SNOW!

SNOW! There is something very beautiful about snow. Yes, I know it is messy and all. I lived in Michigan and in Utah I know it is a pain and not always fun BUT snow is beautiful. there something very peaceful about it. Well as long as you don't have to navigate the roads too much or are somewhere that they have a plan that works for roadway clearing. In southeast Texas snow is a bit of a miracle! It is rare we get true snow and even more rare that we get it in December. Granted it won't still be here for Christmas, chances are good it won't be here in the morning but it is here now and it is beautiful and has helped me get in the spirit of the season. So snow is a great blessing today.

Hot chocolate, bonfires and pinochle. Those are the things that are blessing my life right now. One day I will post about each and how and why but for now just know I am extremely blessed by all three today.

fall

fall is here!
Windows open
breezes blowing
a/c getting a break
(bank book too)
perfect azure skies
just wisps off white sketched across the horizon
humidity down
ozone up
(but who cares?)
it is a beautiful fall day
I am off to enjoy it

distractions

Distractions. Sometimes the best blessings are simply distractions. Distractions that keep you from thinking about the what ifs? and the how will I's? While the distractions keep you busy those questions take care of themselves. Most of the time I find the distractions actually help to answer the questions and calm the fears and erase the worries that would otherwise be front and center completely paralyzing you keeping you from doing anything. So today I am thankful for distractions.

Hurricane Ike

Well I have been absent for a couple of days due to Hurricane Ike So I will do a list of blessings from the past few days...

the tree that is in front of my balcolny didn't fall into my apartment or onto my car.

the tree didn't drop any major branches at all.

the branches it did drop didn't hurt anyones car or person.

the trees behind and in front of my building didn't fall, snap off or lose any big branches onto or into anything or anyone.

the people I care about are safe and mostly their homes appear to be as well.

While the power was out for over 36 hours I now have power again.

While internet service may be a bit rough I have internet service.

I learned many things to make the next time ( please no next time) better/more comfortable

I meet my neighbors

Missed yesterday due to Hurricane preparations but I am doing yesterday right now and will hopefully do today's a bit later.
today's blessing came in the form of a little one year old and her parents. They were evacuating from the southern part of the state and came to visit and then stay the night. I was so grateful for them. It really is nice to have visitors and friends. AND they brought me my fall garden. What blessing that was. I had been looking into what i could plant for a container garden this season and they offered me their leftovers. So I have lettuce, broccoli, tomato, and (I think) cabbage plants. So as long as Ike doesn't kill them this weekend I have a small veggie garden.

blessings of summer...

OK I don't care what the date says it is STILL Wednesday, Sept 10! ( ok so I am posting barely after midnight but come on give me credit)
Blessing of the day...Fruit! I love fruit and today had a very yummy peach. Kind of ironic yesterday I was excited for fall (or Halloween) for the peanut butter kisses and today I am happy for summer and fruit of that season!

Peanut Butter Kisses

Peanut Butter Kisses! I love fall! actually I love the Halloween season cuz you can get Peanut Butter Kisses! You can't get them any other time sigh! so I am enjoying them while I can. OF course only one or two (bags, no I joke!) a day But I love them. SO my blessing of the day is PEANUT BUTTER KISSES!

Courage

I must get better at blogging. I started this one to daily record the little blessings in my life...key word there...DAILY. I have been lucky lately to do so monthly! Oops! SO I go back to my original premise even if it is just a line or two a daily recording of the good things that happen in my life.
Today, well lately, the blessing in my life has been the re-appearance of the courage to be. Just be the unique normal one that I am. It had gone away for a while and trying to fit in a mold that just isn't you is not only frustrating but painful too. So I am blessed of late to have returned to the courage it takes to be oneself. i am so glad it came back from where ever it went to I missed it greatly. So taking that courage I am off to the movies alone cause dang it I want to clone wars! Later.

