Come Ye Thankful People

Lite 98 started playing Christmas music this week. I love Christmas music but their playlist is lame and repetitive. Thankfully 100.9 is proving to be a good alternative to the clear channel station.

But I digress (happens a lot).  It's too early for radio Christmas. I won't lie, I've already started to listen to some Christmas CDs on occasion, but I like to take my holidays one at a time.

I'm grateful for a season where we can stop and look at our bountious blessings. I'm grateful for the settlers of Jamestown for stopping to be appreciative for what they had (even though they did a poor job of repaying the locals who helped them survive). Learn your history America, and stop calling the pilgrims thanksgiving the first one.

That being said I'm thankful that I was a history major and got the opportunity to see what REALLY happened instead of what the media tells me.

Sunshine on my Shoulders

I'm thankful for sunny Saturdays when I have the opportunity to do yard work and be productive.

Today I'm grateful for my parents and my sister helping clean up the yard. I have a lot of trees and a lot of leaves so it's not an easy task and I appreciate  the assistance.

And in general I'm thankful for the sunshine, for beautiful light that brightens not only the world but my mood.

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

In a conversation about being overworked today a case manager reminded me that all the work I had coming in was job security.

While my job can be intense I'm thankful that I have a solid job in a time when many people don't. In my line of work I'm reminded on a daily basis the struggle it can be to search for a job and been just being out of work.

Having been in that situation myself I'm grateful for my job and the career that it has become.

Free to do what I want

This week I've been reminded of the importance of moral agency.  I'm so grateful that we have the choice to act the way we decide, and that we've been given a moral compass to help us make decisions that help us as humans and children of God.

As more rights are taken away in the form of overbearing popular and/or media opinion, it becomes harder and harder to stand for what we know is right without being attacked.

I'm thankful for the freedoms that I have as an American citizen to worship how I choose and to participate in political discourse without persecution. Well without being criminally persecuted.

All Gave Some, and Some Gave All

On this Veteran's Day I'd like to express my gratitude for all of the veterans who have served and who continue to serve.

Though both my grandfathers served briefly (Army and Marines) I was raised to remember and respect all service members.

Even though it's more along the lines of Memorial Day, I think it's important to recognize the service of all those who have fought and died for a cause they believed was right and protected and advanced our country to give us all the freedoms we have today.

I'm also thankful that I went to a university that has one of the largest corps of cadets, and recognizes the service of its students and alumni.

The picture below is of half the pylons, which sit around a monument essentially in the middle of campus, over top of the War Memorial Chapel.

In the center of the pylons is a memorial for Virginia Tech Medal of Honor recipients.

How May I Help You?

I had to return something at Target and fix an issue with my cartwheel deals. The previous store I went to was not at all helpful, and didn't allow me to get the deals because of an issue with my phone.

So when I went to a different store today the customer service rep was very helpful and even gave me a few dollars extra.

I was stressed and her just doing her job would have been fine, but she was apologetic and polite and made my day all the better.

I'm thankful for good customer service, and people who care about their jobs enough to allow those that they come into contact with to have a good experience.

Bring on the rain

I love the country song Bring on the Rain", especially the line "...And I'm thirsty anyway,  so bring on the rain. "

I'm thankful for the rain. I know it makes for a dreary day and we would all love to stay home in bed, but we need it. In fact it makes our fall colors even more beautiful.

Besides, if it were sunny all the time we wouldn't appreciate those sunny days so much. Overused wisdom aside, it's true and sometimes on wet days we need to be reminded of that.

Sing, sing a song

Tired after a long Sunday and a 2 hour practice, I'm still grateful for the Richmond Mormon Chorale. I'm especially grateful for Arianne and Kristen for conducting and accompanying, respectively.

It's so fun to start singing Christmas songs in September, and listening to so many talented people come together in typically beautiful harmony (hey we all have bad days).

Even though it's hard work, it's rewarding work and I always know it's going to be a great performance when I get emotional hearing the songs in practice.

So a little plug for our concerts:

December 6th, 6:30 pm Richmond
December 13th, 7 pm Chesterfield
December 20th, 7 pm Midlothian
December 21st, TBA Miracle of Christmas Richmond Metro Zoo

There's more to life than football

I'm grateful I watched hardly any college football today.

If you know me well, I promise I'm okay, you don't have to come check on me.
And no, it's not just because the Hokies had a bye, although I would be lying if I said that didn't have anything to do with it.

Regardless, today I'm thankful that I convinced myself it was okay to skip the pivotal games and go out. I missed some crazy finishes but I had a good time and I don't regret anything.

Several years ago I worked Saturdays for a historic site and I couldn't watch any of the day games. I was miserable. So I'm glad that I know I can miss watching the Mountaineers win, miss watching national contenders lose, and not feel like I'm completely missing out.

For those of you who don't experience anxiety, guilt and regret often rule my thoughts. And my cell phone died while I was standing around not doing much so I couldn't even check scores this afternoon while I was waiting on other people. Yet I remained calm and went about my day. Progress, people.

I'm thankful that the Lord helps me shift my focus when I need too, and reminds me I can have more than one good thing going on at one time.

We Are Family

The older I get the more I look forward to Thanksgiving. Sure, the food is great and football is fun, but as my siblings move away it's exciting to get back together as a family.

