Today I'm Grateful For...

Before I tell you what I'm grateful for, I just have to say I'm sorry. I didn't post yesterday. I was so sick my mother took care of my three kids the entire day. While I slept. Yeah. It was bad. I thought I was going to die. Still do once in a while.
I'm still not up to 100%, but I'm back.

So, I'm grateful for the fact that my mother cannot smell. This is a true fact. She can't smell anything. And when I'm sick, my sense of smell causes certain reflexes to work that just aren't that great. 
Her lack of this sense has been extremely helpful today and yesterday. Dirty diapers? Not a problem. 
I hope she regains it soon, because she said her food doesn't have as much taste. But while I'm sick, it's great.

Today I am Grateful for...

Books. I seriously don't know where I'd be without them. I don't have a favorite, either. There are many that I love and will NEVER get sick of, but no favorite. 

I remember when I ordered a book through those Scholastic papers that we got at school. It came with a little mini flashlight. I could cover myself with my thick comforter, prop myself up on my elbows, and read.

My mom would send me to clean my room, practice my piano, do my homework, and she'd get so mad at me when she'd find me reading. My teacher, Mrs. Stapley, always told me, "You can never read too much." My mom wasn't a huge fan of it, but I couldn't help it.

I loved reading because I could be anyone, anywhere. I was pretty chubby in elementary. There were girls that made fun of me, girls that made me feel awful. And after my dad died, I was the kid that would eat my feelings. A few candy bars after school, and a good book. That was me.


But thanks to those books, I wasn't always sad. I wasn't always thinking about the horrible time I had at recess. It was just me and some spy, or prince, or Ella Enchanted.


Do you want to know the best part about books? Used books. Ones that people have written in or highlighted. I love it when they make notes off to the side. Circled a passage, drew a line to the side, and wrote how it made them feel or a memory from their childhood. Do you know how awesome it is to find a book like that?


At Deseret Industries, I have found two signed copies of books that only cost a dollar. Do you know how awesome it is to find a book like that?


Some of my favorites:

Ella Enchanted

The Hunger Games

ANY Calvin and Hobbes

The Water Wars

Iron House

The Percy Jackson series


East


The Book Thief


Skin Hunger


Rogue


What books have saved you from boredom, fear, or loneliness?

Today I'm Grateful For...

People that weren't afraid to try something new.

Specifically, my husband...

 source

Today I'm Grateful For...

Dreams. Yep. I know, kind of weird and slightly delusional once in a while, (the worst ones are scary) but I love them. The other night Clay Matthews got in my car and protected us until the hubs returned. We even arm wrestled. (He was letting me win when Jon came back. P.S. His hair is gorgeous. {:)

I have been a spy, a widow, a runaway, and even the love of Vin Diesel's life. (The latter was in my high school years. No judging.)

Not all of my dreams are great. I have frequent nightmares, and once in a great while, night terrors.

In college, I dreamt that my cousin Karl and my husband (at the time I just had a HUGE crush on him) were working on a car. Something went wrong and Karl was about to get shocked from the battery, but Jon looked at me like he loved me and moved Karl out of the way, dying himself. 
We weren't even dating yet, but I cried myself awake. I had to go to his apartment to make sure he was alright. It was then that I realized I needed to dump my current boyfriend and get to know the hottie next door.

My very favorite dream, I will never forget. I had cried myself to sleep that night. My dad when I was eight, and even though I was in high school I was still having a hard time without him. Before I fell asleep, I whispered, "Daddy, where are you?"

In my dream, I was standing at our kitchen sink looking out the window at our front yard. I felt a presence behind me and turned around. There was my dad, standing by the stove, dressed in white. I immediately started to sob and reached out for him. He took a step back and put his hands up.
 
"No," he said. "You can't touch me. But I'm here. I'm still here."

That was the only other time I've ever cried myself awake.

I know dreams are subjective and are caused by numerous different things.  I know for a fact I didn't have that dream because of what I ate before bed. It wasn't because of a movie I had watched or a book I had read.

I know Heavenly Father allowed my dad to visit me that night, to let me know he wasn't gone forever. He was still around.


Do you have a favorite dream?

Today I'm Grateful For...

My hair. This may sound vain or self-obsessive, but I am. It's always been my comfort blanket, I guess. I am much more comfortable and confident when it's long, and if my hair is off, my whole day is off.

You've probably seen this blog already, but I LOVE her tutorials. I love her whole blog really. She's easy to relate to, she posts gorgeous hair tuts, and yummy recipes... There's so much more, but I'll let you find out for yourself.

Anyway, go check out The Small Things Blog.
In the meantime, here's a few snippets of her posts:

November Birchbox Goodies (They look SO fun!)
Homemade Potato Soup (Ahmagads, YUM!)
Homemade Mac and Cheese (This look good too. And it's easy.)

And one of her lovely hair tutorials:
How to Trim Your Own Bangs
(I would show you pictures of me, with the bangs I cut myself from elementary or high school, but once those suckers are on the internet, there is no bringing them back. So, no.)