I am Grateful...

My friend Chelsea is doing a Thanksgiving giveaway on her blog, and this little gratitude list of mine is my entry.  There are way too many things to include in an all-inclusive list of the things in my life for which I am grateful, so I am just going to list the top ten things that I have been grateful for in the last week, in no particular order.

1.  My boys.  Logan is such a patient and loving husband, and Callum is pretty much the cutest little baby that I have ever seen.  Listening to him giggle melts my heart, especially if he is giggling because his daddy is playing with him.  There are no greater gifts in my life than these, my men.

2.  The beautiful weather that we have been having here in Saint Louis.  Saint Louis falls are truly glorious.  And they seem even more glorious since they follow the humid, sticky summers.

3.  My sisters.  They are both amazing women and wonderful examples to me of how I want to live my life.  They are also my closest friends.

4.  My mother.  I have been thinking about my mom a lot lately.  I miss her so much.  But I would rather have had her for only 21 years than any other mother for 100 years!  She was so wise and always had the best advice.  She was down-to-earth and had her priorities straight.  She always put her family and her faith first.  She was so strong and courageous throughout her battle with cancer, and she never complained or took out her sorrows, pains, and frustrations on us.  When I went through a rough time in high school she showed me unconditional love, but she also never put up with my crap.  She held me responsible for the consequences of my own actions and attitude problem, and she never enabled me.  Because of that I was able to come out of that stage a stronger person and become the woman that I am today.  She was also one of my dearest friends and confidants.  I miss her so much it hurts.

5.  My daddy.  He is the rock of our family, our pillar of strength.  Since Mom's death he has stepped up to the plate and become a dearer friend and a more involved part of our lives than we ever could have imagined.  He went from being my great dad to being one of my dearest friends.  I admire him so much and look to his opinion and example for guidance in all of my decisions.  I love how much he adores my son, and I am filled with joy and relief every time that I see them together.  Callum brings back the sparkle in my daddy's eyes that I haven't seen since my mother died, and I look forward to seeing my dad thrive with happiness and joy in his role as a grandfather to all of his grandchildren to come.  He is the best.  Beyond the best.

6.  Technology.  During this time of my life, when I am forced to be so far from the people that I love, I am so grateful to have email, cell phones, blogs, and all of the other comforts that make it possible for me to stay in close contact with my family and friends.  I am also enormously grateful to my generous inlaws, who gave us this new computer, which makes all of those things even faster and more convenient.

7.  Photos.  I love photos.  I love taking them, looking at them, framing them, and scrapbooking them.  I am so grateful to be able to capture all of my little boy's cute faces and stages of life.  I love looking back at pictures of my mom with her girls.  Those photos always reflect how much she loved being a mother.  I am grateful for the photos that we have of my parents in high school together going to dances and just goofing around.  I love how their love for one another shines through in those precious photos.

8.  The Christmas Season.  Everyone knows that I am a Halloween junkie, but when push comes to shove it is Christmas that I really love.  If I could only celebrate one of those holidays for the rest of my life I would definitely choose Christmas.  It is an entire SEASON!  I love the music, the food, the gifts, the lights, the decorations, the parties, the nativities, the time spent reflecting on our Savior's wondrous entrance into this world, and the time with family.  All of those things combined make December a month full of happiness and peace for me.  And I must admit that I have already caught the Christmas bug this year.  I have been secretly listening to Christmas music around the house.  :)

9.  New friends.  I have collected so many wonderful friends throughout the years.  I have extremely close friends from college, high school, and even elementary school with whom I am still in close contact.  They mean the world to me.  But none of them are here.  My first year here was an extremely lonely one.  The second one was just ok.  This year is so much different.  I finally have people who I trust and who I can count on to be excited to see me and who enjoy my company.  It makes a world of difference to have friends, doesn't it?

10.  Talents.  Sometimes around this time of year it is easy to forget to be grateful for the gift of music that God gave to me.  As a singing couple, Logan and I are asked to do EVERYTHING musical during this time of year.  Sing in this trio....this quartet....the ward choir....the stake choir....the One Voice Choir....the ward talent show......on and on it goes.  It can get really stressful, especially since we don't have a piano at home to practice on and learn our parts, and we no longer live by our fabulous go-to accompanists (Logan's sisters).  But, in the end, I am so blessed.  I love singing.  I miss my carefree school years full of choirs and musicals.  I miss taking voice lessons.  I miss having something exciting to rehearse and look forward to.  My voice has led me into so many groups and activities throughout the years, and in those groups and activities I have found some of the most wonderful friends that I could ever ask for.  Not to mention that without my singing voice I would never have ended up serving for my church as a Young Performing Missionary in Nauvoo, Illinois, which would have meant that I may never have met Logan.  That would have been the greatest tragedy of my life.  I love to sing to my little boy, and I love to hear Logan sing to my little boy.  We are blessed, and I need to take the time during this time of year to reflect on that and show my gratitude to the Lord who blessed me with this gift. 

What a list.  I could go on and on.  This has been a nice wakeup call, and a very uplifting blog post to write.  Thanks, Chels.  Sure love ya!