Thursday, January 31, 2008
30 Things I Love about My Life
I love my life because
1. I am the daughter of two fantastic parents, who have shown their love for me in countless way over the last 30 years. They are kind and generous and fun to be with. They are not only my parents but my dearest friends.
2. I am married to the most gentle and loving man I have ever known. He is patient and kind and good. He is my rock, my friend, my confidant, my example, my everything!
3. The Lord has blessed me to be the mother of two wonderful boys. Motherhood is a cherished blessing to me. It is without question the hardest, most humbling thing I have even done but it is also the source of my greatest fulfillment and joy. My constant prayer is that I will be equal to the task I have been given to raise my boys in love and light.
4. Spencer is my son- he is such a snuggly, loving child. He is thoughtful and sensitive and full of imagination and life. I love that I have spent the last 8 years watching him grow and look forward to seeing the man he will become.
5. Ross is my son- he is the spice of my life. He is honest (in every way) and terribly funny. He "gets" people and truly loves others. He is selfless and kind. I love all of the energy he adds to our lives. I look forward to watching Ross grow into manhood as well, though I must admit just thinking about the teenage years with him have already got me a bit frightened.
6. I have had the opportunity to live in and learn to love 8 different cities in my adult life. I have met the dearest people and made the greatest memories. Each new place has represented a new beginning for me. An opportunity to take the best of what I have learned and who I have become and share it with others.
7. I have been blessed with the eyes to see how my greatest struggles have also been the source of some of my greatest blessings.
8. Unlike so many people these days, I grew up in a home without television and it has truly shaped my life. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate TV but I love that my life does not revolve around it.
9. I have always lived in a comfortable, clean, beautiful home. I grew up in a wonderful home decorated and well managed by my mom. And though I have moved many times since leaving home at 18 I have always, ALWAYS had a great house to call my home.
10. I have the most generous, thoughtful sister alive! She sees the best in others and is always giving what she can to lighten the load they carry. She is fun and funny and talented in endless ways. She is an extraordinary mom! She is my greatest example and friend.
11. I have an incredible Brother whom I respect and love very much. He is smart and talented and driven to follow his dreams. I remember he once told me, "Laura, don't wait for life to happen to you, go out and make life what you want it to be!" I was young and impressionable then and I really appreciated his words. But the example he has set for me over the years as he has gone out and made his dreams his reality, is priceless.
12. I have an amazing body. I have spent the better part of the last 30 years thinking otherwise but I have finally come to terms with the fact that this body is mine, it is the only one I've got, and I better make the best of it. In doing so I have come appreciate all of the wonderful things my body can do; it can hear and enjoy good music, it can see the brilliant colors of a sunset sky, it can feel and think and cry. It can run and skip and jump and swim and rest and work and create. It gets me where I'm going in good comfort and in relatively good healthy. In short, I love my life because I have an amazing body.
13. I have visited 35 out of the 50 States in the USA and have loved them all for different reasons.
14. I can express my love and testimony through music. I am not very talented musically but I feel so blessed to be able to share the gift of music I have been given with others. My hope is that through my music others lives will be touched and changed as much as my life has been.
15. I have been blessed with a knowledge and testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
16. I have made sacred covenants that enable me to be united with my family eternally.
17. I know that the Priesthood of God has been restored to the earth and I know I have been blessed by it many times. I have always lived in a home where the power of the priesthood was present and available to me- that is a rare and wonderful thing.
18. I have never been without food, water, clothing, or shelter.
19. I grew up in the same town as my great-grand parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I had an amazing childhood surrounded by my loving, supportive family. I have not always appreciated my proximity to family but I am so grateful for it now. It is what I ultimately want for my children.
20. I know how to and sincerely enjoy hard work. Who would have ever thought that knowing how to work would be one of the things that I love about my life... but it is! The longer I live the more I realize how much of life is work in one way or another. Relationships are work, prayer is work, money management is work, parenting is work, personal health and fitness are work. I am so lucky to have been raise by parents who taught me how to love work in all its varieties.
21. I know that I can do hard things, like being a supportive military wife, surviving a devastating natural disaster, caring for a child with special needs, relocating my family every few years without complaining, managing my health, traveling alone, overcoming personal weakness, losing a loved one, repenting of sin, serving others when I have unmet needs, etc.
22. I have learned to love the out doors in all its grandeur. I love the mountains and the sea- I even love the dessert. I love plants and animals and the feel of fresh clean air.
23. I live in and love living it Italy.
24. I am an American! I never knew how much my nationality meant to me until Robert joined the Navy 10 years ago. Since that time I have sacrificed personally for the freedoms America offers her people and the world. My love for our country has only grown since living aboard. Anyone, who is feeling "down" on America needs to spend a little time on foreign soil to be reminded of the beauty, plenty and opportunity our freedom brings.
25. My heart is filled with wonderful warm memories. It was once said that "Memories are the June roses in the December's of our lives." I love this thoughts and think that I have experienced it many times. Not only have my memories seen me through tough times but they have made good times, better.
26. I know there is still hope for me. Hope that I will someday become who I want to be and do what I came to earth to do. I know it is never to late to begin again, to learn something new, to make someone else smile, to right a wrong, to dream a dream.
27. When the going gets tough... Robert lets me take a nap!
28. I live on earth right now and can be an instrument in preparing the world and its people for the Second Coming of my Savior, Jesus Christ.
29. I have everything I could ever need and almost everything I have ever really wanted.
30. Someday when I am old and tired and lonely and sad, I can look back on this list and be reminded that I am so blessed- that I truly do have a beautiful life!
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