Great, Grand Gratitude

Do you ever have those days when you just feel grateful for EVERYTHING?!  Honestly I have been feeling so grateful yesterday and today, and so I'm going to share a few things with you.  Someone should make a holiday where we talk about all the things we're thankful for..... hmm.... oh yeah there is one, and I was too busy eating pretzel jello salad and mashed potatoes to think of these things.

I'm grateful for:

1. Spending time with family I don't get to see every day (not that I don't love my mom, pops and pk.... shoot that sounded bad)
2. Work
3. Working with people that are fantastically intelligent and fantastically wonderful
4. Loving my job, and being truly invested in our cases
5. People who listen
6. People who don't listen - to remind me that I need to make sure I'm a person who listens
7. Music
8. Good movies that make me laugh (PITCH PERFECT - go see it. right now.)
9. Good health, and the ability to exercise
10. Patience
11. Inspirational Quotes
12. T-O-Double
13. Craft Projects
14. Heating blankets and car heaters.

I'm thinking about trying to make this a weekly thing - listing the specific things I'm grateful for, for that day/week.  Maybe I'll do it on Thursdays and call it: Thanks Thursday.  Eh? Or Thanktitude Thursday?  Gobs of Gratitude?  We'll see.

October Project #2

Remember THIS post filled with all the things I wanted to accomplish in October??  Well I actually finished a few, and here's some pictures to prove it!  I still need to take pictures of my "satchel" that I made as well, and that will be October Project #1..... Until then, here is my yard sale bookcase I turned into a stellar shoecase!

From brown....

To white....

Then add some blue.....

Then add a shoe or two!!
Yeah that last bit rhymed, nbd.

Crappy pictures... I know.  I was more focused on painting than trying to document, but I think it turned out sooooo awesome!!!!  Also, the decision to hold my shoes on a bookcase was a fantastic  one, and one that I highly recommend to everyone.  No mess, and now I can look at my beautiful shoes as I fall asleep.  :) As you can see, I need to buy a few more shelves.  It's a little crazy to me that I have enough shoes to fill these shelves, and that I need more shelves to fit the rest of my shoes....  what can I say, my feet are little fashionistas.

Quote the Quip

"Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line

that we fail to find joy in the journey."

 

 

Well said Pres. Uchtdorf.  Courtesy of his talk "Of Regrets and Resolutions" from the October 2012 general conference.

 

Or how about this golden nugget from the same talk:

 

"I pray that we will not wait until we are ready to die

before we truly learn to live."

 

Also, I learned a new word today!  QUIP.  [1- a clever or witty remark or comment. 2- a sharp, sarcastic remark; a cutting jest. 3- a quibble. 4- an odd or fantastic action or thing.]

 

This little lovely scored me 27 points in Words with Friends.  Booyah!   Then I looked it up to see what the heck it meant.  Honestly I had confused it with the word quiver (the thing you hold arrows in... right?), but I was just excited to be using a Q on a DL tile.  Not the greatest point value, but not too bad when you consider the amount of life points I get from learning a new word!

 

P.S. Look back at the definition of this word.  I think quip will become a statement word in my vocabulary.  "Oh that was so quip!"  Yeah.  Not bad, not bad at all.  Or maybe I'll just consider myself a quip.  According to the definition, I just might be the cookie straight from this cutter.  ....see #4.

 

That is all. Have a good weekend :)

Some good amongst the bad...

Found this video today on this blog.  I'm sharing it because after watching it, it was nice to realize the good things that are happening in this world.  The news generally shows the bad, all the destruction, chaos, and mess this recent natural disaster has thrown at New York.  Which is there, and very real.  I don't want to discount what is happening, and my prayers and thoughts go out to the people that have been effected by this tragedy.  It was good though for me to see that amongst all that bad, there is a lot of good being done. 

Additionally, this was good to also bring me back to the understanding that this is exactly what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is all about.  I am grateful to be apart of this church, and hope that anyone who reads this, and watches the movie, may either gain a better understanding of our core values, or will be reminded of what we believe and what we can do to help.   There is a lot to be said for those that are giving TIME.

Click Here: http://vimeo.com/joshuabrown/hurricanesandy  or watch the video below. 

Please take a second to watch it, you won't regret it.

