Days 25 through 30... Yeah, I've been busy haha

Day 25: I am SO thankful for my freshman year at BYU. On Sunday Keith and I went to church with my freshman brother because he was giving a talk. It was very nostalgic. They have sacrament meeting, Sunday school, and relief society in all of the same rooms I had them in as a freshman. Crazy. It just reminded me of what kind of person I was when I graduated from high school and what kind of person I turned out to be at the end of that year. I have never gone through a time of so much growth. I'm convinced my freshman experience was different than most. The friends I made then, are still my best friends. We're going on 6 years with each other. They are literally the most incredible people I know. They taught me so much. How to have fun, how to love others as well as MYSELF, how to play sports haha. I came out about 20 pounds lighter after freshman year, thank goodness. I don't even know what else to say other than that year was magical. I will remember it forever. (I can remember most of that year like it happened yesterday.) You guys will probably continue to be my best friends forever. I am so happy that God put us all together on that floor in Hinckley Hall. And you boys across the quad in Stover. I will forever be grateful for your kindness, faith, and love that have built me up and strengthened me over and over again.

Day 26: I'm thankful for eyes that I may see the color of butterfly wings. For the last 2 weeks almost, I've had this weird eye sickness? I don't know what to call it. It's in both eyes. They have just been really red, and I can't seem to get enough of that burning sensation! I look like a druggie. All the time. Seriously they are so red. And they're tired all the time. They hurt to be open. And they're really tender. Like, if I close my eyes and softly touch my eyelids it hurts. I thought it might have been pink eye, so I haven't done anything to try and figure out what's wrong with them. I thought it would go away after a day or two. I've been wearing my glasses almost all day every day as well, thinking that would help. But obviously, after 2 weeks, it must be something else, and I should probably go to the doctor to get it checked out. I just hate doctors... But I love my eyes even more! I want to be able to see clearly again. And get rid of my hideous glasses! Blech!

Day 27: I'm grateful for time off of work! Most of the time, I like teaching. Sometimes I like children. ALL THE TIME, I like the time off I have away from teaching and children hahaha. I am just so happy to have a break right now for Thanksgiving. The constant chatter of "Mrs. Adams, your eyes are red. Mrs. Adams, why are your eyes so red? Mrs. Adams, do you have pink eye? Mrs. Adams, you should go to the doctor." I've been hearing for the past week have been getting REALLY old. I was looking forward to this time to relax and spend time with my family. My brother has been living with me over break so that he would have someplace to eat (They closed the freshman cafeteria this weekend.), and people to hang out with since most of his buddies are out of town. Keith and I have LOVED having him here. Thank you for being such an awesome house guest little bro. This break is going to be over all too soon though. I go back to work on Monday. Wish me luck haha!

Day 28: I am grateful for my grandmother Lola. She passed away on Thanksgiving Day. She was probably the most faithful woman I know. And she was never afraid to share her knowledge of the Gospel. That's one of the things I admired most about her. As I was falling asleep last night (er, trying to sleep. I couldn't really) I started thinking about all of the memories I have of her. To be honest, I don't have a TON. She lived 3000 miles away from me, but I guess I saw her quite often for that being the case. Here are some of the most prominent memories I have of her.

