Blessings

It's been an awfully long time since I've gotten on here to post. Mostly because I haven't had the time for blogging that I once seemed to have. But I wanted to take a quick minute to post this, because I've been thinking about it constantly and am just feeling overwhelmed with gratitude right now. As you all know, Spencer and I chose to move to Idaho last year for reasons we weren't necessarily sure of. He had a good job there and we both hated to see him leave, but for some reason, we felt we needed to. We took a $10,000 pay cut...that's huge. But since we've been here, we've seen little reminders that we did the right thing. First off, he got a job working in hydropower, which now is the best field to be in as an engineer considering land development has come to a hault and the government is all about alternate sources of energy. Second, a few months after making the move here, his old job had do lay offs. At first it was just a few, but as the year progressed and things got worse, he had more and more old co-workers finding themselves without an income and needing a new place of employment. And now, a co-worker of his that was the same level as Spencer, just told him that he's down to 13 hour work weeks. 13 hours!! I can't imagine how any of them can survive on that! And there aren't many places hiring either, so he does not have any prospects or second jobs. Spencer is one of two at his workplace now that is approved to get overtime, and he gets it quite often. He's always busy and I just am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for watching out for us. He has blessed us with a beautiful home, living near family, with a good job that is able to provide for us and now that $10,000 pay cut has turned into a pay raise, considering where we could have been had we stayed there. I'm just so blessed!

Christmas Music

I haven't been able to blog much, thanks to a retarded computer, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have Christmas music playing in my home. It just helps to get in the mood and spirit of Christmas. Music has always been a blessing in my life, in more ways than one, actually. I was asked to sing with Katrina for the Dillards VIP night and we each got to pick out $50 worth of things from the store, something that was completely unexpected when we accepted.
I also love that my children have an appreciation for music and I can already tell that they want the Christmas stuff too. Forrest will say to me, "Mom! It's the Polar Express song!" or "Hey Mom, is this the song from Elf? Oh, I just love this song." And Nadia wants me to sing her Silent Night or Away in the Manger at night before bed and she does her best to sing along. I just love it.
There are so many out there that stir the soul and remind us of our Savior and the ultimate sacrifice He made for each of us. How grateful I am to be able to sing and listen to songs praising our beloved Redeemer. I just love this time of year.

This time of year

I am thankful today for this time of year. It's my favorite time of year and as I look around and see all the beautiful colors falling from the trees, it makes me grateful for the beautiful world our Heavenly Father has given us. Last weekend we were in Utah and it was cold and cloudy outside, giving the colors something to contrast with and it just made for a breathtaking view. I'm thankful to live in a place that has seasons, changing temperature, etc to make the holidays that much more meaningful to me. I've included some pictures so you can enjoy the beauty as well.

Autumn

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I've loved it for my whole life (I know that most kids love summer the best, but not me. I was always a FALL girl). This weekend we were in Utah for my uncle's mission open house thingy. I was loving all the colors of the trees and the sound of leaves crunching beneath my footsteps. Then today at church, I was out with Marek and he was fasincated with the weather (it was raining and blowing) and the leaves that were blowing down the street and all around the grass. It was such a cool day and all the dark clouds seemed to make the colors of the tree-lined streets even more vibrant, perhaps because of the contrast. Anyway, it made me wonder what it must have been like in the early days of America. I wish I could go back in time and see the beauty Autumn brought, before the land became over-populated and booming with businesses. I love everything about this time of year and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had as lovely of a Halloween as I did!

Church Callings

This is something I've been wanting now for quite some time. In my old ward in Utah, I had three callings (four, briefly) at one time, not including the four women that I visit taught often by myself due to a working partner. I remember at the time loving each of my callings, but feeling a bit overwhelmed (I was also 6 months pregnant when I received my third calling and fourth calling, ending up having to back down on one of them because I just couldn't make it work, then still had three callings until Nadia was about three months old) and wondering how I was going to balance everything that I needed to. But then, when Nadia was about three or four months old, I went down to one calling-the enrichment board. I felt relieved and grateful that my burden had been lightened a bit. However, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. My ideas were pushed aside, I was never called about meetings, therefore missing many, and I won't get to into the whole mess, but basically, I did nothing in that calling. I was excited to move and be in a new ward, with new people and get a new calling where I could feel needed and feel like I was making a difference in my own life, as well as others. We moved, and I waited and waited, thinking surely I would be getting a calling soon. I am not one that hopes to sneak unnoticed without a calling. I like callings because then it really makes me feel a part of the ward and it makes me feel like I'm doing my part in the gospel. So, number one-I'm grateful for the church and the opportunities we have to serve within. A few months went by and still nothing, then the boundaries were rearranged and a new ward was created, my ward. And I still waited, wondering when my turn would be. I'd been praying for a calling for quite some time. Finally, Tuesday night I had an interview with the bishopric and received my calling...Relief Society Pianist. I admit that I felt a bit of a let-down. I was so excited for a calling and was hoping for something new, something I really could grow from. I accepted the interview and left, wanting to cry. You see, my whole life I've had music callings and even when I haven't had musical callings, I'm still getting called to play at all the baptisms, ward functions, fill in for Relief Society, Primary, etc. I've never NOT played for something. My mother was the same way and was even the ward choir director for 11 years, not to mention everything else that she did, often involving music. So I felt that this wouldn't really help me grow. But then, after spilling my emotions out to my husband and wondering to myself why I had to get stuck with this calling, why other people that have musical abilities never make it known or refuse to play, etc. my husband said something to me that hit me hard. He said, "Maybe you get these callings because you complain about the callings you are given and dwell on the ones you don't want to receive, rather than being grateful for what the Lord gives you." Wow, had I really been complaining that much??? So, number two- I'm grateful for a husband that loves me enough to point out where I need help. So I thought and prayed about it all night, then I read about this gratitude blog the next day and I decided it was definitely time to focus on the positive, in fact, long overdue. I'm going to look for things to be grateful for put my life in perspective. The Lord gives us trials and blessings and we grow from all of them, even if we don't always see the outcome (or at least don't see it for quite some time). So, number three- I'm grateful for my musical abilities and opportunities to use my talents. I'm grateful for a mother who taught me never to be afraid of using those talents to serve others, to serve in the church, etc. I'm grateful I've always said yes when asked and that I can say that I'm not hiding them under a bushel, but letting my light shine. I'm grateful to be the new Relief Society Pianist and the first one the Rigby 16th ward has ever had!