3 hours of laughter

I spent my New Year's Eve with Emily and Deena. I can't think of a better way to end 2012 then laughing for hours on end! My stomach hurts! I'm thankful for friends and laughing!

Les Mis

I finally went to see Les Mis (the movie) today. It was fantastic! I listened to the music and saw the play multiple times growing up. Hearing the songs in the movie made me sentimental and I could easily have wept through the whole thing! I restrained myself since I was in a theater full of people. I'm thankful that my parents introduced us to things like that when we were growing up.

Errands

I made it out of the house. I rode to Salt Lake so Krista could finish something up at work and then we did some shopping at Costco. I also needed to do some shopping at Walmart, but I was way too tired. My body is used to laying around, not being out! I'm a little disappointed that I didn't last long, but I'm thankful I was able to at least accomplish a few of the things on my to-do list. I thankful I still have a few days to help my body adjust to being out about all day (and sleeping at night) instead of lounging!

Driving

I drove my car today. I'm so thankful that the recovery from this surgery hasn't been half as bad as I thought it would be. I read blogs from other patients who had the same surgery and they said they had to take a month off work and didn't drive themselves until 4 weeks post-op. Not me. I'm getting around great (without crutches even), I'm not taking the prescription pain killers anymore, and 2 weeks post-op, I was out driving around. I'm thankful that I can have my independence back. I'm also thankful for Rodney, who so kindly shoveled the snow so I could get my car out of the driveway! The people who do snow removal for my housing complex pushed all the snow from my driveway into a wall between my driveway and the street. I wanted to get out of the house badly enough that I almost shoveled it myself! But I didn't have to, thanks to Rodney!

Memory foam

When I found out that I would have to sleep on my back after hip surgery, I was worried. I am NOT a back sleeper. I'm not ever a side or a stomach sleeper. I'm a tosser. I knew I would struggle to sleep just on my back. My anxiety over this prompted me to buy a memory foam topper for my bed. I only slept on it once before surgery and didn't notice a big difference. Then I slept on it for a week after surgery and it was good. But it wasn't until I had to sleep somewhere else that I realized how thankful I am for that topper. My sweet mom offered to let me sleep on her bed (which is memory foam), but I made due with some creative arrangements and I actually slept fine. But I'm so excited to be curled up in my bed with 4 inches of memory foam under me. It almost makes up for the fact that I had to come home from St. George 4 days earlier than I had planned. Almost...but not quite!

A low key Christmas

It doesn't really feel like Christmas. While I am ridiculously excited to have my own little family to celebrate Christmas with, I am thankful for the opportunity I have now to celebrate a low-key Christmas. I made a delicious breakfast, lounged around, took a nap, and spent time with my mom and Chris. It wasn't quite as exciting as most Christmases, but I know I'll have plenty of those in my future.

Water heaters

I am SO thankful for warm showers. I love everything about a nice, hot, relaxing shower - especially in the winter time! I'm thankful that I live in the time I live in when I can get a hot shower everyday in the comfort of my own home!