Temple Night

Tonight we had a Stake Temple Night at the Salt Lake Temple (even though that isn't our district). We started with a meeting in the chapel with the Temple President and then did a session. It was great! In addition to being able to do some wonderful service for those who have died, I was also able to renew a friendship with a an almost-cousin of mine. Love it!


My morning was spent volunteering at the Bountiful Temple and, boy, did my feet feel it. But even when I don't want to go, I'm always glad that I did once I get there.


Sometimes I forget to be grateful that I live in the midst of so many temples. As I was getting ready to leave I was feeling mildly inconvenienced that the evening was going to take up so much time. Then I remembered that most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have to travel and give much more time to attend the temple than I ever do.


We are SO blessed!

I'm grateful for...

1. General Conference!!

2. Easter

3. Books

4. Post-it Notes

5. Good Shoes

6. Apples

7. Pillows

8. Cadbury Mini Eggs

9. Pleasure in Cooking

10. Talent for Baking

11. Spring Snowstorms

12. Spring Flowers

13. Tulips peeking up through the snow :)

14. Photographs

15. Agency

16. Access to information

17. People with sense of humor

18. I finally found a face cream that works

19. Roundabouts

20. Scissors

Twenty items because I skipped a week, but it was good to stretch my brain a little.

When times get hard, and your heart is breaking

There is a Primary song that's always meant a lot to me, "I Feel My Savior's Love." I was thinking about it today in church. When my Bapa died many years ago, we, his grandchildren, sang this song at his funeral. In our lives, we are constantly blessed by the love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I pray that I will always be grateful for these blessings and that I can serve as an instrument in the Lord's hand to bless those around me.

Things I'm grateful for.

This week's list:

1. My family's patience with me when I'm grumpy.

2. Friends to whom I can say anything.

3. Knowledge of the Plan of Happiness, specifically post-mortal life.

4. My heritage.

5. www.hulu.com

6. Snow. The giant, heavy flakes are my favorite.

7. Dancing.

8. My sisters.

9. Cary Grant

10. The baby shower I get to go to this week.

Attitude of Gratitude

I've decided to post 10 things I'm grateful for each week. Several years ago, my good friend Andrea gave me a Gratitude Journal and I started writing things down. Over the years, I've written daily, weekly, or not for months at a time. I've included 5 items or 3 items or 10. I've listed by category, order in which I noticed things in the day and, my personal favorite, alphabetically. Well, I still keep a Gratitude Journal and I always feel better when I write in it, but some of those things are very personal and precious to me. Still, I'd like to make public some of those things I'm grateful for, both significant and ridiculous, and in no particular order. Let's see if I can remember to do this. :)

1. My family.

2. The love of reading.

3. Best friends.

4. My mattress.

5. A CD player in my car.

6. Modern medicine, a blessing inspired from above.

7. Really soft, fuzzy socks.

8. Milk.

9. The newest 4-year-old in my life.

10. Scheduled posts.

Fantastic Surprise!

My work week does not end on a bright spot. I have a very difficult client at the end of my day. But, I got to leave work before it was dark, which is unusual. I also got some bad news on the way home.

I went out to my mailbox and found two items, both personal!

What did I find? A box with wedding cake and favors!! Best surprise of the month. Thanks, Louise!! You made my week! Love you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On one of my favorite holidays, I'm thankful for more than I can number. My Heavenly Father has blessed me richly and I'm grateful for the reminder to show gratitude on such a day of plenty!

Home

I'm so excited! I love being home. I didn't really appreciate how much until last month. I'm grateful to have family who are so wonderful that I want to be with them.

Rain

I love the rain. I love how everything looks when it's wet. I love watching it fall. I love how the diffused light makes the the day feel peaceful. I love watching the clouds change. I love the smell of rain, which brings me to the point.

The rain here does not smell like rain at home. I'm not surprised by this because I recognize that I'm about 300 miles from a giant salt water lake full of dead things. But the rain here also doesn't smell like the rain in  other places I've been. I think this might be because most of my vacations involve going to the west coast and the rain in not-so-sunny Southern California and Seattle smells like the sea. The rain here smells like snow. Since that, too, is a smell I love, I'm pretty pleased.

The only downside of the rain? Since there are next to no streetlights, the lines on the road are really hard to see when wet. Step into the 20th century, people, and please light the streets. Just saying.