a month of thanks.

November might just be my favorite month: beautiful weather {usually}, birthdays, Thanksgiving, and the beginning of the Christmas season. I just love it. 

So in honor of this wonderful month of thanks {because really, we shouldn't limit it to one day; we shouldn't even limit it to one month!} I'll be posting something that I'm thankful for every day.

Today it's the five senses. Last night at a friend's birthday party, someone asked what sense we would give up if we had to go without one of the five. One person said smell and most of us agreed until someone reminded us that 75% of what we taste comes from our sense of smell. After that, we had nothing.

And so today, I am thankful for those five senses, all of them. They're great. Really great.

patience is a virtue.

sometimes, i'm not a very patient person. i'd rather just not drink water than wait for it to get cold in the fridge. if i'm really hungry, i'd rather eat cold cereal than wait an hour for dinner to finish cooking. i avoid long lines like the plague.

most of the time, i don't even need to worry about being patient. i can get the answer to almost any question instantly via the internet. and why wait in line to turn in papers when i can just fax them into the office?

we live in a world of instant gratification. and it's fantastic... right?

James E. Faust {an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints} said that "instant and unrestrained gratification of all our desires would be the shortest and most direct route to unhappiness."

really? but waiting is hard. and so is not getting everything we want.

however, Dieter F. Utchdorf {another Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints} explained that patience is more than merely waiting. it is a "purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action and offers hope for peace."

huh. patience, that thing we try to avoid, that thing that makes our blood pressure rise and gets us all flustered, is actually good for us. not only is it good for us, but without patience, we would never reach our full potential.

so next time you go to the grocery store and have to choose between the short line and that really long line, try going with the long one; it's a blessing in disguise.

when nature is all aglow.

Yesterday, we said goodbye to summer with one bike ride, and welcomed fall with another. We enjoyed the warm colors and sunshine; we rode down College Avenue, adoring its old homes, and talked about what we want our home to look like. Jordan told me that he loves fall because the leaves change color.

Those leaves crunched under my feet this morning on my way to school. I listened to this as I walked and enjoyed the smell of fall. I wore a short sleeve shirt for what will probably be the last time until May.

And while I will miss not having to wear 9.5 layers of clothing, this changing of the seasons makes me happy. Fall brings birthdays, anniversaries, and other wonderful holidays (yes, we consider our birthdays and anniversary a holiday). I'm excited to campout in our living room, feast on delicious food with family, and break out the metal Christmas tree.

Hello, Fall. We like you. A lot. 
(but please hold off on the snow until at least November.)

like having a color television set.

My friends use to ask me when I thought I'd get married. 

No clue, I would reply. I wanted to get married, but it wasn't my main focus. When the time came, it would come, and I would be happy until it did; I would not go searching out a spouse in order to meet a deadline. 

I dated, I pushed myself, I learned wonderful things and grew in amazing ways. I moved to Florida and found the one thing I hadn't been looking for. 

I spent the day with his family, afterwards calling my mom to tell her how I hoped to marry into a family like that. His hugs set the world right and his words gave me encouragement and focus.  He and I would talk about our dreams and i began to realize how much richer mine were when combined with his. 

I became his and he mine. 

One day, we started our forever with a promise, and we keep that promise to one another every day. We work and we pray and we try to do a little better every moment. It is work but it's our work and it is sweet. And if I had the choice I would do it all over again. Because being married is like having a color television set: you never wanna go back to black and white.

*Doesn't this just warm your heart? I cried a bit and was reminded of how blessed I am to have the opportunity to grow old next to my own sweet guy. 

just one look at you.

this gem was taken at our wedding reception. it may not be the best quality, but it represents that day nicely.

here's to 366 days of sharing a mattress and a fridge. 

here's to 366 days of sharing a last name. 

here's to 366 days of classic books, french toast, and tired moments.

here's to 366 days of being your mrs.

here's to 366 days of you. 

i know a place where summer strives.

my summer has been full of wonderful things.

things like
design
work
late nights

early mornings

driving

family

nature

beauty

rearranging

reorganizing

peace

bike rides

husband

joy

my summer has been full of love. 

take hope.

This weekend, I heard a man speak about light, and how it can penetrate even the darkest of nights.  And then I read a quote that augmented that man's message, saying that while light can always diminish darkness, darkness can never extinguish light.

And it hit me what a powerful thing light is... what a powerful thing hope is.

Hope that everything will work out.  Hope that yesterday's sorrow will soon turn to joy.  Hope that weaknesses can become strengths.  Hope that you can always do better; hope in yourself and in others.

