365 gratitude day 64

Today I'm grateful for inspiring music. An incredibly talented brother in our ward sang my favorite arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives in sacrament meeting today. I felt the Spirit so strongly. Music just touches me in a way that little else can.

Cambria's 3rd Birthday

Can you believe I have a 3 year old?!? In some ways I can, it's hard to remember what life was like before I had kids.

We struggled to decide when to celebrate her birthday because Jonathan (obviously) had to work and I had rehearsal that night. We decided that we would just celebrate it on Saturday. On Thursday, we did tell her it was her birthday, but that we would celebrate on a different day, she seemed ok with that. We kept wishing her a happy birthday and letting her do more of what she wanted because it was her birthday. Jonathan stayed home a little later than usual (left around 9:00). I love that he has the flexibility to be able to do that. Thursdays are usually grocery shopping day, and there is a ward parenting class that happens on Thursday mornings. She loves going to the store Fresh Thyme because they have fresh peanut butter samples and little carts. Grocery shopping doesn't get much better than that. I knew I couldn't do both (because I never can do both... I do try to every Thursday, and it never happens) and have dinner ready at a reasonable time. So I asked her if she wanted to go play at Aunties, or go to Fresh Thyme; she chose to play at Aunties.

After we got home, it was a normal day, special time, then quiet time, then after they woke up we got in the car (which we all know is a process) and by the time we were in the car we didn't have time to go to Fresh Thyme so we went to Wendys. We never go out to eat, so that was a super nice treat.

On Saturday, it was a little awkward because we all knew it wasn't her birthday, but we wanted to have our special stuff to celebrate a birthday (I think in the future, we are just going to make the day as special as we can, and call it good). I woke up early and made scones. Not because she asked for them but because I didn't get around to making them for Valentines day. She didn't mind, she liked that, if it's bread and it's fried, it's good! Then I went shopping with Auntie for birthday stuff for Cambria, and Jonathan went to a baptism and called grandma and grandpa Kershaw. When I got home, we ate food and opened presents with Nana and Grandpa via skype. Cambria got a balance bike and a few books and a few sets of clothing. It turned out to be a beautiful day, so we took the bike out and took a walk. It was so fun!

This is a dress I bought Cambria for Holly's wedding in a few weeks. It almost matches my bridesmaid's dress exactly ;)

I love that my boy loves sticks!

Our walk was boycotted by this playground... since they weren't aloud to play on it, we turned around and walked back to my car.

how cute is this picture!?

so cute!

This is the cake I made for Cambria... it's a whole blog post in and of itself... it didn't turn out that great, but it didn't fall apart, so I'm going to call it a success.

We threw together a last minute party and had a few friends come over to eat all that cake.

It was a good celebration. I'm so grateful for my sweet big girl, even though she drives me nuts sometimes. I guess those you love the most, drive you nuts sometimes... because you know them best. 

365 gratitude day 61, 62, 63

61: I'm grateful that Cambria is so sweet. Today was not good in so many ways but there were moments when, despite my nastiness, Cambria was just pure sweetness. For example: I was feeling very frustrated with Corbin, and wasn't even trying to hide my frustration. And she came up to me, put her hand on my knee and said "mommy, what's wrong?" I told her that I was frustrated with Corbin, and she asked why, when I told her she turned to me and said "I'm sorry!" So sincerely! It melted me, it was just what I needed!

62: I'm grateful that winter is beautiful. Snow is so pretty to look at.

63: I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve people. We did a date swap this weekend and it's nice to feel like I'm helping people.

365 gratitude day 60

I didn't have rehearsal yesterday because we got a lot of snow. I was really sad about it at first (let's not even talk about the fact that it's going to end, and what's going to happen to my emotional status). But it turns out that's what I ended up being grateful for.
I was able to get some stuff done that had been on my to-do list for far too long. It felt good to finish them up and feel like I could check something off.

365 gratitude day 58 and 59

Day 58: have I mentioned that I'm grateful that I'm in the show? I'm having so much fun!

Day 59: I'm grateful for nice people. Today the van wouldn't start and there were some construction workers working on our water lines. After several attempts to start the van, a sweet prayer given by Cambria and a lot of her prodding to ask for help I asked them if they knew anything about cars. One guy climbed out of the big hole he was working in and tried to start the car, then checked under the hood. Turned out one of the clamps on one of the hoses had broken and they weren't connected anymore. So he ran to his truck, found a zip tie and reclamped the hoses together. He told me what to ask for at AutoZone and I was able to fix it myself, thus saving us a trip to the shop and lots of money.

365 gratitude day 54, 55, 56, and 57

Wow! I'm not going to let that many days go by again...