Blonde Jokes

Found this in the Google+ page.  This is probably my favorite Blonde joke yet.  Take that! :)

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. She says she’s going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Rolls Royce. The car is parked on the street in front of the bank; she has the title, and everything checks out. The bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. The bank’s president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the blonde for using a $250,000 Rolls as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drives the Rolls into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the blonde returns and repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says,

“Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely; but we are a little puzzled. We checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is - why would you bother to borrow $5,000?”

The blond replies…..”Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?”

Hick-ville Hailey Returns

Yup, I've found another twangy country song that has been on repeat all weekend.....

Pontoon by Little Big Town.



Lake Powell anyone?!  Let's get a bunch of peeps and live on a houseboat for a week next summer.  Who's in?!

If you didn't remember, last time it was this lovely, "Oh My Heart, Skips a Beat....."

Happy.

I'm so grateful for my friends. Plus, it's a friday.

Can I get a booyah?!  :)

Happy Halloween!!

I usually hate Halloween.  I like the decorations, and I LOVE dressing up, but I HATE all the scary, spooky-ness that comes with Halloween. Luckily I figured out a long time ago that I don't have to watch scary movies or go through haunted houses.  Us sissies can still have fun during the Halloween season.

Every year we all dress up for work, have a grand old time, eat amazing chili from bread bowls, bring our kids (for those that have them) to trick or treat around the office and fit some work in there some place.

This years conclusion: Dressing up is only fun if everyone does it.   The people that feel embarrassed or dumb about dressing up, and end up coming in jeans, just end up making the rest of us that actually dressed up feel stupid.  If that makes sense.  I think we need to instill a little more of the "go big or go home" mindset into these people.  Coming from someone who's previous costume was pinning cotton balls on blue scrubs and carrying a squirt gun as "Cloudy with a Chance of Rain,"  I can tell you that your costumes do not have to be elaborate or even expensive! 

Anyways.... rant over.

This year my whole family dressed up!  I don't have the picture of everyone yet, but here's a few that I do have....

MOM:

 

She's so great! 
All the ladies at her work dressed like this
but in their own super hero.  Adorable :)

DAD:

 

Player from the Minecraft game

Only a few people will get this one,
but it's still a cool costume!

 

ME:

Scary, I know.



Parker used my costume idea from last year and taped numbers all over his shirt.  He's "Someone you can count on!" :)  I didn't get a picture of him before I left, but he's looking pretty spiffy! Hopefully I'll have more pictures to come! Happy Halloween!!

P.S. Songza failed me on Halloween music stations, turned back to Pandora and found some awesome playlists! 





Good Reads

Found this post last week and I think it's one that will be re-visited quite often.  I felt awkward sharing this with my parents and friends because I'm not married, but I really do think that this has a lot of great advise for ANY relationship.  So read it..... go HERE.  I'm now following his blog too because I think he writes so well, and could have a lot of good insight.  When I find things like this it really makes me feel sooo grateful for the Internet and for the raw honesty people put into their blogs.  We all go through our own lives, but to be able to share experiences and learn from others mistakes is a true gift in my opinion. Of course this all doesn't have to happen on the Internet with complete strangers, I've learned a lot from my parents and other family members/friends.  Keep on keepin' on people!  We can dominate life together! :)

Thermals

Today is a wonderful day for Firsts!  First snow fall (I don't count yesterday, it didn't stick or really even fall), First day of wearing thermals to work, First taste of crappy winter drivers and First game in a new soccer league!  I loved this morning's commute because it was snowing, every song on the radio was fantastic and I was accompanied by my new favorite drink - Pumpkin Pie Spice Hot Chocolate.  mmmmm! 

I also have this slight urge to turn on Christmas music...but I'm resisting. I have to remember that it hasn't even been Halloween yet.  Focus.  I need to carve a pumpkin to keep myself in October.

Found this quote on Pinterest, and it was so empowering!  I can apply it to anything - spirituality, lifestyle, habits, lack of habits, motivation, exercise, relationships, family, friends, whatever!  It's just nice to remember that we have control of our own story.  It's up to us to make it a good one.

P.S. I am ALMOST done with my messenger bag! I spent a lot of time working on it last night and it looks awesome so far!  Pictures to come!