Things I'm Grateful For

These are just a few of the reasons why today I am feeling so grateful...

I got to read my scriptures this morning.

Aunt Martha and Uncle David invited Jon, Ems and I to their place yesterday evening for a Pioneer Day BBQ.

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend time cooking and playing games with Jon, Ems and Jacob.

Yesterday morning Sarah, Ems and I got to go hiking up past the Y. It was perfect weather. It was perfect scenery. It was perfect company.

Tuesday night I went up to South Fork Park and had a bonfire with a bunch of friends from the ward.

Before the bonfire on Tuesday I got to grab ice cream with Kathleena and then the two of us talked for a while. It was so good to catch-up with an old friend.

Last week I was blessed to be able to go down to California with Jon to spend the week at his house. His family was amazing and it was an absolute blast hanging out with his little brother, David, while his mom and sister were at girls camp.

In a couple of days I get to go home for a week to go backpacking with my family!

I am dating the best man I have ever met.

In the past 24 hours I have laughed, cried, pondered, been silly and felt immensely blessed and loved. In essence, I have felt human.

I have used and seen the power of the Atonement in my life more frequently this past month than I have in a long time.

These things and more leave me sitting here at the computer, thinking and writing about them all, with a feeling of deep inner peace.

My Life the Past Several Weeks in Pictures

Ems and I have been having dinner together twice a week. This was a DELICIOUS dish she made--pasta, sauce, tomatoes, spinach....pretty much amazing!

Eric, Jared and I drove down to Pocatello, Idaho the weekend of May 18th&19th for Ellen Lewis' farewell talk. She's headed off to North Carolina! We drove through a crazy storm on our way up, but even that was fun! Besides hanging out with Eric and Jared I got to spend the night at Aunt Christy's place! Ethan, Clancy and I watched "The Gods Must Be Crazy." It was so good to see them. I'm so grateful that Eric and Jared were kind enough to let me join them in this wonderful adventure.

Several weeks ago, Jon got to go to his boss' place and killed a chicken! On Sunday night, after I got back from Pocatello, we grilled it on the BBQ. It was tough meat, but super duper yummy! Scott and Stephen joined us too.

This past Tuesday, May 21st, my friend Steve and I went hiking. After driving around for a while, finding a place, we settled on hiking Stewart Falls. We got there at twilight and made it back to the car just as the darkness was settling in. It was beautiful!

Today, Jon and I woke-up super early to go hiking. We got on the trail around 7:30am and made it back to the truck around 3:30 (that's eight hours!!!) It was a pretty intense hike--steep trails and lots of snow (sometimes deeper than our knees)--but it was SO beautiful. Now, we're both extremely tired, though. We'll definitely have no problem falling asleep tonight.

When we got home, Jon and I quickly pulled out some hamburgers and hot dogs and hosted a Memorial Day BBQ! It was wonderful to spend time with ward members and friends and to eat yummy food.

In a nutshell: my life is crazily blessed right now. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father is looking out for and taking care of my every need. Just when things seemed to be getting pretty bleak, He sent amazing, supportive, loving, good people into my life, and they have made all the difference. To them, and to Him, I am forever grateful.

Letters

Dear Cleaning Checks, To quote what the lady who came to do cleaning checks today wrote on our paper, "Wonderful job! Thank you so much for all of your hard work. Your place was perfect! Keep up the good work--we appreciate you! :) Merry Christmas!" In other words, WE OWNED YOU!

Dear S106, You no longer hold the title for having the cleanest apartment. Sorry.

Dear Random Christmas Carolers on Campus, Your music brightened my day and made me feel so happy and loved by my Heavenly Father. It was a tender mercy. Thank you for sharing your talents.

Dear Steve, I thoroughly enjoyed going to dinner at Zuppas with you. You are such an amazing person and so fun to talk to and be around. Good luck with your last final, enjoy your Christmas break, and I'll see you next semester!

Dear World Religions Final, Well, that went interesting, didn't it?

Dear Shakespeare Paper, After putting you down for almost five full days, you aren't as bad as I remember you being. This is very good! I'm actually excited to get around to writing you now!

Dear All-Time Favorite Not-Church Song in the Whole World, You rock the top of my iTunes charts with 633 plays and make me happy every single time I listen to you. So when Pandora played you today, of course I couldn't help but feel happy.

Dear Anna, I can't believe that today was the last time I am going to see you in a whole year and a half! Thanks for taking time out of your busy finals schedule so that we could grab lunch at the MOA and say goodbye. Thank you even more fore being one of my bestest friends ever. I'm so glad that we had ASL together last winter and then got to be Visiting Teaching companions in the Spring and Temple-going companions this semester. I admire and look up to you so much and feel so genuinely cared about and loved by you. You have already worked miracles for the Lord in my life; I'm excited to see the miracles you work in the lives of those in the Dominican Republic. Expect lots of letters! I love you SOOOO much!!!!!  P.S. I'm seriously getting the "I miss Anna" feeling in my gut right now.