And the Day After . . .

Yesterday, my dear husband wrote about gratitude and some of the blessings in his life.  Reading through it made me pause as well to think about how much I love that man.  I realize that this may seem like a "last word" post, but I can't help stopping in and adding my own two cents about gratitude during this time of year where we're so focused on what is good and sweet about life.  While I will always find it very cliche and disturbing that we don't ponder on our blessings throughout the entire year, maybe these holidays with their focuses are meant to boost us in the right direction.  

I am a newly married woman living from paycheck to paycheck with no idea how I'm going to make it through the holidays.  And yet, in the past three months, I haven't thought about what little we've had.  In fact, I've been pondering lately on how I can be more grateful for the numerous blessings in our lives.  We have so much, we really can't stop to covet or crave what anyone else should have.  I have a beautiful apartment that we got for cheap as dear Nate informed you; I have the most amazing husband who is more perfect for me than I could ever have imagined; I have talents and passions that make my life interesting; I have a job (despite the early hour) and a steady income; I have multiple families that I can turn to in times of need and fun; I have a Heavenly Father who is perpetually looking out for me.  I am blessed.  We all are.  No matter what situation in life.  No matter if we want to see it or not.  

So why don't we choose to see it more often?  

Enjoy that little teaser of a question and let it change your life.  

Oh, also, I'm grateful for puppies.  You can never have enough puppies.  

Especially chubby little long haired dachshunds that fall asleep in your arms with their little tongue sticking out.  

Thanksgiving

So it has been awhile since I’ve written a post.  Today was a very good day. I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving Day festivity. It was a pretty good one for us, it was our first one as a married couple. We ended up going down to Idaho Falls and celebrated with my Aunt’s family. We were asked to bring a side dish, so since it’s the holiday of feasting I decided to bring my mom’s sweet potato recipe. You can’t have a thanksgiving meal without sweet potato casserole. Yesterday I went to the store and bought the ingredients that I needed. Last night I prepared the dish and when I finished I wasn’t quite sure how it would turn out. Part of the process of making the casserole is to put it in the fridge for four hours. So I put it in overnight and I put it in the oven this morning.

We headed down to Idaho Falls about 11:00 this morning. When we arrived, the aroma of all the food was deathifying. There was two types of turkey, a ham, plenty of potatoes, and a lot of raw vegetables and of course my homemade casserole. I still wasn’t sure how people would like the casserole. So once everybody arrived, the feasting began. The food was delicious of course. Kylee doesn’t like sweet potatoes and I’ve tried to get her to try them but with each attempt, no success. But today I finally got Kylee to try them. And, she LIKED them which was surprising but it must have something to do with my cooking skills. Later in the evening when we were all sitting around recovering from the food coma we were all in, Bret said that he really enjoyed the casserole and that it was good. SUCCESS!!!!! Another person liked the dish. Needless to say my worries were no more. It was a good day.

When we got home this evening, Kylee and I sat down and watched a movie. We ended up watching “Act of Valor”. I have been wanting to see it since it came out and it is finally on Netflix on watch instantly. So we watched it and it was a decent movie. I don’t want to spoil the ending of the movie for those of you who still want to watch it, but it got me thinking of the things that I am thankful. I know today is the day we are reminded of the things that we are thankful for. But I am thankful for the military and everybody who serves. They protect us and give us the freedom that we have today in this country.

I don’t want to list everything that I am grateful for because the list is so big so I guess I will just list a few of the things. I am thankful for my wife and everything that she does. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It brings comfort to my mind especially in times of trial. I am thankful for my family, both immediate and extended. I am also thankful for Kylee’s family. I am grateful for the university that I attend even though sometimes it may not seem like it. I am grateful for the apartment that we have. We really lucked out with the apartment. It is priced very well for a two bedroom apartment. It is also very quiet which is extremely nice. I am grateful for the friends that I have.

Since I’m somewhat of a traditional guy, let the Christmas music and celebration commence!