Several blessings to share...
I have health insurance!!!! That was a real blessing when I sliced my thumb and was able to go get stitches in it...
I have a 401k and as tough as it is to see the money gone from my paycheck it is a blessing and I am glad to have it...
I have my own apartment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My puppy has her own space again...
I can be on my computer whenever I want doing whatever I want on it for however long
my new place is only 1 1/2 miles from work...the past week I didn't even drive 100 miles!!!
Life is good.
Love work
Love the people I work with...

blessings of my morning walks

which Jane Austen heroin am I ?

ok used to be these things would on the timely beauty blog but I like this on for here because a real blessing in my life lately has been books and namely Austen books so...

Take the Quiz here!

I actually agree with this one.

this is a bright little blessing of a friend I "kidnapped"

Easter Blessings

Today I am grateful many things not the least of which is The Savior. He lived, died and rose so that I could too. Ok there were a few things in between. Like the suffering he did for all my sins and pains. And the miracles he performed out of love. But in a nut shell...He lived, died and rose.
I am also grateful for energy that i have enough to do what is needed and necessary in my life.

sunrise...sunset time changes

Been a while...some blessings...
while I hate the time change junk we do it IS nice to see the sun set. The other day I was driving home from work in the rain on the east side were the rain clouds and an ever so faint rainbow and on the west was a beautiful red-orange sunset.It was kind of the coming together of the element of nature. Heavenly Father giving us rain for the wild flowers ( yes blue bonnets are in bloom!), a rainbow showing the promise of the rain ( beauty of flowers and trees) and the gorgeous sunset to help us appriciate the beauty of NOW. Wish I hadn't been driving and could have gotten as picture of two of all of it.

My Little seedlings...sunflowers and herbs

Beauty all around

The Lord really blesses us with beauty all around and some days it is so easy to see. Like today. It was the perfect day! Azure skies just enough wispy clouds for interest the temp was mild and the sun warm and bright. Beautiful prelude music by the choir at church. A really good talk during church. People all smiling because of the beautiful spring day. Amazing what the weather can do for the overall mood of a day!

friends part two

It is three days removed from my last post and I will try to put into words what I was feeling. Some things are difficult to express in words because no matter how eloquent they just fall short of feeling. That said here goes...

Friends are there to hug and comfort you, friends bring smiles and laughter. Love and learning. They stand with you in the grove so you don't have to weather the storms of life alone. Like trees we too are stronger together than we are apart. Friends are there through good and bad. Love you through it all. Sometimes friends are blunt and kick you in the behind or give you a give shove in the right direction but always they love and uplift you. Some friends you know intimately some you know anonymously through internet or maybe even just a kind soul who smiled at you or let you in a lane of traffic. Maybe they taught a class you took and touched you heart, mind and soul. Or maybe they taught you from a distance someone you heard about or observed and through them you gained greater knowledge of Heavenly Father they too are friends. Isn't that what a friend does brings you closer to Heavenly Father? I know it is what I believe a friend does. Those people I count as my nearest and dearest friends are ones I know and interact with more frequently whether I know them online or in person BUT people who are my friends are those whose blogs I read and never comment on, or who smile at me in the grocery store, or the speaker at church today who requested a special musical number of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief (one of my favorite hymns) or the very talented man who arranged the choir and congregational singing and the violins and flute and piano accompanying it such an uplifting moving way. I have many near and dear ones and thursday I was honored to spend the day with two of the best of them. Love you girls! Sweet Pea and Hotpink you are awesome!

friends

I have probably stated this many times but I am so grateful for my friends. I have been truely blessed by them being in my life. I only hope that in some way I have blessed them as well. I am tired from a wonderful day but feel the need to expand on this subject so will do so next post hopefully tomorrow morning.

