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.

Taking Your Requests

I've been thinking for a while now that it would be fun to take "your requests" and add some new tunes to my Playlist. I've been listening to the same old stuff for a while now and I'm ready to mix things up a bit. So, here's what I want you to do. In a comment, give me at least one favorite song (or several, if you want). Don't worry about matching my genre -- just tell me what YOU like! My only request is keep it clean (no swearing, vulgarity, or suggestive lyrics). But beyond that, sky's the limit -- introduce me to something new and fun or tell me your all-time favorite! I really do like most anything, even if you've tagged me as an "easy listener" by what's currently on my playlist! In my concert-going days I saw bands like Counting Crows, John Mayer, U2, Boingo, The Cure (yes, me!), Indigo Girls, Sting, ska bands, etc. ... so really, I'm game for just about anything! If you're a reader of my blog but never comment, don't be shy ... I'd love to get a request from as many people as possible! I'm excited to assemble a fun mix of songs liked by the people I like!

It's Autumn Time ...

Which, at our house, means it's time to bundle up, grab KFC to go, and head to the Riverfront Park for a cozy picnic and stroll. It was a gloomy day, but still fun to carry on this little tradition. And for tradition's sake, we also took plenty of pictures. We got some great shots, except for the fact that Eliot's a stinker when it comes to looking at, let alone smiling for the camera these days. One thing we'll miss about Oregon is how friendly and willing people are to take pictures. The nicest people offered to take pictures for us which resulted in some really nice candid pics of our fam. Here are several of our favorites ...

Fantastic of all of us, don't you think? That's my boy!

Almost picture perfect. "Stare at the camera blankly, Eliot."

This tree was unbelievable. As much as I really like how this picture turned out, I wish it had better captured the bright orange color of the leaves ... a digital SLR is calling me (from a few years away, but still calling ...)

A little fuzzy, but a fantastic shot. Again, thanks to a kind stranger!

Love the boys' faces in this one. Now I know where Eliot gets his devilish grin.

Cheesy boys. I love this photo.

Eliot and me. It's tricky to get him to smile (or look at the camera) these days.

"A kiss, Mama?" Me and my little smoocher.

The sweet woman whose husband took our family shots got Eliot to smile so sweetly for her (don't mind the grape skin in his teeth!). She reminded me a bit of my own mom and made me miss home ...

I dream of someday taking a dinner cruise on the "Willamette Queen" ...

And just because I was feeling artsy ...

"To Every Thing There Is a Season"

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. ... He hath made every thing beautiful in His time; also He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end."

--Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11

I'm not a big fan of change. No, let me state that differently. I hate change. I hate being uprooted from what's comfortable and predictable. Which is kind of funny because you'd think I'd be used to it by now. I, of my own choosing, went away to college. I, of my own choosing, served a mission halfway across the world. Grant and I, of our own choosing (mostly), have moved four times in our seven years of marriage and will probably move another few times before we reach year 10. You'd think I'd be able to roll with the punches by now. But I am not.

So it shouldn't come as any surprise that my recent change in callings at church hit me hard. Like I have done with so many other changes in my life, I have dragged my feet on this one. I did not readily accept this change when it happened. It came a little sooner than expected, which caught me off guard, and I have felt more upset about it than even I, the change-hater, expected I would. I'm a big girl and have served in enough callings by now to know how it works -- you serve for a period of time, and you get released and someone else takes over. Which is perfectly fine. It's how it's always worked, it's how it's meant to work, it's a blessing to everyone involved that we don't stay stagnant in callings forever. But, for a change-hater, it rocked my world too much for my liking. I knew and loved the sisters I served with. My responsibilities conveniently "worked" with my schedule as a mom and law student's wife. I've been in a Relief Society presidency for almost five years now, so I knew my responsibilities. I was comfortable. That's the dangerous part. I was too comfortable.

Which the Lord knew perfectly well. So, He knew it was time for a change. And it doesn't matter how much I dragged my heels or resisted or fought this change; it's here, and it's time to move forward. And I'm sure Heavenly Father, knowing that I'm stubborn and resistant, knew that I'd fight it. So He lovingly provided me with needed reminders and counsel through the words of His prophets and the wonders of His creation.

The first loving answer I received regarding all this change came from a talk given by President Henry B. Eyring at the general Relief Society Broadcast. Because I was feeling a little low about the change in calling, which had happened only a week prior to the broadcast, I skipped out on the luncheon and missed my last opportunity to attend that special event with friends. I even missed getting to sit with my dearest friends at the broadcast because I purposefully came just in time for the meeting and slipped in the back. Ornery little one, aren't I. Even with all my stubbornness, the words of that great and gentle leader of the Church pierced my closed-off heart and began a series of inspirations that have brought me to my answer about this change in my life. President Eyring, in talking to the sisters of the Church about their legacy, told about the early leaders in the Church, those who served in the first season of service after the Restoration of the gospel. Here's some of what President Eyring said:

"It is clear from the record they left that those women of the first period of Relief Society felt the joy the Lord promised [them]. He was in the work with them. He prospered it, and they felt joy and light.

"But the Prophet Joseph foresaw that another season would follow. He saw the grand works they would build in the first season. But he also said that they were to serve, bless, and care for those close to them, known personally by them.

"After a joyful time of service for the Relief Society, the Lord led them into another season, away from the fields they had planted so magnificently. It was hard for the faithful men who inherited, for instance, the hospital system they had expanded on the foundation the Relief Society had built. The Lord, through His prophets, made clear that His priesthood servants could hand the trust of maintaining and building that powerful instrument for good to others. And so the Church gave away its marvelous hospital system.

"I know and admire the men who had felt the joy of service in that hospital system. And I saw their recognition that the joy had come from being at work with the Lord, not from their own accomplishments. So they smiled and gave away gladly what they had built. They had faith that the Lord saw a greater need for their service elsewhere, in other fields in another season."

And there was my answer. The Lord was leading me into a new season, into a new field of labor. It was my turn to "smile and [give] away gladly what [I] had built." The Lord, as He did for His early saints, "saw a greater need for [my] service elsewhere, in other fields in another season."

As I contemplated this answer, I realized that I was released from my calling on September 27, days after the literal change of seasons -- a physical symbol of this time of change in my life. Each day as I'm out on walks or running errands and see literally strewn about me the evidence that all of God's creations are subject to change, I am gently reminded that I can't resist what God intends for me. He knows why I am needed to teach His young women in this ward at this period of time. He knows what I can share with them that will touch them, and maybe more importantly, He knows what they can share with me.

I'm off to get ready for church, to teach my lesson to and learn from the amazing Laurels I get to serve. I'm off to find out what the Lord now needs me to know, to feel and to experience. I'm off to a new field and a new season of service.

"I Come to the Beach to Breathe ..."

... That saying was written all over cards and notebooks in one of the shops we looked at in Seaside, and I think it perfectly describes why I love the beach so much ... I feel like I can breathe! There's something about having the ocean in view that automatically calms me. I feel peaceful there, relaxed. Here are some pictures (in no particular order) of our recent trip to the coast. Enjoy a little moment to breathe ... I won't say anything about the photos except the one of the seagull swooping right into the shot of me and Eliot on the pier. It was a total coincidence, but Grant was a pretty lucky shot!