Shelley

There are some people in your life you know we're just supposed to meet and love. Shelley is one of those people for me. Her husband was in the Bishopric of my YSA Ward in Centerville. I learned so much from her and grew to love her more than I could understand! She cared about me when I felt like no one else really did. She taught me so much about life and the gospel and myself. She was (and is) a most excellent example. I haven't seen her in some time. Probably not since I moved 9 months ago. Tonight I had to pick something up in Kaysville. As I was driving I thought, "Hey, it's not too late. I should stop and see the Davies." I debated for a minute. I didn't want to just show up unannounced. But in the end I decided to go. It didn't take long for her to ask some inspired questions and help me see some things in my life that need to be addressed. She had ideas, suggestions, scriptures and quotes. She shared some of her own experience av we had a conversation I needed to hear. I'm thankful for her willingness to pause a bug, important project to chat with me for a couple of hours. It really meant a lot. 

Hale Center Theater Tickets

Today I'm thankful for planned outings with some good friends. We purchased season tickets to Hale Center Theater. We officially have scheduled "dates" every other month! I'm excited for the shows and the time with friends. 

More birthday love

Today I'm thankful for my fantastic employees. The suckers lured me out of my office and decorated. They got me a gift card. It was very thoughtful. I didn't expect them to do anything, and it was a fun surprise. 

Birthday love

There's nothing quite like having a birthday to encourage an outpouring of love! So many Facebook messages, texts and even a phone call! Not to mention the family dinner/cake fun we had tonight. I sure love those people of mine!! Here's to great 30th year!! 

Dinner with my momma

Today I'm thankful for dinner with my mom. My plans for my birthday changed quite a bit. My mom came up here for the weekend instead. We went to Ruth's Chris and it was delicious!! 

My own bed

I'm pretty sure that is what I'm most thankful for every time I get home from traveling. How could it not be? The Marriott in Indy was great, but nothing beats home! 

Session ending early

Attending a wee-long conference is rough! The sessions have been great and I've learned a lot. But man am I having a hard time sitting for a whole session! Today I'm thankful that the presenters for my session both finished their content early! I got a little nap before lunch (which is awesome because I was up way too late last night!). And I also got in a little decompression time before meeting the "Salt Lake County" group for dinner.  I need to psych myself up for tomorrow. I can't count on the sessions ending early again!! 

Jill's sacrifice

My old college friend Jill lives in Fort Wayne, IN. When she found out I was going to be in Indianapolis this week she offered to come meet me for dinner. I'm thankful she was willing to drive 2 hours to get here! I had a great time walking around the city and catching up with her! 

The first day of CADCA

I'm attending a CADCA (community anti-drug coalitions of America) conference in Indiana this week. I get to serve on a healthy community coalition for work. I've always had a hard time with this coalition. Today during the first session, I learned about what it is that bothers me and what I can suggest to fix it. I hope the rest of sessions will be just as informative and helpful.  

Fun surprises

Today I traveled to Indiana to attend a conference for work. I was expecting to only know one other person (who I'm not very close with). I was pleasantly surprised when a friend showed up at the airport, headed to the same conference. There's just something about having someone you know along for the ride. Makes traveling alone a little less intimidating. 

No make up

I'm thankful I could just stay home today and not even bother to put on make-up. I leaving tomorrow morning to attend a conference out of town. I slept in and then spent a good chunk of the day doing laundry and packing. Later in the afternoon I got to hang out with baby J. I'm alway thankful for his snuggles, especially when he falls asleep on me! 

Davis county visits

I'm so thankful I live in Draper. It has been one of the best changes I've ever made in my life. The only problem is now Davis county is kind of far away! I had the opportunity to go up to Kaysville and visit a dear friend who is in town from Oregon. I'm thankful I made the cut and got to visit! She was only in town for a couple days and didn't have much time to visit all her friends. I'm also thankful I could make the most of the drive up there and visit my own family too! It was definitely a late drive home, but it was worth it! 

Book flights

I'm going to Austalia and Fiji and (hopefully) New Zealand!! It's an incredible opportunity and I am so stoked! Even though I have to wait 6 months, today I'm thankful the flights are booked. It just makes it feel more real. 

Whole Foods

I have a serious love/hate relationship with Whole Foods. I love it because I can find good food I can actually eat there (gluten free, dairy free, egg free, iodized salt free). I hate it because I stop on my way home from work for 2 things and end up with $50 worth of food! And I also end up baking vegan coconut blueberry muffins at 9:00pm when I should be getting ready for bed (12-hour work day tomorrow, yuck!). Regardless, I'm thankful for Whole Foods and I'm thankful there's one a mile away from my house. 

Immediate blessings

Sometimes you have to be super consistent for a long time before you get to see the pay-off. And sometimes you don't. Today was such a great day! And honestly, I feel like it was just one big blessing. I feel like Heavenly Father wants me to be happy and all it took was a little change in my mindset to be able to see all the blessings around me! I know that's cheesy and I know everyday isn't going to be as great as today, but that's okay. I'm thankful for the immediate blessings I saw today! 

Restarts

Whenever I call someone for help with my computer (my brother for my personal computer or IT for my work computer), they ALWAYS ask, "Have you tried restarting it?" I feel like that's what I had to do with this record. It wasn't working right. It wasn't accomplishing what I wanted it to. So I shut it down. But lately I've thought a lot about it. I found this thought a few days ago and it just seemed to scream, "It's time!!" It's time to be thankful. It's time to record that gratitude. It's time to restart. And so here I am, restarting, and desperately hoping it open the door!!