Christmas! 25th and 26th combined (in pictures)!

 

1- Santa Clause, and that he came to our house!

2- Pretty Christmas Trees . . .

3- and scared/excited faces! (I really can’t tell which emotion this is!)

4- This face (surprise!)

5- And this face (what’s that? . . . I think I might want it!)

6- And this face (gimme that camera!)

7- And definitely this face (what’s going on here – said super slow mo)

8- And yes, even this face (your ear is mine!!!!)

9- And that I finally uploaded those pictures to the computer! (From the Festival of Tress the first week of December)

10- I’m grateful that we get together every year for a Christmas party with my dad and his family.

11- And that their house is freaking amazingly beautiful and their Christmas decorations spectacular.

12- And that, for the first time, Kaiah was able to spend Christmas with them, too!

13- And how cute she was with the present bows in her hair . . .

14- And that of all the bows stuck to her, she chose to pull out the one that was actually suppose to be there!

15- And this face (how could you do this to me, mom?!?)

16- One of Kaiah’s new Christmas outfits . . .

17- And that we got a HUGE bag of rice for Christmas, to go along with our . . .

18- Brand new gigantic and super nice rice cooker! (Thanks to Ashley and Megan, my Canadian Freshmas roommates for introducing me to rice cookers for the first time!)

19- Thing 1 and Thing 2 outfits from Grandma and Grandpa Bright

20- My mom’s animated hand motions

21- And this face (really, another picture?)

22- That we were able to spend Christmas with Cloe and Noah (Stephen’s kids).

23- That Cloe is the BEST babysitter I have EVER met! She had Kaiah entertained crawling away from the evil “humans” and giving her “victory cheerios” for hours! Then she entertained Caleb (4 yrs old) by zapping the evil witch (my mom) and obliterating her brain. LOVE CLOE!

24- That Noah pretends that he doesn’t like Kaiah, but then he giver her kisses and calls her Kaiah Bug and plays with her when no one is watching! It melts my heart to see the look in his eyes when he plays with Kaiah!

25- That Kaiah has two more people to call aunt and uncle

26- That Cloe prepared a beautiful song to perform for us on Christmas Eve – complete with her own homemade song book!

27- That she has a KILLER voice!

28- That I don’t find them near as annoying as I used to! (no offense ). They are getting older and I grow to love them more and more every year!

29- That Kaiah was able to spend Christmas Eve with my immediate and closest family . . . Jer, Kaiah, Grandma We We, Grandpa Bright, Aunt Cloe, Uncle Noah, Aunt Kamie, Uncle Alex, Cousin Ari, Uncle Joe-face, and great grandma Jaylene!

30- That they all wanted to capture the action, except for my grandma who would have the slightest clue what to do with a camera!

31- And that my grandma is priceless . . .

32- Kaiah’s first Christmas present (from Aunt Cloe and Uncle Noah)

33- And this face! (Presents . . . please!)

34- Christmas pajamas

35 – And cousin kisses!

36- New big girl convertible car seat (thanks grandma we we!)

37- And big girl Tinkerbell bean bags!

38- Stylin hats

39 – And shoes . . .

40- And clothes!

41- Entire new wardrobes – Kaiah is set for the whole year!

42 – And new storage bins – Kaiah loves pulling things out of them!

43- Stuffed animals and books

44- New froggy rockers

45- And more toys than one girl could possible need!

46- Gloworm toys from Grandma and Grandpa Payne. I had one when I was a baby and I loved it, and Kaiah loves hers, too!

47- That we were able to host Christmas this year. Thanks to both my family and Jer’s for coming to our house!

48- And that we didn’t have to drive all over the place (we usually do Heber and Tooele all on Christmas day!)

49- That becoming a mom has brought on a whole new level of Christmas – it is so much more exciting!

50-  And that I get to do this all over again next year.

51- And that even though Jer and I only bought Kaiah really cheap essentials (hangers, bowl, and hair clips), she got PLENTY from all of her grandparents! It is nice to know that Kaiah can still get spoiled even though her parents are poor!

Christmas Eve Gratitude

1- Today I am grateful for Christmas, and for everything that it stands for. Specifically, I am grateful for:

2- A Heavenly Father who loves me. Me, personally.

3- That He loves me so much, He sent his Son to atone for me.

4- That His Son, Jesus Christ, was not only willing to die for me, but embraced that task and did it willingly.

5- That because of this sacrifice, I can be forgiven of my mistakes.

6- Because of this sacrifice, I can live with my Heavenly Father again.

7- And, that because of this sacrifice, I can pray to someone who knows and understands everything that I am feeling and going through . . . everything.

8- I am grateful that I know that prayers are personal communication with someone who loves me. I don’t have to recite memorized prayers or pray through a 3rd party saint. I can pray directly to my Heavenly Father who wants to hear from me.

9- And that those prayers are heard and answered.

10- I am grateful for the lessons that Jesus taught while He ministered to his brothers and sisters.

11- And that I have been taught to read those words.

12- I’m grateful that Jesus set up His church, delegating responsibilities to prophets and apostles.

13- And that His true church was restored to Joseph Smith, who was willing and worthy to do the things needed of him.

14- And that the power of the Priesthood was restored, too.

15- And that I have that power in my home.

16- I am grateful for everything the Priesthood can do

17- And that, through that power, we have modern day prophets

18- who love us

19- and receive continual revelation specific to problems we face today

20- from a Heavenly Father who is never changing and, therefore, loves us just as much as those in the past, so He sends us revelations, too.

21- And that I can receive personal revelation for myself and my own family.

22- And that this guides my life

23- And gives me peace.

24- And I am grateful that I know these things – without a doubt. I know.

Thursday 23

I’m starting to lose track of what I have already included on my list! I swear my brain worked better when I was younger! If I accidently repeat – forgive me!

1- Our new cinnamon roll recipe – most delicious thing I have ever made! (besides Kaiah)

2- “While You Were Sleeping.” Favorite. Movie. Ever. I watch it every Christmas and I love love love it.

