Gratitude List #6

I just realized that I missed my gratitude list for last month. Oh well, life is such! September is here, I am looking out my window and seeing the stormy skies and alas, fall has come. So to count my blessings today, I will do my gratitude list. It has been an extremely chaotic couple of months, so I am going to try and be short as I can. So here I go:

1. I am thankful for the spirit of forgiveness. This past week, I was in 2 arguments and I am so thankful that myself and my fellow arguers recognized that we loved each other to much to let contention destroy our relationships. As I look back at the conversations, how lucky I feel that all of us wanted to seek forgiveness and end the anger as quickly as possible. Both relationships have come in great strides that it isn't about being right, it was and is about being happy and most importantly the way we treat each other. To those that I offended this week, again, may I sincerley apologize for my actions and words. Please forgive me and know that I love you.

2. I am thankful for 2 very special spirits/women in my life. To the first, thank you for going out of your way and making me feel very special for an afternoon. You took the time to pay attention to the little details of the things I like and gave me some very special gifts for my birthday. You kept your word on keeping a commitment to me and followed through. You have been so very kind, generous and loving to me that it is important for me to post to you today, Thank you, I appreicate your kindness, you are truly one of a kind. You are very special and have very unique qualities and please know I think of you as a friend. I can only hope that I can repay you the love that you have so abundantly given to me.

To the other special spirit in my life, I become overwhelmed and my cup runneth over when I think of you. Saturday was probably one of the best days of my life and being able to sit and talk with you makes me feel gitty like I just found a room full of old church history books. Thank you for always willing to talk doctrine with me and sharing your abundant knowledge. We are so similar in many ways and please know that you are one of my heros. I am in awe with your service and love for those all around you. You always make me feel so special and when you look at me, I feel like you only see the potential in what I can become. It is motivating to me and I am always willing to help. I hope one day I can grow up to be just like you! You are my sister in Zion and a kindred spirit! Here's to spanish lessons, (wink, wink!) Thank you and I love you!

3. I am so thankful for blogging. First, I am so thankful that I can document a different perspective in my life that hopefully in the years to come, I will not have forgotten these days of my life. My doctor has told me that due to my anxiety issues, the stress is affecting my memory. I post daily the little things in my life so when I am old, I can look back at my blog books and my journals and find an abundance of details to my thoughts and way of life. Secondly, for the blogging friends. Some are old friends, some are people I see all the time, some are people I have never met and some are friends and family that live far away. What a blessing that we can meet together and go through our internet scrapbooks of our lives. I always have the thoughts that if we were all stuck in a classroom together would you all talk to me or even interact with me at all? I have come to the conclusion, that it doesn't really matter. What I know that through these little interactions we have on a continual basis, I would always be your friend. Truly I feel so lucky when we can all comment back and forth with each other with encouaraging words and uplifting thoughts. I would say that I would be a strong advocate for the positive affects for blogging because it brings people together when in other situations, we may have just stayed as strangers.

4. I am thankful for the priesthood in our home. The last couple of months, receiving a blessing was quite common in our home. I have been a personal witness of those blessings being fulfilled and feeling the spirit strongly in our home. I feel safe, secure and protected because of it and feel so blessed that I have awesome men in my life that honor that priviledge. To them, I show them my sincerest gratitude.

5. I am thankful for books. Wow, I have been reading like a crazy woman lately and I am loving every minute. I cannot believe the amazing things that happen to me when I read. I am in awe of how an author can take me into a world and capture me into a story. Writing is a beautiful art and I only wish that I had such talents. Until then, I will enjoy all the other talents of those around me and follow their stories. I have to remind myself that I am being allowed into their world and I need to respect their perspectives on how the story should end. I am a guest into their world and it has been amazing to see so many different perspectives. I can honestly say that i am a sucker for romances. I am learning a ton of information through reading and am so grateful for the life lessons that are so sweetly being taught to me.

6. I am so grateful for this summer. I look back and I think we had 1 or 2 weeks off. The thing I loved most about my summer was that it was a summer of service. Service for the Lion's Club, for Trek, for Girls Camp, for friends, for everything that is important to me. No we really did not get much time away for our little family, but honestly, I do not regret it. I will have the sweetest memories of my summer for 2008. We worked hard for others and that has been completely gratifying for me. I have to admit, I am addicted to service. I was actually excited to pull weeds for a friend this last week. Typing it makes me chuckle because I know that years ago, pulling weeds for myself let alone for someone else was not even possible. I guess service will mold you into someone you would never imagine. It's really cool and I LIKE it!

7. I am thankful for ColdStone. Ahh, my good ol'friend cakebatter ice cream with strawberries. Seriously, you are so heavenly, did you fall out of the sky? You sly dog, always seducing me to come and see you. I am afraid that our visits must become less frequent because you are not being kind to my buttox and thighs. I promise, I will never abandon you, but until our relationship can be healthy only, I will have to withdraw. Don't take it personal when I say, "it's me, not you!" You stay who you are and I will pop by every once in a while. You are one of a kind and I adore you! Love ya!

8. I am thankful for my life and everything that has happened to me thus far. In a nutshell, life is good. I am happy, healthy and progressing. I could not ask for much more! (Knock on wood!)