gratitude post.

i am grateful that with some windex, two rolls of paper towels, and a LOT of elbow grease, neon orange nail polish will come out of carpet.

i am grateful that i have grown into liking stuffing and sweet potatoes. what was i thinking as a child?? SO GOOD.

i am grateful for online shopping, so i could buy serena's little people nativity set.

i am grateful that the new harry potter movie was so dang good. so good, in fact, that i'm seeing it again tomorrow :)

but more {most} importantly,

i am grateful for my husband, my beautiful daughters, my family, my faith.

hope you all had a lovely holiday.

thank you.

serena is a very unhappy girl right now. teething + fever + runny faucet nose + watery eyes = a sad, irritated girl. but on a positive note:

thank you steph for the much needed hair cut & color. now i won't have 2 inch re-growth in our family photos.

thank you mom for watching a cranky serena while i worked and got said haircut. and for the nummy guilt-free oatmeal raisin cookies. and for the best ground beef ever! i wish i could make it to macey's more often.

thank you martha for the fun shadow box display idea. this wasn't actually a project in the encyclopedia, just in the background of a display photo. oh and thanks also for giving me some great ideas for baby tru's upcoming shower!

thank you hip & humble for being awesome and adorable. i found darling birthday presents for some friends today. how did i not know you were just up the street?

thank you cafe rio for the thursday special. pork tamales are high on my list of favorite foods. i really didn't feel like making dinner tonight.

thank you baby einstein for distracting serena for a few minutes. i couldn't have done my hair this morning without you.

thank you gretchen for the lovely surprise on my doorstep! {that was you, right?}

thank you husband for cleaning up the broken bottles of baby food that fell out of the back of my car :)

ten.

{i never said it would be ten consecutive days of gratitude!}

let's end it with a bang! we had so much fun over thanksgiving weekend, so here's 10 things i loved about it:

1. laying in bed watching the thanksgiving parade.
2. spending the day with my family, enjoying my mom's delicious cooking.
3. my parents' bigger, better, beautiful family room.
4. serena sleeping during the entire drive to mesquite! {we drove at night}
5. my mom doing my black friday shopping for me :)
6. making headbands for kelty and teagan. and then headbands for their baby dolls. and then headbands for their barbies. they were so cute :)

7. listening to music from glee on the drive to las vegas.
8. the nice workout we got while running down the strip trying to make it to lion king on time.
9. being lazy with sean and serena while the rest of the family was hiking!
10. coming home and sleeping in my own bed.

hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend. . . and now back to real life.

day nine.

eternal families.

day eight.

the snow! the snow! {and a garage}

what is more magical than waking up to find a blanket of snow covering the ground and the trees and the mountains??!! i loved my drive to work today. i don't know if i would like the snow as much if i didn't have a garage to keep my car dry & warm, though :)

day seven.

this little baby doll.

i can't believe how drastically your life can change so quickly. and what a wonderful change. i love this little girl to pieces. her giggles make me so happy. i'm so grateful for my sweet serena.

day six.

{a little late on posting this, i know :)}

music.

what would my life be without music??

i love it in mostly all forms. classical. pop. alternative. jazz. country. opera. choral. etc.

i sang with a choir a few years ago that was one of the best experiences of my life. i get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. the music was amazing. the singers were amazing. performing with them was amazing. it was so rewarding and just filled up the part of me that needs to be filled up with music. i still am depressed that it had to end.

earlier this year i saw madame butterfly with my mom and it will always be one of my favorite memories. it was just so so so beautiful {like the kind of beautiful that makes my heart ache a little... is that weird?}.

hearing the salt lake children's choir every year completes my christmas season.

the lyrics of where can i turn for peace? have so much significance to me.

some of my favorite memories are singing at the piano at my grandma's house with my sister.

i could go on and on and on and on.

music is a huge part of my life. i am so grateful for the wonderful experiences that have come to me through music.

day five.

these ladies.

we've been best buddies since elementary school. i can't believe 3 of us are mommies now and one more in march! how time flies.

you girls are goofballs and i love you ♥

{the bride doll represents erin. . . hehe}

day four.

this guy.

he makes me so very happy.

today he had me in tears from laughing so hard :)

i love him ♥

day three.

talents, skills, individuality, etc.

sometimes {often} i covet other people's talents. sometimes {often} i want to strangle those people who seem to be really good at everything. sometimes {often} i wish i could be really really good at just ONE thing, instead of just kind of good at a few things. i hate feeling that way, so i sometimes {often} have to remind myself that everyone is different. sounds like a primary lesson, right? everyone is different. everyone has been given different talents and strengths. and everyone has to work to make themselves better and more skilled in those areas. i really am grateful for the talents and strengths that i have been blessed with. i am grateful that we are all different, and even when i feel ordinary, i always know that God loves me and i am unique and special in his eyes.

{my family and friends think i'm "unique" and "special". . . but more in the ariel-you're-really-weird kind of way.}

day two.

modern medicine and dentistry.


medicine: this year, after having a baby, i am particularly grateful for modern medicine. how amazing is it that we get to see our babies before they are born? and know if they are ok, or if there are problems. and know the gender! AND how great is it that childbirth can be relatively painless if that's the route you want to go {and that is definitely the route i went}. i know a lot of women want to have their babies naturally and i think that's great... but not for me. i think i was placed on the earth in this day for a reason. it's funny that at the time i was complaining about what a nightmare my IVs were and what a terrible recovery i thought i had. but in perspective, i'm just really glad i had my baby in a clean, comfortable hospital room with well-trained doctors and nurses monitoring me and the baby {and that they gave me plenty of pain medication to take home...}.

dentistry: yesterday i went to the dentist. i sat on a comfortable couch and had a bottle of water in the waiting room. i got all numbed up so i wouldn't feel a thing. i put headphones on and watched a movie while they fixed my teeth. i'm so glad that if i have a toothache the doctor doesn't just rip my tooth out.

ten days of gratitude.

day one: my family ♥

we had so much fun up at the cabin with my family. wednesday was the only day that everyone could be there together and it was a blast. the women learned how to knit & crochet hats {which we are sporting in the picture} and the men went 4 wheeling, played pool, etc. we made a huge breakfast, lounged around, did some jigsaw puzzles, and enjoyed being together. i am so grateful for wonderful parents and three beautiful sisters. can't wait till one of my sisters produces a cousin for serena :)