Short staff meetings

We have our staff meeting first thing in the morning every Monday. It's not my favorite. I usually have 2 meetings back to back and we usually get done around 10:30. I like staff meetings because they make the day go by quick. I just hate that they're so early, especially on Mondays! Today I'm thankful that our meetings were a little shorter. It almost feels like getting out of school early...almost.

Jared and Dad

 Today is a big day in our family. My oldest brother Jared was born on my dad's birthday so every year we got to celebrate them on the same day (usually Chris got added to the mix too so it was a triple birthday celebration every April).

I'm thankful to have Jared for a brother. He really is the best oldest brother a girl could ask for. He's an amazing man, a great husband and father and he makes me laugh so much!! I'm thankful for all the many things Jared is willing to do for his little sister! I'm proud of all he has accomplished and I'm so thankful he was born!!

And of course I'm thankful for my dad. I still miss him every day. I am most definitely my father's daughter. He was a great dad and he taught me so much! I always knew he loved me, I always knew he would do anything for me, and I always knew he was proud of me. I'm thankful that my family is forever and I know I will see him again!

I'm also thankful for the root beer float I ate tonight - just for my dad!

Thymes and Seasons

We tried a new restaurant tonight - Thymes and Seasons. Definitely my new favorite restaurant. It's a small, family run restaurant with the most awesome chef. Everything is gluten free (or can be modified to be). You can see the whole kitchen. You seat yourself and get your own drinks. The chef comes out to your table and takes your order. And the food was SO good!! The chef even lets us try the cheesecake and the cupcakes - both gluten free!! We will definitely become regulars. No need to go to any other restaurant!

Scrapbooking

This weekend is National Scrapbook Weekend. And I am celebrating by scrapbooking - all day today and most of the day tomorrow. Scrapbooking is my version of family history work. I'm keeping a personal record of my life. Someday I hope my kids and their kids can learn a little more about me from my books. I'm thankful for the opportunity to spend the weekend with friends doing something I enjoy.

Chris

Today is Chris's birthday. I just happened to have a banquet dinner tonight for work. Every year they put on a dinner for all the coordinators who run the Jr. Jazz programs. After dinner we get to watch the Jazz game. I invited Chris to be my "plus one." It was fun to be able to hang out with him on his birthday. I'm thankful to have him for a brother and I'm thankful that he was born!!

Cool nights

I really hate being hot. And I really hate paying an arm and a leg to run the air conditioner. Which is why I am grateful for this time of year - when it's warm during the day and cool at night. That way my house can be warm during the day (because I'm not here anyway) and at night I can open the windows and turn on a fan and be perfect!

Sales

Today I got four eyeliners for less than the price I usually pay for one!! I'll take it!

Costco soft serve

I went to Costco a few days ago. I really wanted a cup of their soft serve frozen yogurt. I checked out and headed over to the snack bar. I waited in line for a minute until I saw "Cash or check only." It was depressing because I had neither. I left without my ice cream and I've been thinking about it ever since. But tonight I got my fix. And life is a little bit better.

Air conditioning

I'm not sure what was wrong with the air conditioning at church today, but it was NOT working! Sacrament meeting was almost unbearable. It was so hot! It's amazing the things I take for granted - like being comfortable, protected from the elements in a safe building while I worship on Sundays. I know many people in this world do not have those luxuries. I do. And I am thankful for them!!

My camera

We (Krista and I) made a list of adventures we hope to have this year. Most of the things on the list are things here in Utah that we've never taken the time to experience. Today we went out to the Kennecot Copper Mine. It was pretty cool. We made sure to take some fun pictures so we could scrapbook our adventure. On the way home we stopped at "The Up House." It's a house built and painted to look like the house in the movie Up. When we got out of the car to take pictures I realized I did not have my camera! I remembered setting it down in the gift shop, but I didn't remember picking it up. I was worried I wouldn't get it back because they closed at 7:00pm and it was 7:30pm. But we went back anyway. I'm so thankful they let us through the gate. I'm thankful there were still workers at the gift shop. And I'm thankful I found my camera!! Now I'll have our pictures from today and I will be able to take more on our upcoming adventures!

Groceries

I have needed a trip to the grocery store for quite a while. I think it's been 3 weeks since the last time I went! I really like grocery shopping. I'm thankful that I have food to eat again! Although I really should have texted my roommates to make sure neither of them bought milk. We now have 4.5 gallons in the fridge! We usually go through milk pretty fast, but I don't think we'll drink fast enough to get through it all!

