Gratitude Weekly - A Beautiful Day

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day. It was beautiful in more than one way. The obvious beauty of the day was that the weather was 75 degrees and mostly sunny. It was also beautiful because we were all together as a family and not too tired to enjoy such a day. Today we had a great day at church followed by a family lunch in which even the baby ate what was put in front of him. Then after lunch we took the dog, who was freshly bathed two days ago and went for a drive up the Colonial Parkway to Williamsburg and walked around Williamsburg.
We had a great walk up there. It was really crowded with all the other families out making the most of the mild temperatures also. Jay and Nathan received a new wagon for Christmas from my parents and we put that to use and were able to walk and walk. I love living in a place with all four seasons, but it is really fun to have a day that doesn't fit with the season every once in a while.
After we came home we had dinner and again everyone ate what was put in front of them, you just don't know how rare that is. Then we spent the evening hanging out together as a family. It doesn't get much better than that.

Thankful - Sailing Home For Christmas

I find that I am not being properly appreciative this holiday season and I want to rectify that. At this time of year many times I am without a husband. He has only missed one actual Christmas, but he is usually out to sea during December. I spend this time listening to songs that remind me that he is coming home soon and one song in particular that reminds me how there are those who are missing their Christmas with family. I am so very, very grateful for the people serving our country day in and day out. I am grateful to those who are deployed right now so that my husband is able to be home. I am proud to be numbered with people who chose this lifestyle even though just thinking about those families makes me teary eyed. I hope that our military feel our prayers and thankfulness and that they and their families are blessed this holiday season.

Here is my favorite non-traditional Christmas song. http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/DougStone/Sailing-Home-For-Christmas--25697200

All in day's work

Today 12 loads of laundry were washed and put away. After showers tonight I asked Spencer if he had put his clothes in the laundry basket. Spencer said, "I don't have a basket." I walked back to his room to make sure that I wasn't crazy and this is what I saw.

Gratitude Weekly - Trials

Right now I have no trials that I can think of. Can you imagine, even as I write that I am thinking that I must be missing something, but I hope that I can't think of anything. What I was thinking about today was how much the hard times in my life have helped me become who I am today. The hard times help me to know what the most important things in my life are. I am so very grateful for having the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. At the time that I first found out about our church's beliefs I had to struggle to become a part of the church, but through those struggles I am stronger in my beliefs.
I am also grateful for the knowledge that comes from the separations that Jay and I go through. The first time that Jay had to leave us I was very excited for the chance to prove to myself that I could do it. Everyone always said that I was the sort of person who was "needy". I would have to say after 4 deployments, plus training totaling 2 years 8 months not including ins and outs over 3 years, and living apart for 8 months during the whole Rhode Island thing, I am not needy. I want to be with my husband because I love him and enjoy his company more than any other person I know, but I can live without him if I have to. I am also able to say that after the first deployment my understanding and love of our Eternal marriage was made much more clear to me. Though we may not always be able to be together on Earth, we have Eternity to enjoy each other.
There are many other trials that we have throughout our lives, but those come to mind more than the others and I am grateful for the lessons learned. I am also very grateful for the peace of no trials right now.