowledge of His plan for me and my family. Here are a few other things I've been thinking about this week in anticipation of Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

I'm thankful for ...

• My health. Seems like I've been more aware of what a blessing this is over the past year. Lots of different factors and events of this past year have made me really grateful that my family and I are well and have healthy bodies. I'm thankful I can see, hear, walk, play with my son, and enjoy so many things in this beautiful world because my body is healthy and strong.
• My family. I'm especially thankful for my good husband who works so hard for our family and who makes me so happy. I adore and cherish my little Eliot, who is my joy and delight. I love being a mother and getting to see the world through my child's eyes. I'm grateful for wonderful parents and in-laws who have done so much for me. I love my siblings and their spouses and children. I look forward to moving back closer to them so I can have more frequent contact with them.
• Good friends. So many of my good friends have become like family to me, especially while we've been away. I rely on my friends here in Oregon to fill the gaps in my life that have come from not having family close. I am humbled by friends who offer to serve me and are somehow able to pass off their favors to me as a blessing to them. I have been strengthened by the influence of good people in my life. I know that I am a better person because of the examples of those who have served and loved me and become eternal friends. I'm grateful to know that, if I'm really good, I might get to be heavenly neighbors with some of my favorite people someday.
• Education. I'm especially grateful for Grant's education. We are thankful for the opportunity he's been given to get an advanced degree. We know it will be worth the sacrifice involved. I'm grateful for my own education and how it's helped me prepare for motherhood. I'm thankful for the skills and knowledge I'm now able to use in raising my son. I'm thankful for the small ways that I've been able to supplement our income through my talents and abilities. It makes me feel good to be able to help our family in even small ways. I'm thankful for the love of reading my parents have passed on to me and the role of good literature in my life. I'm uplifted by good music regularly and thankful for its positive and sacred influence in our home. I'm thankful for the scriptures and to be spiritually nourished through my studies. I'm thankful for the learning opportunities provided by my church service and daily as a mother. I'm even thankful for the "hard things" in my life that force me to be brave and try new things.
• Employment. We don't have a lot of income right now, but what we have makes a huge difference. Grant's job has been the answer to my prayer that I prayed at the beginning of our law school experience. When I prayed for guidance in where to go to school and that everything would turn out well for Grant and for us as a family, the scripture that kept coming to my mind was "... prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10). There have been many blessings throughout our law school journey, but I feel that my answer has been most demonstrated by Grant's employment opportunities, which have been greater than we could have ever dreamed, especially given such a difficult economy. We pray that all will come together as we hope, and feel overwhelmed by how mercifully we have been taken care of. We have had to pinch our pennies and be very careful, but we have always had just enough to meet our needs.
• Simple pleasures. I'm thankful for sunny days, for a thoughtful, handwritten card from a friend, for love notes on post-its from Grant in my kitchen cupboards. I'm thankful for special times with Eliot, like watching Jeopardy together while snuggling under a blanket and sharing a special treat. I'm thankful for Eliot's delight at small things -- seeing the garbage truck, hearing a plane, jumping to a favorite song, welcoming his daddy home at the end of the day, giggling hysterically when he "scares" anyone when they come out of the restroom. I'm thankful for the occasional date night with Grant when we get to remember, even if only for an hour or so, what it was like to eat a meal straight through and be able to pay full attention to one another. I'm thankful for simple kindnesses -- when Grant makes the bed in the morning, when a friend tells me how much she enjoys Eliot, when ward members forgive our inability to serve as wholeheartedly as we'd like to because of the demands on our time and resources while Grant is in school ... the little things really make a big difference in my daily life.

One of my favorite talks about gratitude was "Oh Remember, Remember" by President Henry B. Eyring, in which he urged us to "find ways to recognize and remember God's kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we sometimes sing: 'Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.'"

I hope that you will find many reasons of your own to be thankful, not just this Thanksgiving, but always. Have a wonderful day and season celebrating the many things the Lord has done for you.

Lucky Seven

Grant and I have been married seven years on the 22nd. Seven years! Supposedly that's a real "landmark" anniversary in a marriage -- some people like to say that, statistically speaking, if you can make it to seven years, "you're gonna make it." We're not superstitious nor do we subscribe to the belief that all you have to do to "make it" in marriage is meet a magical quota; I think the longer we're married (and the deeper Grant gets into his career in family law), we're learning it's an endeavor that requires every ounce of faith we've got, a whole lot of work, patience, commitment, forgiveness, and humility ... among many other things. But whether or not we feel like we've made it to our "lucky" anniversary or not, we certainly feel lucky to have each other! Happy seven years, love!

Tell Me What You Think ...

To grow out the bangs or not grow out the bangs ...

THAT is the question!

Help Wanted

This sign first caught my eye because the "Eliot" in this business is spelled just how we spell the name of our Eliot, which seems to be an unusual spelling. But then I got thinking more about the sign and thought, do you think they could help me learn how to manage my Eliot? 'Cause I could use some Eliot management skills right about now ...