Canned pears

Not only do I enjoy eating canned pears, they're also on the top 10 list of things that remind me of my dad. He liked canned pears, but more than the pears, he loved the juice they came in. Tonight I opened a can of pears and by the time the can was open, I was crying. It's hard to miss someone you love so much. But I'm thankful for the memories I have. I'm thankful that even though my dad isn't physically here anymore, I can still remember him. I even sipped a little pear juice just for him.

Hearing

I picked up my demo Baha today and...I CAN HEAR!!!  It's weird and I still don't really understand how it works, but it works!  If I get a "real" Baha, they will do surgery and anchor the device to my skull.  But since this is just a demo, the device is held tight against my skull with a headband.  They said the "real" Baha will work/sound a little different.  I'm sold.  I want one!!  I get to keep this demo headband for two weeks and then I get to start the process of "fighting" with insurance companies.  Unfortunately, we're switching insurance providers on July 1st so I don't get actually start the process for a little bit.  But it's not all unfortunate.  They have had more people get approved for the Baha on the new insurance then the insurance I have right now.  I'll keep my fingers in crossed and just be thankful that this may be a possibility!! 

Dinner

I thought ALL day about what I could make for dinner. I'm in need of a serious grocery store run!! I had pretty much given in to the fact that the best I could do (without going out) would be cold cereal. That's my regular back-up plan. But when I got home my house my house smelled of delicious food! Em made dinner, and it was gluten free and it was super delicious! I'm thankful that she let me partake of the yummy dinner she had prepared. And I'm thankful I didn't have to eat cold cereal for dinner!

Free movies

I got to go to a movie premiere tonight. Apparently before a movie is released, they fill a theater with people who pay nothing to attend, and they play the movie. If you happen to be one of those (like I was today), you get to see a movie you've been looking forward to seeing, in the movie theater, for free! I will take it!

Peanut butter bars

My roommate Emily makes the best peanut butter bars. With a few small changes, she can even make them gluten free. I craved those bar tonight. Unfortunately Em was working up at the hospital so I had to make them myself. Not nearly as good as Em's, but I was still thankful for a sweet Sunday evening treat!

A clean house

Today was a cleaning Saturday. I'm pretty patient with messes in my house. I create my fair share and I'm not obsessive about everything being clean all the time. I understand that messes come with living in a house, especially when you live with other people. While the clutter doesn't really bother me, I do really love the feeling of having a clean house - clean kitchen, vacuumed floors, clean bathroom, clean (and folded and put away) laundry, etc. I'm thankful that I had plenty of time to get things clean today.

Charlie

Charlie works with me. He's a "parks guy." We have the BEST parks guys at Sandy Parks and Recreation! Today, my co-worker Amelia and I had to go to a park to assemble a set of new soccer goals. We got the park, got everything laid out and then realized the company that sent the goal sent us the wrong tools to put it together. Luckily, at that very moment Charlie arrived at the park. I'm sure he had other important things to do before heading home for the day, but he took the time to help me and Amelia put the goals together. It would have been miserable for the two of us to try and figure it out without him. I'm thankful he showed up when he did and I'm thankful he was willing to stick around and help us!!

This email

Dear Jetta,

We have recommended you for admission to the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism at the U.  I also wanted to notify you that you were selected as the outstanding MS applicant for this application cycle and were awarded a Browning Scholarship for the next academic year.  This is a one year, $1,000, scholarship that is awarded to an incoming graduate student.  There are a variety of other scholarships you will be able to compete for once you are enrolled.

Congratulations –and I look forward to meeting you in the fall.

Cheers -Jim

WAHOO!!! I'm so excited!

Costco rewards coupon

I get a check in the mail every spring. It's a rewards coupon I get to use at Costco. I don't love Costco because I always end up spending too much money there! Today I'm thankful that I could go there, get everything I was after, and only have to fork over $5.00!!

Fresh air

Today I'm thankful for fresh air for two reasons:

1. I had to do a bunch of running around today. I spent most of the day out in the parks. I'm so thankful for the beautiful weather we had today! It made the craziness of running all around rather enjoyable.

2. I'm also thankful for fresh air because today we had a lack of it in our office. We have basketball gym in my building and yesterday they refinished the wood floor. Today the smell was SO strong. I had a headache within 20 minutes!! I'm thankful for the fresh air we finally got blowing through the building (we literally had every door and window propped open all day)! And I'm thankful I got spend a lot of day out of the building!!