My sisters came home this weekend and its a brief preview of the upcoming holiday season.  I'm thankful for being part of a big family and for the relationships we maintain.  I'm grateful that for the second year in a row my immediate family will be completely reunited for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In institute last night Sister Sue Miller asked us what our profile picture was on Facebook, and encouraged us to ponder if that picture represented where our heart lies.  Now, my picture is designed to either look creepy or show my 2 year old brother photo bombing my 4 year old self. But regardless my heart is often turned to family,  and I'm glad I live close enough to most of them so we can continue to create strong memories and photos where we all look at different cameras.

Home Sweet Home

When I bought my first financed car I had nightmares that people crashed into it, as I had to park in the road.  I learned what it meant to have buyer's remorse.

For years I lived in apartments where I could hear everything. I lived next to neighbors who thought they needed to create a club environment in their home. I hauled furniture up flights of stairs and down sidewalks. I moved 9 times in 10 years.

I decided to purchase a house last year for a myriad of reasons, and after months of searching I made the next major adult step in my life. A single friend of mine told me it was hard for her to sign the papers on her own, and I'm grateful that for once in my life that didn't bother me.

I can honestly say, 1 year and 3 days after moving into my own house, I have never had one episode of buyers remorse. Not even a twinge when I received a $600 power bill. Sure I was devastated and pissed, but I didn't regret becoming a homeowner.

Today I want to share my gratitude for my house and the opportunity I have to live here.  More often than not a swell of pride comes over me as I pull in the drive and unlock the front door. I feel a sense of accomplishment and safety.

I realize that I have an incredible blessing that many don't have and may never have and I'm thankful for the shelter, the warmth, the protection, and the peace my home provides.

Sweet Virginia Breeze

This is gonna be a short one since I'm tired.  But today is a good day to step back and be thankful since I found a lot to complain about and I let a lot of things get to me.

So while today was rough, the day itself was actually gorgeous. Beautiful blue sky, nice weather, and if course the leaves.  I had the chance to visit Utah Valley and Portland, Oregon in the fall a few years ago and boy did I figure out what I was missing. Never again will I take the overpowering beauty of fall in the east for granted. And of course since I'm from Virginia I'm kinda partial to the view here.

I went looking for pictures and probably spent more time doing that than writing, but oh well, enjoy my random Virginia fall pictures from over the years

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El segundo día

I'm glad I decided to challenge myself and that I'm competitive enough to want to WIN (against myself?) because I didn't really feel like posting.

Recent events and changes at work have put my office into a weird place and its been a challenge to come home in a good head space. I enjoy my job and the majority of my clients but I have an emotionally draining caseload and any added stress (to the normal high level of stress that comes with my position) can send me over the top.

Today, and everyday, I am grateful for so many my co-workers. I'm grateful for the people I've been able to work under and the support staff that have been so....supportive (seriously I couldn't think of a better way to say that).

I feel so fortunate to work in an environment where everyone is seen as an equal, where we do our best to work as a team.  I'm thankful for a cohesive unit where we mostly lift up instead of tear down, and are silly enough to make the time go quicker and the hard days bearable.

I am grateful for the many co-workers, past and present (and given the number of current vacancies hopefully future!) who take the time to listen when I need to vent, give sound advice, and remember the little things I would never expect.

It's not all kumbaya and sunshine and rainbows, but honestly that would be annoying. Because life can be hard.  Our jobs are often hard.  But they're a whole lot better when there's good people around.

On the First Day of November....

I promise y'all blogging has been on my mind.  There are so many things I want to say and yet I feel like I don't know how to form my ideas in coherent, succinct posts.

I also have struggled with how much to share and how to get my point across without revealing information I want to keep personal.  There are so many things that I try and process every day that I know others experience as well; I can't tell you how many times a client will tell me something they are going through and I think (never say) "If you only knew how much I empathize with that".

So please bear with me as I work on creating the messages I want to share.  In the meantime, in order to force myself to post more, I'm going to do my 30 day Gratitude challenge on here, and try to incorporate some of my thoughts into what I'm grateful for.

Today, I am grateful for...gratitude.  Yup, you read that right. 

 I'm grateful for all those who have challenged me to keep a gratitude journal, who have kept me grounded in all that I have.

I'm grateful for people who regularly use "thank you" and recognize the importance of being kind even through the little things in life.

I'm grateful for President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk  Grateful In Any Circumstances and the reminder that gratitude is not an attitude that should only be utilized in the good times.

I'm grateful for Corrie ten Boom and her book "The Hiding Place", and her continuous example of a real person struggling through unimaginable horrors who came out with peace in her heart.  In my opinion one of the best examples of real gratitude comes from her, and stay tuned; it'll be one of my upcoming posts!

I'm grateful for the role expressing gratitude everyday and keeping a gratitude journal plays in positive psychology.  My favorite resource on this is Shawn Achor, particularly in his book "The Happiness Advantage".  Part of this strategy is writing a thank you email to someone you work every morning.  I've always liked this but never tried it, so I'll be starting tomorrow morning :)

As I go through this month I'll also try and update you on how improving my attitude of gratitude helps me, and my experiences practicing being a more grateful person.  Feel free to share any of you experiences as well!