Day 17

I am grateful for food!

Not only is it a nessecity that I am very grateful to have,

I am grateful that I am able to indulge and enjoy delicious food.

One of my favorite foods is sushi. Oh sushi....how I love thee!

My favorite is a spicy tuna roll or a rainbow roll, that has tuna, yellow tail, and salmon.

I am willing to try almost anything (within reason) at least once to see if I like it or if I still dislike it.

I'm grateful that I have choices in what food to eat and I can enjoy it, instead of eating just to sustain life.

Along with sushi, I love Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian, American, and just about any other type of food.

My favorite dessert is cheesecake. Oh how I am grateful for cheesecake and desserts!

Day 16

Today I'm grateful for outlets to relieve stress.

These past couple days have been pretty stressful at work with different deadline looming.

I'm grateful to come home and decompress.

Between zumba and playing my violin, I've been able to relax and let go of every thing that's going on.

Yesterday and today I've really needed it.

It's been nice to know that I'm relieving stress and working on making myself a better person.

I'm able to get myself into better shape and I'm able to work on playing my violin better again.

While I'm not one to work well with stress, it sure is making me help be a better person.

And for that I'm grateful.

Day 15

I am grateful for goals.

Where would our world be if people hadn't made goals?

Thank goodness for ambition and the drive to succeed! 

I made a goal with this new year, that I need to admit I never had plans to follow through on.

It's funny though how life intervenes to help you realize your goals.

Am I being cryptic enough?

So from previous posts, you might remember that I play the violin?

For the past couple years I have had every intention of regularly practicing my violin to get back to the level I was in high school.

Well, I got a call from someone yesterday that goes to my same church and they asked me to play my violin in church the last Sunday of the month....

I'm FREAKING out!

It has been 8 years since I have performed in front of anyone or anything but a music stand.

I graciously accepted with the realization that this is giving me a reason to practice.

But boy oh boy...I'm nervous.

I keep telling myself that I'll be ok.

You'll be ok Sara. Really. You will.

So here's to me getting back on the musical bandwagon.

Thank you goals and life for helping me forget my guilt and get lost in my music again.

I realize now that I've missed it.

Day 14

Today I am grateful for Brinner.

What is Brinner you ask? Breakfast for dinner!

I LOVE breakfast food, and I LOVE eating it for dinner!

For Christmas we got a griddle from my parents.

This little appliance has helped so much to have my breakfast dreams realized!

Tonight I had leftover french toast. And it was DELICIOUS!

I love almost all breakfast food from: 

yogurt, oatmeal, cream of wheat, pancakes, waffles, french toast, muffins, omelets, bacon, sausage,

to many, many others.

And there was another milestone. I grew up with my mom making syrup and I have striven for 3 years to make syrup that tastes like hers. 

Well, Saturday night I finally did it!

It makes my breakfast that much sweeter that I finally mastered that recipe.

Day 13

I'm grateful for relaxation.

It's so nice after a day of working, to be able to come home

and relax.

Get in my comfy clothes and lounge around after I work out or make dinner.

While I love to be busy and always have something to do,

it's so nice to curl up with a nice book and big blanket to curl up in.

That's what I doing tonight.

I finished my workout, and now I'm going to turn off my computer and read a good book.

See you tomorrow.

Day 12

Today I'm grateful for children.

At church, Josh and I are in charge of watching 10-15 children between the ages of 18 months - 3 years.

At first when we started, I was so overwhelmed by all the little children and chaos, I didn't know where to start.

Now that we have been doing it for around 6 months, I have fallen in love with all the cute little tykes!

I love their innocence. 

Children don't judge or withhold their love.

Today I was reading stories to a couple of girls, with them sitting in front of me. 

Most of them lost interest between the 3-4 story, but this one little girl, who has been SO shy, came up and climbed onto my lap. 

No coaxing or encouragement needed.

It made my heart melt.

And I read any story she wanted me to read.

Children love and trust without reservation or judgement.

It's moments like this that make me excited to be a mother.

I hope that my children will grab stories and climb onto my lap.

Day 11

SNOW!

I'm so grateful that it finally snowed!

During winter time, it seems like there is always a nice layer of smog that settles in the Salt Lake Valley.

So when it snows, it's nice to see the mountains again, in all their white glory.

This winter has been pretty dreadful, with no snow and brown, ugly mountains.

Christmas was a little depressing, I've gotten so used to having a White Christmas, I forgot what it was like not to have one.

And I love White Christmas's! 

Hopefully now that it has snowed, it will keep snowing until April or so...

Hey, and maybe I'll actually learn how to ski this year! 

I've already tried snowboarding, and I got sick of falling so much and always being sore. 

I figure that if my feet are on two sticks instead of one board, and I'll get to have poles in my hands to keep me steady, that it might be a better fit for me.

So bring on the winter activities, finally!

Day 10

I'm grateful for safe drivers.

I know that when I am driving with my husband, he is safe.

He doesn't drive like a lunatic weaving in and out of traffic.

I feel safe driving with him, 

enough that I can fall asleep and not worry that we'll make it home alive.

We both know how to drive defensively, 

so where we both know how to look out for and avoid those 'scary' drivers.

I'm glad hat I was taught how to drive in bad weather.

If you live in Utah, you know there are tons of people out there that DON'T know how to drive in snow.

And they are the ones that make it dangerous for the rest of us.

So, now that it has finally snowed, you won't see me racing down the freeway!

Day 9

I'm grateful for exercise.

