Rides to work

Although I'm grateful for the opportunity to walk to work, I still wouldn't mind a ride at all.  This morning (and pretty much every morning I have to get up before noon) I hated waking up.  I didn't want to go to work, and I especially didn't want to leave my lover.  I wasn't in any rush and ended up pushing it.  I left my home nearly 10 minutes late.  I didn't even walk past my neighbors house when I heard my name.  I turned around and my adorable husband was standing there in his pajamas, with no shoes, standing in the snow, saying he'd give me a ride :).  I'm so in love with that man.  I got to lie down for 15 more minutes and cuddle with Clifton and it was wonderful.  I'm grateful for his sweet heart and for the rides he gives me to work.

Games :)

So today we decided to go to Cliftons parents' house and it was AWESOME!  We learned this new game called Pony Express and I won.  BOTH times we played it.  Booyah grandma!


I've always been a fanatic about playing games.  There wasn't really much else to do while spending every summer in Alabama with my dad.  I didn't have friends and didn't really care to make any.  He lives in a neighborhood that scared me sometimes when I was younger, although it's really not so bad.  So to pass the time me and my siblings (only 2 came along each summer until it got down to just me visiting) would play games.  Rummikub, Flinch, Miles Bourne, Speed, Monopoly, Life, Yahtzee, and whatever else we could come up with.  It was a blast and I have no doubt that's where my love of games started from.  We played a ton of games at my moms as well.  I remember having those little card holders when I was little so I could hold all of my cards while playing Bum Scum.  I actually started crying one time because I couldn't even hold them all in that card holder and I was so embarrassed!  The game-playing got more extreme over the years.  My mom would learn a new card game and we'd play that nearly every night for months until we decided to learn a new one.  It's only been the past few years that we've bought more board games, but we still play cards all the time.  Right now we're stuck on Catan and Hand & Foot but we've pretty much done it all.  Cribbage, Sequence, Canadian Fruit Salad, Hearts, Golf, Pinnochle, Phase 10, Uno-how can anyone go through life without playing that?  Seriously-Pounce, Killer Bunnies, Cranium, Thump, Bum Scum, Guesstures, and so many more!


I am passionate about playing games now.  Before I got married, I decided my husband MUST love games!  But then I met Clifton and decided there's other more important things.  He likes games and he'll play Pounce and other fast-paced games, but mostly he cheers for me.  Or against me.  It just depends.  I pretty much always win when playing games with friends, but with my family I almost never win.  I hate that.  It's still really fun for me though in a pathetic kind of way.


Anyways here are three of my favorite games at the moment :)

Pony Express (the awesome game I won twice today), Lost Cities, and Rage.  I am grateful for games.  There can be a lot learned from game playing and I love that.  I love how close it's brought me to my family.  I just love games.

Writing

I love writing.  So.  Much.  I'm not so great, but I have my own style and I write from the heart and that's good enough for me.  One day I'll write a book but for now it's a great outlet.  It's wonderful expressing myself with words.  Here's a poem I wrote for my good friend James as part of his gift.  Today's his birthday :P.

Warrior of Light
The brilliant sun sets as the Lone Warrior turns away.
A Warrior of the Night with open arms beckons for him.
Against his human instincts the Lone Warrior doesn't stray.
He looks up to the stars that are full of hope and sees one dim.

Searching for more to lead him into the radiant light; love.
Warriors of the Night are cold and brave and have much to give.
With their stars is an ersatz joy wanting as the moon above.
The Lone Warrior stands his ground and he strives to really live.

As the sun rises the Warriors of Night bow to meet light.
A new strength comes to the Lone Warrior and he sets his path.
Going forward as he feels the warm sun; optimistic sight.
All around him bursts of peace and life that before he never hath.

It's then he knows.
He IS the Warrior of Light.
-Jesse Lynn

I'm sure I could go on and on about how much I love writing and why...but I'm pretty sure I've previously blogged about writing.  And I've posted some of my poems and work so...that's all :P.

RUNNING

I went running today for the first time in probably 2 or 3 years...IT WAS THE BEST!!!  I've finally worked my brain up to running again and I'm totally diggin it.  I love running and am so grateful for the lovely endorphins it give me :).

