Grateful

Today I was thinking about all the things I am grateful for, and it just so happens, my list of blessings is never ending.

I think what I am most grateful for is the abundance of love I recieve every day.

I went for a walk around the mall today. Jo and I had an hour in between the time we went to get flu shots and when we had to pick Jordan up from work. The mall is just across the street and I thought it would be fun to snoop around. (P.S. - the mall is not a good place to bargain shop.) The first thing I realized while there was that I am very unfashionable. But it doesn't matter much since Jordan doesn't care about that, and neither do I. I didn't even realize that until today, when I looked at the manicans and thought, "What are they wearing?" Then I turned around and realized everyone else in the mall was wearing the same thing. I actually busted up laughing. Everyone looked so ridiculous, and then I thought, "They all probably think I look ridiculous." So I guess society and I have a mutual understanding - we both look ridiculous to each other, and to be honest, that is quite alright with me. Don't misunderstand, I am no hard-core anti-society advocate. I like to look nice, I want people to think I look nice, but I prefer the simple and sophisticated wardrobe. So much easier that way.

I did find something that caught my eye, though. A ginormous, glorious, softly lit, white-frosted Christmas tree with pinecones tucked into the branches. This was pure holiday beauty, my friends. I thought about our small, somewhat beat-up Christmas tree we use every year. And I checked the price tag. Well, obviously it was too expensive for us. So I let out a little sigh and thought, "someday."

Then I felt incredibly ridiculous. My best Christmases have been under that hand-me-down tree. The first year we had it, we didn't have any ornaments to hang on it. So I just hung up some decorated gingerbread cookies instead. They were very cute, but I had a hard time resisting. Every time I walked by I would have to take a bite out of one. Jordan would just come home, look at the tree, roll his eyes and say something like "Kayleen, stop eating the Christmas tree."

To use a favorite aphorism, "If you can buy it, it can't make you happy." It would be nice to have such a beautiful tree, but what really makes me happy at Christmas time is having someone to help me decorate the tree. And I have a wonderful husband to fuss over the lights and bake cookies with me. Even better, this year we have a wonderful Josephine to dress up in red hats and white stockings and take to see Santa. That is what I am looking forward to most this year - a Christmas with people I love.

And that is what I am grateful for every day. Being surrounded by people I love, and who love me back. Jordan is the husband of my dreams, and Jo is the daughter I could have never even anticipated. She is quite a collection of miracles. I am so blessed to have this incredbile blessing in my life. It does get hard to be away from my parents, sisters, and brother all the time. But it makes me all the more grateful for the times I do have with them, and I have just come to be grateful for cell phones.

In the end, it is love that makes me happy each day. Love from and for my little family is the foundation of my life, it is why I wake up every morning, and why I go to bed every night saying "Thank you Heavenly Father, for such a wonderful life."

Another favorite aphorism - "Without love we are like birds with broken wings." Well, I can most gratefully say my wings are fully intact, and I have a wingspan that could take me to the moon and back. Thanks to the love from my husband, my mom, my dad, my sisters, my brother, my grandma, my in-laws, and my friends.

I am grateful for love. What else could there be if this wasn't our foundation?
Well, thankfully, I have never had the opportunity to find out.

P.S. Jordan is playing the piano while I write this - ah, what satisfaction to my soul.