Give Thanks!

I have so much to be grateful for. Some of the things that I give thanks for daily are: family, gospel, health, my job (I especially give thanks for this one on the weekends, holidays, and in the summer!), my home, car. I really am very very blessed.

I am also grateful for the mountains, and Sundays, and a clean house, Christmas decorations, yummy candles, a niece to buy clothes for (seriously I may never buy clothes for myself again, clothes not shoes), a brother on a mission.

I love this time of year to contemplate all the blessing in my life and remember the things that are most important. Last night I read President Monson's Conference talk: The Divine Gift of Grattitude and it made me so thankful for all that I have in my life. Especially the blessing of having a living prophet to lead and guide.

One part I really liked was:

Notice that the Savior gave thanks for what they had—and a miracle followed: “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.”⁴

We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings. Said the Greek philosopher Epictetus, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”⁵

I will be honest there are times when I too am guilty of focusing on righteous desires that I want but don't have. I don't feel like I do this very often but I am human and it does happen. This quote really puts things in perspective for me. I AM SO BLESSED! I have been given so much. When I look at all my blessings I can't help but thank the Lord for how generous he has been to me.

One other thing I like from the same talk is this:

This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways.

As I read this last night I thought of my students and how they are so strong and so good. I love teaching, there are hard days, but everyday I see so much good in all I come in contact with. There is so much wrong in the world but seriously I look at the youth and see so much GOOD! I am thankful for the example that these youth set for me, they make the right hard decisions everyday.

I am just so grateful for all I have. You should read President Monson's talk it was so good. I hope that I can live with an attitude of gratitude!

Two Things

Two new things have recently revolutionized my gym workouts. The first is this:

I have always loved to read at the gym but the problem is that you never know if your book will fit on the equipment. The Kindle solves that problem it is so skinny. And there is a function to enlarge the text and so not only does any book you read fit you can also make the print large enough to read while working out. I have not paid for any books yet because there are actually lots of free books, all the classics are free, and so I have had plenty to keep me entertained while working out. Maybe I should do the next commercial for the Kindle, because I think it is the greatest thing ever!

The second thing is this. I didn't want to put a picture of a sports bra on my blog, but seriously this sports bra is awesome. I needed a new sports bra and I decided to try one that is more expensive, to see if there is a difference. I can report that there is a huge difference. It was $45 but it was so worth it. Hopefully is lasts a long time.

In other news my legs are just so tired every night. I have not quite adjusted to being on my feet two and a half extra hours a day. On a happier note I am really pumped about my team this year. And seriously is it already Thanksgiving I have not even started thinking about Christmas shopping?

Weekend O Fun

This weekend was really busy. Thank goodness there was an extra hour of sleep Saturday night because I sure needed it. Friday I took a half day at work and hung out with Jana and Erica, then played soccer, and then stayed up until one am eating homemade ice cream and watching Toy Story 3. I can not do late nights I don't know what I was thinking.

Saturday started off with a 5K in honor of one of my former students who is battling cancer. The weather was great and the run wasn't too terrible.

I am sad to say that Sam's sprint to the finish edged me out. I will beat him next time:)

We hurried back to my house after the run and got ready for the BYU game. My aunt and uncle got us a free tickets so we obviously could not turn them down. The weather was so great and BYU played so great so it was a good afternoon.

We love our cougars.

Afterwords Dan made us a yummy dinner. I wrapped the evening up by cleaning house and doing laundry. I can't believe it is November. Basketball starts tomorrow. Can you believe it? I am so excited for my team this year. The girls are really good but they are so fun as well. I feel like it is going to be a great season.

I can't believe the holidays are approaching so fast. This year has flown by. Time just goes faster and faster the older I get. Crazy!