54: I'm so grateful for Cambria. It's her birthday today. So many miracles brought her to us. She is a sweet girl with so much love inside. Sometimes I get glances of her real personality (not her being a two year old, or a three year old) and I can tell she is such a special spirit.

55: the weather is warming up! I'm grateful for warm days in the middle of winter.

56: I'm grateful for friends who are willing to come over last minute to help make Cambria's birthday celebration special.

57: Jonathan and I had a really good discussion about marriage, and our roles within it. It stemmed from our scripture study. I'm grateful for times we have a solid scripture study where we get something spiritual out if it.

365 gratitude day 51, 52 &53

51: I'm starting to get a cold, but I still have the energy I need to keep up with my kids.

52: I'm so grateful for my visiting teachers! I was just assigned a new set and I can tell already they are going to be fantastic!

53: I'm grateful that Jonathan mopped yesterday! I wanted th get it done for so many days, but other things came up. I mentioned in passing that I wanted to do it,  and I came home from rehearsal to a clean floor! The house seems so much cleaner with a clean floor.

365 gratitude day 50

Today I'm grateful that I followed the inspiration to work on my song for come thou fount. I got it to a point that I felt happy with and recorded it a few weeks ago. This last week I sent it to Calee Reed (I met her at time out for women last year and we have kept in contact, sort of,) and she just emailed me with some amazing consecutive criticism that I'm so excited about!

If I hadn't followed that prompting, I wouldn't have this now.

365 gratitude day 48 and 49

Day 48: I'm grateful for opportunities to serve. I'm realizing that I'm really willing to accept service, but I'm not as willing Ty give it. Once I was giving it, though, I felt great about doing it.

Day 49: I'm grateful fir Valentine's day. I had a few moments to really think about how I could show my love for Jonathan. I'm grateful that there are days built into the calender to remind me to step back and think more about him.

365 gratitude day 47

I'm so grateful for people who sincerely compliment. Today I had a friend come up th me and say "you are glowing! " I was a little taken back and asked her what she meant and she said "you are confident and happy, and I can tell your are doing a lot better!" I responded something to the affect of "thanks. I finally feel like I'm not floundering" she reaffirmed that she could tell I was much happier and doing much better. (Side note, I knew I wasn't doing well, but I had no idea how much it showed)

I needed that today because it turned out to be a hard day. But I felt like because of that conversation today was not the norm anymore.

365 gratitude day 46

The kids are starting to get old enough to have a cute relationship. Theirs is really developing and blossoming. I love watching their love for each other. I'm grateful that they seem to have such a song bond, it makes me feel that the feelings we had to have two kids close together really was inspiration.

365 gratitude day 43, 44 and 45

I'm grateful for times I have to reflect on my testimony, and what I believe.

I'm grateful that I had a friend who was willing you help me make 6 freezer meals. My freezer is now stocked with yummy food that will help me out in a clinch ;)

I'm so grateful that I'm doing this show! I'm having so much fun!

365 gratitude day 42

Today I'm grateful that our washer and dryer are in! It turned out to be an all day project, with lots of cramming ourselves in tight spaces, and contouring our bodies in ways we didn't think they could go, but they are in and connected.
Hopefully when we test them out, everything will go smoothly.

365 gratitude day 40, and 41

Day 40: I'm grateful for changing sessions. It's starting to get lighter earlier, and the days are getting longer. That makes me excited! But I wouldn't appreciate it if there a wasn't change in the weather.

Day 41: I'm grateful for time I can spend just with Jonathan. We went to the temple again (and I'm grateful for the temple) and it was so nice to have a solid two hours to just talk about whatever we wanted.

365 Gratitude day 37, 38, 39

37: Cambria and Corbin are starting to develop a freaky cute relationship! I'm so grateful for that! One time Cambria wanted th be close, but Corbin didn't want her to be so he was pushing her away. I heard her say "no Corbin, you're my best friend, don't do that" ... melt my heart why-dontcha!

38: I'm so grateful that our neighbor came over and rewired and did duct work so that we could put in our new (to us) stackable washer and dryer! He left a little work for us to do, so hopefully we will have a working washer and dryer on Saturday!

39: I took a trip to Wal-Mart today. When I go, it's never a quick trip. Thankfully, I went when the kids were happy, and I remembered to pack snacks. I'm so grateful that there were no meltdowns, and no crazy stress for me! I felt impressed to have Cambria help me find the items I was looking for. So she felt engaged which helped a lot!  I'm grateful for the bits if inspiration I constantly receive. And I'm grateful that I can recognize them for what they are.

365 gratitude day 36

Today I'm grateful for inspired speakers in church. The youth speaker (just barely turned 12) spoke on prayer and reminded me that I need to improve mine. I felt the Spirit so strong during his talk.