simple things can be deep

You know one of the blessings of me doing this blog has been that I look more on the bright side of things now in searching for the blessings in my life to put here but there are times like today when doing that just makes me feel like Pollyana playing the glad game. You know kind of superficial, like I am just skimming the surface of things. But the blessing of this blog to me is that isn't what is truly going on. The things I write about may at times seem to be surface only but in reality they are deeper than most of my deep thoughts could ever dream of being. I mean, think about it they get me thinking more about Heavenly Father and what He has done and can and will do for us. What is or can be deeper than contemplating God?
That disclaimer stated what is my blessing for today? First of all "today" is Saturday not Sunday that pointed out...the blessing is thatwhile all of at work had long days 12+ hours for most I didn't fall into the disgruntled complainer that was surrounding me at the end...for the most part I keep a good attitude and just did my job with speed and a happy disposition.

hmm here are more

Yesterday while I was at work I thought of a bunch more "new" blessings or miracles and now I can remember none of them!Sometimes it is a miracle I remember anything this brain gets so fried at times!
But here are some of the ones I thought of as I was driving to Seabrook...
Once again I am thankful for the beauty of the earth (and yes all of you who know that hymn it is one of my favorites). The Lord takes some rain and washes the air clean and the sky clear and poof there is the most gorgeous azure blue sky cool day in ages! Yup spring training and then baseball season just around the bend!
I am thankful that sometimes The Lord does answer prayers instantly...Monday we had mandatory drug testing at work and well I have always had a difficult time being able to pee on demand for pre-employment screening it took an hour and a half!!! but my prayer was answered I was in and out in moments.
I am also thankful that sometimes the answer has to wait a bit because an instant answer may not have been as good as the one that came through a bit of waiting.

many repeating blessings and some new...

the toughest thing about this is trying to not repost blessings or miracles that I have already put on here and this with the blog only a month old! What am I gonna do a year from now?lol It is not that I don't have other blessings in my life it is justthat certain ones are really glaring right now and so jump to the fore front of things.
like what you ask?
well...
like friends and other people in my life that are truly blessing my life. Like my friend Sweet Pea, I am more grateful than I can express for her. She is the reason I have the awesome job I have ( another blessing I am constantly thankful for) but beyond that she is such an influence for good in my life.
Or the friend I am staying with ( I have a nickname for her but can't remember it I will have to find it and replace all of this with it) to take me in and allow me to stay is wow! But even beyond that there is just something about our friendship that enriches me I hope I can do the same for her.
there are numerous other friends and this post would take days if I even tried to name them all so just suffice it to say I am grateful for the blessing of friends.
One blessing I don't think I have specifically named but what this whole blog is all about is my TESTIMONY and how grateful I am for it. That it changes and grows each day that I even own it at all. Without the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves me and created this world as part of a plan well who knows where I would be, if I would even be. The knowledge that this is not the end all of our existance gets me past the crap of this life. What a blessing that is.
Mostly today I am grateful for the beauty of the earth. This world is such a beautiful place the blue skies green plants and whatever your vista brings you it is beautiful enjoy it!

$$

Oh my! two posts in two days I am on a roll again! LOL! Actually I just have energy so here we go... payday! yes it is a tad materialistic of me but after three weeks of working it is great to get a paycheck and to top it all off it went direct deposit for me! SO no silly bank going to for me! Now I am NOT an extremely worldly materialistic person but money is a needed thing in this life so to have a job and recieve a paycheck are wonderful blessings. What is also a blessing is that with how and where I am living right now I should be able to save quite a bit of my paychecks and get a nice cushoin forming which will be a wonderful blessing to not be stressing every second over money and bills.

a couple of blessings for a couple of days

missed a few more days there. Just been plain busy and had internet connection issues but what blessing it is to even have the internet or to be busy with life! Now I just sound OLD...I remember when...LOL! But the thing is I DO remember when! What a blessing and miracle the instant communication of today is. I mean cell phones, internet and high speed dsl cable or whatever the latest and greatest is for speed now, 24 hour news stations (Ok maybe that one isn't such a blessing at times..but...)it does breed some impatience for the ordinary rate of life but it does make to waiting more entertaining!
For example because of instant communication of cell phones I found out from a good friend that the Prophet of the church had passed away within hours of it happening while I was driving far from any other source that would get it to me. She found out from her uncle who lived in Utah and there was a news bulletin flashed across the screen and he called her. The phones were faster than the internet at that point in time. While I am saddened that Gordon B Hinkley will no longer be the Prophet I am glad for the miracle of eternal marriage that now he is reunited with his dear wife. What a blessing for him and for me to know that I too can have an eternal family if I work for it and love an d nurture it here.