A Peek Into My Past

Maybe it's Christmas on the horizon, but something's gotten me thinking about my childhood lately, and I thought it might be fun to post funny pictures from my past or odd little things that take me back to my goofy childhood years of playing (and fighting) with my five sisters. It was a lot of Barbie, My Little Pony, playing "Nadia" in the backyard in my sister Melissa's gymnastics leotards, making all kinds of crazy concoctions in the kitchen (mayonnaise and sprinkle sandwiches, anyone?), and of course, plenty of TV. We watched everything from Fraggle Rock to Madonna MTV videos, and a whole lot of Nickelodeon. If you had Nickelodeon as a kid and are from "my era" (I'm now 30 years old), you might remember this gem of a show, "Today's Special," or as my sister Lauren called it, "Jodie and Jeff" (the two main characters). I've included two clips for your viewing pleasure: one of the introduction/opening credits, and the other of my favorite episode of all time, when Jodie saves the department store from being torn down. I'm predicting your reaction to these clips being one of two things: 1) Absolutely thrilled nostalgia (I LOVED watching these for the first time with my bro-in-law, Louie, who is my age and shared our cable kids' TV obsession), or 2) complete bewilderment and/or a greater understanding of why I turned out how I did. Either way, enjoy a little blast from my past.

Utah Jazz Meets The Office

Two of my favorite things combined in one commercial -- Utah Jazz and The Office. Love this! Gets me excited for NBA b-ball (no matter how the Jazz do this year) ... go Jazzers!

Portland Weekend

Grant was in Portland for a few days this week for a national Moot Court competition. He had a great experience and his team did really well. They didn't advance to the finals, which Grant says was a relief; he's been working so hard for the last few months and is glad to be finished. Up next are his final exams (yuck!), but before we dive into that, we got to enjoy a fun little getaway in Portland. Thanks to our friends' over-the-top generous offer to take Eliot for the night, I got to join Grant for a relaxing night in Portland, and then Eliot joined us the next day for a trip to the OMSI museum. What a great little last hoorah before we dive into the long weeks of finals prep!

Here's where we got to stay -- The Nines Hotel in downtown Portland -- a super posh and funky place. Definitely not the "family style" places we're used to staying! We got to walk around downtown and window shop, and had a fabulous dinner at Pastini, a local pasta place. The atmosphere was fun and the food was delish!

Saturday morning we waited in line (seriously!) to have our first "Voodoo Doughnut" experience. What a bizarre little place, but seriously amazing donuts! The "Portland Cream" (supposedly the "official donut of Portland") was to DIE for! You can order Cookies n' Cream donuts, cream-filled donuts with Oreo cookies on top, a Voodoo doll-shaped donut with a pretzel stabbed into it (told you it's a bizarre place!), or even a bacon-maple donut, a maple bar with strips of bacon on top. It looked disgusting to me, but my friend Mary says it's really yummy (I'll take her word for it)!

I loved the box and stamp on top almost as much as I loved the donuts.

After indulging in way too many donuts, we picked up Eliot and checked out OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It was amazing! As with the rest of the weekend, we were so busy we didn't take time to stop and take many pictures, but here are the few we took:

Me in the "Scream/Goose Bumps" exhibit, an exhibit all about the science of fear. I loved that these pictures were right next to each other because I'm terrified of needles, and I have a sister who's deathly afraid of clowns. This picture's for you, Lauren!

Eliot in the Science Playground, where we spent most of our time. As you can see, he loved the water tables and the sandbox most of all. I thought the little chipmunk costumes they had in the little "forest" area were too adorable and insisted on getting a picture of him in one. He tolerated me putting it on him but then ran off to the other exhibits.

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but so much fun! It's sad that we've lived so close to Portland for over two years but have barely even scratched the surface of the amazing things to see. We'll definitely have to take a few more trips up there over the next several months. (Maybe we'll invest in a GPS in the meantime ... we spent a lot of time getting "un-lost" this weekend!) With Grant's busy schedule with Moot Court nationals and now finals on the horizon, it was great to squeeze in a fun and relaxing weekend together!

Happy Thoughts ...

This is just a short, sweet post to share some of the things that are putting a smile on my face these days.

A little over a week ago Grant had his picture taken at school. The photo will be hung in the law school's hallway next spring with a yearbook-style composite photo of his graduating class.

At the trunk-or-treat at the church on Halloween, a friend who has since moved out of our ward was catching up with me and asked, "So, you guys only have one semester left, right?" I almost quickly told her, "No," but then I realized after this semester, we DO have only ONE semester left ...

The END is coming! I know I promised I wasn't going to wish this last year away, but ... we're almost DONE! Only two more sets of finals, only one more semester of paying for books, of Grant gone for night classes, studying on Saturdays, etc., etc., etc.

We really aren't going to be students forever. THAT is a happy thought.