These are my lovely mizunos.  Check out that breathability!  Although, my running shoes are in horrendous condition and I've had them since cross country.  FIVE years ago.  Wow.  I needa get new running shoes asap so I don't hurt myself.

Hope

2 years ago on my way back to Snow College I was listening to a talk given at a fireside (sorry I'm so vague, that's all I can remember).  This talk was about hope.  The speaker told about WWII and those trapped in consetration camps.  He interviewed one survivor and this person said (from what I can remember), "the strongest human emotion isn't love.  It is hope.  Hope is what keeps us going.  When I was in the consetration camp I KNEW people loved me and it didn't wanna make me survive.  Hope did.  Hope for a day of freedom, hope to see those that I loved, and hope for better days."  The speaker went on about hope and how it motivates us and keeps us going and that we MUST NOT lose our hope.  I completely agree...which is why I got this video for you to watch (oh come on, it's only 2 minutes!).

I'm grateful for hope.  It is what keeps me going :)

The fetal position

Ok.  Here's how it is.  Apparently while making love, sometimes things inside get moved around.  And afterward?  Holy momma it hurts.  So I'm just gonna say it now.  I'm grateful for the fetal position to reduce that pain tremendously.  And cramp pain.

Plus, everyone knows the most intelligent people sleep in the fetal position ;).

Ammon

Meet Ammon.

He's my lil half-bro and also the youngest of my moms SEVEN kids.

I've always loved him.

Obviously I teased him and thought many times he was a big pansy.

But he's grown up to be such an incredible man and it makes me happy.

When I was in high school and he was in junior high we discovered each others weaknesses; shopping together.

For some reason whenever we would go shopping for one or two things, we'd end up with 15 or 16.

How does that happen?!

Here's how.

Ammon:  Oh man I want that classical cd set!  It's only $15!

Me:  No you need to save your money remember?!  We only came here for Kari's present.

(10 minutes later while I'm gawking at the $5 DVD's Ammon won't let me buy)

Ammon:  Oh that movie looks way good!  You should buy it!

Me (not realizing I'm being manipulated):  I should save too though.  But you're right I've been wanting this movie for so long!  I'd feel guilty though.  How about I'll buy 3 DVD's and you can get your CD set, deal?

Ammon:  Alright!

Haha that's pretty much how every shopping adventure would end up :D.

Sometimes I'd check him out of school for lunch to let him know I loved him.

That was so much fun.

While at Snow College that bond between us wasn't as strong and I didn't realize how much I missed it until these past few months.

My parents are selling their big-ass house and my little bro gets to stay there for free until it sells.

Talk about the ultimate bachelor pad!

And since being married me and Clifton re-realized how important family is so we've been working on building those bonds and friendships.

We go to Ammons all the time now (it's only 5 minutes away wahoo!) and just hang out.

It sometimes gets to the point that I feel like I'm an annoyance or burden to Ammon (we have to do our dishes there since out water's out...it's a pain) but he never fails in making me and Clifton feel so welcome and loved.

I am so grateful for my little brother Ammon though.

He has been so kind and giving.

We have a blast trying to beat each other in Just Dance 2 for the wii (awesome by the way).

We tease each other constantly and Clifton gets along with him as if they were twins.

Ammon plays the viola beautifully.

He understands my love for cooking/baking and the freedom and creativity that I get from it.

He is sensitive and always thinking of others.

I'm so blessed to have such an incredible brother :).

Opposition

This one was a hard one to be grateful for...but at the end of the night I am begrudgingly grateful for it.  Today sucked.  I don't really know why.  After work I just got home and felt so lame.  I wanted to run but obviously not bad enough, because the freezing dark kept me inside.  So I was just feelin weird when one of my friends finally texted me about an email I sent a MONTH ago haha wow.  Basically the text went something like this: 

Her:  blah blah blah blah blah. 

And I replied with:  i say what I mean and nothing more.  stop looking at my email as something it's not and stop interpreting it into something else hoe. 

to which she said:  blahdee blah blah blah.

