“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine
jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” —”
William Arthur Ward
I put off doing the last of my Thanksgiving thanks for Thanksgiving day, but Thanksgiving came and went and I never got to it. It was supposed to be a list of things I was grateful on a particular day, but I'm tweaking it a little so I can write all the things that have come to my mind the last week or so. So without further ado, here's 91-100.
10 things I am grateful for this past week.
We didn't have to spend Thanksgiving alone, not that spending it alone would be terrible, it's just we spend every night together alone as a family at dinner so it was nice to have other people to be with. We got to meet a few family's from our ward we didn't know, so that was a bonus too.
Our kids would go without presents on every holiday or birthday if not for Derik.
He takes the burden of gift shopping off my shoulders and I love that. He always gets people what they want and he usually gets a killer deal while he's at it too.
I finally got a blade that can chew through a 4 x 4. I was out using it the minute it arrived yesterday. Now I can finish up some projects I've been working on. I'm really grateful I didn't have to hand saw through 4, 4 x 4's.
For some reason I keep stumbling across blogs where mothers have lost their babies either right before birth or a little while after. It has made a deep impression in my mind about how much I take for granted that my kids are alive and healthy and that I think life will always be that way. Now every time I go a few hours without feeling this baby move, I get worried. It's always a wonderful feeling to go to the Dr.s office and hear a strong heart beat, and for that moment all is well. I am down to two week visits now, and as much as I know the last little bit might feel more like an eternity to me, I will have a new baby soon. I'm grateful I have had this one last time to carry a baby, to feel it move and hiccup and jab my organs and to hear that wonderful thudding of a beating heart.
It's glorious to look out my windows and see all my flowers in full bloom again. I love that I can sit outside in shorts and a t-shirt a week before December and think to myself that it feels perfect outside. There are a few cold days here and there but for the most part it has been lovely here in the winters (but this will only be my second one here, so maybe I have no idea what it's really like). I threw our pumpkin seeds from Halloween out in my garden and now I have a whole box full of pumpkin starts. It's November, that just blows my mind! I really like not being miserable and cold. There are times my husband and I have giggled that we have had our car AC running while listening to Christmas music. Summers might be miserable here but I really enjoy the 3 months or so that it's not scorching hot here.
I always wanted to live outside of Utah, just so I could know what life outside of "home" was like. I got that wish. It has been harder for me than I expected, but it has opened my eyes too. I see our family having to learn and grow and struggle through things alone. Where once we depended so much on our family and our close knit neighborhoods and wards, we now have to figure out things all on our own. Being far away from our closest friends and family has also helped us to learn to lean on each other a little more. We are growing and changing thanks to all the unique challenges moving away has brought to us, but in the end I'm grateful for the experience.
I think I've mentioned them before, but they are worth mentioning again! I have these moments (that I wish I had more often, becasue I'd be a better mother) where I am so overwhelmed with love for them that I swear my heart will burst. I have plenty of moments where I can't handle the day to day, run of the mill stuff that having children requires and I cry a good amount of tears because being a mother is hard, especially to my children, but in these moments where I am infused with love I know and understand how God loves me and how much He loves them and I'm grateful to be able to feel that way and I know I could only feel that way becasue he allowed me to be a mother to my children.
Each one of my children are so different, but it's in those differences I find deeper ways to love, it's in those differences that I see how we all need each other.
My most treasured traditions revolve around family get togethers, they probably always will for me, but I 'm grateful to have things to look forward too. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to start making my own traditions with my kids and family. It's been fun to share small traditions that I once did when I was a child with my family with my children.
I like my sleep! I like waking up feeling rested and ready for the day. I'm going to sorely miss my sleep for the next year or so as a new baby arrives. I'm trying to enjoy every night I don't wake up because I'm numb somewhere, or running to the bathroom. I know things are only going to get rougher from here.
Thanks to all the great kitchen gadgets I have I was able to make a lovely thanksgiving dinner. The rolls turned out divine, the mashed potatoes creamy, the deviled eggs tasted superb and the cheese stuffed celery is always a delight. I'm grateful for the abundance of tasty fod we were able to have on Thanksgiving Day.
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