3- That Jer found our DVD of the above. I thought that were threw away the VHS and didn’t have a copy anymore, but Jer found our DVD! Yay!

4- Sandra Bullock – best actress ever.

5- That every time I watch “While You Were Sleeping” I am reminded of all of the time I spent watching and rewatching it growing up and basing my life around it. Pathetic, a little. But true.

6- That Jer hasn’t ever seen “While You Were Sleeping,” so he is experiencing its majesty in its fullness now. I love it.

7- Watching the bottom of our tree fill up with presents.

8- Vacuum cleaners. I wonder what people did before them.

9- That tomorrow’s Christmas Eve!

10- The tickly feeling I get at the end of a great movie!

11- Clean bathrooms.

12- Big living rooms that can host my whole family!

13- Recipes that can be made early and put in the fridge.

14- Sugar

15- Fat free sour cream

16- That my hubby always tries to suggest things about himself that I should add to my gratitude list.

17- Big storage space. I finally have a place for all of my wrapping paper!

18- My collection of cards. I always have at least a couple different birthday, Christmas, thank you, etc cards on hand.

19- That I recycle gift bags. Never spend money on bags!

20- That my mommy knows that I love recycled gift bags, so she always buys me really cute ones for my birthday.

21- For McDonalds. Hate it if you will, but every once in awhile I just got to have my two cheeseburger combo meal.

22- That my husband has long arms. He is average height, but his arm length is huge! Works well for a shorty like me :)

23- That when my hubby goes on rants about work and goes into lots of details that takes hours – seriously, you should hear them. Kamie and Alex call him “Buzz Killington” from Family Guy because his stories are so boring. Anyway, I am grateful that when he goes on and on about these stories, I can reply with “I’m sorry honey” and then kinda tune him out and everyone ends up happy in the end :)

Wednesday 22

1- Days off of work. There is nothing better than a little extra time with my bug.

2- Extra long naps. Kaiah slept for a whopping 3 hours this afternoon! I never check on her during her naps because she wakes up really easily, but I checked on her several times because I just couldn’t believe that she was still asleep! But sure enough, she was sleeping soundly . . . which leads me to . . .

3- Kaiah’s adorable sleeping face. I never get to see her asleep because she wakes up when I step one toe into her room, but today I actually got to admire her while she slept. Priceless. Her checks look all fat and hang down ever lower than usual.

4- Our home teacher. We haven’t ever had consistent home teachers until this ward – we have a winner! His companion is never at church, but our home teacher still comes every month by himself, with his wife, or someone else. He is awesome.

5- Cleaning. Our house is always a disaster and I am definitely not a cleaner, but every once in awhile it is nice to take a break from the mentally draining work and just get my hands dirty.

6- That I am typing this without looking at the keys. Embarrassing, but I just never really learned how to type correctly. I used to be really slow and always looked at the keys, but over the past 3-ish years I have really improved! Life saver!

7- Toe nail polish. Amazing how it can make me feel so much better.

8- That someday Kaiah and I will be able to paint our toes together.

9- That you can buy gift cards at the grocery store! We got two more Christmas gifts done today while shopping.

10- That Kamie uses us as her taste testers/garbage disposals! Yes! Kamie and Alex are picky eaters, so they bring all the goodies they don’t want down to us. Tonight it was Kamie’s trail run of her Christmas dessert. Yum!

11- My bread machine. I definitely am not a huge baker, but the bread machine has been used a zillion times. I would be lost making recipes that call for yeast without it.

12- That I use the wrong fingers when typing. It drives Jer nuts and I think it’s funny. I hold my hands correctly, but I use my pointer finger for the space bar instead of my thumb!

13- That Utah is getting slaughtered. I don’t really like Boise State either, but I am happy that the Dirty Utes are losing!

14- That heads fit so well on shoulders. Bahaha. You know, like when you lay your head down on someone’s shoulder and it just fits so well? Yeah.

15-  That Kaiah’s toys have taken the place of presents under our tree. We knew that if we put presents under the tree then disaster would occur, so we just put her toys under the tree instead.

16- Rechargeable batteries. Genius.

17- Allrecipes.com. I use it ALL the time!

18- That I have a heart. I know I said that I wanted Utah to lose, and I do, but I also feel so bad for them. I wish that everyone could feel good about their performance. Poor stupid Utes!

19- Clean sheets.

20- That Jer always helps me make the bed.

21- That Jer doesn’t steal the covers.

22- That I still have another shopping day before Christmas Eve. We are NOT ready yet. Oh dear. Here’s to last minute shopping!

Tuesday 21

1- Harry Potter – of course! I love it all – the books and the movies! We finally saw The Dealthy Hallows today and we both thought it was awesome!

2- Buying presents. Best. feeling. ever. oh wait . . .

3- Buying presents with my sister! Now that is the best feeling ever!

4- Thinking of a good surprise present for my hubby – I never surprise him, but I think I actually will this year!

5- Slobbery kisses from Kaiah

6- Playing in the mirror with Kaiah. She thinks it is so funny to look at me in the mirror, and then turn her head really fast and look at me! Adorable.

7- That I know have an excuse to wait in the car while Jer runs into Walmart – Kaiah is sleeping!

8- Dessert pizza. Yum!

9- Watching trailers before the movie. We always get there before the trailers because we LOVE seeing what is coming up!

10- Men’s razors. They work really well on my legs!

11- That my OCD doesn’t bother me too often. I am pretty terrible and if something bothers my OCD-ness then I use my fingernails to push my gums up until they hurt really bad – weird I know. Anyway, I am grateful that I don’t resort to the gum pushing too often.

12- The way my hubby looks with short hair – yowza!

13- Cold water.

14- And hot water – when I am showering!

15- Surprise groceries from mommy.

16- Getting a good ab working through laughing with Kamie.

17- That when Kamie is making fun of me she uses the voice of that dad on “King of the Hill.” Apparently I sound like a middle-aged white trashy male when I am speaking?

18- good head scratches.

19- That my baby is a girl and I can put her in cute dresses whenever I want.

