Grateful List ***Beware of Corniness***

I've wanted to put a post up about the things I'm grateful for, for a while now... and right NOW I am grateful to have a minute to sit down and write this post!!

Most of the time when I am sitting down at my computer it is because I have 5 assignments to complete. I do have more than 5 assignments to work on right now, BUT they're not due TOMORROW- hahaha. (There's a glimpse into my unfortunate procrastination).

Yeah, that's my life.

(This is the face I make when I'm stressed and say, "Eek!")

However, although I feel overwhelmed with my various commitments and responsibilities, I have MUCH to cherish and appreciate in my life...

• I am so grateful for my dinky little 2000 Honda Civic that keeps chuggin' along! And I say chug because that's what it sounds like anytime it's turned on... it makes terrible noises, but just keeps getting me where I need to go! We spend way more time together than I would like with our commute, but I am grateful to have my own car. It's kind of my life my travelling office and locker too. Sometimes I wish I had a nicer car, but really I'm just lucky to have a car at all! (as we all are, but I was close to being car-less when Steve and I got seperated and found my little car just in time.)

• I am so lucky to be living with my family right now. As you can imagine, being an adult can cause some tension when you are living with your parents. However, my parents have been very supportive and so generous to me and Eliza. And they are better than a husband when it comes to: DOING DISHES, GROCERY SHOPPING, ELIZA CLOTHES SHOPPPING, MAKING DINNERS, HAVING FAMILY HOME EVENING, BABYSITTING, and many, many other things. They're also great at encouraging me and helping me to believe in myself and my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the help they give me in the different parts of my life.


• I am really grateful to have a job! I see and empathize with how stressful it is for many of my classmates, clients, and friends who are searching for employment. It's so scary. I have totally lucked out by getting hired, EVEN THOUGH my job is SOOOO Busy and pretty stressful at times. I don't get lunch breaks, and I'm always behind on my documentation trying to fit in a full-time work load in part-time hours, along with working another job, being a parent, and finishing up 15 credits of classes. Ahhhhh!

• I'm grateful I passed my licensure exam. My classmates are asking me lots of questions about it, and I see the stress and sometimes panic in their eyes as they ask me about it! They and my professors have been very kind about congratulating me for passing, though! In one of my classes, everybody clapped for me when the professor announced that I had passed, which was REALLY sweet. I don't often get a round of applause in any of the jobs I do in my life! hehe. We all probably deserve more applause than we get!

• I'm soooo grateful for the invention of books on CD. SERIOUSLY. I would probably have died from falling asleep at the wheel otherwise.



• I am soo grateful that Eliza is the master of potty training. She has not had an accident since before I can remember, which is such a huge relief!!

• Not that I wasn't grateful before, but since Katy has moved, I've been newly grateful for her and Reuben's company. Eliza and I miss them a lot. It's been sad to try to figure out what to do on our Monday's lately :( :( :( besides cry from loneliness... I'm kinda kidding?

• I'm grateful that on the nights that I get home around 9 at night after a long, long day of work and school, I can go up to my mom's room, lie down at the foot of it, and just TALK. We tell each other stories about our days. Sometimes (often) I whine, sometimes we joke and laugh, sometimes I vent and cry, and sometimes I listen and sympathize/empathize with Mom's busy life and responsibilities. I always leave with a lighter load. I'm grateful for a mom who is kind, patient, and my friend.

• I'm grateful for a cuddly, sweet kitty, even though he's been grumpy since his kitty friend, Battle, moved away with Katy. He is currently a light yellow kitty because he rolled in the pollen today that is outside covering everything.

• I'm really grateful for my IPOD touch that Kate & Aaron gave me. One of the best presents EVA! I love having the Ensign podcast on it AND
  


• I'm grateful for This American Life Podcast.
  

• I am grateful for a couple TV shows that help add comic relief to my life. Especially Community and Modern Family. Hilarious stuff.

• I am grateful for TUMS and Zantac. Last summer, TUMS worked well enough, but now I have to do the full on pills twice a day to keep myself from ridiculous heartburn and pain. I think I probably have an ulcer (so I should definitely follow-up with my gastroentorologist sometime because they keep calling me... but I don't have time.) Yes, I attribute this to stress.... but also to my pregnancy like permanently screwing up my digestive system.

• I am grateful for hugs from the pre-schoolers in my life!! Obviously Eliza is number one in my mind. However, the little kids that I do play therapy with give me such amazing hugs too! Whenever I walk into the pre-school classroom, a little crowd of them run over to me hugging me and begging me to take them to the play therapy room or to hold them or play with them. This is what makes me LOVE MY JOB! These kids crave affection sooo much, and I'm glad to give them a little bit of love.
  

• I am sooo grateful for SPRING!!! but it's already time to buy sunscreen for Eliza and my fair Swedish/Irish/German skin!

• I am grateful for the HILARIOUS stuff that Eliza says. I was making my bed the other day, so I had my down comforter on the ground while I put on the sheets. I heard Eliza make this sound, and I thought she might have hurt herself and started sobbing. Nope, she was laughing- giddy with joy as she buried herself in the comforter. "Mommy this is my car! Come get in my car with me!" I finished the sheets and sat in the "car" with her. She had taken her socks off and placed them on the blanket. "Mom these are my sock cupholders." Oh, of course. Who wouldn't have sock cupholders in their car? "We're driving to Merry-land to see Katy and Reuben and Reuben's baby sith-ter!" Good times!

• I am grateful for mornings when Eliza crawls into bed with me to cuddle me awake and asks me to tell her stories!!!!

• I am newly grateful for healing that has come to me. I realized last week or so that I no longer feel the piercing ache of loneliness that I had previously felt for a very, very long time. I honestly LIKE and WANT to be single. I honestly never thought I would feel this way! Not that I don't crave interpersonal connections like everyone else-- I definitely do. BUT I don't feel the irrational yearning and dependence on having another person in my life to make it through my days. I cry myself to sleep MUCH less often than every before in my adult life! and that is WONDERFUL.

• I am grateful for any of you who have read this and helped me through this last year! Gracias.

Lastly,

• I am grateful that I am here on earth to grow. To learn about sacrifice, pain, peace, and joy... because of my Savior. I am grateful for reminders that help me realize that my life is not all of the drama that is happening, but that those are distractions from what is my real life that I am living...