thanksgiving 2010-the company

I love my family. This year was different in its lack of Charlottes, however. Without sister Charlotte or Grandma, the kitchen was a little more empty than usual, but wonderful cousin Claire, Mom, Sarah, and I did our best without them. Claire and Sarah make for excellent Kitchen Dancing partners, though Charlotte's presence was greatly missed, especially whenever N'Sync Christmas came up on the playlist.

Whenever I'm home on vacation (i.e. not employed) I take on the role of Mom's shadow/personal assistant. I tag along everywhere, and we both love it. I love taking mental notes as I watch her fill the roles of mother, Relief Society President, loving daughter, and friend. Her capacity to love and serve is amazing to me. The more I watch her, the more I see how completely her days are driven by service. I feel so grateful to be able to be motivated by her energy and talents.

Though Dad was working during the week, I got to spend time with him and have some good conversations. I love hearing his advice. It's always good. Like him.


Being home also reaffirmed my love and admiration for my younger siblings. John is toughing out the challenges of high school right now. As I watch him dedicate himself to seminary, church, and the Priesthood amidst so many adverse influences, I am so proud of him. He's wonderful. He's also a great musician. I love being home where I can hear his guitar and piano practicing on a regular basis. (Though I do not enjoy his absent-minded strummings while we're watching a movie or tv show.)

Sarah freaks me out when I go home now. Aside from being almost as tall as I am, she starting to wear makeup and put serious thought into her style choices. I also love seeing her embrace the youth program at church and start to grow into herself. I love that our friendship is developing.

I also love the reactions she gives to my not infrequent puns and stupid faces. Apparently even 6th-graders are too cool for me. She'll learn.

I don't even remember what I said/did to warrant the reaction documented below:


On Thanksgiving, we had friends the Trumans and the Jibsons over for dinner. Linda Jibson is a beautiful woman and a wonderful friend to Mom, me, and our whole family. She is another woman who has dedicated her life to service. We have been the beneficiaries of her love for a while now, and I feel so blessed to be her friend. Mom and Linda's friendship is so selfless and loving. They see each others needs and fill them; it's a good thing to be around.

My family is full of superheroes to me. My friends are amazing. I love being home.

thanksgiving 2010-the commute

It's very late (or very early, depending on how you look at it) but if I don't post now, I'm afraid my Sunday and inevitably December will fly by without documentation of my wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. For your sake, I will break my trip down into smaller, more reader friendly posts.

:: The commute
I stayed in Provo later than I usually do leading up to Thanksgiving due to academic commitments, and originally purchased a ticket for late Tuesday afternoon. By Monday, I was completely burned out and paid the fee to change my ticket to the 7:30 a.m. flight instead. That would get me home by 10:00, thus affording another full day with the family.

The downside to switching my flight was that the shuttle picked me up from my apartment at 3:45 a.m. Knowing that the risk of my oversleeping was very high, I slept on the couch by the door Monday night (for a full 2.5 hours) with hair and makeup done. All I had to do when the shuttle driver knocked on my door (yes, I did sleep through my 3:20 alarm and woke up instead to the knock from the driver. I kept my shuttle waiting for a heart-pounding 5 minutes while I frantically changed my clothes, put in contacts, zipped up my suitcases, and scrambled to the shuttle, praying that in my haste I did not leave anything crucial behind.) I tipped my driver extra for his patience. [Sidenote: Will I ever figure out how to consistently get up on time? Days like Tuesday make me wonder.]

The upside to really early shuttle pickups is that I was through security by 5:00, drank a peppermint hot cocoa while reading the Conference Ensign, and got to my gate in time to hop onto the 6:15 flight, getting me to Denver by 7:30. Bless the heavens, I was back in Denver before my 8:00 a.m. accounting class had even started.

Praises can also be shouted on behalf of Southwest's baggage policy. Two 50 lb bags fly free. I may or may not have flown home 40+ pounds of dirty laundry. What can I say? My Mom's washing machine doesn't require quarters, and she has four different kinds of detergent. Heaven.

quick thought

I read this today from a talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles today, and it gives me a lot to think about.

"When we receive an impression in our heart, we can use our mind either to rationalize it away or to accomplish it. Be careful what you do with an impression from the Lord."

This stresses to me the importance of opening our hearts to good ideas. It is easy to push a thought out of mind, but the consequences of not following an impression can hurt ourselves and perhaps the people who we are called upon to serve.

I had an experience this week of disregarding an impression and finding out later that I had let someone down who I could have helped at a very specific moment. My heart broke when I realized that someone I loved was let down by my own foolishness. I really regret that.

We miss so many opportunities when we choose our way over the Lord's. I'm going to try to respond more actively to impressions I receive in the hopes that I will not leave someone without what the Lord depended on me to provide.

mishap

Lesson learned: check recently purchased bags of sugar for large tears before putting them into the car.
Second lesson learned: some situations call for creative cleaning solutions. Good thing I have so much experience under my belt.

grateful

Here are a few things I'm grateful for:
:: Home
:: Southwest's generous baggage policy
:: Cardigans
:: Outlet sales
:: Hand-me-downs
:: Vintage skirts
:: A friendship with one of my Grandmothers
:: The knowledge that I will see my Grandmas again
:: Remarkable men and women in my family
:: Brownies
:: Brownie fudge ice cream
:: TV shows
:: Netflix
:: Sneakers
:: The color charcoal
:: Ribbons
:: Bows
:: Watches
:: Skinny jeans
:: Swedish fish
:: Diet cola
:: Gas station fountain drinks
:: Music
:: Dexterity
:: Burritos
:: Refried beans
:: Halloween socks
:: Mascara
:: Kristin Wiig
:: My Number One
:: Half-Price Refill Wednesdays
:: Accounting
:: Free hoodies
:: Stretchy pants
:: Clinique Happy
:: Paul Mitchell hair straighteners
:: Employment
:: Mom's nice iron
:: Spray starch
:: Bangs
:: Homemade clothes
:: Yarn
:: Wonderful roommates
:: My MacBook
:: Christmas trees
:: Tortillas
:: Family recipes
:: A pie crust tutorial from Grandma a few years ago
:: Fall leaves
:: High heels
:: Pencil skirts
:: Ruffles
:: Alliterations
:: Puns and stupid jokes
:: Contact lenses
:: Fire places
:: Mountains
:: Generosity of others
:: Burt's Bees
:: Honeycrisp apples
:: So many amazing friends
:: Knowledge
:: Learning
:: Scriptures
:: Prayer