Needless to say that whole text made me feel even poopier lol.  She said some things that were completely untrue, and it made me upset.  It also made me upset that everyone has talked about the whole "me and Friend F" situation when I was promised it would stay between me and Friend F because it has nothing to do with the others.  Awesome.  Anyways I figured everyone would know and I don't care about that.  I care that everyone is only hearing one side.  Actually even if they heard my side they still wouldn't care haha.  Everyone says the whole "I'm not taking sides, I just wanna stay out of it" bit but the truth is they have taken sides.  They have ALL taken Friend F's side even if they don't say so.  Because lets face it, lots of the time actions speak louder than words.  And since the whole thing began, not one "friend" has spoken to me out of love.  Sure I haven't really spoken to them either, but that's because I'm sick of always being the initiator of "how are you?  tell me about your life!"  Friendship is a two way road and I've been going one way for way too long now.

So that's where the opposition comes in.  This whole thing just made my night worse despite my best efforts to not let those quans control my emotions.  Cause that makes me more mad than anything haha.  I've calmed down and grown a lot over the years especially the last year, and I'm proud of the fact that not much gets to me anymore.  I give credit fully to God and Clifton.  Since meeting Clifton I've become so much better :).  And since going back to church and working towards the temple I've become at peace inside and it feels incredible.  I don't think that peace was really there until then...until me and Clifton started praying together and reading the Book of Mormon together.  I love it.

Anyways I'm grateful for these poop days, because that means I can have amazing days. 

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility." 2 Nephi 2:11

And with Clifton and God?  I do have amazing days.  I really really do :)

Mt. Lewis 8th ward

I'm so grateful for my ward!  They have made it so easy to wanna learn about the Gospel and my Savior!  It's such a small ward but so humble and always kind.  And everyone's super funny!  And extremely different.  I've never been in a place where the variety of people and interests and tastes are so vast!  It's absolutely wonderful.  I'm sad that 2 of the maybe 5 girls near my age have moved because I was so excited to get to know them!  Today I found out Shelby was moving and I left Relief Society bawling my eyes out along with everyone else, and I've only known her 2 months!  It really makes me sad.  But I am still grateful for the ward and how at home me and Clifton feel there :).

My goody self

Now, I'm not saying a goody-good right now and I actually hope I'll never be that way again.  Yesterday we met with the missionaries like we do every week and it really made me realize how glad I am I was a "molly mormon" in high school.  I have a large box full of church things from back in the day and I've felt the need to finally unpack it all and I'm so grateful!  There are so many things I kept that have influenced me that I almost started crying I was so happy.  Little quotes here and there, my collection of Savior pictures, highlighted talks, inspirational thoughts, things even from seminary, and so much more!  I'm grateful I was a "goody good" in high school, because it's making it so much easier for me to work towards making sacred covenants in the temple.  Except unlike back then, I understand so much more about life and am full of excetement to do things I haven't done in years.  It feels good doing what I know is right :)

"Someone who reads the Book of Mormon every single day will never leave the church"  -General Authority on 1 Nephi 15:24

Days Off

Me and Clifton both had today off and it was marvelous :) I'm grateful for a job, but I'm equally grateful for days off to just do my thing.

Ke$ha!

I still love all her songs, not matter how overplayed.  This is my favorite video, although my favorite song is We R who we R...hot and dangerous if you're one of us then roll with us cause we make the hipsters fall in love when we got our hotpants on and up.  I'm grateful for Ke$ha, cause she's sooo hot.  And makes crunkin music.  Me lovelove :)!

Pooper Scooper

Since there was snow on the ground, we weren't really able to clean up Scout's doodee in our yard.  Since the snow melted...well...ya know.  So I'm just gonna say I'm so grateful for pooper scoopers to make this task way more bareable.  FYI I filled 4 walmart bags completely full.  I'm just sayin.

Computers

I've heard lots of different views and opinions on keeping a blog.  Some people think it's a waste of time to tell everyone what's going on in life instead of just living it.  I completely agree, if that's the only reason you have for blogging.


