Attitude of Gratitude: November 1st

As November rolls around I see lots of posts on Facebook from my friends who are counting down to Thanksgiving by posting things they are grateful for on their status messages each day.  I’ve always thought this was great but I’d miss a few days at the beginning of the month and then not just jump in where I was.  So once again I’m about a week late to start doing this but I want to start anyways.    I decided I’d rather post these in my blog than just on Facebook to give me a little more space to write my thoughts, post pictures etc.  It also feels a little more permanent than Facebook 🙂  I’m going to start back on the first because I have many things to be grateful for from that day because it was my birthday!  I’ve thought of things I was grateful for each day this month but we’ll see if I manage to get them all posted or if I just start from where I’m at after the first.  Here we go:

Me as a baby 🙂

• I’m especially grateful for this article that my hairdresser posted on her Facebook wall.  I spent a few minutes reading it in the morning and it really put my whole day into perspective.  I *love* Elder Holland and this was an excellent talk on the Atonement and what we’re all striving to do and become here on the earth.  And of course, I’m grateful for the Atonement and the opportunity I have to return to live with Heavenly Father some day.  I’m grateful for this understanding in my life.
• I’m so grateful to have been born!  I’m grateful for parents who loved me and raised me and were willing to make so many sacrifices on my behalf.  I’m grateful for their tireless concern and efforts to help me become the woman I am today.  I’m grateful that after being in labor for over 24 hours my mom endured through to give me life.  I cannot adequately express the gratitude I have for such wonderful parents, it’s one of the greatest blessings afforded to me in my life.
• I’m grateful for Eric.  He made my day wonderful just by being in it.  He spent the day working from home and took the time to help me get our dishes under control (I’m a bad dishes doer and I get very overwhelmed when the dishes get out of hand, so this was HUGE for me).  He watched Sam for an hour while I napped with Danny (which I’d told him was the one thing I wanted for my birthday – a nap!).  Then he took me to the temple before going out to dinner with me.  It was a wonderful day just being with my family and I’m grateful for the efforts Eric made to make it just a wonderful day.
• I’m grateful for my mother-in-law who came up to our house after work to watch our boys so that Eric and I could go out for the evening.  I love my little boys very much, but it is sometimes so nice to get away for even a few hours, especially when you know they are in good hands.
• I’m grateful for the temple and the peace we can feel there and the joy of serving others.
• I’m grateful for the 75+ friends who took the time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday.  Even if Facebook makes it so easy to do, even those few seconds that people took to click on my name and write a quick “happy birthday!” on my wall mean something to me.

So thank you to everyone who made it a wonderful birthday!