My co-workers

The people in my office are all pretty great (most of the time). Today, they were great, and they were all on one. We laughed and joked for the majority of the day...which makes being at work for 9.5 hours way more fun! I'm thankful for the people I get to work with and the fun we had today.

A U of U t-shirt

Today was the first game for the U of U football team. My co-worker insisted that I needed to go to the "Red Zone" (the local U of U paraphernalia store) and purchase a t-shirt to wear to class. I ended up doing just that. And I liked it. It's fun to belong to group - even its just a group of football fans! I was a little bummed that I was heading up for class when everyone else was headed up to have fun at the game! But I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to go to school. It's really been an awesome couple of weeks!!

An incredible sunrise and a beautiful sunset

My days are very full. This morning I was out the door by 6:45am and didn't get home until 8:15pm. Today I'm thankful that I got to start and end my day noticing the sun. The sunrise was incredible - pink sky, followed by beautiful clouds that looked like they were on fire! And tonight, riding the train home, I watched the sky turn amazing colors as the sun set. I'm not looking forward to the day (coming way too soon) when I will start an end my day in the dark! So for now I wil be extra thankful for the light!

The green line train

I've become quite well versed in the UTA (public transportation) world. On school days I ride the train to work, then I ride the train to school, and then I ride the train home. It's actually worked out really well so far. The only down side is - sometimes I get out of class early. This should be a good thing...except it means my train schedule is ruined! I got out of class an hour early today. That would be awesome, except according to the schedule I made, it meant I would miss the frontrunner train by 3 minutes!! The next frontrunner train doesn't come for another hour after that! I was super bummed. But, I didn't end up waiting an hour after all! Instead, the green line train (which is not on my schedule because it comes from west valley...) appeared to save the day! I made it to the earlier frontrunner train and made it home an hour ahead of schedule. I'm thankful for that green line train!

1 mile

Last Friday I took a steroid injection to the hip joint. It was not a pleasant experience. It HURT!! But, my doctor is hoping that the steroid will calm down the pain in my hip and get me back to where I want to be. The bad news is - if it doesn't work, I get to entertain the real possibility that I need hip surgery at 27 years old!! But the good news is - so far it's working like it should. They told me that today, if my hip was feeling okay, I could run for 10 minutes. And today, my hip is feeling good and I ran a mile! I never thought I would be so grateful to be able to run a mile!! I'm really hoping that I don't wake up with a sore hip tomorrow! Then I can try running a little longer in a couple days. We shall see!

Focus

I knew that having a new challenge in my life would be good for me. That's the biggest reason I decided to go back to school. This weekend I feel like I've gained all the fringe benefits from having a challenge. Yesterday was so productive because it had to be! I had to get a bunch of things done and I knew that - so they got done. And today was the best Sabbath day I've had in a long time! I literally had tears in my eyes for the majority of our three hour block. The Spirit just had a message for me and I couldn't deny it! I'm grateful for the focus I feel like I have in my life right now. I feel a sense of purpose and direction. It's kind of ridiculous to feel that and be so overwhelmed at the same time, but I do. I'm hoping that overwhelmed feeling will go away soon so I can just enjoy the focus!

Little kids in soccer uniforms

Today was the first day of the fall soccer leagues I organize for work. That means I get to go in for a few hours and make sure everything gets set up and rolling. I love this part of my job! I'm thankful for the opportunity to actually see the work I've done. My co-worker Amelia and I drive around to all the parks and say, "We did this! We ordered the uniforms that these adorable kids are wearing. We trained these site supervisors and these referees. We scheduled these games. We made sure these kids ended up on a team with their little friends." It's just rewarding! I'm so thankful for that part of my job!