Ever since I was 14 I've been an avid journal keeper.  I have 5 full journals and am working on my 6th.  I've discovered that when I'm happy, I don't write in my journal as much and I HATE that!  I love going back and reading about my life and it always leaves me laughing hysterically haha.  But it also leaves me grateful for how much I've grown and how much I've learned.  I'm grateful for computers, because it allows me to continue to keep a record of what's going on in my life in a simpler and faster way.  Of course, electronic record keeper isn't the same as hand writing something just how electronic books (barf) are never the same as the real thing.  I keep a blog only for myself (well and I guess for distant family members to see what's up lol)...I print off each post and put it in my journal ;P.  I still go out and live life to the fullest.  Ya just gotta find that happy medium between computer time and real life time :].  And I will still write in my journal until the day I die.  But for the most part...this is my journal now and I'm grateful computers make it more efficient for my lifestyle.

sleeeeeep

I'm grateful for sleep.  Me and the huz slept in so late today and it was marvelous.

Spaghetti Casserole

This is a food I grew up with at my dads.  It easily became my favorite as a kid and after college I decided I needed to get the recipe so I could indulge in my favorite food again.  Now it's my husbands favorite ;) haha.  The first few times I made this dish it wasn't really the greatest.  It was definitely still good but not the delicious dinner I remembered.  The past 4 months I've made it so much that I've totally got it down now...yes!  After the first 2 times I had the recipe memorized and now I just improvise and season it accordingly.  That's my ultimate goal with cooking and baking:  to never need to look at the recipe.  I love how it's an art; something that not many people realize.  But for me it's such a wonderful thing to be in the kitchen and just throw things together with only sheer instinct and a little experience to lead me.  Sure I still use recipes, but lots of the time they're just pointless haha.  Basically everything has turned out delicious when I do it that way.  And when I do mess something up with my food (which is rare), I learn and do it better the next time around.  I just love it :).  Anyways here is the recipe for my spaghetti casserole (sorry it's not super accurate, I'm just doing it from memory and don't know the exact measurements for the things like spaghetti lol :P):

SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

1  package (I think 16 oz) of spaghetti (my favorite to use is vermicelli pasta)

1  large can/jar of pasta sauce (I always prefer Hunt's pasta sauce in the cans because it's cheaper, better tasting, and easier to season)

1  small can of tomatoe paste (optional)

1  box of frozen spinach slightly cooked (I discovered the creamed spinach makes it taste so much better versus the chopped spinach)

1  egg

LOTS  of shredded cheese (mozarella, colby, and montery jack make the best mix)

1  small tub of sour cream

Seasonings:  salt, pepper, garlic in any form, italian seasoning, thyme, marjoram, onion flakes, oregano, and any others you want!.

In a bowl mix together the egg, sour cream, and about 3-5 handfuls of shredded cheese (amount varies depending on how much cheese you want).  Add the spinach after it's cooled down (otherwise it'll melt the cheese) and the tomatoe paste as well as 1/4 of the pasta sauce.  Season to flavor and add the cooked spaghetti.  After it's all well mixed put in a 13'x9' casserole dish and cover with the remaining pasta sauce.  Sprinkle the shredded cheese over it and put in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Let it cool for 5-10 minutes so that when you dish it up it's a solid, not a liquid :P

Ok, yeah I know that was super vague.  I'm sorry lol.  I wish I could make you all some :D  anyways I'm just grateful for my spaghetti casserole cause I made it for my family today and it was awesome.  We played just dance for the wii and it totally kicks!  I'm addicted lol.



Parent-in-laws

Right now I'm at Cliftons' parents house.  They are so great and I'm grateful for them.  I'm glad I actually like them, which is a common worry for people ready to get married.  They have done so much for me and Clifton and continue to do so much and I just can't thank them enough.  Doug just hooked us up with some antivirus software and figured out some things with my computer, and Martha just made some delicious food.  They took me in when I was literally homeless and have just done so much good.  They really are wonderful and I know they'll be blessed for watching out for me and Clif.

Reading

"Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere. The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination. Reading is a means of thinking with another persons mind; it forces you to stretch your own."

I cannot say enough how much I absolutely and passionately LOVE reading!!!!!  It's definitely one of my favorite things to do and always has been.  When I was in junior high and high school my mom finally figured out that to motivate me to clean she had to take my books away.  So I was grounded from reading a few times haha it sucked.  There was even one time when I couldn't pull away from my book but needed to shower so I put the open book in a few ziploc bags and read while I showered :D!  Oh yes, I do love my books :).  And thanks to DI I've been able to expand my library tremendously for super cheap.  Yet super worth it ;P.