• As far as I can remember, she's the one who gave me my first piano lesson. My mom is probably thinking, "No that was me. When you were like 4 years old." But in my mind, it was Grandma. I have a clear picture of her teaching me the proper fingerings on the first song in the green book.
• She makes the most delicious homemade raspberry jam.
• I got a stuffed animal from her when I was really little. He was a white elephant with a patriotic shirt on or something? I named him Newt.
• She had 'that room' upstairs in her house. Even though the entrance was usually blocked by something, we cousins always made our way in to explore all of the old things and musical instruments that were sitting around in there.
• She came to my baptism when I turned 8. She was one of the speakers.
• She bakes like no one else. She was especially well known for her cinnamon rolls. Every time she flew out to visit, she would bring 2 suitcases. One was filled with her clothing. The other was filled COMPLETELY with well packaged cakes, candies, brownies, and ingredients to do more baking. The only downfall was that it looked like a bomb went off in our kitchen every time she finished. :)
• Asking us kids to go fetch her some 'genuine whipping cream.' We all thought she was talking about whipped cream. She was very disappointed when we brought back the wrong thing and had no idea what we did wrong or what she was even talking about. We weren't well versed in baking I guess?
• She started taking community art classes and would always send our family little water color paintings. They're hanging on one of our cupboards in our kitchen. I love those things.
• Once when she came to visit, she gave me these place mats for my house whenever I would have one. They are huge sunflower heads with little smiley faces sewn onto them. Grandma even added eyebrows because she thought they looked awkward without them. Mom thought I would hate them, but I actually loved them. Keith and I have had one sitting as part of a centerpiece on our table since we got married.
• She came to my wedding. A few nights before I got married, she pulled me into her bedroom and had 2 dresses laying out on her bed. She asked me which one I wanted her to wear.
• This conversation she had with Keith's younger brother at our wedding.
  Lola: So what are you going to do with your life?
  Joseph: Well I think I'm going to join the military after graduation.
  Lola: So you're not going to serve a mission?
  Joseph: I don't know.
  Lola: Have you listened to the prophet lately?
• We met together in Idaho in April 2012 when I graduated from BYU, and my momma flew out. The whole time we were there, she tried to plan her funeral haha.
• She was always honest, blunt, sincere, kind, aware of others, willing to serve, and happy.

I love her so much and probably didn't appreciate her as much as I should have when she was around. I hope we can make it out to Portland for the funeral later this week. Over the past few months, my biggest thoughts and concerns have been for my momma. I love her so much. I hope she knows how much I love her as well. I can't imagine losing her.

Day 29: I am thankful for the Plan of Salvation. My grandma Lola has been a widow for about 30 years. I never had the opportunity to meet my Grandfather. Either of my grandfathers actually. I am grateful to know that grandma is finally with her cute boy again. I think that thought is what's holding me together. It's hard for me to spend a few hours away from Keith. We've spent a few summers apart before, but we weren't even married then. I can't imagine being in this world for 30 years without him. I'm sure grandma must be so happy right now at their reunion. I am thankful that my family will be together forever. That idea gives me hope when things seem hard to bear. I am excited for when the time comes that I will be able to meet my grandfathers and see Grandma again.

Day 30: I guess it's appropriate to say this now, but I'm thankful for Christmas. I give Christmas a lot of crap sometimes because it seems to overshadow my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. But even though I despise the corny Christmas music and a lot of decorations people put up on their lawns (Logan called me Scrooge just yesterday haha) I still do really enjoy Christmas. I am so blessed to have been born into my family. I love them with all my heart. I am so excited to go home over Christmas break and see my momma, daddy, brother and sister again. Too bad the missionary brother will miss it by like 2 weeks or something! I can't believe it. We will have been so close but yet so far.

Okay, so my brain is fried right now. Who knew that catching up an entire week of thankfulness would take so much out of you. It could be that it is really early in the morning. Or that I've been staring at a computer screen for so long, or that my eyes are really wacked up. But I just don't know what else to say. I hope I was able to get all of my ideas across without sounding weird... Anyway, I love November. Thank you for giving us a holiday that encourages people to be thankful. I love it.