20- New windshield wipers.

21- That I grew up in a generation that was still taught how to savor things. I knew had to use a pay phone and that I needed to plan ahead. I didn't have a cell phone in high school. I learned to cherish the good things. Kids today get so many things thrown at them, they are always filled with instant gratification and don’t have to hold on to what they have now since something new is always around the corner.

Monday 20–Love from students!

Today my Christmas gift to my students was a pass-it-forward gratitude opportunity – I gave them “Thank You” cards to fill out for a teacher, coach, or worker at our school. Little did I know that at the end of the day I would find a whole stack of Thank You cards in my box! It wasn’t really my intention (I wanted to spread the joy around the school!) but I must admit that hearing their nice words did make my whole year! So, today I am grateful for my favorite segments from the letters:

Mrs. Payne,

1- “You are always so happy and energetic and whenever I come here I can’t help myself but to be happy. And you have made me realize that I can do hard things.”

2- “I am thankful you are a really good teacher”

3- “I am so thankful that you are my teacher. I was dreading English this year but then I got your class and we are learning real fun things.”

4- “I would like to thank you for all the support you gave me on our one on one interview. Many of the teachers expect us to get what they teach us on the first try, but you get that we need time to get things right. Many times I have had doubts about something and haven’t had the guts to ask you but after our talk I feel that I can ask anything and you would help me. You are a rare teacher . . . Thanks to you I feel that a teacher actually cares about what we think and feel.”

5- “I can honestly say that you have been my favorite English teacher that I have ever had.”

6- “I really do enjoy this class and learn something new every class period.”

7- “Your crazy side is my favorite because you say weird things and act hilarious and it’s the best to watch because you’re in a really good mood and it affects everyone else.”

8- “I like how you write comments on each of our papers. They are always so nice and informative. I always learn something new from every comment that is written.”

9- “You really have taught me how to put the stuff we learn into my life.”

10- “Thank you for helping me with my reading, like suggesting The Hunger Games (which is a great book).”

11- “Thank you for teaching me how to use MLA format. I’ve been using it in all of my classes and I’ve been getting much better score on my papers . . . these are things that I will use for years to come.”

12- “You have really helped me reach my learning potential. You individually help each students and it really makes a difference.”

13- “I learn a lot more because class is enjoyable.”

14- “You are without a doubt my favorite teacher. You explain everything so clearly and you make learning fun.”

15- “I have hated classical literature my whole life, until I have gone to this class! I was talking to my friend, and she just moved. Right before she moved she had to read Romeo and Juliet and her whole school despised it! She told me that the teachers here are “brainwashing” us into loving it! Isn’t that a good thing? That’s my point! You are such a great teacher and you are so into it, so that makes the rest of us into it!”

16- “Even though I thought you were crazy in the beginning of the year, you really show that you care about your students by really thinking about our seating choice. When I sat in the back with  --------- I didn’t do so well, but you changed my seating to the front where I actually learn. I’m also grateful of you as a teacher that you took the most boring story that almost everyone hates to a story that sounds like the most interesting thing ever.”

17- “Before this class I felt like I was really bad at writing anything . . . I feel that now I am not terrible at English. I really want to express my gratitude more, but I can’t find the words.”

18- “You make Honors English so much fun even though it’s a very hard class.”

19- “You are such a happy person and you’re one of the people that just make me want to be like you . . . I love how you connect everything to your life and make everything understandable.”

20- “Thank you for unfolding the amazingness of Romeo and Juleit. It kills me to stop watching/reading/talking about Romeo and Juliet.”

*Bonus - “I really enjoy your class because it is the only class that I feel I can really express myself and feel comfortable in the class. I’ve realized that your teaching style is much much different from the other teachers, and that is why I am so excited to come to your class everyday. You’re not afraid to express yourself . . . you are not afraid to put yourself out there and that is why so many students love you.”

*Bonus – “Even though your class is one of my hardest, it has been one of the funnest classes I have had!”

Sunday 19

1- Finding a dress in my closet that I didn’t think fit, trying it on, and Yes! It fits!

2- Watching my baby smile in the rain.

3- Temple Square lights – it’s not Christmas without them.

4- Comfy boots

5- Canceled appointments = extra time with family!

6- Jeremiah’s homemade breakfast burritos. Well, any breakfast burritos. Actually, let’s just go for anything with the word “burrito” in it at all.

7- Hats in the winter.

8- Jer’s nicknames for Kaiah. Specifically . . .

9- Kaiah burnaners . . .

10- Kaiah papaya . . .

11- Squirtle . . .

12- Kaiah swerte . . .

13- and muffin top.

14- that Kaiah was pulling her “stink face” at the guy behind us in church (whole face scrunched up), and the guy was pulling the same face back at her.

15- That we have always believed in playing the same with Kaiah as we would with a boy. She gets thrown around and hung upside down all the time!

16- That Kaiah talks to herself in the backseat.

17- That Kamie’s baby likes to “fist pump” . . .

18- And shimmy . . .

19- and pretty much anything else that Aunt Kasie makes him do!

Saturday 18 (BYU, 9-1-1, and death by snow)

1- BYU Bowl Games – even if they aren’t against fantastic teams, I am still extremely grateful for ANY chance to watch my cougars play.

2- Football jerseys – Yes please! :)

3- Jared and Shana – Jared has been Jeremiah’s best friend for over 21 years! I haven’t had anything for 21 years – let alone a best friend! Jared and Jeremiah not only have history together, but they went to the same place for their missions, got married within a month of each other, and just seem to share a brainwave. Luckily, Jared’s wife is really similar to me – so it all works out!

4- Days when Kaiah gets entertained (and exhausted!) – Jared and Shana brought over their two kiddos who just love Kaiah, and she loves them! She spent hours following them around, and she has the shortest attention span ever!

5- Pizza Pie Café – never tried it before. All-you-can-eat salad, pizza, and pasta that isn’t gross? Are you serious? Delicious!

6- A clean floor.

7- Cell phones. What did we do before?