Haha anyways one of my favorite authors is Clair M. Poulson.  The first book I read of his was I'll Find You and I read that 10 years ago exactly.  I've been hooked since then.  And all of them are my favorite!  But I love pretty much every book I read :).  So obviously I was stoked when I went to Snow College and one of my professers was his brother!  It was awesome.  We bonded over Clairs amazing books haha.  Overall they're a little bit alike...suspenseful, thrilling, spiritual, and a little bit of romance.  But I don't care, I just love them!  My favorites are I'll Find You, Blindside, and Evidence.  I just finished Don't Cry Wolf.  They're all the perfect length for me too.  Allows me to finish them fast :P.

 

I'm grateful for reading :)

Snow

Utah snow is so beautiful.  Today while working it snowed.  I didn't have my snow boots but that's ok, I didn't mind walking in the snow.  I love hearing it crunch and compact together with each step :).  I'm grateful to live in such a gorgeous state and I'm definitely grateful for the snow.

Opportunity to walk

This is becoming harder and harder for me.  Not because I'm running out of things, but because each day I'm thinking of more and more!  Some days it's so easy and I immediately know what I wanna dedicate that day of gratitude to, but some days there's just SO many it's hard to pick just one.  So I try to pick the most prominent one at the time.  Today I'm grateful for the opportunity to walk.


Sometimes I hate walking home from work because it's half an hour of pure freezingness lol.  But tonight was so nice.  It made me feel like I was in Ephraim again and that's always a good thing because I absolutely love that little town.  It was all a mixture of things that made me feel this way.  The main one was how silent it was.  Which is weird because on the way to work I was even singing that song by Simon & Garfunkel (click here to take a listen).  Walking along Washington Blvd and having it SILENT???  Talk about a rareity.  I don't think I've ever heard it that quiet and peaceful along the busiest road in Ogden.  And it was quiet pretty much the whole time too.  It was just so nice to have it that silent:  something that's always present in Ephraim at night.  Another thing that made me love walking home tonight was the smell.  Granted I'm getting a bit of a head cold and my nose isn't top notch at the moment, but from what I could smell it was wonderful.  It smelled like blossom trees in the summer in Twin Falls ID.  Just fresh and clean with a hint of flower :).  I'm a little confused why there was a change of smell from the usual farmland or Willard Bay smell we get but I'm grateful for the pleasant surprise.  The silence and the smell just made me really nostalgic for Ephraim and I really hope to live there one day with my husband when we're older but for tonight it made me really reflective on everything that I have.


Although sometimes walking is a pain, tonight I was so grateful I even have the opportunity to walk.  I'm grateful I still have my legs to walk.  I'm grateful I have a job to even walk to.  It's not too far away but I am incredibly blessed to have functioning legs to take me where I wanna go.  To show my gratitude I am going to start running again.  I ran cross-country in high school but after my first year at college I eventually got burnt out.  I over-thought the running instead of just doing it for the love of it.  I do love running, I just forgot why in college.  Many people don't understand the purpose of running and that's fine...I've tried explaining it when I was more of an actual runner haha but I decided I'm not going to try to explain it anymore.  Because only people that run and do it because they love it understand its importance and purpose.  Anyways I wanna run a marathon waaaay bad so we'll just see where it goes.  For now, I'm happy I even have legs to walk and run :)

Tuggie

Basically all I'm gonna say is when Clifton's wearing this there is NO resisting that hottie ;).

Water!!!!

Ok funny story guys.  So remember that snowstorm 2 Fridays ago?  Or whenever it was lol.  The one that actually DID give us snow?  And the one that actually DID freeze everone?  You know, the ACTUAL blizzard that there was no blizzard warning about?

