My Gratitude List...

I've got a lot to be thankful for, but I'll just mention a few specifics here that I've noticed lately - not in any particular order. (this is a long one)

1) Exercising - this has made a huge difference on my outlook on life. It's amazing what a little physical activity can do! Our day begins with diaper changes, scripture reading, and breakfast. After that routine is competed, G knows that next it's time to go for a walk. He finds my shoes for me and starts "barking" at the garage door so that we can load up in the stroller - he won't let me miss a day! Thanks G! And thank goodness for double strollers. I will admit that its a little challenging to push, but as long as you're going straight it's great!

2) Birds - this may be kind of a strange thing to be grateful for, but G really gets SO excited when he sees a bird of any kind (or animal for that matter). On our walk we always see this family of ducks with 12 babies! Well, recently there've only been 9, but I think they're starting to get weened from their parents because today we found them all alone sitting on the bank of the canal. Later their parents joined them... they're growing up so fast! We've remembered to take bread with us a few times. When we've forgotten to bring bread, they seem to still remember us - the babies came up and were walking underneath the stroller and were trying to eat my shoes. G never wants to leave them. On our walk we also see horses and plenty of dogs.

3) Scale - I don't know that I'm terribly grateful for the scale itself because I probably weigh myself three times a day hoping to see a miraculously lower number than 4 hours ago... but I must share my happy news. I'm in the 140's now! I haven't seen those numbers in 2+ years! I'm not quite to pre-G yet and definitely no where close to pre-marriage, but at least I'm heading in the right direction!

4) Tutoring - I've been doing some tutoring lately and I LOVE IT! Not only does it bring in a little $$, but I get some time to myself (with two HS kids) doing something that I totally enjoy! Math! It's nice to use my brains to help others get some brains.

5) Patio - One of the things that I've loved about this house since we bought it is the fact that it has a huge covered back patio. For 8 months now I've been looking for patio furniture that I love and can afford. Checking craigslist has been a daily routine for me and I've emailed on dozens and dozens of patio sets, but never able to follow through with a purchase... until last week! This girl posts a picture of a set including two chairs, a bench, and a table stating that they can probably be tightened with a wrench and that there's a gold emblem with "SCAM COM" on it $150 OBO. I replied as usual but added the fact that I was a serious buyer - she called me the next day and we picked it up the following day. It sure was a little rickety... but with a lot of sanding and oiling, look at what a treasure we've got! Come to find out Scamcom is a high dollar teak patio furniture maker and this set sells new for over $3000! Lucky! A big thanks to my parents and Jared to helping! I finally finished the project last night and am still working on acquiring cushions for the bench. I'm looking forward to several enjoyable evenings out on the porch.

Original

Sanded

Stained

6) Cute hair - I've been toying with the idea of going short with my hair. It's been 6 years since I've had short hair and I'm always afraid that I look fatter with short hair, but I went the full 9 yards. I went short and got swoopy bangs. I haven't tried to style it by myself too many times yet - my mom's bringing her flat iron for me to use in 2 weeks so that should help. But it's just long enough to squeeze into a pony tail which is super nice when we're out walking.

7) Good deals - G is growing so fast that I can hardly keep up with the rate that he's outgrowing his clothes. We're up to 2T and 3T stuff. So we had to go and find some good deals. Children's Place, Old Navy, and Gap helped us out. 18 shirts, 2 jackets, 6 pants, 1 tie for $90 AWESOME! I also found some darling white dress shoes for me for $15!

8) "I Am A Loveable Me - Sleepytime Messages" - this is what we put G to bed with (and B eventually) and it's great! People are always impressed with how he goes down without a peep... and all the while he's getting positive reinforcement. After I changed his diaper and put on his jammies tonight he walked right over and turned on his CD himself. I guess he was ready for bed - he then reached for his crib. Miracle! Thanks Holly for introducing me!

9) The Zoo - and friends to go to the zoo with. Andrea and I went last week and we're going again on Friday with Teri. It's good for G and B to get out and about and see the wonders of the world around them - what better place than the zoo? G loved the birds, turtles, chipmunks, zebras, etc. He wasn't sure what to think about the petting zoo - I think he likes the animals from a distance.

10) Nursery - they let G into nursery a few weeks early and WOW, what a treat that has been! We actually get to go to Sunday School and I get to listen to all of the Relief Society Lesson! The transition has been amazingly smooth - not even the slightest struggle. He sees the toys in there and just bolts for it. They did say that the first week he got a little sad after singing time, but next was snack time so his sadness didn't last long :). Apparently his first week they talked about being grateful for birds and insects. He came home with a little coloring page and carried it around with him for days. I LOVE Nursery!

11) My Calling - This last Sunday I conducted the ward choir in Sacrament Meeting for the first time and it went amazingly well. I thought my legs would've been shaking and my heart racing but I was totally at ease - that's a miracle! They sang "Where Love Is" as performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with a flute descant. I will say that our first rehearsal was a wreck - and in retrospect I can definitely see that it's because I hadn't been set apart yet. After having that blessing my attitude and ability greatly increased - and I wasn't in tears at choir practice :) I can't say that I enjoy my calling yet, but I no longer dread Sundays with fear and trembling. My faith has grown as I've strived to fulfill my calling knowing that it comes from God - that's reason enough to be grateful for my calling.

I'm sure there's tons more, but these are current favorites... and as usual I'm grateful for my boys and husband, that I get to be a stay-at-home-mom, the gospel, etc.