This is my beautiful Grandmother on my wedding day. <3

Days 22 through 24

Day 22: I am SO SO SO thankful for captivating movies and television shows. I've never been hugely interested in either of those things. I'm hard to impress when it comes to movies. Over the years, it has become rare that I'll watch one and care to watch it again. Most TV shows, I find difficult to get involved in or sloppy. But man alive, when I find one actually worth watching, I can't get enough of it. And after a long and exhausting day, sometimes there's nothing I like to do more than just sit on the couch with Keith and watch a show together. For example, Catching Fire. Seriously one of the most amazing films I have ever seen. I bet you never would have guessed seeing as I saw it 2 nights in a row haha. I'm blown away at how Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson (thank goodness for him) have matured and enabled me to feel and love their characters. ALL of the characters in the movie were exactly how I pictured them while reading the book. Some were even better than I imagined. Johanna Mason. EXCELLENT WORK. It's difficult to find a book whose movie adaptation is actually WORTHY of it, but Catching Fire passed that test with flying colors. I think we might even go see it again over Thanksgiving break haha. If you like the book, go see that movie NOW. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Day 23: I'm grateful for coupons haha. I'm not an extreme couponer or anything like that. I have friends who are. I just haven't gotten started with that yet. Anyway, I love the coupons I do find and use. Keith and I went to a movie Saturday night and had some coupons for the theater. We ended up getting two slurpees and some nachos for $4.75. I know that doesn't sound like some fabulous deal or anything, but when the normal price for those items together would have been about 14 dollars, I feel pretty proud of myself only paying a third of that price.

Day 24: I'm thankful for cards and other fun games to play. My family grew up playing games together. Like ALL THE TIME. I don't think a lot of people understand me when I say this haha. Not something like, 'Oh, we play games together on Sunday nights' or a casual 'Yeah, I like to play games.' I mean full on constantly playing games. Go to school every day. As soon as we come home, start playing games. Take a break for dinner. Then continue playing games. Get ready for bed. Oh wait. Let's play some more games. ALL day EVERY day. Probably another one of the reasons I'm so hyperactive as an adult haha. And man alive, my family is competitive. About everything. Seriously. Which I actually sort of love. Other people probably don't. Deal with it. :)

Days 18 through 21

Day 18: This is going to taste so awful coming out of my mouth. But I really am grateful for technology. I know I'm not the most tech savvy person around. I have a 5 year old laptop and a dumb phone. But they serve my purposes just fine, the main purpose being staying in touch with my family and friends. Sunday night my brother came over for dinner, and we Face Timed my parents and sister. They were celebrating some birthdays. I really wish I could have been there in person. But I am so grateful for the next best thing. I was able to see them and hear them and talk to them. I love the technology that enables me to have those abilities at my fingertips any time I want. I already live 2000 miles away from my family, and I haven't been physically with them for about 15 months now. I can't imagine how sad I would feel if I was unable to talk or see them via technology.

Day 19: I'm thankful for our car. It isn't anything special. In fact, we've had to put a LOT of money in repairs into it since we got it. But I so appreciate having a mode of transportation. Originally, I was planning on riding a bike to work this school year. I only work about 18 blocks away (2 miles ish). But now that winter is creeping in, I realize why that was a crazy idea. Winter in Provo. No good. No way I would be riding a bike through that crap. I am so happy I have a car. I'm also grateful for Keith's kind co-workers. He has a friend who has been driving him to and from work for almost an entire year now. We were so lucky to find someone who was willing to do that for Keith. Paul, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Day 20: I'm grateful for the temple. Keith and I went on Tuesday night with some friends. (Thank you for inviting us guys! Keith and I aren't always the best at finding time to go...) Anyway, I just love being there. I'm so lucky to live in Provo where there is one so close to me. It's pretty crowded. All the time. But it's okay. I learn more every time I go, and I'm so glad that I have a husband who is worthy to be there with me and answer most of my stupid questions. :)

Day 21: I'm grateful for Keith's job. Keith has been working full time for about 2 and a half years now. He has been supporting our family ever since we got married. He worked while I finished school, and he's still working now. It was because of him that we were able to pay rent or eat the first year we were married. I am so thankful for that. Another reason I like Keith's job specifically is that he gets a lot of perks. He gets a free lunch every day in their company cafeteria. And that food can be pretty darn delicious! Sometimes I'll join him if I have a day off or something. He gets work swag (sweatshirts, tshirts, water bottles, etc), wins prizes (like our ipad mini), and gets free movie tickets. Like to the movie Catching Fire. Which we're going to see tonight. For free. With free popcorn. And soda. I love free stuff!!! AND I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE! Watch the trailer here if you haven't seen it yet. AHHH! YAY!!! Yeah, talking to customers can sometimes be annoying, but we really have been so blessed just because of his job. I love it.