positively wonderful

Missed a few days of blogging here but I have an excuse.... I have been tired...ok...not so much an excuse.
The blessings I have noticed have been in attitude. I have been very upbeat and positive in my outlook lately seeing more of the good in life and people than the bad, sad, or tragic. The sunny side of life has been blazing it's way around me lately. Wonder if doing this blog is helping with what I am choosing to see? Hmmm???
Have a wonderful day!

Friday...

This is for Friday as to me it is still Friday I just got home from a dance. So the miracle or blessing of the day for Friday? Finding fun in the mundane. My new job is anything but a mental challenge and is rather routine and boring at times( the same could be said for church dances... :) ) and yet I had a really fun day with it. So there you have it finding fun in mundane.

A Job

The miracle of the day? a job! Not just job interviews, which were amazing themselves, but three job offers! I accepted one because it seemed to offer the best in benefits. It pays a tiny bit less than the other two ( 5 cents less) but promises me 40+ hours a week which the others wouldn't. In the way of benefits in 90 days I will be able to get the whole shebang medical, dental, vision, life,short term disability, 401k... now I doubt I get the life or short term but the rest for sure. I may call one of the other ones and see if we can work out a pt schedule during the hours I am not at primary job since I will be working 11-7 I could possibly work an earlier or later shift elsewhere. But it is such a miracle to see myself employed again not only employed but at a higher pay than my last job and with benefits coming up.

Work

Work to do and the ability to do it. No matter the work I am grateful for the blessing and miracle of work in my life. Not only does work provide a means for mee to survive and live in this world of material things but it provides for self esteem and self worth as well. Plus it fills my days (or nights depending) with endevours that contribute to society as a whole and my community specifically. So today ( and hopefully everyday) I am grateful for the miracle of work in my life.

My blessing today is the temple. Having one nearby and being able to go to it. The past three months I have been unable to attend the temple while I cared for my mom so I was very excited and happy to get to go tonight. When I joined the church there were something like 23 temples in the world a vast majority being in Utah. Now there are well over 100 temples and they dot the earth with 4 in Texas alone. Attending the temple was a great re-fueling for me after a drought. It felt like going home to walk in and see people I had gotten used to seeing each Tuesday but hadn't for 3 months because I was gone. To be back where i was missed and where people were glad to see me was so relaxing and energising. Yup today I see the blessing of the temple in my life.

I am grateful for a friend who has a knack for making me feel beautiful and sexy even when I feel far from it. There is something about feeling you are beautiful and/or sexy that allows you more confidence in yourself and a brighter attitude with the world.

being surrounded by friends old and new

Dancing, dancing with friends. Having friends nearby to dance with. Dancing.

Green

GREEN. All shades of green. The ( well one of the) best things looking out he window of the plane today as we came in to land a hobby airport was all the shades of green. IN new Mexico it is kind of monochromatic not enough green ever but most especially this time of year. So today I consider green a major blessing.

the blessing of the day...to have people who care about and love me.

attitude

Today I am blessed with a happy attitude. A good outlook on life a rarity for me is seems so it is a blessing to see the positive side of life and see it in my life. the skies were clear with just enough clouds in them to be interesting as I drove back to my mom's from my sisters. The sunrise was gorgeous in the mountains. All in all a good day, a happy day. A blessing.

Bright New Year

Might be a bit early for this but one blessing of today...it is a brand new year! I survived 2007 and 2008 dawns bright and clear. Full of promise and possibility. I guess the same could be said each and every day. It is a new day with new wonderful things ready to happen but something about the promise of a brand new year makes this days dawn so much brighter and crisper.