37

Today I turned 37.  Since I haven't yet posted about Thanksgiving, I decided I would list 37 things I am thankful for:
1.  David--I am married to the best man in the whole world.  He's in Texas now--for 2 weeks--but worked hard to make sure I would have a good birthday anyway.  I'm so glad I get to spend forever with him.
2.  Sarah--She's fun and creative and starting to be so grown up and responsible.  She thinks like I do--I often understand her better than she understands herself.
3.  Rachel--Rachel is thinker.  She's smart and fun and can write amazing poetry with a vocabulary unheard of for most 11-year-olds. 
4.  Ben--Ben is all boy and I love it.  He loves sports and craves movement and activity--these long rainy winters are hard for him.  I love watching him with his friends--they play so differently than the girls.
5.  Kate--Kate is so fun and sweet.  She loves all things girly and is our sweet social butterfly. 
6.  William--chubby hands, long eyelashes, sweet hugs--this boy is about the cutest thing ever.  I love being a mom to all these kids
7.  My mom--so grateful to live close to her; so grateful for her good example and kindness to me and my family.  She is such a great grandma.
8.  David's parents--they raised the best family ever--I'm so glad to get to be a part of their family.  They are so supportive and kind to me and my family.
9.  Sisters--I have two fantastic sisters and many amazing sisters-in-law.  There is nothing else in the world like sisters.
10.  Brothers--I also have two wonderful brothers who I look up to in so many ways.  I certainly don't tell them often enough how proud of them I am and how lucky I feel to be their sister. 
11.  Lots of other amazing aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc.  Have I mentioned yet how thankful I am for family?
12.  The gospel-- I love the gospel.  I love the peace it brings in my life.  I love Jesus Christ.  He is my Savior.
13.  My primary calling--I've been so busy with primary lately, but it truly is a blessing in my life.
14.  My home--I feel so blessed to have a beautiful home in which to live. 
15.  Electricity--We recently spent nearly 24 hours without power and our house got really cold.  I'm so grateful for a heat and light and warmth.
16.  A washer and dryer--and my fabulous laundry room (another post about that to come when we get the last of the projects done in there)
17.  The Internet--how great is it to be able to find out answers to questions by just googling it?  Fantastic!
18.  Good books--so much to read, so little time.
19.  Cell phones--isn't technology amazing?!
20.  Flushing toilets--not going to elaborate on this one, but yet, so grateful
21.  Clean water--I know I take it for granted that there is water available just by turning on the tap, but it is an amazing blessing.
22.  Food--we have such a variety and abundance of food at our fingertips.  We truly live like royalty.
23.  Cars--I am so blessed to have reliable transportation to take me anywhere I want to go on good safe roads.
24.  Freedom--to travel, to worship, to think, to speak
25.  Photography--I don't have the best memory, so I love having a camera to try to capture all the good things I want to remember.  My life certainly isn't only good things, but that is what I want to remember, therefore, that is what I take pictures of (and ultimately post on this blog).  I love going back to look at old pictures and remembering the associated events. 
26.  Education--so grateful for my good college experience and the things I learned and the skills I gained. 
27.  Employment--so thankful that David has a good job and we don't have to worry about affording the necessities.
28.  My job--I still only work 8-10 hours a week, but I love having that little part of me outside of being a mom.  I love having expertise in something other than mopping the floor.  Not sure what I'll do with this job of mine in the long term, but it has been very rewarding for me for the past 13 years.
29.  Toothbrushes, toothpaste and dentist--not sure how it was 100 years ago, but I love having clean teeth.
30.  Medicine--isn't it amazing that we can take a motrin and the pain goes away?
31.  The beautiful world--Heavenly Father truly created an amazing place for His family.  The more of the world that I see, the more amazing I learn it is.
32.  Prophets--I am so blessed to live in a time when we not only have the words of ancient prophets available to us, but we have a living prophet too. 
33.  The scriptures--Those words of ancient prophets sure have a way of helping us out in the here and now.
34.  Health--I am so grateful to have a healthy body that can run and move and breathe; that is free from pain.
35.  Music--my life is better and more fuller when it is filled with music.
36.  Friends--I have wonderful friends in my life.  Some I have had for years and years.  Others are new friends that I am still making.  Good friends make all the difference.
37.  Life--Life itself is a gift.  Every day that I am here on this earth; every ordinary day--making breakfast, doing laundry, cleaning--it is all a gift. So grateful for all of it--the good and the bad. 

I read somewhere that gratitude = happiness and I think that is true.  Yesterday morning I was rushing around trying to get ready and make it to my dentist appointment on time.  William was hanging out in the bathroom with me, mostly holding on my leg and crying until I would pick him up.  Once I picked him up, he kept grabbing at my make-up, broke my eyeliner and pulled the cotton tops off the Q-tips.  I was getting so frustrated at him because every time I set him down he would cry, yet if I picked him up I couldn't get ready.  I wanted to get after him, yet I knew it wouldn't do any good because he wouldn't understand me anyway--it would just make things worse.  So I just started talking to him and telling him how grateful I was to be his mom and how I really wanted him and was so glad he came to our family.  It didn't get any easier to finish getting ready.  William didn't stop being difficult and things didn't go any faster, but I felt happier.  When I dwelled on the good and thought about how grateful I was for my little William, the hard parts didn't bother me so much.  So today, instead of dwelling on the things that aren't the best, I'm thinking about everything that is.  I am truly grateful for the wonderful life I have.