Gratitude

I can't even believe that it's Thanksgiving this week! I was out walking my dogs tonight, my ears ringing from the cold, my breath visible in the night air, and I wondered - where on earth did Summer go?? It wasn't that long ago that I could walk my dogs at night in capris and a t-shirt. Now I have to bundle up!

But I got thinking... I was walking past all these homes that had Christmas lights up, and I've been listening to Christmas music off and on during November, and I realized how much I really love this time of year, in spite of the cold weather. I started a mental list of all the things I'm thankful for, and I thought I'd share just a few.

Family - I have the best family in the world! I love them all so much - parents, siblings (including my one brother-in-law), my adorable niece, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins-in-law, second cousins, third cousins, my grandma's cousins... I love them ALL, so much! I feel so blessed to be born into a family like this one. My best friends are my brothers and sisters and cousins.

Friends - I have fantastic friends. True, a lot of them are family members, but I have some WONDERFUL friends that I've had since high school, college, and ones that I work with now that I can't imagine my life without.

My Job - Even though I complain about it from time to time, I am SO grateful for the opportunity I have to be working at a good firm and having a steady income, especially in today's economy.

Modern technology - like my cell phone that lets me keep in contact with family and friends and my car that gets me from A to B. I'm also thankful for modern medicine - I truly believe it is divinely inspired (most of the time, anyway) and it is a blessing to have doctors and medication for anything from the flu to childbirth. I never would have made it as a pioneer... I'm too much of a wuss. I need hot showers and a car to drive.

Speaking of hot showers... I'm thankful for the roof over my head, hot showers, and an abundance of food and water.

There are many other things I'm thankful for and am blessed with, but I just want to mention one more - perhaps the most important to me - and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so very thankful for a 14-year-old boy who had a deep desire to know which church was true, and had the faith to know his prayer would be answered, and was eventually given the charge of restoring the fullness of the Gospel to this earth. I'm so thankful to be a part of it, and for the knowledge I have of its' truthfulness.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I love you all! :)