An Attitude of Gratitude

Oh what a world and what a time we live in. It is hard on so many levels for so many people. We too have felt the effects of the changing of the times within our little family and it's has made us realize the importance of staying close together and keeping true to ourselves, our faith and our God. Normally I wouldn't even post about something like this, but the result of it is the reason for my blubbering. Yesterday Eric and I got hit with a blow that knocked the wind out of us. Nothing that we can't recover from, but just a good hard kick to the gut. My immediate reaction was tears, lots and lots of tears. Then I had an adrenaline rush as I tried to scrape together the last of the shattered pieces. I went to bed feeling almost satisfied with my work until this morning when I woke up, the adrenaline was gone an the reality had set in once again. I spent my morning rather bummed out coupled with some more tears, but tried to distract myself with cleaning and work. That only seemed to work a little. I knew that my feeling where having a direct effect on the kid's behavior so I did my best to bottle it.

Now they are napping and I am having my time to ponder and reflect. I was feeling undone so I pulled LDS.org up for some up lifting stories. I came across one of my favorite talks by Thomas S. Monson called 'An Attitude of Gratitude.' I particularly liked these paragraphs:

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.

"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues" (Thomas S. Monson, "An Attitude of Gratitude,"

This is exactly what I needed. While the time is hard, there are so many wonderful things all around and I just need to remember those things and focus on the positive and life will run it's course the way it was designed to.

So that brings me to the meat of the post, my list of things that are a blessing to me in my life.
These of course are just some of the things, let's see what comes up...

• The sun. I walked outside at one point during my cleaning and felt the warmth of the sun on my face and a cool breeze blew by and I stopped for a moment to enjoy the fresh air. There is something about being outside that is so refreshing that I just love.
  
• A comfortable chair. When we moved into our current house Eric and I bought a desk for our computer since we had been using a plastic picnic table before and it had seen better days. After we plunked down the cash we realized we really didn't have a chair to put in front of it. Eric surprised me with a very nice office chair. I told him that it was too much and not necessary. Guess what, it was. I love this chair and I am in it soooo much. It is my place to sit and work on photos, email friends, just dabble around on the computer, and of course... blog.
  
• A husband. But not just any husband. A husband who loves being apart of this family. He loves his kids, even when they are bad and he is much better at being patient with them than I am. He is stellar at his job. Clients love him, co-workers love him, bosses love him, and he can beat anyone in a selling competition (except his wife, but that's a story for another time.) He is in charge of the dishes 100%. That's right, I don't do dishes. Well, that's not totally true, I help out here and there, but in general, it's all Eric. He never gives me grief about GNO in fact he suggests that I plan one half the time. I could go on and on but to wrap it up, he is so funny. I hate being mad at him, because I try so hard to be firm and make my case or tell him how I'm right in my most serious tone that I can, and he'll say or do something that will make me laugh. Now how can you take me seriously if I'm laughing? But I'd rather laugh than be serious.
• Fires. I love a sitting by the fire. It is so warm and comforting. I even love the smell. I use my fire place all winter long, and a few years ago I got an outdoor fire pit which is so nice in the spring and fall months.
  
• My little Austin. Oh how I love this baby. We have a special connection and his smile just warms my heart. I can't remember my life without him, or get mad when it's 2am and he's just sitting there, wide awake, with the biggest toothless grin you've ever seen. I never knew a helpless little one could bring so much joy and fulfillment into my life.
• Sunday night dinners. An evening with the family at my parents house. The food is always five star quality. The mood is peaceful, most of the time ;) and I always leaving excited for the next week to come. It's a good close to one week and start to the next.
• Vacuums. That's all, just vacuums.
• No pain. You know how they always say you never realize how much you use some part of your body unless you hurt it. Well, in the past I've understood that saying very well, but today, nothing hurts, and that's nice. Well, my abs are a little sore from a workout I did this week, but that's a good thing too. Getting back into shape, whoo-hoo!
• Ty and Tanner. This one is pulling from memories not from today. Did you know I have the cutest boys on earth. Tanner is so out going and can be the sweetest most obedient little one (when he wants of course). Lately he likes to hold my hand when we walk somewhere. I love the way his little hand feels holding onto my fingers so tightly. He's so curious about the world, and it's nice to see things from such a pure point of view. And Ty, oh my he's growing up. He is such a help in cleaning up and taking care of Austin and taking pride in the good things he does. He wants to be a pilot when he grows up, and never stops learning new things. What an amazing little crew I have.
• A good pair of shoes. While this is a little vain, it's true. I love a good pair of shoes. I have some running shoes that fit me so well and are so comfortable I could have them on 24/7 and not care. And this smokin' hot pair of boots that I have had for a few years. Every time I put them on my inner diva comes out and I can conquer the world (ha, not really, but you know what I mean). And flip-flops, or flop flops as I now call them due to my boys. I live in those all spring, summer and fall long. Sometimes even in the winter if my toe nails are painted and not too scary.
  
• My Mom and Dad. What awesome people - obviously, look what they produced. Just kidding (can you tell my mood is lightening by the bullet point?) But seriously. My mom can do it all. Cook, clean, sew, heal, laugh, play, console, shop, talk and listen. I find myself apologizing to her regularly for using her for everything; Dr. Mom, Chef Mom, Therapist Mom, she is my partner in crime. And Pop, is there anything you can't fix? Anything I need done I always call him first. And he is a wonderful boss, and the best grandpa my kids could ask for. I am grateful I live so close to them and they are apart of my life.
• Food. Food is good. Any kind really. I just love food. It really makes my day.
  
• My car. Even though I can't wait to get something bigger, that will fit my kids without me making sure all fingers are out of the way before I slam the door shut, or it isn't needing to be fixed again. It works, almost, and I have one and we have been able to go to some really fun events in that car.
  
• Danica. DOUBLE D, you-know! When I am with my sister, we get a little 'ghetto' in our slang, which has to be the funniest thing to see since we are two of the whitest girls from GB that you'll ever know. But she is my sister who I can call at 11:30 at night to help me with ideas for a presentation the next morning. Gotta love her!

The more I write the more things I find to give thanks for, but kids are waking up and I must get back to life. I know better than to wallow in my misery and I think this post was exactly what the doctor prescribed. How truly blessed I am.

'Count your many blessings;
name them one by one,
And it will surprise you
what the Lord has done. … '

all photos taken by my dad