I have a desk job. 

By the end of the day, I want to go crazy from sitting all day.

Coming home I usually feel tired, but I'm so glad that I can come home and exercise.

Most recently, my favorite workout has been Zumba.

Ever done it? 

It's one of the most fun exercises I have ever done! 

Every time I turn it on, I have flashbacks when I was in ballroom class and memorizing routines.

So far, my favorite routines have been the Hindu and Samba inspired.

If you haven't tried Zumba, I would highly recommend it.

The other exercise that I try to squeeze in is walking/running on my treadmill.

So, I'm grateful I have something to do after sitting all day that relieves my aching joints, 

and helps me to relax and release stress.
It might be weird, but I love my sore muscles!
It lets me know that I'm challenging my body and working to get it in the shape I want to be in.

And I'm already looking forward to summer.

I miss taking my walks outside and hanging out in the park!

Day 8

I'm grateful for books.

I love the feel and weight of books.

I considered wanting to buy something like the Nook or Kindle,

but that would only be useful to me on vacations.

I love to hold the book, smelling that musty old book smell or the smell of ink on new pages.

Call me old fashioned.

I love seeing my library of books and looking at them to decide what I want to read.

To me, I get more satisfaction from reading a book and turning the pages,

than holding a tablet and clicking a button.

While the tablets save space and aren't bulky,

I still like lugging a good book around.

I'm grateful for the authors, for the creativeness and hard work that goes into a book.

They get the satisfaction of entertaining their readers

and I have the satisfaction of being entertained.

I have thought multiple times about trying to write a book only to realize,

I'm not creative or eloquent enough.

So I tip my hat to those people out there that can not only write books,

but write books that can suck a reader in and keep them enthralled,

 turning pages furiously to the very end.

Day 7

Today I'm grateful for music.

It's funny how there's music for almost every type of mood.

On my ipod I have so many different genres to reflect...

ballads, rock, rap, classical, show tunes, pop, jazz, indie.

They can make me reflect on life, be happy, want to dance, make me cry, have the endurance for a really long run, or cheer me up.

Music can also make you think of memories. 

For example, when I hear any song from Moulin Rouge: 

I remember being on a school trip in California and belting those songs from my balcony with friends.

Ahhh, good times.

Or how when I think of Eminem's song 'Lose Yourself' from 8 Mile, 

I just want to run. 

Music is such an important part of my life.

It's also a great way for me to express my emotions. 

Wondering how?

There's a few of you out there that probably remember that I play the violin and piano?

While I wish I played them more (I wish I had a piano), every time I pick up my violin it's like there's another part of me that comes out.

 By playing I can let go of my fears, frustrations, and relax.

And for that I am very grateful.

Day 6

I'm grateful for my family today.

The nice thing about family is that they have unconditional love.

They love you no matter what mistakes you make or where you go in life.

Friends come and go through your life, but family is always there.

There's a saying that my sister made for me when we got married:

'It doesn't matter where you go in life, 

what you do, 

or how much you have, 

it's who you have beside you.'

It's true about your spouse and your family.

I'm grateful for how often my mom calls me just to see how I'm doing.

I'm grateful for the time I get to spend with my dad.

I'm grateful for my loving and opinionated sisters. They will never lead me astray and will always give their honest opinion about what is best for me.

I'm grateful for the crazy Sunday dinners when I get to see my brother's in law and my nieces and nephews.

I'm grateful for my husband's family. 

Even though they span the globe and we don't see them that often-

I'm grateful that when we do, our relationships pick up where they left off.

Day 5

Today I am grateful for my faith.

I am a deeply private person who has a hard time sharing my religion.

Along with being grateful for my religion, I'm grateful for all the diversity in the world.

Whether you believe in God, Allah, Buddha, Shiva, or any type of spiritual being, or not,

it doesn't matter to me as long as a person has beliefs and convictions 

and does what they can to be a good person.

I'm not writing this post because I want to parade my religion around for 

everyone to see, 

I've never been that kind of person.

I have beliefs that have gotten through my darkest times.

I do believe there is a higher power that plays part in my life. I know this from this 

past month and different experiences through my life. 

I know He's there, but it seems like in extreme situations, I really know that and I can feel a presence.

My last experience was Josh's birthday in Vegas. 

We were walking around when my back started to hurt.

Like REALLY started to hurt.

After a visit to the local ER, we found out I had a kidney stone. 

If you've ever had one, you know the excruciating pain. 

It never lets up, and it just keeps pounding you down.

When we got back to the hotel, there were no more flights out that night and I had to wait until morning.

The pain pills made me sick, and I couldn't take any pills until I could eat something. 

Such a viscous cycle.

So that whole night, while my poor, exhausted husband was

 sleeping for a couple hours, 

I tried to lay quietly in bed and not move too much. 

Writhing in pain, I thought I was going to die. 

Quite literally. 

Kidney stones pain is often compared to child birth, 

but the women I have spoken with have said it is worse than child birth.

I haven't prayed that hard in a really long time. I told God that I just wanted to get home. I didn't make drastic promises to change my life or anything like that, 

I just prayed that He would give me the strength to survive this and to help me get through it. 

And He did. 

There were times that night that I actually drifted off to sleep amidst the pain, 

but I was granted a little reprieve.

Some people would call that endurance. I call it heavenly intervention.

That is why I'm grateful for my faith. 

My faith is always there for me when things don't turn out quite how

 I expected or when I need a  little help.

It helps to keep me going and encourage me.

It gives me hope.