Haha so I guess the one time it actually decides to be freezing outside we forgot to leave our faucets dripping...also for the first time.  That's right people, our pipes froze that night 1 1/2 weeks ago.  So 4 or 5 days later when it was really warm out Clifton went under the house with the space heater and thawed out those pipes.  But THEN!  While we were dropping off Monkee at work and getting dinner I guess our water meter burst.  Our kind neighbor turned our water off we later found out :).  Anyways, if probably looked somethin like this when it broke:

Ok well probably not as extreme hahaha but you get the point.  So for all last week guess how we used the bathroom?  Well really we just kept filling up 2 huge jugs at the well not far away, but it was a PAIN!  Especially since my lovemuffin was sick so I basically had to do it haha.  Suck.  Sometimes we ran to walmart to use the toilet...sometimes we just uh...ya know...went outside our house at night *cough cough*.  Anyways since it was a pain to fill up the jugs then empty them in the tank then fill them up again we tried to use the toilets in our house as little as possible.  Ew and to do the dishes I had to pack them up in a hamper and take them to my parents old place (which my lil bro now occupies for free...I'm not jealous).  Obviously we called the park manager right away, but it turns out she was out of town all last week.  Wonderful.  So first thing today I called her and thankfully we DID NOT have to pay for a new water meter.  The park took care of all expenses and repairs yay :).  But that means!  Dadadada!   We have water :).  Except now it kinda looks like this :(

But at least Andrews bathroom is full on.  Now we can use the toilet and take showers and everything!  I'm just grateful for water.  It's still a pain to do the dishes, but I am so grateful for what we have now.  I'm grateful for water hehe

Missionaries

Today the missionaries in my ward were supposed to come for dinner but had to cancel for an investigator.  It totally bummed me out cause two other couples were joining us and I really wanted to hear what they had to teach.  But!  The missionaries felt so bad that they found another set of missionaries for us :) they even came to our house before their appointment and set up a time to meet with them this week.  I'm so grateful for that.  I'm so grateful for their good hearts and eagerness to teach us what is true.

The other missionaries came for dinner and it was SO FUN!!!!  I love our friends :) and it wasn't really awkward like I thought it would be either haha.  I guess the two that we fed don't get fed very often, so they were way excited for the dinner.  And the really really short Elder was freakin Chuck Norris!  He could high kick our doorway :O!  AND do no legged pushups!  AND walk down the stairs as a handstand!  He's pretty popular among the Elders hahaha anyways it was pretty sweet.  I'm grateful for the missionaries :)

Ummmm....video games haha

I was hesitant to put this, but it's true.  I am definitely grateful for video games.  They're silly but they keep me really entertained haha.

My body weight

So today while I was in the shower I realized I love my body so much haha (that's awkward...).  I recently weighed myself and am at 142--that's how much I weighed in high school!  Everyone says you gain weight when you get married and I have definitely witnessed that with many peers, but I haven't gained anything :)!

My first year at Snow College my heart got broke and I gained 20 pounds the second semester.  Serves me right too.  Just before Christmas break I was rubbing it in my roommates faces how I didn't gain the Freshman 15 and they did.  Aaaand then I gained not 15, but 20 pounds haha.  It was hard for me to get over my first love just as it is hard for anyone.  I realized I wasn't officially "over" him until I met Clifton, about 2 years later.  Anyways, my second year at Snow I somehow lost all that weight and got back to my regular 150 lbs. 

I guess I've lost a little weight since then too and now fluctuate between 140 and 145.  And I have no doubt in my mind that it is because I am the happiest I've been in my whole life that I'm at such a healthy weight :).  It's nice to have jeans that fit (it took me over a year after losing the initial weight to finally get new pants since all mine were SAGGY galore!).  Now if I were any lighter I'd be borderline underweight and I definitely do not want that.  For my height a healthy weight is 130-160, and I'm grateful I'm at that :).  I'm so grateful for my body weight right now and I will continue to work to keep it at that.  It won't be too hard though with how happy clifton makes me.  I do love that man.  And my body lol.

Funny movies

Oh man, today I was really lazy and watched a lot of funny movies.  Like Grownups, and Without a Paddle, and Despicable Me.  Humor is so awesome.  My favorite comedic actors are Adam Sandler, Will Smith, and Steve Carrell.  I'm just grateful for funny movies to keep me entertained lol :P

A job

My job may not be much, and many people look down on it, but I'm so grateful I have a job to be able to pay for my bills.  I thank God EVERY day for it.

