I've lost count of which gratitude day it is, but here goes.
I am appreciative of my knowledge American Sign Language. I started taking it in high school (feels like FOREVER AGO) as a freshman, and just kept taking classes. At that time you could only take it for 3 years in Texas, so my senior year I worked as a teacher's assistant in a Deaf Co-Op classroom with 3rd and 4th grade Deaf students. This was a great experience for me though the signed English (signs in English word order) set me back in developing more ASL related skills.
I moved to Logan, UT for college and as a freshman there met several of the Deaf students. I remember being so NERVOUS to approach them, as I hadn't met many Deaf adults. I developed friendships with many of them, as well as dated a few Deaf guys. I took more classes at USU where I learned more about ASL grammar, Deaf Culture, etc.
If I hadn't known any sign language I would never have made the friendships that are still with me today. I wouldn't have met Brandon, my sweet husband. I wouldn't have been able to learn more and more each time I hang out with friends that are Deaf. I wouldn't be able to use my skill to work and do what I love:interpreting. I wouldn't be able to teach Gospel Doctrine in the Deaf Branch we attend with out the use of an interpreter.
I have often been asked what ever lead me to take an interest in learning to sign. Questions asking if someone in my family was Deaf, if I knew someone Deaf, or if I have served an LDS ASL mission. It's none of the above (until I met Brandon of course). It just was something I have chosen to do. It just came naturally.
I am grateful for the knowledge, friendships, experience, and joy that knowing a second language has brought me in my life. The Lord has blessed me in countless ways because I was just too lazy to take Spanish in high school. ;)
Friday, November 12
Yesterday & Today
Yesterday was a bit of a crazy day, but I'll post for both yesterday and today!
November 11, 2010: I am grateful for my little Lady Bug. She is such a sweetheart. Like all 19 month-olds, she definitely has her moments. Lately though she is has been so much fun to have around. I am grateful for her presence in our home. She feisty, sweet, imaginative, intelligent, and has the cutest little sense of humor. I love to hear her laugh. She gets interested in something and can focus for long periods of time on it.
There was a very recent time where I thought that if we weren't able to keep her, we were going to stop doing foster care, and I was resigned to the fact I might never be a mommy to a child of my own.
So having her, and having a little more than a month to go before she is officially ours, has me filled with joy and gratitude. I know that the Lord listens to our prayers, and knows the righteous desires of our hearts.
Today: I am grateful for laughter. One of my very favorite things to do is laugh. It lifts my spirits on a tough day, and just makes me feel good. I enjoy making others laugh, especially the people I love most. What a gift laughter can be.
November 11, 2010: I am grateful for my little Lady Bug. She is such a sweetheart. Like all 19 month-olds, she definitely has her moments. Lately though she is has been so much fun to have around. I am grateful for her presence in our home. She feisty, sweet, imaginative, intelligent, and has the cutest little sense of humor. I love to hear her laugh. She gets interested in something and can focus for long periods of time on it.
There was a very recent time where I thought that if we weren't able to keep her, we were going to stop doing foster care, and I was resigned to the fact I might never be a mommy to a child of my own.
So having her, and having a little more than a month to go before she is officially ours, has me filled with joy and gratitude. I know that the Lord listens to our prayers, and knows the righteous desires of our hearts.
Today: I am grateful for laughter. One of my very favorite things to do is laugh. It lifts my spirits on a tough day, and just makes me feel good. I enjoy making others laugh, especially the people I love most. What a gift laughter can be.
Wednesday, November 10
Catching Up on Gratitude
Today I am catching up on the last few days of posting on what I am grateful for:
November 7, 2010: I am grateful for Sundays. I love going to church, even when the time we go is super non-conducive to having an 19 month old. Then it's great to come home, put the baby down for a nap and relax or plan dinner.
November 8, 2010: I am grateful for my job. I have recently started working part time again, and have found an ideal sitter situation for my daughter. The agency I work for is incredible. I love meeting new people, or seeing people I haven't worked with in a while. It's also great to get out of the house to do something I have always felt is worthwhile: working with people.
November 9, 2010: I am grateful for the temple. Last night I went to the temple for the ASL session. It was wonderful. I had regrettably not been to the temple for longer than I'd care to admit, and because of the generosity of my caring husband, I was able to go. I needed it more than I can say. I had an incredible experience, much too special and sacred to post on here, and so special I will keep it to myself. But I am grateful for the blessings that are ours if we just strive to do what is right. I am grateful for the knowledge the temple provides, the blessings of eternal families, eternal marriages, and just the light it brings in to my heart and life.
November 10, 2010: I'm grateful for our benefits from Brandon's job. We haven't always had the best benefits, sometimes none at all, but right now we are enjoying the new insurance that we have. What used to be a WAY TOO FRIGGIN" high deductible meant we paid out of pocket for just about everything. My monthly prescriptions of insulin, pump supplies, thyroid medication, birth control etc used to cost about $400-$450. With our new insurance, we have co-pays (something that is NEW to us) so you wouldn't believe the look on my face the first time we paid for my medicine and the purchase price was only $30 dollars. Talk about a HUGE savings. We are so blessed. We just better enjoy it now while we can until our idiot President's health bill goes in to full effect.
November 7, 2010: I am grateful for Sundays. I love going to church, even when the time we go is super non-conducive to having an 19 month old. Then it's great to come home, put the baby down for a nap and relax or plan dinner.