Days 15 through 17

Day 15: I am thankful for talents and talented people, especially those willing to share them. On Friday night we went to a talent show that a few of our friends were involved in. One of them is in a band, and they are fabulous. They blow me away every time they perform. Another friend participated in a humorous dance number, and it was a fantastic end to the show. I love being able to learn and observe others' talents. I'm thankful that appreciation of the arts is a talent of mine. It's one of my daddy's talents too. I didn't understand it when I was younger which was unfortunate. But I understand it now and love it. I can listen to people perform all day long, and it makes me so happy.

Day 16: I am grateful for music! I love listening to it, playing it, singing it, everything about it. Music is one of my favorite companions. It keeps me company when I'm alone. I can carry it with me all day and let it fill the silence when there's nobody around. It can breathe life into my soul when I'm bored or tired. It can inspire me and make me feel happy when I'm sad. It accompanies dance, sporting events, holidays, and my house cleaning parties. I just love it and can't imagine my life without it.

Day 17: I am thankful for hot water. It's Sunday morning. Church starts in under two hours. And half of our apartment complex is without hot water for some reason. Actually, we're without cold water as well. The only water we have is absolutely FREEZING, numb your hands, I'm going to lose some phalanges because of frostbite water. And I'm sorry but I am NOT showering in that water, and I am NOT leaving my house without a shower today. So if this issue isn't fixed, I might just have to read a few extra scriptures tonight or something to make up for my lack of church attendance haha. Yeah, I want my hot water back. Keith has called our managers so hopefully it's fixed soon.

This is my friend's band who performed at the talent show Friday night. They are called Brothers of Others. This is Popcorn Popping, one of their warm up/sound checks. And this is one of their songs called Soften my Heart.

Days 12 through 14

Day 12: I am thankful for showers! I guess this goes along with my whole cleanliness obsession, but I really love showers. I sweat SO MUCH when I work out. TMI? Don't care. It's insane. Like, I am drenched. Every time. Since I started my new program (Insanity), I can tell my metabolism is changing dramatically. My body will try and burn calories every chance it gets. Even during the days where the workout isn't quite as intense. It just makes me sweat and sweat and sweat. As a result, I LOVE taking showers. Random. The end.

Day 13: I am grateful for my job. No, it isn't my favorite. And yeah, it's crazy stressful and tiring. But I am grateful for the fact that I have a job at all. I'm glad that I get to work and do my part to support my little family. I especially appreciate that my job is exactly what I trained for. I spent 4 years at BYU majoring in elementary education, and I'm glad that I actually get to use my skills and talents in what I do. I feel sorry for those people who major in something and then never end up using that knowledge in their profession. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. For some reason I just feel like personally, I wouldn't feel as accomplished? I don't know how to explain it.

Day 14: I am thankful for chap stick. Man alive, Utah is DRY. Every winter I forget about it until my fingers are all cracked and bleeding. And with these crusty crust lips I got, I just love me some chap stick. Fur real. It is so helpful.

Days 10 and 11

Day 10: I am grateful for my slight... let's be honest... obsessive need to be clean and organized. And I mean, everything. Clean clothes, clean house, clean person, etc. I don't know where I get it. My dad maybe? I'm not sure why, but I seriously can't handle it when things are strewn about or dirty dishes are left in our sink for more than a day or so. I'm a stress cleaner. That may be why my house looks spotless right now haha. Let's just say yesterday wasn't the greatest day. Laundry might be my all time favorite chore. Again because it's this magical process that gives me clean clothing and makes my bedroom look tidier simultaneously! It's so awesome!!! The only part of cleaning that I struggle with is straight up dusting. Like those very top shelves on the bookshelf that you can't reach, ceiling fan blades, or the blinds on the window. I'll admit that I skip dusting those... quite often. I need to get better about that... Maybe that will be one of my New Year's Resolutions. Get better at dusting? I'm pathetic. Anyway, I'm also grateful that Keith helps me clean too. He takes out the trash every week and cleans the bathroom. He's such a great husband. :)

