I am Grateful for Photographs

We are so fortunate that we can capture our memories in snapshots that persist even after the moments have passed. From everyday occurrences to life-changing experiences, we take pictures.  I love to look at pictures.  My screensaver on my laptop and on my work computer is a slideshow of pictures of myself, family and friends. When I see those pictures, I am transported back in time to where those memories were made.  And it makes me so happy.  I am so glad that I live in a time where such a thing is possible.

I am Grateful for my Education

The other day I read some statistics.  I'm not entirely sure how accurate they were, but it made me stop and think.  I thought I would share...

Reading that made me think about all that I have.  I truly am blessed.

Yesterday was the last day I had classes this semester. A week from now I will be done with finals. A semester from now I will be done with my undergraduate education.

I'm so grateful for the opportunities that I've had over the past three and a half years.  I lived with the most amazing girls my freshman year.  They became my best friends, and we stuck together for our sophomore year as well.  Last year I lived in London, my favorite city in the world, for four entire months.  Now I live with my sister, something we talked about from the time we were little.  It's been an amazing adventure.

But probably most important of all, I've gained so much education.  I've learned about muscles and how they contract and relax.  I've learned about bones and how they grown and harden.  I've learned about kidneys, lungs and eyes.  I've studied the inner ear and the endocrine system.  I've studied embryos and how we develop from one cell into trillions.  I have come to know and love the miracle of life--the miracle of my own body.

I've learned about geniuses like Shakespeare, Leonardo, Dante, Michaelangelo and Bernini.  I've seen great architecture and marveled at the hands that built it.  I've learned of relativity, plate tectonics and stars.  I've studied international politics and my own religious heritage.

I have gained an incredible and diverse education from a wonderful university.  For this opportunity, I will always be grateful.

And in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson,

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."

I am Grateful for French Fries

Tonight I was really, really, REALLY stressed out about the deadlines that I'm facing.  I think the end of the semester tends to have that effect on people.

I'm not always a very nice person when I'm stressed. (Sorry, roommates...)

But then a friend shared some french fries.  They were hot.  And they were salty.  And they really did help.

So tonight I am grateful for french fries.

But I am most especially grateful for good friends.

I am Grateful for my Dad

Some of my earliest memories are of being rocked to sleep every night to the sound of my dad singing primary songs. He would count my piggies and sing until I fell asleep.

I remember when I was ten and I fell off the monkey bars at school and broke my collar bone. My dad came to take me to the doctor. He still tells people that I was too tough to cry.

I love that my dad can’t wait to give presents. I love that my dad can be counted on to pull my toes or count my ribs at least once every time I’m home. I love that my dad tells the wide-mouth frog joke in Spanish. And I love that I’ve never had to wonder if my dad felt that his family was important.

So, to the dad who taught me how to throw a ball harder than the boys, change the oil, wire an outlet, rotate the tires, and run the air compressor…

To the dad who tells me I’m beautiful, who understands the importance of pretty dresses, and who sings to me even now that I’m grown up…

To the dad that is both my biggest hero and my biggest fan…

Thank you for always taking such good care of me. 
 I love you.

I am Grateful for my Mom

Today was the deadline for the large research paper in my capstone class.  As is my usual, I was writing it right down to the wire.  In my time of great stress and anxiety, I called  my mom.  I always call my mom.  At least two or three times a day.  Some days five or six or eight times.  Moms were the best idea.  And my mom is the best mom.

Today I baked a batch of fortune cookies.  Yesterday I baked gingerbread cookies.  Tomorrow I need to bake bread.  I love to bake, and I know how to bake because of my mom.

When I was baking today and yesterday, I was wearing the apron I sewed over Thanksgiving break.  It's really cute, and I know how to sew because of my mom.

The list of things my mom has done for me is endless.  From shoe tying and reading to clothes matching and mascara applying, she has taught me so much.  I will never be able to repay her.

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."  --Abraham Lincoln