Give Thanks

     Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I thought I would make a post about giving thanks.  I am so grateful for so many things in my life.  Sometimes life gets so busy that we forget to give thanks for the things we are thankful for.  (I hope that makes sense).

     Being that today is the 18th of November, I will catch up with everyone else and write 18 things that I am grateful for!

                   1.  Heavenly Father:  I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves each of us unconditionally and who knows each of us better than we know ourselves. 

                   2.  My Parents:  I have been blessed with THEE BEST parents anyone could ever ask for.  My parents love my sister and I so much, and would do ANYTHING for us.  I love them so much and am so grateful for everything they have done for me, Chris and I, and our whole family.  They always work hard to provide for our family and are great examples.  I hope someday that I can be even a fraction of the parents that they are to me!

                   3.  My Sister:  I am so grateful for my one and only big sister, Emily! We have had our fair share of arguments, but through it all we are still best friends.   I love having her as an older sister, to give me advice, to sleep on the floor when I'm scared and/or sick, to talk to about anything, to go shopping with, and to be my maid of honor!  I am so lucky to have her not only as a sister, but my best friend!
              
                   4.  My handsome, loving, adorable, Husband:  Have I mentioned that my husband is handsome? loving? or adorable?  He is so much more than that as well.  I could write a huge, long post just about how great he is, but we don't want anyone gagging over our "Newlywed love" haha. 
Chris works SO hard everyday in order to help provide for us two as well as our future family. Oh! and have I mentioned that he's handsome? ;) As mentioned in a previous post, he was working 7 days a week and 12 hour days and NEVER would complain.  He is so thoughtful! He wakes up with me on days that I work so that he can watch me walk out to my car. Oh! Have I mentioned that he is adorable?   He will bring me lunch at work when he would probably rather be sleeping in.  Okay, I won't keep going on..but basically I love him so much and appreciate him more than he knows!

                   5.  The Gospel:  I am so grateful to be able to be a member of the LDS Church, to know the truth of the bible and the Book of Mormon.

                   6.  A home:  So many people are without a roof over their heads because of the economy, because of fires burning their homes down, because of hurricanes destroying their homes, etc.  I can not imagine what these people must be going through.  Chris and I have been very blessed with a beautiful home that we are renting from our family friends George and Joan.  We couldn't thank them enough for letting us live in their home. 

                   7.  A job:  Currently, I am a Registered Nurse at a rehab hospital here in Chico.  I usually work on the Alzheimer's unit with those who have been affected with different severity's of Dementia/Alzheimer's.  At times I am able to pick up some shifts over on the Rehab unit and care for those who are recovering from surgery, car accidents, illnesses, etc.  I love what I do. I love being a nurse and caring for those who are ill and cant care for themselves. 

                  8.  A car:  I am grateful to be able to have a car that gets me to work, the grocery store, the mall, friends houses, our families houses, takes me on road trips, etc.  I know that there are people in the world who are not able to partake of this means of transportation.  We are so lucky, so grateful!

                  9.  A computer:  It seems like EVERYTHING is done on computers these days.  You apply for college on computers, apply for graduation on computers, apply for jobs on computers, sell/buy cars on computers, email on computers, stay in touch with family and friends via facebook on computers...computers, computers, computers and of course..blog on computers!! With the way the world is, you basically HAVE to have a computer to get by.  I am grateful to have a computer so that I can do all these things.

                 10.  Food:  I am blessed to have a pantry full of canned and boxed food and a fridge full of fresh food to prepare meals in order to feed my husband and I.

                 11.  A bed:  Most of you know that I LOVE my sleep..who doesn't!?  Chris and I fight over the covers and argue over who is on whose side of the bed.  When I think about it, I am glad that I even have a bed to argue over.

                  12.  A healthy body:  Being a nurse, I have taken care of several people who were suffering from many different illnesses. I am so grateful to have a healthy body.  I have had my fair share of illnesses though, trust me.

                  13.  Music:  I love music! Country, oldies, hip-hop, R&B..mostly anything.  I love days where I can just turn on the radio and clean house, do dishes, fold laundry, etc.  It's so relaxing and just makes my day so much brighter :)

                  14.  Camping:  Growing up, my family went camping almost every weekend up in Lake Almanor.  I love the lake, the water, pine trees, pine cones, boating, fishing, playing in the dirt, riding our bikes, gathering around a campfire, putting on my sweats and roasting smores and of course the smell...the amazing smell of camping! I can't wait until Summer again so that we can camp!

                  15.  Nature:  Honestly, I cannot get over all of the nature that has been put on this earth for us to enjoy and look at.  The beautiful flowers, green trees, rocks, little creatures, etc.  We are so blessed to live on such a beautiful planet.

                  16.  Snow:  I have many memories of going to Tahoe and spending our mornings at Northstar Ski Resort in ski lessons and the afternoons skiing with my parents.  I was such a dare devil.  I loved to try anything new! I was so young and careless. I would go with my dad down black diamonds, go skiing with all the good snowboarders trying not to get trampled on.  I loved the snow so much I went to live in it for four years out in Utah while going to Nursing School.  It was fun at times but I wont lie, I don't miss getting up 15 minutes earlier to scrape snow and ice off my window or dig my tires out of snow.  :)

                  17.  Family Pets:  Growing up we had the CUTEST wiener dog EVER.  Her name was Sniffles..named because we brought her home from the pet store and she Sniffed EVERYTHING.  She was so cute! We loved her.  She went everywhere with us! I wont forget one time we were going on vacation and she must of known we weren't taking her because we couldn't find her forever and finally looked at my moms duffel bag and saw her little head poking out.  Presh? I think so! She lived with us for a good 9 years, and we still miss her!! When I was a senior in high school, we got our cute "puppies" Zoey and Abby who came to my dad's work and found us and decided to adopt us as their family.  Zoey is the goofball, cat-like one.  Abby acts more motherly and is very protective of Zoey.  They are so cute!

                   18.  Holidays:  I LOVE Holidays because it seems like every other day throughout the year is filled with work, school, and everyday chores that it is hard to get the whole family together.  I love that on Holidays, we all take a break from work, school and our daily duties and spend time together...eating and enjoying each others company.  I can't wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas, to spend time with my loved ones !


     I am so grateful for EVERYTHING in my life and have such a full and happy heart for everything that I have been blessed with.