Day 11: I am thankful for priesthood blessings. As I said before, yesterday wasn't the greatest day. Teaching is REALLY stressful. You somehow have to hold the attention of 25-35 children for 7 hours a day, MANAGE said children, prepare all of your lessons, plan with the rest of your team, score assignments, communicate with parents, do everything in your power to make sure your students will all pass their end of level tests, and complete this endless list of other things I can't even begin to explain on a blog post EVERY DAY. Luckily for me, my job is different, and I only have to deal with about half of the criteria on that list. Still, it has its other challenges and is therefore still SO stressful and difficult. Last night I felt so lost trying to get everything prepared and planned for today. I laid awake panicking the entire night, wondering if I was going in the right direction with this lesson. Finally at about 4:45 after tossing and turning for HOURS, I woke Keith up. The very first thing he did was ask me if I needed a blessing. Hello! Husband of the year. Afterward, I didn't quite fall asleep, but the miraculous thing was that my body and mind did become still. And I was able to just lay in my bed, relaxed for the next hour and a half until I had to get up. Yeah, I'm exhausted. But I'm so glad that Keith is worthy and willing to give me that help when I need it.

Days 5 through 9...

Day 5: I am thankful for cheap dates. On Tuesday, Keith and I decided to go see the movie Ender's Game. It's Keith's favorite book, and he has been SO excited to see the movie. So our thoughts were, "Hey, it's Tuesday. No one goes to the movies on Tuesdays. There will be plenty of seats. And we probably only need to be there 10 minutes early." Little did we know (or I guess we just forgot because we totally did know this...) that Tuesdays are DISCOUNT Tuesdays at the movie theater. So instead of tickets being $8.75, they're $6.25. The theater was PACKED. When we finally got to the ticket counter after waiting in line for over 20 minutes, there were about 10 seats left in the theater. All in the front row. Great. So we got some tickets, craned our necks for 2 hours, and watched the movie. Which was actually pretty good. I've never read the book, but I am pretty hard to please when it comes to movies. A general rule is that the movie is good if I bother to stay awake through it haha. Anyway, it ended up being a fun night. And $5 cheaper than we were expecting, which is always a good surprise.

Day 6: I am grateful for pizza and bread sticks. Man alive, I could live off the stuff! That and tacos! My two favorite meals ever! Yay carbs! You are just so yummy in my tummy :) I'm not really sure what else to say about that...

Day 7: I am thankful for weddings. On Thursday Keith and I had the opportunity to go to a wedding reception of a good friend of ours. I've known him since my freshman year at BYU so going on 6 years now, and he's just great! I have loved watching him fall in love with his now wife. They are SO CUTE and so perfect for each other. And they have a lot of class. Something that Keith and I definitely lack haha. So I admire them for that. They're seriously so great. Anyway, I just love celebrating love! It was great to be surrounded by our good friends cheering on these two on their wedding day. Every time I attend a wedding, it is a wonderful reminder of how I felt on my own wedding day and how much I love my cute boy. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Seriously. Such a great day. I LOVE WEDDINGS!

Day 8: Am I allowed to be grateful for my family again? Seriously I just love them so much. Maybe today, I'm particularly thankful for the sense of humor my family has. I think we got it from my dad. He's such a funny guy. And I think my sister got a lot of those humor genes. She is literally the funniest girl I know. And she has been for a LONG time. Heck, she's only 15! But for years now, she's been able to make me laugh so hard that I cry. And it's REAL, intentional humor, not the kind where she doesn't know she's being funny. She is very aware of how hilarious she is. I think maybe she's just mature for her age? I don't know. She's adorable. I'll post some pics just for fun because I love her. Hopefully she doesn't mind. :)

