Crap. Three days of gratitude to make up for.

I'm grateful for my sweet, funny, silly, cute, social, attached baby girl.

She's been my strength and motivation. She is my light in the foggy gray.

Love her!

I'm grateful for our home. For the warmth, the refuge and for a place we can make memories in.

And I'm grateful for weekends. I get to spend them with two of my favorite peeps.

The Hills Are Alive

I have to stop with this two-a-day gratitude stuff. It makes me really stretch and have to come up with not just ONE thing I'm grateful for, but TWO, and that's exhausting. Okay, that's dramatic. And who am I kidding, it will probably continue to be spaced out in intervals of two or more. 

Today I am grateful for MUSIC! I love turning on the tunes in the car to see what the soundtrack of the day is going to be. Nothing quite emotes or expresses emotion like music. That's why music plays such a pivotal role in film (aka movies). 

Sometimes I don't know what I'm feeling until I hear just the right song. 

I. Love. Music. 

Here are some recent faves you should check out. 

The Lumineers - Flowers in Your Hair

The Avett Brothers - Live and Die

And you know what? I wouldn't get to appreciate music if I didn't have ears to hear and listen with. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for working ears and the beauty of music. 

You're the besty. 

One Nation Under God

I guess I'm writing two days at a time again. 

Of course, you know, it is election season. And, I'm certainly a political junkie. It's rather stressful sometimes. I don't know why I get so invested, especially in races like President where in all reality the results will not in all reality affect my life so much as local politics and measures. 

But I can't help it. 

It's fun, in a masochistic kind of way. 

My husband is an avid Oregon Ducks fan, and he get's pretty into the Portland Trailblazers, too. I try not to give him too hard of a time for scouring the web, reading forums and feeling so passionate about it all because I can relate! 

I remember really getting into politics when I was about 17 and George Bush and John Kerry were the eventual contenders. But, I watched the Democratic Primaries, scoured the "news" channels and made sure my Mom cast her ballot. 

Flash forward about four years later. 

I was 20, in my third year of college, my first at BYU-Provo. I remember eagerly watching the Republican Primaries and trying not to cry when finally Romney bowed out after Super Tuesday 2008. Honestly, I'm a moderate Republican - that's why I like Mitt - deep down he's a moderate. That's why I was able to get on John McCain's bandwagon, not to mention an American Hero and great guy. Fall of 2008 I was on the BYU College Republicans executive board. It was so much fun, met so many good people and had many great experiences. 

You should probably just go to my 2008 blog archive and relive it all. 

Sarah Palin's folks. So nice and down to earth!

At John McCain rally in Las Vegas.

And now here we are 2012. Mitt's my man. Not nearly as involved as I was in 2008 (baby, husband, living in Oregon). But, I'm still eager. It's like my Superbowl. I love watching the results come in. I love/hate so much about it all. I'll definitely be glad when it's over. But, I'm just so grateful to live in this country. I believe the government and constitution to be divinely designed and inspired. 

Also, I'm grateful for the freedom of speech, aren't you? 

P.S. For one of the main reasons why I oppose Big O and support Mitt, see this blog post from 2008. 

Enough is Enough

I missed writing yesterday - Eric came home from an overnight field trip to Portland and my posting got lost in the shuffle. And so today I must be grateful for TWO things, and that is hard. Jk, but really. What a brat I must be. 

I am so grateful for modern transportation. Can you believe how quickly we can get across the country if we wanted to? Or even across the valley? I think about how people would go visit someone who was only 15 miles away and stay the night because it did take so long and was hard on the animals they relied upon. We're going to Rexburg for Thankgiving and that's only possible because of modern transportation. And it's pretty luxurious considering in the 1800s you rode in a saddle, walked or sat on a hard bench of a carriage/buggy or wagon. 

And secondly I'm grateful for always having enough. Maybe I've not always had a lot, or ever been wealthy, but I've never wanted for a roof over head, a bed to sleep in, food to eat or clothes to wear. I've always had enough of what's truly needed and important - including love and family and faith, but those are for other posts - and for that I'm so very, very appreciative. 

Brattitude

So, I can be a bit of a brat. And, unfortunately I think my daughter is inheriting this character trait from her mom. In my efforts to improve myself, I've decided to write at least one thing I am grateful for on the blog everyday leading up to Thanksgiving. 

Today I am grateful for clean, running water - to bathe with, to wash dishes with, to drink and cook with. How blessed we are to have, at the turn of a knob, clean running water. It definitely came in handy as I had to clean baby El's hands and face and hair from her sticky, sticky sucker. 

First Halloween

Originally we were going to be Fred, Wilma and Pebbles Flinstone. Eric and I even went to a Halloween party Saturday night, sans baby, as such. 

But then Halloween rolled around and we were far too lazy. Not even a pumpkin got carved. So, we quickly threw together a costume so Ella could at least go to the Church "trunk or treat." 

Thug baby it was. 

And today she enjoys her spoils.