it's another spectacular fall. last week i drove up to revel in this beauty and realized it is definitely one of my happy places. i feel so whole when i'm around this spectacular beauty. the yellows were dazzling. the oranges and reds were out but not completely...but the yellows were on fire with their brightness. it made me realize i have not expressed my gratitude as often as i should. i think that one of the things i loved about taking a picture a day last year, was that i was daily expressing gratitude which made my joy multiply. so i decided to resolve to at least blog once a week on some of the things i am grateful for. so here's just a few drops in my bucket of blessings:
*getting to have a grandma sleepover with bekah. we painted princesses, painted her nails,
snuggled up to watch rio and had waffles with (just picked) raspberries and bananas. she
is my first grandchild and has such a deep special place in my heart.
*listening to conference and hearing the answer to something that i had specifically prayed
for. why am i surprised...the Lord is always soooo good to me.
*hot tubing with a friend one evening who is such a good listener. she will listen to all my
endless school stories and never even seem tired of them. she blesses my life endlessly...
and the jets did wonders on my neck.
*dinner with my daughters and daughter in laws during the priesthood session...a semi-annual
tradition we have that i just love. can't wait for our TOFW weekend all together.
so there are just a few of the drops that make my life so good. i'm a blessed woman for sure.
i love summer. i love getting together with family. i love the BBQ's, and the cherries on my tree (the birds have been much better about sharing this year), i love the serenity and beauty i find just outside my back door, i love getting to take outside morning walks with friends and i am thoroughly loving this summer. each day has been a gift of 24 delicious hours and i've been trying to fill them fully and relishing it as i do. the other day the sunshine wrapped me with such glorious warmth, it was exactly what i had dreamt about in january. summer truly nourishes the soul.
i relearned a lesson the other day...seems like sometimes i have to learn things over and over and over again so that i really get it enough to 'become'. anyway i was driving home and starting to compare what others have and what i don't. dangerous, i know. it only leads to a 'poor me' session. but as i began i was prompted to make a gratitude list instead.
so as i was driving i started telling my Heavenly Father all the things that i was grateful for.
for my wonderful kids,
and a great job,
and the blessing to live around mountains,
and for the chance i'd had to work in my yard that day,
and for the many friends who are so patient with me,
and for my good health,
and adorable grandkids who light up when they see me
and my home, and
all the many wonderful memories i have,
and my warm bed,
and the beautiful strawberries i had just bought,
and good books,
and warm showers with soap that smells so good,
and the blessing to work with incredible women in my church calling,
and all the colors of blue in the sky,
and that i get to get up each day and exercise with friends,
and for the lilacs starting to bloom in the backyard,
and for people who do jobs i wouldn't want to do like garbage men and insurance people,
and for how i feel when i go to the temple,
and for the hugs my school kids give me every day,
and for the chance i have to thank Him everyday in prayer.
well by the time i got home i was soooo amazed at how good my life was that i couldn't imagine ever thinking any but that. i felt warm and happy and elevated.
the wonderful thing is that i can do that anytime i want too. there's always more to be grateful for and joy to be felt each time.
and i'm grateful for that too.
look at these two boys....are they not the cutest things around!!
matthew chance miller arrived 2 1/2 weeks early and weighed 8 pounds and is absolutely adorable!! mom had a pretty rough pregnancy and rough delivery and all i can say is, "celeste, you are one amazing woman!"
it's been fun to see jonathan as a new dad. but it still seems strange that my baby has his own baby!
life moves sooooo quickly. i better keep my eyes open or i might miss something!
you know the world is beautiful in so many ways. i woke up to this breathtaking scene this morning. crisp clear sky, pure clean snow and the world looked snug in this new thick blanket. i wanted to just drive around taking pictures....mainly with my eyes and heart because i knew my camera skills just couldn't do it justice.
spring storms are always so beautiful....plus they're gone so soon that you have to breathe in all that goodness quickly.
but the other wonderful picture that caught my heart in an even deeper way was my driveway. nope, i didn't take a picture, but the one in my heart will remain for a long long time. i was awake at 4:30 and actually reading...(about social security and retirement, but that's another story). anyway, i heard a noise and got up to look out my front window. it was 4:50 and the what i heard was the sound of a dear brother in my ward moving all the snow (9 inches deep) from my driveway with his truck. and not just my driveway, but many others....all while we slept or at least enjoyed the warmth of our beds.
it made my heart warm and fill me with the desire to find someone i could help. love does that. it expands. i've always believed that. because i always feel that.
so my friends....you may not want to get up at 4:45 to remove snow for your neighbors. but there is something that you and i can do. i'm going to try harder to do those things. to share my love, which ultimately comes from the Lord, with others.
make the world beautiful.
do something.
so last weekend we had a girl's retreat here. it was the best. i've decided that when women get together there is just never enough time to talk. we were going to get up and exercise and do a bunch of things in the morning and what did we end up doing? yeah...more talking. we finally had breakfast at 1:00 - but we made banana stuffed french toast...(YUM) so no one minded waiting...not that we were even waiting...remember, we were talking! we came up with four sentences that we want to guide our year with. mary was in charge of designing something so i'll share that later. but most of all i came away with even more love for these amazing women than before....which i didn't think was possible. each has their own trials and hard things and yet each is going forward in their life with strength and ambition and courage and compassion. they truly inspire me. so the facials were fun, tying the baby quilt was productive,
but the talking.....well...
that was priceless.
oh....and i love posting pictures when i'm not in it! love you girls!
