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.

Family Pictures!

We have NEVER had family pictures all together – and I am SO glad that the grandbabies have finally convinced my mom to get pictures all together! Priceless.

A really long post about nothing (or everything)

I just started teaching Romeo and Juliet, and I am pretty much freaking out about it. This is my students' first time with Shakespeare. Do you know what kind of pressure that is? I could singley determine their entire outlook on Shakespeare. Wow. Especially because they are the Honors kids - I want them to understand how amazing these texts are. I have nightmares about teaching this unit. I know that I am a perfectionist, but this is just so important to me. Any suggestions? What do you remember most about learning about Shakespeare?

We went to the very last home game today - sad. I love football, but I especially love these home games because it gives me time alone with Jer. I will forever be grateful that Jer and I have so much in common. It wasn't always that way - we actually started out liking pretty different things. But we strongly believe that to have a fantastic marriage, it is important to learn to like the things that matter to your spouse. So I play video games and am a huge fan of football, and Jer tries new restaurants with me, reads classics, and watched sytycd (and likes it). I never feel like I have to make sacrifices with my time anymore - what Jer likes, I mostly like. We can share our favorite things with eachother without feeling like we are forcing eachother to participate. The only thing I miss now is playing board/card games. I used to LOVE playing games, but Jer HATES playing them :(

I was chosen to host a House Party for the new EA Sports Active 2 game - which means a FREE game ($100!) Woot woot! If anyone wants to check it out - party at my house Dec. 11 at 11:00 a.m.! I could definitely use another outlet to try and loose the rest of the baby weight - another 15 lbs to go! Plus, I just feel like my body is all weird now. My legs and arms seem back down to normal, but my stomach is completely different than it was before Kaiah. I guess that babies change everything!

Speaking of babies - I know that most of you will think that we are crazy, but Jer and I have always planned on having our first two babies close in age - like just one grade level apart. Kamie and I are 16 months apart and Jer and his brother are 15 months, and we both absolutely loved growing up with a gauranteed best friend. I can't imagine growing up without Kamie there every single step of the way. We did everything together. I want that for Kaiah. So, we started trying again in August, but we haven't had any luck yet. I know that it hasn't been very long, but now baby #2 won't be one grade level behind Kaiah, but at least two. It may seem silly to you, but it is such a big deal to me. I have always imagined having two babies growing up together and every day that Kaiah gets older and learns more and changes more is one more day that she is doing it without her younger brother or sister. This isn't what I imagined - it isn't what I had planned. I am definitely a planner, and I don't know what to do when my plans fail!

Watching the U vs SDSU game - ugh. Why, oh why did you give up the win, SDSU?

I know that this is a long post about nothing, but I just feel like I need an outlet. I used to be a huge writer, but that has stopped. I never write anymore. Writing is so cathartic - it really helps me to release the things that keep mulling over in my head and refocus. So, if you are still reading this post, then I am sorry. Really, I am. But this is what I needed. This is what I need more of. Feel free to ignore, because (once again), this blog is for me.

Now off to bed.

Like Mother, like daughter.

When Kaiah was first born, everyone always said that she looked just like me. Then, as she got older, more and more people began to compare her to Jer. My mom just found a picture of me around Kaiah’s age, though, and I can definitely see the resemblance!

Kasie, 1985

Kaiah, 2010

This picture doesn’t really do it justice. When I hold my picture up to Kaiah, it is so similar! I love my little mini-me! She is at such a funny age right now and I just know that it will fly by – and I hate, hate, hate how much I have already forgotten about her earlier months! Things I love about baby now:

• She pulls the most stuck-up snob face every time she is super happy. We can never get pictures of it, though! She scrunches up her nose and wrinkles her forehead. I call it her stink face.
• She is a little monster. She doesn’t cuddle and she doesn’t coo – she creeps and she growls.
• She still doesn’t crawl, but she army crawls like a pro!
• She has just started standing up in her crib – and now doesn’t ever sleep because of it!
• She will eat anything and everything we give her.
• Her laugh isn’t a laugh at all – but a half-cough half-growl exorcist type thing.

She is just too much. I can’t believe that I get this little entertainer every day! I am so grateful that I have her and Jer to bring me all the joy in the world. When everything else goes to pot (like it always seems to), I know that I can come home and feel safe and wanted and loved and needed and respected and encouraged and like a part of something so wonderful, so absolutely wonderful, that everything that happens outside of my front door doesn’t seem to matter anymore. That is what family is to me!

Lily Puff Design Giveway!

My amazingly talent cousin, Missy, has a great website called Lily Puff Designs! She does amazing FREE backgrounds for blogs, plus she also does great custom work! ALL of my blog backgrounds have come from her FREE collection (including my current background!) Right now, Savy Moms Save is hosting a giveway where you can win a HUGE custom package to make-over your blog! Go check it out!