8- Being in the right place at the right time – and 9-1-1. On the way up the canyon the car a bit ahead of us flipped unto its side. We got there just in time to see the driver climbing out of the passenger side window. We pulled over and called 9-1-1. He was okay and they got the car flipped back over. Crazy. I’m glad that I was able to help.

9- Finding gift cards I had forgotten about.

10- Windshield wiper blades that work.

11- That Kaiah enjoyed her first jam sandwich!

12- Wuthering Heights – my favorite book of all time. I try to read it once a year and I just started it for the millionth time tonight.

13- Reading in bed.

14- Cold sheets.

15- Ari in a BYU hat – bahahahahhaha

16- That I have never been stuck in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard with my 5 month old son and had to walk in the cold and spit snow into my son’s mouth and been stuck for 9 days and then rescued but had all of my toes cut off. Yeah, we watched “I shouldn’t be alive”

17- That immediately after the show ended (even though it was midnight), I went directly into the kitchen, grabbed some plastic bags, and started packing them with water bottles and cans of food and blankets and then couldn’t find any matches . . .

18- That Jer giggled a little at my frantic emergency kit packing at midnight and that I was so upset we didn’t have matches, but that he promised to buy some waterproof ones for our car anyway . . .

Friday 17 (and why I love being from a "broken" family)

1- Laughter. There is nothing better than a dinner full of laughs. I don't laugh near enough, but my awesome family can always pull it out!

2- The fact that my hubby can't stand being alone. I grade papers in the car, and he HATES that I'm not talking to him, so he has me read them aloud to him so that he can discuss them with me. Work is a lot easier when your spouse gets involved!

3- That I come from a "broken" family (that's not all that broken) because . . .

4- Duh - more presents! Growing up Kamie and I got two birthdays and two Christmases and we LOVED all the gifts . . .

5-Plus I got all the benefits of having a "big brother" without actually having him around to so those terrible big brother things . . .

6-And now I get a little brother and sister (12 year old twins) that I get to see during all of the holidays, but they weren't there to do all the annoying little sibling things . . .

7- Plus we have a huge amount of extended family to lean on . . .

8- And my relationship with my mom and sister is so fantastic because we had to stick together . . .

9- And being from a "broken" family made me more independent . . .

10-And motherly . . .

11- And realistic . . .

12- And considerate . . .

13- And capable of understanding what my students are going through while their parents get divorced . . .

14-Plus, now Kaiah has three sets of grandparents who love her immensely . . .

15- And I have the knowledge that there is no such thing as a perfect family . . .

16- And that families are dynamic. They move and grow and change and can expand to engulf anyone in love

17- And that my family is getting bigger and bigger and will forever, as long as we keep our hearts open :)

P.S. I need to add a bonus one for today. I am grateful that my husband just googled on his phone "cute robots" and is looking at pictures, for absolutely no reason at all.

Thursday 16

1- For my healthy baby. She had her 9 (and a half) month check up today and everything looks great! She is still short – 33% for height, but still a little chunk – 81% weight (21 pounds).

2- The good ole days when we were behind in our T.V. shows. We are all caught up now and it STINKS because when there are re-runs on, we just don’t even know what to do with ourselves!

3- Student D – he’s moving on Saturday and before he left, he wrote me a note. I guess he actually does listen to me. I told him in a one-on-one meeting that he was frustrating because he hides his intelligence. His note said that my class is his favorite, that he hopes he likes his new class as much, and that he plans on being “less deceivingly smart and more just smart.”

4- Kneaders’ parmesan chips – too bad they were sold out today!

5- That Kaiah can now use her sippy cup by herself! Since she has never used a bottle, she was a little behind in the holding-a-cup-skill. I am so glad that she can do it alone now!

6- That when Kaiah is having a bad night, when can throw her in the car and she will be super happy!

7- For serious school days. We usually laugh a lot in my class, but every once in awhile we hit on subjects that are true and deep and raw and today was one of those fantastic days.

8- For the History channel.

9- For comfortable pants.

10- For Leonardo di Caprio. Laugh if you want, but I LOVE him! I think he takes on the hardest roles and does the best job! What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? The Aviator. Catch me if you can. Shutter Island. Inception. Yep – L.O.V.E. And – oh yeah – I definitely think he is the best Romeo!`

11- Kaiah’s early bedtime. I love my quality time with baby, but I love my quality time with hubby, too! Since Jer and I both get home at 4:00, we both get four good hours playing with her before she goes to bed, then 1 1/2 hours of marriage time!

12- My laptop. I love it. It is fast and has Windows 7 – love love love!

13- Thursday comedy night. Big Bang Theory, The Office, Outsourced, and 30 Rock all in one night? Genius!

14- Mint flavored lip gloss that tingles.

15- My wedding ring. Jer chose it, and I am so so so so so in love with it. We decided that we didn’t want to start out our marriage with debt, so it is modest, but beautiful.

16- That tomorrow if Friday.

Wednesday 15

To steal from my cousin Mallory – today I am extremely grateful for all of my siblings and their kids!

Kamie, Alex, and Ari

1- Kamie. Best. friend. ever. Really. I don’t even know how else to explain the sister that has shared everything with me and created who I am today. Soul mate.

2- Alex. Even though I hate to admit it, you really have completed our family. Kamie needed you more than you can even imagine. Thanks for loving her the way she deserves to be loved. I couldn’t ask for a better uncle for Kaiah. You are the missing link in our family and it wouldn’t be complete without you.

3- Ari. Cutest little baby boy in the world. I love that you are exactly opposite of Kaiah – you are sweet and she is a monster! I love your fat cheeks and worried face and slow-motion talking!

Sara, cousin Braxton, Caleb, baby Kaiah, and Ben (not pictured – baby Ciara)

4- Ben – the brother I hate to love, or love to hate? :) Thanks for giving my hubby someone to talk all nerdy with! And, even though you were a little mean at first, I am also grateful that you (eventually) helped me to feel like part of the family.

5- Sara – Oh Sara . . . what to say? I am grateful that you gave me a friend in the family. I am grateful for someone to fight with and laugh with and drink soda with :) Even though you may not believe it, I really do consider you one of my very best friends.