Hope is such a powerful thing.  And sometimes, it scares me.  There are times when I don't know how much hope I am allowed to have, and I hesitate to give too much of my heart to it.

Last night my husband calmed these fears by telling me that I can hope as much as I wish because those hopes won't go unrealized.

So, I'm taking hope.  I'm not putting any restrictions on the amount, either; I'll take as much as I can get.  Because you can do anything if you have hope.  If you have hope, no amount of bad moments can scratch your heart, because hope cannot be diminished by darkness.

Hope is a powerful thing and, after talking to my husband, I'm almost certain it's contagious.

lessons from my weekend.

This weekend I learned that beauty has nothing to do with appearance and that it looks different on everyone.  I learned that it is not a pie to be split amongst people, and that the size of your piece does not affect the size of mine.  I learned that beauty does not diminish beauty; it only increases it.    

I learned that your worth can never be taken from you.  It is embedded in your soul; it is eternal.  I learned that everyone has infinite potential.

And this weekend these things brought peace.  Because there are times when I feel like I'm running a race I can't win.  There are times when I feel like I'm not good enough, that I should be more like someone else.  But this weekend taught me otherwise.  And it helped.  

What helps you?

farewell to hatch.

Today was my last day of work at the local car dealership and it reminded me of my last day of high school. Yesterday I was thrilled to have finally reached the end, to be so close to being done, and today I choked up as the salesmen told me they would miss me over the intercom.

It's funny how our hearts catch us off guard like that.

that best academy, a mother's knee.

I talked to my mom today.  I told her about my life and she told me about her's.  I told her about moving preparations and small victories, and she told me about recent happenings and new friends.

She told me about a dinner she went to with a few other couples.  She said that she was the only there who no longer had children at home.  At one point during the meal, the other woman asked my mother what advice she would give on raising a family.

This is what she told them.

Always compliment people above the level they are currently at.  It will motivate them to reach their potential.  


That was her secret, she told me; that's what she has always tried to do.

And looking back, I can remember the times she did that for me; the times she lifted me to a higher plane with a simple sentence.  She did it while I was growing up, and she still does it now that I'm married.

She did it today.

acceptance is not submission.

And it is not giving up.  Acceptance is ennobling and empowering.  Acceptance is not weakness; it is strength.

Acceptance is not to be confused with tolerance.  Accepting circumstances is not the same as liking them. Acceptance is not agreement.

Acceptance is the simple act of acknowledging truth.  When you accept, you begin to understand.  And when you understand, you can begin to alter.  Acceptance is an essential ingredient of change.

It brings light and hope.  It negates fear, anger, impatience, and resentment.  When you accept a circumstance, you cease to fight truth and begin to embrace it.  When you accept, you free yourself of innumerable burdens; you regain control.

Acceptance brings focus and inspiration.  It helps you to create and act on dreams.

By accepting, you get a leg up on the rest of the world.

hand-me-downs

I got my great grandmother's fingernails.  Her name was Dorthy and she loved to listen to 40's swing music; I got that from her, too.

She shared my passion for writing.  A few months ago, I read a piece she wrote when she was in college.  She talked about World War II and what it was like being married to a man in the service.  She talked about things that made me laugh, things that helped me grow closer to her.

My grandparents on my father's side came to America from Italy.  Like many Italians, my Grandma Angela was very animated in her speech.  When she talked, her hands were as important as her mouth.  That's the one thing she and I have in common; I wish I could have known her.

My nose came from my father's mother, Vi Jean, and I hope one day to inherit her strength.  I would enjoy a bit of her tenacity, as well.

My mom's mother has a list of heirlooms that she plans to pass on to me, including some old pictures and a nativity.  The nativity will come out every Christmas and the pictures will hang above my desk in frames.  But the gifts I will hold most dear will be the traits I have had since birth, the daily reminders of my ancestry.

regaining my muchness

There are certain things that expand my perception of beauty.  Be it a movie, book, commercial, or photograph, I come away with an altered view of the world; I come away with a little more belief.

Such was the case with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.  The film taught me lessons that I may have already known...

There are times when only the illogical makes sense; logic doesn't do the heart justice.

That inside part of us knows what we truly want; we simply have to conjure up the strength needed to hold on.

The things we fear often times become our greatest allies.

All the best people are bonkers; you must be to turn impossible thoughts into possibilities.

Stories like this one fill me with wonderment.  They bring back that child-like part of me that I so often misplace. They remind me that it's fine to act like an adult, just as long as I don't become a grown-up.