Category Archives: blessings

clarity

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You know those moments when, suddenly, the world and everything in it makes sense…even if only for a moment. The interview with one school, the decision not to apply to another that is now being rethought, the order of events, thoughts, and decisions. It was like that.

And now I need to pack for my 24-hour trip south.

i could make that much money in five seconds!

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  1. I am grateful for speaking assignments in church. This week, it was exactly the motivation I needed to get my crap together on the spiritual side of things.

  2. I am grateful for my dinner group. It’s a small group. There are quite a few of us in it, but the two times I’ve been able to go, it’s only been a small group, which has been nice because I’ve been able to get to know these women better…and they are so interesting and have so much to share. I love it! I love getting to try new (to me) local restaurants, but my favorite part really is the company. Denise and Dana are both hilarious and so real!

  3. I am grateful that my dad is an accountant and is so good with Excel. It comes in really handy. Next weekend, we are going to sit down and set up a budget for me. Sad that I’m 30 and this is the first time I will have created a budget.
Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

Margaret Cousins

attitude of gratitude

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Last year, my dear friend (whom I dearly miss as she has moved far, far away), Jennifer, sent out this great email. It was a challenge of sorts (I think in the email it was called a game…whatever). So…I’m going to start right now because November 1st started 2 hours and 24 minutes ago.

ETA Jennifer’s intro: Well folks, the trees are changing colors, the days are getting shorter, and you can just smell autumn in the air. It’s time for jackets and pumpkins and the November Attitude of Gratitude Challenge. Participation is completely voluntary. For those of you who have not played before, the challenge is outlined below.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
Each day during the month of November you will send an email to me, at least (note – I will be blogging rather than emailing), but feel free to invite others to participate and you can send your gratitude emails to them, as well.

Each daily email will contain three “things” for which you are grateful.

Definition of “things”- the term “things” is used here to encompass a myriad of stuff including, but not limited to: a certain set of circumstances, an event, an inanimate object distinguished from a living being, possessions or effects, a deed or act, a product of work or activity, an idea or notion, a piece of news or information, a person, a memory, anything that makes you smile.

* The challenge is to come up with three ORIGINAL “things” each day. Try not to repeat entries.
* Your email should be sent by midnight each night. If you miss a day or two, no biggie, but you have to make it up, no skipping! (Note: For some of you, this may require accessing your email account on a more regular basis.)

WARNING OF POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS!!
Please note that challenge participation may result in any or all of the following:
– you will be surprised at all the Lord has done for you.
– angels will attend
– you will feel help and comfort
– you may find yourself singing as the days go by
– your doubts will fly

To get you started, here is my list for today, November 1.

  1. As much as I have whined about the grad school application process (and I am sure to whine about grad school itself), I am so grateful for the opportunity to even have grad school be an option. There’s much more I could say about that, but seeing as how I have 163 more things to come up with in the next month, I’ll leave it there.
  2. I am grateful for deadlines. As stressful as they can be, eventually, they are gone. Today, for instance, is a deadline for two of my applications…and I am done with them (with 21 hours and 32 minutes to spare…go me). Deadlines were made for people like me. Without them, I would worry and correct and worry and reread and worry (and eventually die) trying to find exactly the right word, or the best presentation, etc. As it is, I am done with two applications. I felt good about 6 of the 8 essays, after several rewrites, many of which happened tonight.
  3. I am grateful for my sister, Erika. She has been my cheerleader through this whole process. Don’t tell her, though. She kind of likes to think that she’s a jerk. Even tonight (this morning?), when she called me back after multiple frantic phone calls, she still had great advice. And her advice about my two crap essays. “Well, it’s only one at each school. And at least this way they’ll know that you didn’t pay some else to write them.

Funny thing, this gratitude stuff…I really could go on and on, but I will pace myself. I will say I’m super excited for tomorrow to come so I can post some more.

“We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.”

Thomas S. Monson
An Attitude of Gratitude

random thoughts at 3 am

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Really, I have 25 posts floating in my head…but I don’t have time to fully develop any of them, so here are some random thoughts.