6- Caleb – Smartest four year old I’ve ever met. I am so glad that Kaiah will have someone to teach her everything and keep the boys away.

7- Ciara – I am so incredibly grateful that Kaiah will have a sister-cousin to grow up with. There is nothing better than two little girls who can share secrets, play dolls, and do all those other girl things!

Marnie, Dave, and Caleb

8- Marnie – I’m grateful for Marnie in more ways that she can ever know. In a lot of ways, you were a solid connection between Me and Jer. You helped us to understand each other better, and I am eternally grateful for that!

9- Dave – Thanks for loving Marnie the way she deserves to be loved! I am so glad that you found each other.

10- Caleb (yes, we do have 2 Calebs) – Thanks for being the first little kid to make me an aunt!

*No pictures for the rest – apparently I need to take more family pics!

11- Josh – Thanks for giving me an intellectual opposite for debates! I love talking with you!

12- Jessica – Thanks for loving me and my baby. Thanks for caring about our family and helping me try to plan the Payne events. Thank you for calming down Josh!

13- Aaron – I’m grateful for your willingness to listen. Thank you for being always optimistic and the best person ever to go to Tucanos with!

14- Braxton – Cutest. Smile. Ever. Thanks for letting my Kaiah beat up on you!

15- Jake – Thanks for caring so incredibly much about us. You have the biggest heart ever and I know that Kaiah will just love you as she gets older!

Tuesday 14

1- Bad days. Without them, the good days wouldn’t feel so good.

2- Tall students. Comes in handy being a semi-short teacher. Plus it is handy when those tall students aren’t afraid to stand on desks.

3- That I know the first two steps of troubleshooting – restart, check the plugs. Fixed my projector issues today!

4- Helpful students who offer back-up plans (and know how to hook up dvd players to tvs)

5- Corny souvenirs – especially from mom!

6- Spell checker – I was way off on “souvenirs”

7- Having grandma go on vacation for a week = one week where Kaiah isn’t spoiled rotten

8- That my husband finished all of his stupid freaking annoying and death to me projects for the worst art class ever!

9- That I no longer have to spend my nights gluing little stupid pieces of paper on a giant board to create Jer’s stupid mosaic.

10- Teeth brushing – I love the feeling of brushing my teeth!

11- A more healthy focused America – I am so grateful for the new focus on healthy eating, exercise, and green living. There is nothing more important than our health and our world and, while I still have a ways to go, I am grateful for the help that the media is giving!

12- YouTube and how much it helps me with teaching!

13- That mullets went out of style . . .

14- Alex’s relationship with Kaiah. He freaking loves my little girl. He may call her a hurricane and tease her growling noises and tell her to get out of his house, but it is SOOOOO obvious that he loves her to pieces. I definitely know that Kaiah, no matter what, will grow up loving her uncle Alex.

Monday 13

1- Making up my own words. I do this all the time. For example, I just said “splouting” – as in spouting out with extra spit? Love it.

2- Forgiving babies. Our child has been slightly neglected the past couple days because of Jer’s finals, but she still loves me!

3- My three professional pictures of Kaiah on the wall. My mom spent tons of money getting me these precious portraits, and I love them! Thanks, momma!

4- Kamie and Alex’s Netflix – we “steal” their movies all the time (shhh . . . don’t tell them!)

5- Along with my cousin Mal, I am grateful for hand-me-down furniture. We have never bought a new piece of furniture. Our bed, couches, dvd cabinet, kitchen tables, etc. is all hand-me-downs/garage sale! Okay, so Jer just pointed out that we did get one of our couches as a graduation present. The point is, our furniture is low quality. It has stains, rips, and NONE of it matches. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. It has personality. And it is free.

6- Speaking of hand-me-downs, I am grateful for my Christmas tree, which I am not sure if I stole or was given from my Grandma Jaylene. Either way, I am super grateful to have my nice fatty tree (unlike Kamie’s – sorry, but yours is kinda crappy!)

7- Straight teeth – even if they are as big as a beaver’s!

8- Belly button lint. I didn’t know that it actually existed until I met Jeremiah :)

9- New computer skills. Jer has taught me a ton about computers – more than I ever thought I would know. It is kinda nice to be able to out-computer a lot of my students.

10- I’m grateful that I know that “a lot” is two words – because it is.

11- Fast forwarding annoying commercials.

12- Auto-body shops that care for their customers. We got a thank you card in the mail from the one that fixed our Jeep!

13- Little Caesars Pizza. Yummy – especially at 10 pm!

Sunday 12

1- Sleeping in. Kaiah will now sleep in until between 8-9 am. After many night time and early morning baby calls, this is the best thing ever!

2- Teacher perks. There really aren't a ton, but today Jer was in desperate need of a paper cutter, so we drove to the school and spent the afternoon cutting the smallest, most annoying squares ever for a stupid mosaic project that my hubby has to do for finals (which I am not grateful for). Without that paper cutter . . . ugh.

3- Our ward. Last night we had our ward's Christmas party, and it was super fun. Catered by Costa Vida - yummy! I love being in a student ward - I wish I could stay in it forever!

4- Sunday drives up the canyon. I love the trees, the mountains, everything about it. Kaiah loves it, too. She will just stare out the window!

5- Speaking of Kaiah - she is gettin another tooth! One is popping out the top and I am grateful for my baby growing up!

6- Left overs and no cook days.

7- That my baby loves tangerines. She will suck out all the juice and then spit or throw the rest.

8- Fringe. Jer has turned me into a total sci-fi geek. I love it! But it is moving to Fridays - t.v. death night!

9- My long hair. I've had lots of different hair styles and colors, and I am now back to my traditional long blond. My hair hasn't been this long since, like, 9th grade and I am loving it!

10- That Kaiah got my eyes. I definitely see a lot of Jer in her, but there is nothing better than looking into my baby's eyes and seeing a little, tiny bit of me in them.

11- The feeling right at the height of a yawn.

