Grateful

I was having a hard time sleeping last night and started thinking about how I can't believe it's November already and how Thanksgiving is coming up. So I started thinking about all the things I'm grateful for and I thought it might be a good idea to share them with friends/family/and any random stranger who sees my blog. I'm 6 days late, but I thought it would be cool to do one for every day in November until Thanksgiving. These will not be in order of importance. Just in the order that they pop into my brain.

1. My family. We have a lot of fun together. We have a crazy mix of personalities, but we love each other a lot and are pretty fiercely loyal to one another. My parents are great people. My mom is a saint. My dad is a little crusty around the edges, but would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. Larren is one of the good guys. He treats his wife well and works hard. Craig is hilarious and also one of the good guys. Amberly is devoted to my brother and does a fantastic job at keeping him in line. She's a great sister-in-law and her personality adds so much to our family dynamic. Craig is a hard worker just like Larren and willing to serve others. Do any of you have a brother who would eat a huge tub of Country Crock and drink curdled buttermilk, eat cat food, and other various disgusting stunts for his sister? I think not. (That was Phobia Factor at Quality Auto and they would have paid for my car if Craig had won. We had a deal that he would get some money out of it if he won, but still! That's a lot to go through for a sister!) Jessie is so much fun as a sister. She cracks me up. I love all of our little inside jokes and she is truly one of my favorite people to hang out with. All in all, I'm blessed with a great family.

2. My education. I have been given great opportunities to educate myself. Being able to go to Utah State for a bachelor's and a master's degree was so nice. I loved being able to use my dad's half tuition to keep my education costs to a minimum. It has also been nice to live close to home and have the family support. I love learning and love it even more than I'm not forced to write papers about it or take tests on what I learn!

3. My job. I have been with a great company for 10 years now. I can't believe it has been that long. I started out with some on-the-job training that not everybody gets and was given a great opportunity to learn this trade. I've been able to grow my skills as a transcriptionist and now a QA editor all while having a great amount of flexibility to finish my education. I work with great people.

4. My car. Diva and I were meant to be together. Her name is Diva because she can sing. My last car (Baby) wouldn't eject a CD unless the car was off. Diva does just great! She gets great gas mileage and hasn't given me a bit of problem since I purchased her. She's still young too!

5. My ward. I have a wonderful ward with a fantastic bishop. I have lots of friends there and it feels like Cheer's . . . everybody knows my name . . . and they're always glad I came . . . I know I just compared my ward to a bar, but whatever.

6. Change. This is an interesting one to be grateful for. I know they say that change is the only constant which is true. I'm grateful for this. Changes are good and changes are bad, but most have both and generally all are good for us. I think change gives us opportunities to grow and learn which is what life is all about. I think of how I felt when President Hinckley passed away and President Monson became the new prophet. That was a change. It was a sad change because I miss President Hinckley, but it was a happy change knowing that he was reunited with the love of his life. I have loved seeing the mantle of the prophet fall on President Monson and to learn from him. When Heather and Mike got engaged, I was not happy about having to change a good thing and find a new roommate. I joked with Heather and Mike about just moving in with them when they got married. I was able to move in with Jen and that's been such a great thing. It's been so nice only having one roommate (well, and Chewie) and Jen and I get along well, I didn't have to move far, and she bought a piano.

Here are the first 6. More to come!