Day 9: I am thankful for sleep! I would have said frisbee or exercise again because I seriously just love it so much! But Keith says I can't do the same thing twice... So I'm thankful for the naps I get to take after working out so hard. Or the fantastic night's sleep I get that night. I just love the feeling of your entire body being worn out enough to fall asleep within 2 minutes of hitting the pillow. It's so relaxing! I remember my freshman year at BYU I lived off of 4 hours of sleep a night. Consistently. Like an entire year of it. I don't know how I did that!!! That was such a weird year. Now I LOVE my sleep. I try to get 7 or 8 hours a night. I can't believe the 360 I've done since then. Weird...

My sister sent me these photos in an email called "Sexy Secretary" hahaha! What a cutie patootie!

This is her formal dress for her glee club concert this Christmas.

Days 3 and 4

Told you. I'm already behind. No way this is going to happen every day...

Day 3: I am thankful for in-laws. Seriously. I love the family I married into. They are the sweetest to me. Yesterday was fast Sunday, and out of the blue, one special sister-in-law of mine decided that she would fast for all of her sisters... including me! An in-law. First of all, I am so happy that I get to be part of a family who cares so much about each other as well as plus ones such as myself. I mean I've only ever seen the girl like 3 times! How can she possibly love me enough to do something like that for me? I'm sure she didn't know I was struggling. It's not like we chat regularly. (Sorry Marisa!) I give Keith a lot of grief because I feel like I'm the black sheep of the family haha. We have a lot of differing opinions and ways of doing things, and I don't feel like I fit in quite right all the time. But man alive, when I'm with those guys do I ever feel loved! Thank you!

Day 4: I am thankful for my momma! Today in the mail, Keith and I got our annual Halloween package from her. Every year I feel like she gives us more and more candy haha! I'm so glad she continues to do those little things that make me feel connected to the family back home, even though I'm old and married now. ;) I know that if Keith and I really wanted candy, we could go out and get it any time. It's just good to know that Momma has my back. She is so thoughtful, funny, and excellent at showing her love for me. I love her. :) Now let me also say that I love the rest of my family too. I don't know of another family who is so good at teasing and loving each other so much at the same time. I have especially loved having Logan out here with me. Over the past 5 years, I've only spent about 10 months living in the same city as the rest of my family. So it has been a real treat being able to see him once a week or so. My family really is the best. I love you guys so much, and I can't wait to see you all at Christmas!

Our Halloween haul! Yum!

30 Days of Gratitude

I LOVE NOVEMBER!

I love November because

I LOVE THANKSGIVING!

Seriously, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all time. Thanksgiving will forever be my "family holiday." It's probably the only day of the year I ever or have ever felt homesick since moving out after high school. One of my greatest dreams would be to spend Thanksgiving with my family every single year. And let's just talk about all that delicious food for a second. HELLO! Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, veggies, pie, stuffing. Best meal of the year by far!

Anyway, since November started, I've been seeing the "30 Days of Gratitude" thing on Facebook again. I keep track of what I'm grateful for every day of the month too. I just keep it on a poster on my fridge instead of on the internet. But I think I've decided to share it here as well? Just for fun. So here it goes.

Day 1: I am thankful for my husband Keith. I know it may be sappy that he's the first thing I think of, but he truly is the greatest blessing I have and will ever have in my life, so I think it's only fair that he gets the day 1 slot. I am so thankful for his patient, kind, and service oriented personality. I fall in love with him more and more every day, and I am so excited to be with him forever.

Day 2: I am thankful for exercise, especially in the form of team sports (aka FRISBEE). I love that worn out feeling you get after a good work out. It makes me feel strong, happy, healthy, and accomplished. I especially love group sports because I love spending time with my friends. Two of my favorite things (friends and exercise) in one place! What could be better?!?! I so appreciate that my friends are tolerant of my hyperactive behavior and are occasionally willing to help me release some of that energy.

Anywho, by tomorrow I'll probably forget I even posted this, but at least I'm making an attempt... Hooray for November!!!