12- Mondays that I don't have to work.

Saturday 11

My gratitude list today completely revolves around a fight that Jer and I had last night. Here’s the story:

Jer and I really, really value honesty in our relationship – almost to a fault. For Christmas, I asked Jer for some cereal bowls. Jer picked some out on Amazon and showed me before he order them and, to be honest, I really didn’t like them at all. I felt like it would be ungrateful to tell him that, so instead I just told him that I liked them and then kept my mouth shut for a couple days. Jer ordered them, they arrived in the mail, I still didn’t like them, but I still told Jer I did. I mean, it was a present, and I am grateful for the time, money, and thought that went into it. I was raised to be grateful for every gift given to me – no matter what – and that it is better to keep your thoughts to yourself than to hurt other people’s feelings. The problem? Jer and I are so honest with each other that I felt like I was betraying his trust by not telling him my honest feelings. I kept telling myself that it was for his benefit, but I just couldn’t get rid of the guilt. So I told him. And obviously he was upset because I didn’t tell him before we ordered them. So today, I am grateful for:

1- Honesty. It really is the most important thing in our relationship – so much so that I can’t even keep one opinion secret from him. We always talk about how the worst thing ever would be for one of us to have an emotional affair on the other one – we go to each other first for everything, and anything else would be cheating.

2- Jer’s ability to naturally calm me down. When I fight with my mom or sister, we yell our lungs out. Jer and I never yell. I don’t know what  it is, but he just naturally makes me not want to yell.

3- Patience. Jer never gets overly frustrated with me, even though there are plenty of opportunities to.

4- Understanding. Arguably, the thing that I love most about Jer is that he honestly wants to understand me. Instead of getting mad or defensive, Jer sat down and starting asking me how and why and all the ifs ands or buts about how I feel. He wants to know more than just my current feelings. He wants to know how those feelings came to be.

5- For cuddling while fighting. We always do this. It’s a little hard to be mad at someone when you are cuddling with them?

6- For our ability and desire to examine our relationship. Jer and I love picking apart our marriage, discussing all of its intricacies, and then making changes.

7- That I married my true partner. We consider each other intellectual equals, and we like to use logic and analysis to improve our marriage.

8- That Jer and I are able to talk about the ways that our marriage has both lived up and failed in comparison to our ideals of what marriage should be.

9- That we can do all of the above without getting offended or hurt.

10- For making up

11- For Amazon’s return policy . . .

Friday 10

1- Crazy haired babies. Yum.

2- Jeremiah’s work. While he works for a large company, I think that they try hard to focus on the individual workers. Jer started this job as just a way to “get through” school, but he has been promoted in the company enough that he can now support our family. AND they sent us to Australia, which I believe was the reason we had our Kaiah bug! Thanks Dentrix!

3- One of my students said that they always do my homework first because it “actually matters and has a purpose.” Fantastic

4- Lori and Jeff. They are fantastic grandparents and will drop anything to babysit our baby if we just ask. They drove the canyon to watch her tonight and she just loves it when they come – they play fun games with her! I feel so grateful to have them in both mine and my baby’s lives!

5- Serial killer shows. I admit, I am just a little (lot) obsessed with serial killers. Awesomist shows ever.

6- Coffee tables. While ours never hosts coffee, it does serve as a foot rest, laptop desk, dinner table, and (most importantly) Kaiah throw everything off-of toy.

7- Bread pudding. Especially chocolate bread pudding.

8- Windshield wipers. And windshields. They pretty much rock.

9- While we are on that subject, how about free rock chip repairs? I think they pretty much rock, too.

10- That I never, ever have to go to bed alone . . .

Thursday 9

1- Early mornings. I wouldn’t really say that I am a “morning person,” but I love being awake when the world is still asleep. This is especially true when driving to work, when the sun is just coming up over the mountains in Heber. Heber gets a lot of fog, but when the sun shines through it – most peaceful thing ever.

2- Nice cashiers. Being a couponer, I hate it when the cashiers treat me like I am cheating the system or something. The stores get paid for all of the coupons that I use, so I don’t see the deal. Today I had an extremely nice cashier who went out of her way to help me. I love how strangers can have such an impact on my day!

3- No make-up days. I admit, when I don’t have to work, I don’t get ready. I love it.

4-  Students who actually “get” it. We are working on writing reflective paragraphs and usually I read the same junk over and over. But today I had two students who wrote things so real, so true that I wanted to jump up and down and scream!

5- My babies’ laugh. She doesn’t laugh very often, but when she does it is well worth it.

6- That I have been able to breastfeed. I was really nervous about it, but I am still going strong. I must admit, I cannot wait until the day when I don’t have to pump anymore, but right now I am relishing the one-on-one time with my baby girl.

7- Cheerios. Best thing for babies ever. Kaiah could munch on them all day be super dooper happy.

8- Bath time. Kaiah loves her bath time and splashing in the water. It is pretty much the only time when I feel like she is completely entertained and not board!

9- That tomorrow is Friday . . .

Wed. 8

1- Homemade baby food. Sure, it’s been time consuming, but it just feels so nice to feed baby something that I made, just for her, with love. And I think that, now that she is getting older, it will be easier for me to make her nutritious meals instead of grabbing something prepackaged or frozen, since I am already in the habit!

2- Our apartment. Best. Move. Ever. We live below Kamie and Alex in a nice house. Although we are still renting, it feels like I am able to take more ownership in this place. Plus, I have my best friend 10 steps away! I cannot even begin to relate how grateful I am to have my babysitter just up stairs. No car seats at 6:00 am for me!

3- Breaks from the norm. Whenever Jer and I are feeling completely stressed out or overwhelmed, instead of tackling the problem head on (like we should), we blow off the world and just head out the door. Tonight we went to Wingers and then did some Christmas shopping even though Jer has 7 more projects/tests to do for finals before Wednesday! I think Jer and I kinda have this philosophy that when life gets hard, you show it your passive-aggressive side and say “What? You think this is hard? I’ll show you! I’ll get all of this stuff done and spend a night having fun!”

