Auntie

I am grateful that I have been an aunt for over 10 years now. It seems absolutely crazy that these kids are getting so big.

Ry is awesome with the little boys.

Ty is a fish.

Kyle is part super hero.

Mercedes is a princess!

Garrett is a ham!

Charlotte won't stop growing.

Lyla is a busy little girl.

Seth is a goof!

Clara is so sweet.

The Best Book

I am grateful for the scriptures. It's such a blessing to have them. There are so many stories of faithful men and women facing challenges and through the Lord make it. There is a power that is in this book that can help us grow and better understand God and ourselves. One of my all time favorite scriptures is Leviticus 3:12-13. After listing all of the temporal blessings for keeping the commandments it says

"And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yolk, and made you go upright."

I know that this is true. If we keep the commandments, we can have a strong relationship with our Heavenly Father. He can lighten the yolks we carry with us. Whether it's from braking the commandments or emotional or physical pain. He will always be there with us through these experiences. The scriptures help remind us of His perfect love for us. I am so grateful for this wonderful book and those that wrote it, protected it, and translated it.

This Day

I am grateful to spend today with my sweet husband and family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Words

I am grateful for encouraging quotes and words. With all the craziness that has been going on this fall, I have been looking for help to cope with our plans falling apart. I want to share some of the quotes that have helped me to keep things in perspective and be strong enough to carry on.

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Words are very powerful and I think that we sometimes forget that. I am grateful for these uplifting words. They truly do help.

Best Day

I am so grateful for a day that happened 2 years and 9 months ago. I still am so grateful for the day I married my better half. Looking back, I didn't know what was going to be in store for us, but I did know that Jonathan would stick with my through anything. These past few months are proof that I was right about him. He has been so wonderful and patient with me. I have been such a punk to him at times and he just keeps showering me with love. I am grateful to know that after we finish with our mortal life, I get to be with him for all eternity.

Done

I am grateful that I am finished with Sierra. I started out this semester thinking I had one more class to take and then I would finish my Associates degree, but I was already done. During the second week of school, I was having severe pregnancy symptoms and couldn't go to class. By the end of the week, I realized I wasn't going to be able to continue so I met with a counselor to figure out some other options for me. She didn't have any answers to that question, but she did tell me that I had already finished two degrees. I was stunned! In December, I will be receiving my degrees in Natural Science and Physics. It has been really wonderful to be working full time and not have to worry about school.

This is Jonathan's degree.

Church

I am grateful for church. I am grateful that I live in a country that offers me the freedom of choosing how I want to worship. That's not the case in so many parts of the world. 

Right now, my calling in church is to teach the 14-15 year old girls. I absolutely love it! They are each unique and wonderful and help teach me. The lessons we've had so far I feel like they are really meant for me. Even though I am the teacher, I still have so much to learn. These are the lessons I've done already.

Today started out as a rough day for me, but as I was at Church my personal struggles faded a little. They are still there, but they are more manageable. I am grateful that Church is such an uplifting experience.

Seasons

I'm grateful for seasons and the changes that come with them. I am grateful that we live in such a dynamic world filled with color. Whether the leaves are falling or sprouting, the colors are so vibrant and lush.

Summertime Fun

I am grateful that I was able to fly to Idaho this summer with Tyler to visit Chris, Annie, Seth, and Clara. When Ryan was about the same age my dad flew with him to Utah, so this time it was Tyler's turn to take a big trip. It was so much fun spending the week in Idaho with the kids. Idaho is one of my favorite places to be.

Ty was so excited to be on an airplane.

These two are so sweet!

We played baseball at the park in their backyard.

We explored the ditch and found a lot of lava rock.

There were group piano recitals.

Picking strawberries.

We went to the farm and Ty was convinced he could catch a chicken.

We flew kites.

Swings and Otterpops are a perfect combination.

Clara and I went for a walk in the backyard.