Preparation

Today was a day of preparation at work. It was one of those busy days when you realize it's 1:30pm and you haven't eaten lunch AND you forgot to get your morning snack, but you're too involved in what you're doing to notice your tummy is eating itself!! I love being busy. I'm thankful that this day was busy and I'm thankful that everything is prepared for my baseball, t-ball, and coach pitch leagues to start this week. Knowing that everything is all set is definitely a good feeling!

Easter

I got spend the day with my family. It was great. I went to church with Jared's family and Chris. I feel like I'm a little bit spoiled when it comes to Easter. Because I don't have kids yet, I don't have to try and juggle the Easter bunny and the Savior. I get to focus on the true meaning of Easter - which the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the blessings that that event brings to my life. I am SO thankful for the Atonement. I am so thankful for the sacrifice my older brother made for me because He knew it was the only way I could make it home. And I'm thankful that on the third day His tomb was empty! And I'm thankful we get to have a holiday to celebrate that!!

Chris's safe homecoming

Chris is home! He has been in South Korea for the past 6 months with the Air Force. I'm so glad he's back! I'm thankful that he was safe while he was away and I'm thankful he made it home safe!

Zupas and Red Mango

This week at work was pretty miserable...and I was only there for 2 of the 5 days!! It was spring break for the kids in Sandy so we didn't play any games. That means the office was painfully quiet! To make Friday a little more bearable, we went to Zupas for lunch and we got Red Mango (frozen yogurt) for an afternoon snack! Both were delicious!

A new windshield

I should have taken a picture of my old windshield. It had a huge crack and half a dozen rock chips. But my new windshield is fabulous! No cracks. No rock chips. It's amazing how a new, clean perspective can change your view of the world!!

Hope

A little more than 3 year ago, I lost the hearing in my left ear.  Within 30 minutes I went from hearing just fine to hearing absolutely nothing on the left side.  I've been to 4 ENTs since then and all 4 have told me they don't really know what happened.  One tried to give me hearing aid but it didn't work.  The rest have said I will just have to learn to deal with it.  And that's what I've done.  BUT, I have not been able to get the words from a priesthood blessing out of my mind. Shortly after I lost my hearing, I received a Father's blessing.  I was told that if I did everything the doctors told me to, I would get my hearing back.  I have tried so hard to have faith in those words, but it's been really hard when all the doctors are telling me it won't happen.

Recently I came across a different kind of hearing aid.  The basic idea is - they anchor a transmitter to your scull.  That transmitter conducts vibrations through your skull to your good ear.  I was super excited when I read about this.  I did a bunch of research and then I found out my insurance company won't cover it.  I sent in an appeal.  They denied the appeal. It's pretty ridiculous that the insurance company will pay up to $30,000 for a cochlear implant to restore hearing loss  But since I don't have the "right kind" of hearing loss, I'm not eligible for an implant.  So I pretty much gave up on the BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) idea.  There's no way I can pay the $30,000 for the surgery and the equipment all by myself.

Tonight I was invited to attend an informational meeting put on by the company that does cochlear implants and this BAHA.  I almost didn't go, but I am so thankful I did. I was able to speak to a representative from the company one-on-one.  She explained a little more and answered some of the questions I had.  She also had lot of ideas to help me find a way to be able to get one myself!  I am excited by the possibilities.  There's still no guarantee that I will get a BAHA, but I'm hopeful.

As I drove home from this information meeting, I thought about the history with my hearing. I thought about that blessing and how I was convinced that those promises would have to be fulfilled in the next life.  But then I thought about how our Heavenly Father works - how He has worked in my life.  I know that He doesn't always answer my prayers the way I want Him to.  I know in my life, things have a way of working out far better than I could have imagined them, and in a completely different way than I thought they would.  That gives me hope that maybe this will still work out. Heavenly Father probably has a plan that's better than I can even imagine!  And not just for my hearing, but for all the other blessings He has promised me, too!  I am thankful for the hope that that brings!

Hunger games

I already saw the movie - on opening night. But today I got to see it again, this time with my mom! My mom hasn't been to a movie theater in years! I'm thankful that we could change that today! I've had a great time visiting my mom in St. George. Tomorrow I have to go home, but I hope to see my mom again soon!

An awesome 8 miles

I got to run this morning. After sleeping in. In St. George. On the marathon course. And it was awesome!!

My mom's lasagna

My mom made a yummy lunch today - lasagna, garlic bread, broccoli, and chocolate cake (all gluten free). I ate way too much today and I don't even feel bad about it! There's just something about a mom's lasagna. I've decided I need to perfect making lasagna so someday my kids can be thankful for MY lasagna!