4- Blogs. To quote my sister, “what did we do before??? Scrapbook? Pah!! ;)”

5- Water. Yum.

6- The Biggest Loser. Lame that I am grateful for a T.V. show? Maybe. But I really am! I had never really watched the show before, but in Australia they had their own Biggest Loser and, since we didn’t really have anything else to do, we started watching it. I really do attribute my ability to lose over 30 pounds in 5 months to this show. It gave me the daily (in Australia it was on for 30 min ever day!) motivation to continue doing those things that were good for me. Although I don’t love the American version quite as much, it has been a nice weekly reminder to keep pushing. It has been hard for me to get back to where I was right after Australia, and I still have 15 more pounds to go until I get to that point (I don’t even want to discuss how far away I am from my real goal!), but I know that week by week, if these people can do it, then so can I. I just wish that they has a “medium loser” competition for those of us that need to lose 30-50 pounds!

7- Babies in hats . . .

8- Homemade baby blankets. See that stash of blankies in the pic above? Kaiah has about double that! From a blessing blanket bought at the Festival of Trees, to ones from aunts and co-workers, to amazing quilts made by my mommy (who I don’t think had ever touched any kind of needle except the kinds that give shots before I got pregnant!), to Jer’s baby blanket that his Grandma Payne made for him when he was a baby. Kaiah has all the blankets she could ever want, and they were all made with love!

Tuesday 7

1- For my calling. I am the Literacy Coordinator in our ward. While I haven't really done anything yet except for the monthly newsletter, I have high hopes! I feel really passionately about literacy - obviously. I believe that our spirituality is directly related to our literacy - our ability to read and understand the sacred texts, as well as comprehend the modern-day revelations we receive from prophets. The ability to read is one of the very greatest gifts we can pass on to others!

2- Christmas trees. I love ours. And I love it more and more every year because every year it tells our story a little more. Yes, we do have an overall color scheme to our tree, but no, not all of the decorations match. We have ones from all of our big vacations, from important events in our lives, and special presents. And I have already decided that all of Kaiah's ugly handmade ornaments will definitely go front and center on our tree. Who cares if it isn't perfect - it is ours.

3- Speaking of decorations, I am also grateful for all of the decorations we have in our house. Like our Christmas tree, none of them match. There is not one single room that sticks to any sort of theme or color scheme. But each room does have one thing in common - it represents us, all of us. Why should I decide if I like simplistic or boisterous, black and white or color? If I like it, it goes on our wall. Simple as that.

4- Christmas music. I am not a listen-to-Christmas-music-in-the-car girl, but I definitely love it while I am cleaning or grading. There is nothing that puts me in a better mood than "The Christmas Song."

5- Chocolate count down calendars. My mom has gotten us one every single year of our lives - and still does! I look forward to the day when mommy brings them down (plural, because Jer and I can definitely not share our chocolate). It wouldn't be Christmas without them!

6- That Kaiah has my feet. Seriously - mirror image. Her toes are all square and even and she can spread them way far apart, just like me! Plus, she always has her feet up on something. Every time she is in her high chair or swing - left foot up on the tray just a' chillin. Love it.

7- For my husband's amazing communication abilities. Kaiah was doing her growling noise, and Jer just asked her why she sounded like a "mating elk." Yep, that's my husband for you.

Monday 6

1- My job. I am fully aware that people think that I am naive, that I am still in the honeymoon phase of my career, and that, given time, I will become just as jaded as every other teacher out there, but to all of you pessimistic judges I say "plewwwwww!" (that's my very mature, sticking-tongue-out-and-blowing-noise). I freaking love my job and nothing, I mean nothing you say will change my mind about that. I love spending my days with teens who laugh at the word bosom and debate about their ability to fall in love. I get excited to go to work. Just keep your negative comments to yourself - because I LOVE teaching.

2- Pandora on the Tivo. Heaven. Seriously. Ludo Station for the win!

3- Kamie's babysitting. There is no way that I would have been able to leave my baby with a stranger. Kamie made my dream of teaching a reality by deciding to stay at home with the babies. I am so, so, so grateful that I can leave my baby with someone who I know will respect all of my wishes, spend every moment entertaining my baby, and sing her Disney songs all day. I am so grateful that Kaiah gets to spend every other day with Ari, her cousin, and that Kamie is teaching her to share, be nice, wait her turn, and care for others. Most importantly, I am so grateful that I get to leave Kaiah with someone who honestly, deeply loves her.

4- Romeo and Juliet. This is turning out to be my very favorite thing to teach EVER! I love talking about teenage boys doing the equivalent of flipping each other off, families who kill because of someone's blood, fate, grudges, and (of course) love! I am grateful that I frequently feel inspired while teaching and that I can explain things in a way that makes my most hardened student walk into class saying, "Can we read more Romeo and Juliet today?" It happened!

5- Diet Dr. Pepper. Nector of the gods.

6- That my mom thinks that because she is across the country from me (instead of across the State), that she must call me twice as much. Apparently the number of phone calls I receive a day is directly related to the amount of miles between us?

Sunday 5

1- Jer's extended family. I come from an extremely small family with only 4 cousins (whom I love dearly!). Jer, on the other hand, still has cousins being born! Today I am especially grateful for the Orchard side of Jer's family. They typify what I believe a family should be. All of the aunts, uncles, and cousins get together once a month to celebrate birthdays, etc. They support each other. They love each other. They make time for each other. Today we went to Aunt Kandi's annual Christmas open house and enjoyed good food and good company. I love that when I married into this family, I gained true friends. I have leaned on Jer's extended family for many, many things, and I am forever grateful for them.

2- Cheese potatoes (my way awesome version of funeral potatoes), chocolate chip cookies, yummy rolls, fruit salad with snickers bars in it, and pretty much any other food out there.

3- Pregnancy talk. I don't know why, but I love talking about when I was pregnant. Thanks Natalia for being pregnant so I have a reason to reminisce.