November 8, 2010: I am grateful for my job. I have recently started working part time again, and have found an ideal sitter situation for my daughter. The agency I work for is incredible. I love meeting new people, or seeing people I haven't worked with in a while. It's also great to get out of the house to do something I have always felt is worthwhile: working with people.
November 9, 2010: I am grateful for the temple. Last night I went to the temple for the ASL session. It was wonderful. I had regrettably not been to the temple for longer than I'd care to admit, and because of the generosity of my caring husband, I was able to go. I needed it more than I can say. I had an incredible experience, much too special and sacred to post on here, and so special I will keep it to myself. But I am grateful for the blessings that are ours if we just strive to do what is right. I am grateful for the knowledge the temple provides, the blessings of eternal families, eternal marriages, and just the light it brings in to my heart and life.
November 10, 2010: I'm grateful for our benefits from Brandon's job. We haven't always had the best benefits, sometimes none at all, but right now we are enjoying the new insurance that we have. What used to be a WAY TOO FRIGGIN" high deductible meant we paid out of pocket for just about everything. My monthly prescriptions of insulin, pump supplies, thyroid medication, birth control etc used to cost about $400-$450. With our new insurance, we have co-pays (something that is NEW to us) so you wouldn't believe the look on my face the first time we paid for my medicine and the purchase price was only $30 dollars. Talk about a HUGE savings. We are so blessed. We just better enjoy it now while we can until our idiot President's health bill goes in to full effect.
Saturday, November 6
Gratitude day 4
Today I am grateful that I was able to go and play some volleyball in the regional tournament for my church. I played with only one person that I knew, and for the first couple of games, I was really inconsistent with playing, but then things really started picking up for me when my sweetheart of a husband came with my daughter to watch me play. Something about having them there helped me get my head on straight and start playing well. We played several games straight, only taking a break for lunch. I couldn't believe how well-behaved my daughter was. It was such a blessing to have my little family there with me. It really meant a lot to have Brandon ask me if he could come watch me play. I didn't play in high school or anything like that, only during my years as a teenager, but I really do love to play volleyball and wish that I had been good enough to play in high school.
We won our tournament! It was a blast to play, but has left me wanting to go to bed early. Really early. So, good night!
We won our tournament! It was a blast to play, but has left me wanting to go to bed early. Really early. So, good night!
Friday, November 5
Gratitude day 3
Today I am thankful for modern medicine. If I had lived even about 100 years ago, my diagnosis as a Type 1 diabetic would have been more like a death sentence. Even though there is no cure for it yet, it is treatable, which allows me to lead a somewhat normal life, every day.
Thursday, November 4
Gratitude Day 2
Today I am grateful for family, in all it's fun, craziness, joy, function and dysfunction..etc.
I am grateful for a loving and increasingly patient man to be married to. He is my best friend, my other (better) half. He makes me want to be a better person. He makes me laugh. Everyone he comes in to contact with never has a bad thing to say about him. He's a goofball, a good daddy, a hard worker, a good friend, reliable, and unshaken in his faith.
I'm thankful for my daughter. We waited until we found out she was going to become ours before we decided to finally call her our "daughter" instead of just "our little girl". She is incredibly loving, intelligent, sassy, and has a fantastic little sense of humor. It is so fun to watch her change and grow.
I am grateful for my parents. I know that in this life, they were meant to be my parents. They also have to be some of the most patient people to put up with the crud I've dealt them over the years. If there's any gray hairs on their heads, it's because of my endless tactics.
I'm grateful for my sisters, for the laughter we share. We are all different as night and day, but when you put us together you'd better watch out!
I'm grateful for great in-laws. We laugh with them every time we get together with them. They raised someone like my husband, so I'm especially grateful to them.
I am grateful for a loving and increasingly patient man to be married to. He is my best friend, my other (better) half. He makes me want to be a better person. He makes me laugh. Everyone he comes in to contact with never has a bad thing to say about him. He's a goofball, a good daddy, a hard worker, a good friend, reliable, and unshaken in his faith.
I'm thankful for my daughter. We waited until we found out she was going to become ours before we decided to finally call her our "daughter" instead of just "our little girl". She is incredibly loving, intelligent, sassy, and has a fantastic little sense of humor. It is so fun to watch her change and grow.
I am grateful for my parents. I know that in this life, they were meant to be my parents. They also have to be some of the most patient people to put up with the crud I've dealt them over the years. If there's any gray hairs on their heads, it's because of my endless tactics.
I'm grateful for my sisters, for the laughter we share. We are all different as night and day, but when you put us together you'd better watch out!
I'm grateful for great in-laws. We laugh with them every time we get together with them. They raised someone like my husband, so I'm especially grateful to them.
Wednesday, November 3
Better Now Than Never...Gratitude Month
I'm starting a few days late, but I have seen some friends and family posting on their blogs what they are grateful for once a day, every day for the rest of this month.
First and foremost, I am thankful for God. Because without Him, life would have no purpose, no meaning. Everything that I have in this life, I attribute to Him. He gives me life, breath, joy, happiness, pain, trials, family, love, friends...they are endless.
Today and everyday, I am grateful for a God in Heaven who loves me.
First and foremost, I am thankful for God. Because without Him, life would have no purpose, no meaning. Everything that I have in this life, I attribute to Him. He gives me life, breath, joy, happiness, pain, trials, family, love, friends...they are endless.
Today and everyday, I am grateful for a God in Heaven who loves me.
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