Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Days 29-30

Day 29: I'm grateful for free haircuts and pleasant company!

Day 30: I'm grateful for opportunities, and I hope that I get better at taking them.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Days 27 and 28

Day 27: I'm grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit, conferred on me when I was 8 years old. I'm grateful for its guidance to and confirmation of truth. Even when my mind is swirling with questions and doubts, the Spirit nudges me in the right direction, and I'm really grateful for that.

Day 28: I'm grateful for technology to communicate with my distant family. I'm grateful that I can ride my bike with my husband to class. I'm grateful for cute clothes that make me smile. I'm grateful for stores so I can buy things I can't make. I'm grateful for the variety of friends I have, and especially for the time I get to spend with them (which has become much less frequent, unfortunately). I'm grateful that my husband is my best friend and fantastic for inspiration and counseling. I'm grateful that I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and know where to go for truth and reassurance of my value and purpose in life. I'm grateful to be feeling better today than yesterday.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 26

I'm grateful that I finally listened to my mom this year and saw a doctor about my ankle; I learned today that if I hadn't seen a doctor and gotten surgery, I would have needed my ankle joint fused for arthritis before I was 25 years old. 8 months post-surgery and 20 months post-injury, I have an estimated date of complete recovery - about 4 months to go.

(For readers who are unaware, I got a 3rd-degree sprained ankle 20 months ago and didn't see a doctor until a year later, when I learned that I had broken as well as sprained my ankle. Because it didn't heal right, I had surgery to fix it, and I'm still healing.)

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 25

I'm grateful for the little miracles every day, especially when we're doing the Lord's work. Writing in my personal journal and our family journal, healing some old wounds, and discovering ancestors that I feel connected to today.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Days 21-24

Day 21: I'm grateful for Z's zeal in keeping our sink clear of dishes and organizing the rest of the house. It's a great blessing for our home.

Day 22: I'm grateful for my big family and the fun we have.

Day 23: I'm grateful for perspective that tells me there's more to life than the present moment.

Day 24: I'm grateful for creative endeavors, and the fact that many Black Friday sales continue through Saturday, after the initial madness has died down ;)

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 20

I'm grateful for a job that helps pay the bills, that challenges me, and that gives me a chance to interact with so many wonderful people. I've definitely stressed about it more than once or twice, but it's a good place to be.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 19

I'm grateful for "second chances." I had a professor be very kind and nonjudgmental with me today when I forgot something silly, and in talking with Z about this new blog, I feel hopeful that I'll have a second chance with sorting out my education and career goals; it feels really humbling and peaceful.

I started another blog today that I'm using as a tool to sort of turn my academic life around. I started looking at post-graduate plans and it didn't look so hot with my current skill set, so I'm enacting plans to change that.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Days 16-18

Day 16: I'm grateful for opportunities to serve.

Day 17: I'm grateful that laundry only took 2 hours while I was distracted by a good book.

Day 18: I'm grateful for the extra time that Z and I had today to work on our family history; we played around on the new Family Tree website (ultimately going to replace New Family Search) and found some really cool names and connections. There were a lot of obvious inconsistencies and a few jumps, but Z found some of his genealogy lines that went back to the Biblical patriarchs and back to Adam. Following genealogy is a good way to learn history!

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 15

I'm grateful for doctors and medicine. I can't say enough about this doctor that Z and I have each visited once now; Dr. R is the kind of doctor and advocate everyone should have. Hopefully getting the prescription will work out and this 3-week cold will be better soon! I am seriously impressed with this man's skills.

Seriously... He listened to my breathing, looked at my throat, and looked in my ears, and was able to assess what was going on and give me a prescription for some antibiotics. No fluid or tissue samples, no lab tests - just looking at generic symptoms. Maybe it's just been a while since I went to the doctor because I was actually sick... But I think it's so awesome that that's possible. Irregular internal noise while breathing = bronchitis, but not pneumonia, red and angry tonsils in my throat with a kind of nasal drip that rules out allergies, fluid but no infection behind my eardrums, and a duration of illness that rules out viral infections. How cool is that, that after non-invasively examining only three parts he can figure out from the thousands of options how I'm sick and the best way to treat it? Admittedly, I'm also glad for the diagnosis partly because it means that I'm not just being a wuss with a drippy nose. But additionally, he was very friendly, plain, empathetic, understanding, open, flexible... He also promised to help us if any of the treatments were expensive or inconvenient. What a physician! THAT is what every doctor should be like. Seriously.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 14

I'm grateful for the Atonement - Christ's suffering and intercession on my behalf - that makes it possible for me to change; the number or degree of times I mess up doesn't change His willingness to bring me back. I'm still learning what it means, but I'm grateful for it.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 13

I'm grateful for the extra sleep I got this morning when someone accidentally showed up to sub for me at work, especially because I've been feeling sick and the extra sleep was wonderful, and because she still wants to cover me next week!

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Days 9-12

I went for a weekend without internet, so here are my catch-up days.

Day 9: I'm grateful that I got practice driving in the snow and that we traveled safely.

Day 10: I'm grateful for the opportunity to visit another temple, especially because I got to see my cousin married in the same room as my parents and grandparents were.

Day 11: I'm grateful for learning from older generations; I attended church in a fairly homogenous group of older, conservative, white descendants of pioneers, and we had a discussion about how we need to drop labels and see each other as Americans and children of God.

Day 12: I'm grateful for our bodies miraculously working nearly-perfectly nearly-all the time; I'm more aware than usual of my body's weaknesses today.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 8

I'm grateful for the fortuitous timing of events that will enable me to see my dad this weekend!! That news came as a surprise a couple days ago.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Days 6 and 7

Day 6: I'm grateful for fortuitous tender mercies, like Z and I falling asleep on accident after a stressful evening.

Day 7: I am SOOOOOOO grateful for the temple and how it centers me, calms me, and boosts my faith; LDS temples are a great place for learning who I really am and what I have to look forward to.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 5

I'm grateful for awesome music. Mormon Tabernacle Choir pandora station gave me some good peace tonight.

And can I just say how EXCITED I'm getting for Christmas?? When I start thinking about putting up Christmas decorations, I try to remind myself that it's not even Thanksgiving yet.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4

I'm grateful for extended family, especially when they live close by, and for the extra love, friendship, and role models they offer. Thanks for letting us visit.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 3

I'm grateful that Z and I don't need to worry about going hungry and that our cupboards are full.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

I'm grateful for my husband. I wanted to save this for our "x-month-iversary," but today I'm especially grateful for how consistently supportive he is. I never thought I would end up with someone who believes in me more than I believe in myself, and who loves me and makes me feel like a princess every day. He respects me, works alongside me, washes almost all the dishes, comforts me, and laughs with me. Z is more than I could have hoped for in a husband, and will certainly help me get the places I want to go. I'm grateful for our life together, and for the indescribable blessing it is to be his wife.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving: Day 1

One of my old roommates is doing a "30 Days of Thanksgiving" series on her blog for the month of November, and I thought it was a great idea! Here is today's entry:

Today, I'm grateful that my brother got home from his mission safely, and I'm grateful that I have such an awesome family. I can't wait to be with them at Christmas! Even though we're growing older and spreading out across the country, we're still finding ways to be close to each other. And this is true of my in-laws as well as my born-into family.