4- Relief Society. I feel honored to be a member of the largest woman's organization in the world. I am so grateful for inspired leaders who take the time to get to know me personally and for prayerful teachers who know exactly what I need to hear. Today's lesson was about gratitude!

5- My faith. I am so eternally grateful that I was born in Utah and given the chance to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have had a lot of religious talks with various un-believing friends and family, and the thing I just can't get over is why in the world they wouldn't want to believe! I know that the Church is true, along with all of its principles and teachings, but before I had that knowledge, I just simply wanted the church to be true because, I mean, who wouldn't want the idea of an after-world where almost everyone is sent to a place much, much better than this world. A church that teaches that families should love each other, that women are valuable equals to men, that children are loved by a Heavenly Father who knows them personally, and that we are each important enough to God to receive personal revelation from him. As a parent, I shudder to think what it would be like to raise children, and try to teach them correct principles, without having the answer the all those "why" questions - the Church answers those questions! And for that, I am eternally grateful!

Four things for today

1- One of the packages I received yesterday . . . this amazing pack - for free! I saw the EA Sports Active 2 commercials and I wanted to try it out, and then I saw a chance to host a House Party and get the game for free! I signed up and was chosen, so I got the full game, an accessories pack, and a bunch of other stuff for free (over $160 value). Jer and I tried it out for the first time last night and it was awesome! We challenged each other to a mountain biking competition - and we were sweating hardcore afterwards. Yeah for free, awesome, amazing presents!

2- A weekly babysitter. My mom LOVES being a grandma and is more than willing (now that's the understatement of the year!) to babysit for me at least once a week. I never even have to ask. And because of that, I get one-on-one time with my hottie hubby  every week.

3- Beautiful blog backgrounds. My cousin, Missy, runs Lily Puff Designs and she always has the very best backgrounds. I get happy just coming to my blog because of her amazing designs.

4- This adorable, adorable baby. She is my life. I really don't even know what else to say. She is just my whole entire world and I don't know how I lived before her.

3 things I am grateful for today:

1- Festival of Trees. We go every single year to support Primary Children's Hospital. My life time goal is to be able to donate a tree. Someday . . .

2- That I only work part-time. Today was my day off so I was able to hang out with my amazing little sister and her adorable baby boy. We went to the mall, bought some Christmas presents for free (I just love couponing), ate some lunch, and just hung out. We don't do that near enough! My schedule is perfect right now. I still get to teach, but I also get days off like today!

3- Getting packages in the mail. There is no better feeling! Stay tuned to tomorrow to find out what those packages included!

I know this is a short one, but I am tired and can't wait to hit my pillow. Maybe I will add an addendum . . . I am also grateful for my pillow!

Day 2 Gratitude

Today I am grateful for:

1- Rental cars. A couple weeks ago while I was driving the canyon to work, a metal something-or-other flew off the truck in front of me and hit my windshield/roof. It did a number - tell you what! Luckily, the truck driver was extremely nice, pulled over, gave me his insurance, and now my jeep is in the shop (and I don't have to worry about the $1,600 in damages). His insurance set me up with the BEST rental ever - 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee with keyless entry and awesomeness built in every crevice. I love it. I want to keep it. But most of all, I am just so extremely grateful that I have a nice car to drive around while mine is getting fixed.

2- My husband's enthusiasm about the strangest things ever. His eyes lit up, he smiled huge, and got all jumpy when he told me about NASA's discovery of a new life form that uses arsenic and looks like a Baby Ruth cut sideways. Do I care about this new discovery? Not really. But I love, love, love how excited he gets about random facts that no one else knows about - uh oh. Now he is off researching more about this new discovery. Guess he'll be coming to bed late tonight!

Thanks!

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who don't say thank you. I hate it when I give someone a gift and they shrug it off. I know that they like it. I know that they are grateful. I know that they are just embarrassed and don't want to make a fuss about it. But it still drives me crazy. And it has always driven me crazy! I would personally much rather be over-the-top, gooshing over with thanks than shrug off someone's kind gesture.

So, about 12 years ago (wow - that's a long time!) I started an annual gratitude list that I create every single December in preparation for Christmas and the New Year. And, because of my over-the-top-obsessive-need-to-do-everything-ridiculously-huge-ness, my list consists of not one thing that I am grateful for a day, but a corresponding number to the current date. So, on December 1st I write one thing I am grateful for, on the 2nd I add another two things, and so on. By the time the 31st rolls around, I have accumulated 496 things I am grateful for! AND each of these things HAVE to be unique - while I may be grateful for my husband most days :) I can only include him once.

I love reading back through these lists. They just speak so much about me and the person I was at the time. From being grateful for "the smile from that cute guy at the store" to being grateful for "my first Christmas with my eternal companion," these lists define what is really important to me. Plus, they help me evaluate my year, my priorities, my life, and prepare for the new year.

So, instead of writing my list this year in my thought book (yes, I have a thought book. And yes, it is different than a journal), I think it would be nice to publicly share my gratitude list this year. This way my list will have more permanence.

I invite you to give thanks along with me. I love, love, love this time of year, and this list helps me really get into the holiday spirit and reminds me of how much I have. It may be hard at first, but it is something that I am so glad I have done for all of these years! Join me and share your gratitude!

So . . . without further adieu . . .

1. For Stephen. My mom and dad were divorced when I was extremely young (like 2), and then my mom spent the next 14 years of her life in a marriage that stunk, followed by several more years divorced and alone. She had pretty much resigned herself to growing old by herself. My wedding day was bittersweet because while I was excited to be married, I felt like I was leaving my mom behind. Then came Stephen. He changed my family in more ways that I can ever explain. He provided a patriarch for my family. He loves my mom the way she deserves to be loved. He made her feel confident enough to be herself, her true self. He changed all of our lives. And every day, every single day that I talk to my mom on the phone and she tells me about how he got up at 5 a.m. to make her lunch or picked out another toy for Kaiah or got up with her at 3 a.m. so that she could go to the bathroom without being scared, I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to finally have both a mom and a dad who love each other. And today is their 4th anniversary. And I am so deeply, deeply, grateful for that.