Annie and I moved pipe in the field at her parent's farm.

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for dinner.

Tyler almost held a fish in his hands.

Rock climbing a fireplace sounds like a good idea.

We fed some ducks.

We had a great view of the Idaho Falls temple.

We made shirts for the 4th of July.

Clara is full of talent.

For Others

I am so grateful for people sharing how to do projects. I wouldn't have done as nearly as many projects as I have if it wasn't for others. The latest thing is a list of 10 reasons why Jonathan and I are grateful for each other. Such a simple thing that I just wouldn't think of on my own.

Get it here

Jobs

I am so grateful that both Jonathan and I have jobs. It's been such a blessing that they are close to home and that we still get to spend so much of our free time together. It's especially wonderful that Jonathan doesn't work on Sundays (which is a miracle in the world of retail). These jobs have helped us so much as we've started our life together and are enabling us to continue with getting an education. I am so grateful for those that helped us get the jobs that we have.

Double or Nothing

Yesterday I was grateful for sick days. I've been fighting a pesky cold for a few days now and I am grateful that I could have a day to just relax and focus on feeling better.

Today I am feeling grateful for cloudy, rainy days. The weather here has been gorgeous and warm and sunny, but I started missing rainy fall days.

Interests

I am so grateful to be married to a man that shares so many interests with me. It is so much fun that we already enjoy so many of the same things. Though we do share some of the things we love that the other hasn't yet experienced as well.

I am still so grateful that Jonathan enjoys science as much as I do.

I am grateful that we both love going shooting.

Earlier this year, I took Jonathan to see the Sacramento Ballet's Midsummer's Night Dream. I am so glad that he truly enjoyed it. I can't wait to share the Nutcracker with him!

I am so grateful that he loves all of our crazy nieces and nephews as much as I do. When we were dating, all five of our nephews were already around. Without me telling him he knew that they were important to me and he worked to show them that he was genuinely interested in them.

Plans

I am grateful that we can make plans for the future. I was reading some of my older posts that make vague references to our plans. Each time I was so excited and couldn't wait for it to happen. Each one of those plans fell apart. This post from two years ago is referring to an opportunity for us to manage apartments in Davis and Jonathan looking at joining the Navy to help him finish his educational goals. Neither thing happened. This post from last year is about us moving to Oregon so Jonathan could get a second Bachelors degree in Computer Science after finishing his first degree online through BYU.

It's been hard seeing our plans fall apart each time, but they brought us closer to where we are today. As of today, we are without a solid plan. Instead of investing all of our plans on one school, we are working on applying to a list of schools. After that, we wait to hear back from them and then we make a new plan. I don't know what the future will be for us, but I know that everything will work out.

Music

Today I am grateful for the silly music that plays while your on hold. At my job, I call a number of different companies and some have the gooberiest music ever! I can't even describe the type of hold music I heard this morning, but I couldn't help but laugh.

Simply The Best

I can't fully express my gratitude for my sweet Jonathan. I thought I loved him when we were dating. I thought I loved him when we were sealed for time and all eternity. I thought I loved him when he took care of me each time I got sick. I love him so much more now than I did in those times.

This fall has been more than I could handle alone. On August 11th, we found out we were pregnant. I still vividly remember the change on Jonathan's face from sleepy to pure joy. On September 9th, I had a miscarriage. During the month of October, our plans for finishing school fell apart.

Jonathan has been my strength when I've been weak. I can't imagine a man showing as much patience and compassion as he's showed me during this fall. We are slowly figuring out our next step. I am so grateful to be married to such an optimistic and hopeful man. He has made this fall so much better.

Fort Bragg Trip

I am grateful that Jonathan and I were able to take a relaxing trip to Fort Bragg last month. It was such a wonderful opportunity for the two of us to step away from our daily responsibilities and spend time together.

Glass beach

Even the coast has fall colors

On our way back to daily life, we stopped and took some pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.