"I'll be thankful when this is over."

Even though Thanksgiving is my least favorite eating holiday, it was pretty great this year.

It started on Wednesday night with a girls' night out to Twilight. I really was looking forward to loving that movie. I don't. Lisa and I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning doing next to nothing....but I liked it.

I really liked spending the day at home on Thursday. I was supposed to make dessert but my mom made 6 pies. Instead, Marlie and I made place setting Turkeys. When we started our project Marlie said, "Actually, I hate Thanksgiving." On the radio a few days ago I heard about a study that concludes children cannot grasp gratefulness until they are 7 years old. I figure none of us really grasp gratefulness or we wouldn't celebrate it just once a year.

After our feast, a few of us took a nice walk up the Weber River Trail. That's where things took an odd turn. I was trying to take a picture of my mom and I and all the sudden she went crazy and was trying to hug me and kiss me. Honestly, I can't remember the last time my mom kissed me. Sick.
When we came home from our walk I showed my brother and sister the picture of my mom trying to kiss me. It's just so weird to all of us but then Jimmy went crazy and hugged and kissed Anne. Whoa. That's probably never happened. Then he did it to me. He asked why wouldn't he hug us and kiss us because we are his baby sisters. There must have been something in the turkey.

Although the kids in my family are all adults now, we barely made it through my mom reading all our "thankfuls." There was whining, groaning, stabbing with crutches, etc. Jimmy said, "I'll be grateful when this is over." My mom does so much to make the holidays great for us. We have our own family traditions and she makes then great every year. Maybe one day we'll (I'll) be more grateful to her more often.

The holiday weekend ended with my dad and I running errands and doing some shopping. My dad is selfless and generous with his time and means. We (I) could be a little more grateful a lot more often to him.

What a good Thanksgiving.

my enemy

My bedroom and the bathroom are hooked together and apparently the walls in my house are not any thicker than a flannel sheet. I've tried everything (other than actually repairing it) to get the water to stop running. The water is getting sucked out the flapper so the floaty thing goes down and the water trickles into the tank non-stop.

Have you ever heard water running and need to go? Try sleeping through that. I laid in my bed imagining I was listening to a beautiful garden fountain. 3 hours later I fell asleep. You probably thought, "Just turn off the water, Joey." And I thought, "Thank you. I never thought of that." Except I did and I can't get the knob to turn.

I know all of my blog readers wanted to know about my toilet issue. Maybe I'm just testing your loyalty.

new roommates!

Let me begin by telling you that Shane is not one of my new roommates. Tammy and Collette are. Before they moved in we did one billion projects from painting to furnace filter changing.

They moved in the other night. After unloading, what seemed like an enormous amount of goods, they went back for a second load.....with 3 vehicles! After unloading another overwhelming load of stuff, I learned that there was still a little more stuff that needed to come. My living room has space for us to get out the back door in an emergency. It may take some time to figure out how to shove our stuff all in here together. I'm afraid we haven't mastered the "work smarter, not harder" theory.

Overall, I'm pretty excited to have them here.

BiRtHdAyS

Birthdays are the greatest day of the year. Everyone deserves a celebration, whatever kind they want. Memorable birthdays for me are:

#8 - My teacher made the day good at school. I don't remember how but I liked it. Right after school, my mom helped me get ready for my baptism. Lots of family came, but I can't remember everyone. My 2 grandmas gave the talks. I don't remember the talks but I do remember they made me feel pretty special. I got my first set of scriptures too. It was a good birthday.

#12 - My parents took me, my sisters, and my brother to the Ogden Temple to do baptisms for the dead. This is when I really started to love the temple. I think we did family names. The temple workers learned it was my 12th birthday. They were so good to me.

#16 - I don't remember too much but I do remember that my family and friends made it a special day for me. It seemed like I got away with a lot.

#18 - Not super special but memorable. My friends took me to breakfast before school, I had to race to class to take a biology test, I started a brand new job and worked 8 hours, had to run straight to City Council Meeting to receive some award, and when I got home a few family members were waiting for me. I missed dinner. The day seemed long and my thoughts were drawn to my cousin who lost her mom on her 18th birthday.

#19 - I lived in New Jersey. It was a rough time. I had a few friends from institute though. My family and a friend mailed me a couple packages. My one good friend's mom was in town and they took me out to dinner. It was odd we had a table in an empty area. But then 15 people I hardly knew, and who hardly knew me showed up. It was a suprise party! It was so great! Really, I learned some great lessons in New Jersey and love and miss my institute family.

I'm not sure how old I was on a couple other birthdays, but my dad and I have gone to the temple together. They are good memories.

I don't especially remember too much about birthdays or gifts. What I love about birthdays is the chance I have to be thankful for all my blessings. Birthdays are like Thanksgiving, New Years, and Christmas rolled into one day. I'm glad I have the chance to reflect on my last year and look forward to the next. Mostly, I'm thankful for my family and friends who fill each of my years.

Relief Society Broadcast

The speakers were so great! I could have listened to them all night. I was even wishing President Uchtdorf would have gone on and on. After feeling the inspiration to improve my own efforts, I have determined to set a realistic goal and go forward. Unfortunately, knowing myself, sometimes I hear moving talks by Church leaders and feel the Spirit whispering to me and still I don't change. I write a few notes but then turn the page.

But....this time is different. Here's the deal: this week I have been thinking that I may be in a little bit of a rut. I don't want to minimize my blessings but I haven't moved forward in a while. Last night, I received the antidote to my situation. The sisters spoke on varying topics but had one common theme - service. Serving in my calling, serving as a member of Relief Society, and serving in the temples. Reaching outside of myself is the cure for what I'm feeling. Plus, besides serving, I can spend my time creating - all sorts of things. And creating can be service too. Developing myself is a good way to spend my time and will bring satisfaction (from what I understand).

Let's get down to brass tacks - I'm going forward with full force. There are opportunities to serve every time I turn around. There are opportunities to improve my skills and talents. I am a little ways from perfect but I can at least take a step. That's the goal....a step at a time. Wish me luck!