Rookie*

Of all the things on this earth that I am grateful for, my husband tops the list.

I find a reason every day that I am so happy to have him in my life.

Like this morning, he scraped off my car after it snowed all weekend.

It made him late to class, and he still did it.

And each day, he makes sure that he makes me smile at least once.

Whether by acting silly or doing something he knows I'll appreciate.

Something as simple as bringing in the mail.

Most of all, he loves me. And he treats me like he loves me. EVERY DAY.

*My husband's nickname in high school was Rookie.

Friends & Tight Spaces

Tonight we had a few friends over.

When I say few, I mean 12, plus 4 kids.

Including us, that was 18 people in our apartment.

We don't have a very big apartment.

But we had so much fun and we all were able to squeeze in.

It made me grateful for the great friends we've made in our ward here.

And it makes me hopeful that we'll stay in touch long after we move out.

Sisters

I haven't done very well at actually keeping a Gratitude Journal.

But I'll keep working on it.

But last night I realized one thing that I am always grateful for: Sisters.

I have two sisters.

One is 14, and while we don't always get along, I think it's because I remember the sweet baby she was and the toddler that would sit on my lap and give me hugs when my day was lousy. (There's a 12 year age difference.) And I just want her to stay that person and not get pulled into the attitude that as a teenager she has to know everything and top everyone.

The other is 22, just 4 years younger than me. We had our differences when we were younger, but as we got older we became really close. We even got married around the same time and we've taken trips together, as friends & sisters.

Last night I spent a good hour talking to my sister. We laughed and talked and laughed some more.

It reminded me that I need to spend more time talking to my sisters, just for no reason at all.

Because only sisters can understand how it feels to marry into a family that does things differently than your own.

Because only sisters can understand how crazy your own family really is.

And because only sisters can make you laugh so hard that you can't breathe, over a story about a cheese ball.

Push ups & Chocolate Shakes

Last night I had a test again for my level in push ups.

I did 40 without stopping.

That made me feel pretty good.

I then proceeded to drink a chocolate shake. :)

That made me feel good too. :)

At least I did the push ups. I could've skipped them, right?

I've also been doing pretty good at reading my scriptures, though I've fallen a little behind.

I'll catch up today though.

And I still need to work on going to bed on time.

I'll get there.

November - Contemplate the Heavens

This month I'm going to Contemplate the Heavens.

To me this means work on my spirituality.

My Resolutions:

• Pray
• Morning & Night
• With & without my husband
• Read Scriptures
• With & without my husband
• Study & make notes
• I've come across a challenge hosted on this blog that I am going to join in. That seems to help me. Please feel free to join as well!
• Gratitude Notebook
• Once or twice a week
• Notice the Hand of God in all things
• Can be grateful for things you have and things you don't have

I know I'm a week late starting this, but I am still going to go forward. 

One thing I tend to do is give up on something if I mess up at the beginning. 

I need to correct this thinking.

If at first you mess up, just keep trying!

Month 1 Review

Let's Review:

Bed by 10, up at 6:30: Did not do so well.

I really do not like to get up in the morning and making it up at 6:30 just didn't seem possible. Perhaps if I just tried to get up at 7:00 that would be better?

Also, I do think going to bed by 10, at least on the weekdays would help with my energy so much. That one I'll keep working at.

Exercise: Rocked it!

I consistently did the Hundred Push Up challenge all month. The program takes 6 weeks, so I'm still going, but I'm already feeling so much better about myself. I'm proud to say that I can now do 35 push-ups in one set.

Eat Breakfast: Not so good.

I just do not feel like eating when I've only been up for an hour or so. I know I need to still work on this one though and I'm trying.

Organize & De-clutter: Poor.

I did buy a bin for some decorations that had no place, so that was helpful, but other than that, I've not done too good at finding a place for things and making less piles. I'll continue to work on that one.

Act Energetic: No idea.

I've decided that this one is just too hard for me to judge personally. I guess I could pawn it off on my husband to monitor but I don't think he'd notice. And I don't know what to compare to. I'm not really an un-energetic person, so I don't know if coming home and doing laundry and making dinner counts as energetic or  is just regular behavior. I've decided that I'm going to still try and be aware of being energetic, but I'm going to stop keeping track of this one.

Overall: Not so good.

Thankfully I've set it up so I continue each goal every month, and just add a few new ones to work on. So hopefully I can work on getting to bed by 10, getting up by 7 now, eating breakfast, organizing, and continuing to exercise through this coming month.