Being Thankful (written by Lola)

It is November, the host month for Thanksgiving! And so, in keeping with tradition, I am writing out my "grateful for" list...24, because I am 24.

I'm thankful...

1 - That the man I included in this list 2 years ago as a good friend who invited me home for Thanksgiving (I didn't go) is now my dear husband, my best friend, the love of my life, my eternal companion.

2 - That I got to have the wedding of my dreams. And I'm thankful for my family and friends who made it so.

3 - For my calling. I have loved getting to know the women of the Relief Society and feebly attempting to serve them with the rest of the presidency.

4 - For my family. They really love me, and I really love them.

5 - For my new family (by marriage). I feel so close to all of them and we have so much fun together. So many people who get married struggle with their in-laws, but I feel blessed to be so close to mine.

6 - For the temple. It has been an incredible source of peace in my life. I'm thankful that even when I don't understand it, I always yearn to be there. I feel that gift is an endowment from heaven, a blessing to protect me.

7 - Mashed potatoes with steamed vegetables. Manna from heaven, I am telling you.

8 - To have a job in this economy. It may not include all the hours or all the benefits I desperately wish for, but it is a job.

9 - For the best friends anyone could ask for. I got the monopoly on good, kind, honest, caring, supportive, fun friends. Throughout my life I've often stopped to marvel at this fact. There are so many people I'd do just about anything for, and vice versa. When I am down, I have always been rallied around by wonderful and caring friends. I'm so blessed.

10 - For my sisters. I love how close we are, even far away. Rachel's in Europe, Elena's in Oregon, I'm in Utah, but we're tight and we're always in contact.

11 - For Tara and Kade (Ryan's sister and her husband). They do so much for us and always open their home to us.

12 - For our niece. It will be a while until my own siblings have offspring, and I have loved being an aunt to our Miss Mia.

13 - For the smell of the early morning and the feel of leaves crunching beneath my feet.

14 - For our big, wonderful, amazing bed.

15 - For my mom, her amazing generosity, and her grocery gift card once a month - best wedding gift ever.

16 - For laughter. It does so many good things, it's almost incomprehendable.

17 - For Extreme Home Makeover. Way to fight the trashy TV monopoly. Way to showcase the good.

18 - For a healthy, working body.

19 - For the gospel. For its structure, restoration, and for the opportunity to live in the dispensation of the fullness of times.

20 - For a husband who adores me. Who takes care of me, who puts me and our marriage above all else, who hasn't missed our once a week date night even once since the wedding, who hasn't missed an FHE since the wedding, who unselfishly attends to my needs before his own. When we go to bed, he likes to make sure I'm taken care of and asleep. No matter how tired he is, if I can't sleep, he sits up, turns on a light, and reads aloud to me, or snuggles up to me and tells me a story. His voice soothes me like no other and I am asleep soon after. He writes me notes on the bathroom mirror and brings me roses often. When we go to sleep, he has to be touching me in some way. He holds my hand everywhere we go, without fail. And he puts up with my irrational womanness and pushes me to achieve my dreams.

21 - For a husband I adore in return. He is such a good man and I wonder every day why he picked me.

22 - For my future children. They are my reason for everything. Everything I do and have done is and has been done with them in mind. I've never met them, but they are written on my heart.

23 - For forests and oceans.

24 - For the gift of life.