Learn to like the everyday things

“If you want one thing too much it’s likely to be a disappointment. The healthy way is to learn to like the everyday things, like soft beds and buttermilk—and feisty gentlemen.”
― Said by Augustus McCrae in Larry McMurtry's book Lonesome Dove (a book I enjoyed)

 

I feel like the first thing that comes to my mind when I daily reflect on my blessings is delicious food!  Today I made a salad with the remaining few items in our fridge.  The lettuce was a "spring mix" with feta cheese, bacon, green onions, and kalamata olives, sunflower seeds and almond slices with olive oil and red wine vinegar as a dressing.  I don't know why, but it tasted amazing.  (ok, maybe it tasted amazing because of the bacon) Side note: while we lived with my husband's family for a few months, I got to know my mother-in-law quite well because we made amazing salads together at lunchtime.  So now, I feel like I should call her whenever I put together an especially good one. :)  Oh and thanks to my husband, we have a huge costco size jar of kalamata olives that he wanted to get.  They have proven to be well worth the price and a great addition to several of our meals!  So shout out to him for the olives which made the salad, along with the feta and bacon.  YUM

Another thing I'm grateful for:  I got a haircut and decided I wanted bangs straight across.  When I returned from my haircut, I decided I wanted more bangs, and I impulsively cut more myself.  Immediately after I regretted it and wished I could find some potion or herb that would make my hair grow out again.  I had to go to work right after and was dreading it, because I couldn't find a hat to wear to cover the butch job.  But the guys at work (my "clients") reassured me that, though uneven, my bangs look "unique" and "nice".  One of them decided he would come with me to shop for a hat, but we decided I didn't need one after all, and chose instead to go to one of his favorite spots in town: the ford dealership with shiny new mustangs to look at.  He always has to check the price of his favorite mustang to see if it changed.  When these guys are in a good mood, they can be so fun to be around :) and it just made me smile the way they consoled me about my bad haircut and this story does not do it justice. 

Saving Your Marriage

I have been married for almost three years.  In my mind we have had bumps in the road, but have slowly been working through them, and overall, happy together.  I recently discovered that my husband does not feel the same way and for about a month and a half, had conversed with a single girl, and told her some things that were painful for me to see.  After discovering a portion of these conversations I immediately felt despair, heartbreak, and wondered what I had done so wrong.  Since then we have, I feel, begun to work through these things.  I must learn to forgive him, and he must learn to love me again and we both need to learn to listen and communicate better.  It is work, and never before have I felt such heartache.  I find that I feel comfort in the teachings of Jesus Christ and His living apostles that are on the earth today who speak truth and counsel.  The following video is good advice, and it comes from excerpts of Elder Oaks' address in a general conference (general conference occurs twice a year; the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October where the prophet, his counselors and the 12 apostles speak to the world and the church members).  The words of Elder Oaks give me hope and comfort.  A marriage is a living thing that must be daily nurtured and, if injured, wounded or neglected, healed.  I am so grateful for these bold, straightforward words of counsel and encouragement that help me to know the right thing to do, and to not give up.       

In-Laws and a Barber Shop

In-Laws and a Barber Shop

My coworker's mother-in-law just passed away unexpectedly at a fairly young age.  I thought of how sad that is, and pondered at how short our mortal time is and how frail human life is.  I wondered that if I lost someone close to me if there were loving words left unsaid, or things unforgiven or that I need to apologize for.  I began thinking about how I would console my husband if he suffered such a loss, which would also be a big loss for me.  This sad event gets me to the point of this post:  I am so grateful for my in-laws.  They are wonderful.  I can call my mother-in-law to talk and she listens.  My two older sisters-in-law have become great friends to me and I love them both.  My father-in-law is kind and accepting, though a bit more reserved.  I genuinely enjoy and look forward to spending time with them.  This is a blessing because I know there are many who do not feel the same way about their in-laws.  I love my own family and my parents and siblings and having a great love for my husband's family doesn't diminish that, but adds to it.  I am so grateful for their acceptance and love.  Today is also my mother-in-law's birthday, so it seems appropriate to quietly express my gratitude for her here.

Also, a fun event for me today was at work.  I work with disabled guys in a group home.  This morning Trent (name changed) needed a hair cut and insisted on going to the barber, but all he wanted was to have his hair "buzzed" all the same short length; something I could do for free, ha ha.  It was fun, though, to go to the barber shop where old men, some with crazy beards were just sitting around talking.  I felt like it should be a movie, or the male version of "Steel Magnolias".  The haircut took about 2 minutes, and cost $12.00, (Trent was disappointed that he didn't have enough for a tip, so cute!) which just makes me laugh, but Trent was happy, and the old men were happy, and I couldn't help but smile.  My job has fun days, embarrassing days (when they yell obscenities in public), rewarding days, and stressful days.   

And, I loved the rain today.  The rain in the desert smells so good, and it looks pretty green around here!

It seems that everyone is blogging these days!  I am resolute to change and have a better attitude of gratitude and thus this is a blog dedicated to the daily things, events, occurrences, people, etc that I'm grateful for.  I saw this pin a month or two ago on Pinterest, and it is one of the few "quotes" that has really stuck in my mind, and I sometimes remember it in my evening prayers :).  (I googled this image, it is not mine)


I hope that changing my attitude to be thankful for things will change other things in my life.  I currently am struggling with marriage issues on top of issues of infertility and wanting to be a mom.  So enough of that!  This is a blog that focuses on the beauty of each new day and the positive!

To start off I have to go to work soon, so I am so grateful that I have an opportunity to make money!