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