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{Day 30}

There aren't words to express the feelings I am having as I reflect back on this experience of being grateful...truly thinking about and writing down those things that make my life rich and worth living. So many experiences, things, places and people remind me everyday that I am one lucky girl.
If I had to pin-point the one thing that I am most grateful for, the thing I would grab if my house was on fire (as a little girl it was going to be the cradle with all my dolls) it would be my family.
I am nothing without my family.
I am incredibly grateful to know that we are a forever family...that because Scott and I were sealed in the temple on our wedding day, our marriage won't end when one of us dies, but that we will be together for eternity and that our children are sealed to us for eternity as well.
My family makes my life interesting, exciting, motivating, happy, full, complete.  I love them with all my heart.
Today, and always, I am so grateful for my family!

because of this beautiful place...

...I get to be with them forever!

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{Day 29}

I love to read, and while it has been hard to do over the last couple of years with crazy schedules of work, baby and family, it is still something I yearn to do...but in the meantime while I may not be picking-up my own favorite novel, I am picking up stories to read to my littles.  Jane, in particular, is quite fond of her routine: bum-change, Johnson's night-time lotion and then stories.  We read a combination of stories and she eagerly will point out her favorites and sits perched on my lap as we flip the pages reading from: The Big Red Barn, Moo, Baa, La La La or one of the Sesame Street Story series like Hooper's Store or The Fix-It Shop.
I love that all of my kids adore reading, and I am firm believer that this love of literature was fostered because we read to them from the moment they came home from the hospital.  Start them young!
Today I am grateful for the moments when I can cuddle with my little ones and read to them or watch my bigger ones reading in their beds as late as we will let them because they want to finish the page they are on.

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{Day 28}

Since moving to our new home and discovering the delight of actually enjoying a master bedroom and en-suite, I have come to realize how much I love taking a bubble bath, silly I know, but seriously it is delightful to sink into the perfectly warm water, with or without bubbles, and feel almost immediate relaxation and peace.
One needs to take into account that up until now, we have lived in very old homes with one or two shared bathrooms.  This means that there is no peace involved in the sanctuary of the bathroom, you do your business and get out, because invariably someone else is doing a potty-dance in the hall waiting for you to finish.
So today, I am grateful for the peace and relaxation that is enjoyed when taking a bubble bath.

my new obsession

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{Day 27}

I was at Walmart early one morning [note-to-self 6:45 a.m. is the BEST time to go to Walmart--no crowds or aisles blocked due to stocking], checking out, realizing I may have some obsessive-compulsive tendencies as I strategically placed my items on the conveyor belt to be scanned and then placed in their respective plastic grocery sacks in such a way that the "fridge" items/toiletries/boxed-goods, etc. would 'go together'.  But as I greeted my checker with a friendly hello and asked how her day was going, she commented on my scrubs (I had come straight from work) she mentioned that she had been a nurse....*whoa* back the train up! she 'used to be a nurse' why the heck is she now a checker at Walmart? I frantically asked myself this question in my head hoping my utter surprise and shock was not as apparent on my face as I felt it might be.  I had just gotten off a 12-hour shift and sleep-deprivation does not necessarily boost the tact factor ;)
I never did ask, or find out, why the checker was now in her current place of employment, but the entire encounter made me reflect and feel extremely grateful for the education I received and the Bachelor's degree I had earned and that because of said degree I was able to have a successful career that provides a decent income for my family and our financial goals.  Not that the woman that helped me that morning in Walmart was not fulfilling her own life-long dream, to each their own, but today I am so very grateful for the chance I had to go to college and earn a degree!

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{Day 26}

I am not necessarily a competitive person, I don't really like being put in the spot-light, and team sports are not my forte...but I do enjoy a good board game with family & friends.  My significant other has never liked playing games and fought it for a long time, it is not his idea of 'fun', but he's a good sport and will play a select few with us, which I love.  It's something we can all do together, doesn't involve electronics and we actually talk with each other.  Today I am grateful for good quality family time that involves playing a game together...

some of our favorites include:

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{Day 25}

I am grateful to have wonderful in-laws, my father-in-law and mother-in-law are the sweetest and most generous people.  My husband was raised in a good home with wonderful parents who love him and set a good, strong example.  I am thankful for what they taught him and the values they instilled in him.  I am also grateful to know that that they love me unconditionally like I was one of their own. I love them both so much!!!
Today I am so thankful for my husband's parents!

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{Day 24}

We moved down here a year ago, I was still on the tail-end of my maternity leave but knew I when I went back to work that I wanted it to be in the NICU--that is where my heart is and where I have worked for 11+ years.  But when I started investigating my prospects I was disappointed to find that the NICU down here was not hiring, they were so slow that they were having their nurses pick-up shifts at Utah Valley and even McKay-Dee to keep up on their skills during their lull, hence no job for me :(
I was able to obtain a position in a unit as close to my comfort zone as possible, in Mom-Baby, I was extremely anxious and nervous about working there, I hadn't worked with adults since nursing school and so it was a HUGE adjustment and I have worked with new moms and their babies for 10 months now...well, after a few hiccups, I have finally secured a job in the NICU down here at Dixie Regional!  *insert sigh of relief
Today I am grateful for my job in the NICU!