  1. I am pretty direct and sometimes I don’t think people know how to deal with it. I don’t believe in agreeing with someone just to be agreeable. I don’t believe in telling someone that something is “fine” if it isn’t. I don’t believe that I “have” to be friends with anyone. And I think if people are going to ask how I’m doing, they should actually want to know because I am actually going to tell them. What it boils down to is sincerity. I try to be sincere. And sometimes, I sincerely offend people.
  2. Writing essays for grad school makes me feel totally inadequate and relatively stupid…not something I’m used to. Yes, the truth is, I generally think I’m not just adequate, but quite accomplished, and I rarely feel stupid. Oh, back to number 1, I don’t believe in false modesty.
  3. I love meeting new people…in small groups. I love getting to know them. I love learning about them. And I love when I get to do this while eating delicious food at a restaurant I’ve never been to. That was my evening tonight. I went to The Dodo with Laralee, Dana, and Denise. The company and food were fantastic.
  4. I don’t love most things about snow, but there is one thing I do love. I love how, at night, the world is so quiet. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the chance to stand outside at night in the snow, but I love it. I could stand for hours just listening to the silence.
  5. While I understand the economics of a dollar movie, I cannot understand the disgustingness (yes, it’s not a word) of the dollar theater. So gross. The thing is, being economical (or poor enough that you can’t afford normal movies…which is about where I am these days) is no excuse for throwing your popcorn on the ground, or letting your children run around barefoot, or not flushing a toilet. And do they pay their employees way less, so they don’t expect them to wipe off counters, clean bathrooms, and sweep the theater. I just don’t understand.
  6. Sarah and I met Dan Keys last night. If you have no idea who that is, he is the lead singer of Young Love. I love YL and I love Dan Keys. Young Love was the opener for the opener for Say Anything. We pretty much just went to hear Young Love. We left right after they played, but not before heading to the merch table to say hi (and swoon just a little). I’m sorry, but he is just super sexy. And tall. And his voice makes me melt. Here are my two favorite songs (in acoustic form) off of their self-titled album.
  7. I talk a lot. Sometimes I feel like I totally monopolize conversations. And sometimes I know I’m doing it and just can’t seem to stop myself. Why is that? Why can’t I shut up?
  8. Sarah and I will be singing at Big Shot Karaoke on Thursday. This should be a good time.
  9. Sometimes, I worry about things over which I have no control. Well, maybe not worry, but I definitely think about them. A lot. And often. I wish I could stop doing that.
  10. I have really, really weird dreams when I take naps. I think that’s part of the reason I don’t really like taking naps. And often, those weird dreams involve scenarios that allow me to act out my deep seeded, almost subconscious, desires to tell someone off. They make me feel like a bad person.
  11. Even though, colloquially, it’s common to end a sentence with a preposition, I have a really hard time doing it, even when not doing it means that I sound super formal and kind of geeky.
  12. I should really go to bed because I really am tired. I just don’t want to. And do you know why I don’t want to? Because I don’t want to wash and moisturize my face or brush and floss my teeth or brush my retainer and put it in my mouth. (Yes, I still wear a retainer at 29…my dad paid good money for my teeth, I’m not about to let them move.) I hate getting ready for bed. Hate it. But I can’t sleep if I don’t do the full routine…except the retainer part. This is a struggle every night. How dumb is that?
  13. On Wednesday, I was supposed to take my French midterm. I didn’t feel ready, so I asked for extra time. Ask me how much I’ve studied? I bet you can guess.
  14. I love Christmas music. My favorite to listen to is David Lanz’s album, Christmas Eve. However, I also love singing Christmas music. I know it’s only October, but in preparation for the season, here’s my favorite David Lanz song, Angels We Have Heard on High, and here I am singing (along with 350 other people) The First Noel and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.
  15. Just about the only thing I miss about my undergrad experience…singing. There is nothing like singing in a huge choir, especially a capella . And it’s something that you can’t just throw together, you know, huge numbers of people who can sing in tune. I still sing, but it is not the same. I wish I could explain it. But, since I can’t, I’ll just share one more song with you. Since it’s Sunday, here’s one of my most favorite hymns, Where Can I Turn for Peace?
  16. Tomorrow (well, today) we are having a little friends’ dinner. Soup in bread bowls, salad and miniature pumpkin cheesecakes with cinnamon crusts. I’m so excited. ETA – in case anyone thinks I never mess up cooking, I totally over baked both the crust and the cheesecake. I’ll take some pictures so you can see what happens if you over bake cheesecake. It’s ugly. The good news is, neither event has ruined the taste (perhaps the texture is a little off, but not horrible).
  17. Okay…it’s time to get ready for bed. Oh the pain! It’s funny how easy it is to whine about getting ready for bed when there are so many people who don’t have the luxury of a) getting ready for bed or b) having a bed to sleep in. I hate that my mind works this way. I can never just feel sorry for myself and sometimes, I really want to.

joy!

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My cousin, Ali, got married today. His name is Blake. Isn’t he a fox? Isn’t she a babe? (When I’m around the Aunties, I regress to their vernacular). As I refuse to be one of those people (you know, the ones who get in the way pretending to be photographers when there are professionals there), I didn’t get very many shots. But here are a few.

Blake, the fox, and newest addition to the family. He’s actually Ali’s sister’s husband’s brother. Work it out. So, we all know that there children will be cute!
The beautiful bride! Seriously, my cousins are GORGEOUS!

Michelle (aka Shelly), the youngest sibling. She is so fun! And such a sass! Apparently, it runs in the family.

So, this was not the shot I was going for. I cropped it. But I think it is framed well, if only the bouquet were perfectly (or at all) in focus. It’s not, but you can see what could have been.

Ali and Drew, her younger brother and only boy. He is such a great kid! See what I mean. My cousins are “beautiful people”. And, the best part is, it is an “inside and out” beauty.

Her florist was amazing! The colors were absolutely stunning.

Anne and Tyler’s little girl, Ashley. This is what Ali and Blake’s children could look like. She is seriously adorable, but I think she was a little overwhelmed by all the people. It’s too bad I didn’t get a picture of the dress. It was darling.

So, this one isn’t from today, it’s from Ali’s shower two weeks ago, but it has to do with the wedding…and it shows the four sisters, Anne, Ali, Maddie and Shel. Could they be any cuter? I don’t think so!

I just loved the cake. Stunning and non-traditional. This is probably my favorite picture. So weird that it involves food.

My fantastic grandmother, the new hair, and my aunt Kristen (the Aunties are total babes)…it’s a little out of focus, but such is life. When you don’t have a “point-and-shoot”, it’s a little more difficult to have someone take a picture for you and have it turn out.

The mother of the bride, Kendall, and Kristen (aka the Aunties). They are the best of friends and both so fun and such hotties! I love having such a wonderful, fun, loving family. (This one is out of focus because the lighting was low and I couldn’t hold still enough).

The wedding was absolutely amazing. I cried. Not that it means anything. This was one of those perfect days. I love perfect days!