My man :)

I'm pretty sure he's the bestest ever.  I'm so grateful for Cliftons kindness, and how well he treats me.  He loves me so much and makes sure I know that :).  This really should be the longest post ever but I feel like I'll never really be able to fully express to anyone else how grateful I am for my husband.  The one with the golden heart :)

Dreams

Hahaha oh my goodness!  Last night I had a dream about this massive dodgeball game with my whole graduating class from high school.  It was AWESOME!  I'm grateful for dreams.  It's so incredible to me how the subconscious works!  And yes, I am a complete sucker for those dream dictionaries.  I mean, I don't believe that everything in your dream is automatically what the dream dictionary says.  I believe that each dream has it's own meaning for each individual and I also believe that it should NOT be over analized. 

Everyone has dreams every sleep cycle, oftentimes more than once.  It's just a matter of remembering them or not.  In psychology we learned that the only way to remember your dreams is to wake up during that cycle.  And for some reason, I pretty much always remember my dreams.  I love it.  I feel really blessed; I feel like it's something that keeps me more in tune to the way I am and feel.  It allows me to work things out in a more rational way, which is also the purpose of dreams sometimes.  Something that is almost always present in my dreams is forms of water and death.  Water is representative of the psyche so I always pay attention to that.  If the water is ever just going crazy in my dream, I know I need to work on something that I'm feeling.  It may sound silly, but it really does always help.  It's so fascinating.  I really can't say that enough.  AND!  Lots of WAY awesome stories have formed in my mind as well because of my dreams hehe.  I don't really tell my dreams to many people though.  Because I hate hearing about other peoples dreams I figure no one wants to hear mine either so I just tell my husband.  Clifton is the only one that's heard about every dream and we have such a good time talking about it :)

I LOVE DREAMING!!!!!

For your entertainment www.dreammoods.com.  It's my fave lol.

Late Church

I'm grateful for late church.  I used to HATE it!  Eleven was always the perfect time for me.  But now that I'm married and it's just me and Clifton?  We stay up so so late.  So the later church is, the better :P.  Especially now that we're working towards the temple to get sealed as an eternal family.  It's imperative we remain active.  And I'm so grateful God made that easy for us by letting our church be at 1 pm.

Life

Not many people know this about me, but two years ago today I almost killed myself.  New Years Day has actually never been a good day for me now that I think of it.  In fact it's almost always been the worst day ever haha.  That changed last year when I spent the day with my babe.  Today has also been a very good day and I hope all New Years in the future will remain full of hope and love.

I'm grateful for my life.  I'm grateful I didn't have the guts to take my life 2 years ago.  A lot has happened since then and I know God has had a hand in every part of it.  I've learned and grown tremendously and it humbles me.  I believe that everything happens for a reason.  Actually I'm kind of a freak about how EVERYTHING you do impacts other people in some way.  Even something you would never think like deciding to make a sandwich for lunch.  I'm serious man, we're all intertwined way more closely than lots of people think.  God definitely knows what he's doing.  That genius.  I love watching His plan work out just the way He meant it too.  I love "coincidences".  I just love life lol :)

3.6.5!

So I don't know where my ideas come from, but I'll wake up and an idea will come to my head.  Once that idea is there I am fully devoted and determined in making it happen.  For example, in 9th grade I woke up and decided to try out for the basketball team.  I knew I would make it on the team at tryouts.  When I told my mom I was going to try out, she laughed hysterically and said I'd never make it.  Looking back she had a good point haha but I was crushed at the time.  I tried out for the team and became the starting center.  Take that mom haha.  Then in 10th grade I just woke up and decided to try winterguard.  That was also a good experience for me (especially for never having done it before then).  I think you get the point.  I'm telling you this because sometime in October I woke up one day and decided to start a 365 days of gratitude blog as my new years resolution and goal--two things which I have never really done in my life for various reasons.  Now obviously I don't have the internet, so I won't be able to blog every day.  But don't fret, I have been diligent in dedicating my days to being thankful and keeping track of it.  In fact even though this post is labeled as January 1st I'm really writing it on January 15th haha!  Technology is awesome.  But that's beside the point.  I will write as if I log on every day to reduce confusion :).  Not that I'm ungrateful anyways, but I just feel like doing this is really important for me.  Sooo...

WELCOME!  To my year of gratitude :)