365 days of Gratitude: October

October 1-

     Happy first day of October! September really flew by. Today I'm grateful for this time of year. The weather can get rough, but the fall colors are so beautiful! 

October 2-

     Stormy day & dinner with Elders Magana & McKenzie. I made pumpkin soup. (Yummy!) Mer was going to be in the 4th grade musical but due to bad weather it has been postponed. <---That was actually rather convenient. Bummer for Mer but good for us. :) I'm grateful for opportunities to feed the missionaries. 

October 3-

     Late night movie date with Curtis. We saw 'Guardians of the Galaxy'.  <---That was a fun & funny movie! Surprise for Lea & Beverly. Jenny flew home today. To be helpful, I provided a meal for them when Nathan came to get the girls. It's been good having them here. :) 

October 4-

     Sat session of General Conf. 

 It is truly inspired & I'm grateful for it! 

October 5-

     General Conference & a beautiful day. We slept in too long & missed the first hour of conference. (Oops!) However, we did enjoy the parts we did watch & listen to. (Plus Andy Morales baptism)

October 6- 

     Bread making day! We were out of bread! (Crazy) Was going to do it over the weekend but didn't bc of Conf. Today was a pretty good & productive day. (Got some stuff done on the 'to do' list.) Hooray for getting stuff done! (High-five!) 

October 7- 

     Clara went to preschool & was able to have Layla here to play when we got home. I'm grateful Clara & Layla play so well together. They are cute friends. 

October 8-

     Mer had an OT eval in the afternoon. I took littles with me. Mer thought the evaluation was play time. She'll start OT (maybe) once we get results from the eval. While we were there,(@ the Children's Therapy place)   I had the chance to see different kids coming & going there. It made me even more grateful that we have relatively healthy children. None of our girls really suffer from any major illnesses/syndromes or any other handicaps. On the other hand, bless the moms who do have children with special needs. They are special moms for sure! :) 

October 9-

     Clara went to preschool today. This afternoon became rather busy. I got Clara from preschool & we went and visited with Courtney Gorden. (She's on my new VT route.) Then I had to rush to get Mer from school bc she had a 3:15 appt with Dr. Cadle. (Re: ADHD med) It was busy but I'm grateful in general that all went well. 

October 10-

     Mer FINALLY got to go to the fall carnival at RE Baker. She dressed up as Hermione Granger. Fortunately, she was able to go to the carnival with her friend Hannah. Today was not too busy of a day. And that's ok. Around 9, we went to Braums bc the Dragovich's were in town. It was good to go out & be with friends. It was good to see them as well. 

October 11-

     What a busy but good day! There was a stake music meeting that I thought about not attending, but am very grateful I went after all. It was enlightening & uplifting. Afterwards I was able to have my hair colored again! Fun colors! (See pictures) After that, Jami Bernards invited me to Kikiberry for VT. Froyo was her treat. Yummy! She's a neat lady. Fast forward to after the girls are in bed, Curtis & I went to see 'Meet the Mormons'. It was an excellent movie! There was plenty to be grateful for today. 

October 12-

     Today I'm thankful for the help Sis. Clark gave me during singing time in Primary today. It is so great to work with such great sisters. I'm also thankful for my wonderful husband & all that he does to help me be happy. I'm forever in love with that guy! 

October 13-

     Grocery shopping, dinner for the missionaries, and Elizabeth's first choir concert. Busy but good day. I picked up Papa Murphy's pizza for Elders Magana and McKenzie, b/c I was going to be with E at her first choir concert. It was a large crowd and a rainy night. Overall, I was happy to be there with her. :)

October 14-

     Clara went to preschool and I took N with me to Zumba. Hillary Sperry teaches a zumba class on Tuesdays at church. It was fun! Of course later, muscles I forgot existed were hurting, but that's a good thing right? E and M went to activity days with Rogers 2nd in the evening. Curtis took them. I'm glad they enjoy going to those activities.

October 15-

     Hooray for clean carpets! Nick Petersen came over and cleaned our carpets. Curtis and I moved furniture the night before so the living room could be really clean. Curtis is doing what he can to have our house ready to sell. We still don't have a date, but that's ok. We have other things to focus on in the meanwhile. (Ex: callings, kids, etc)

     FYI: Earlier this month, Curtis got 2 job offers. One in Chicago and one in Cinci. He really likes the job in Chicago and after some prayer and pondering, I told him I'll support him no matter what. So, we are currently waiting for more details about a job there. For me, it's mostly wating for a date. When will we move? This may have been mentioned elsewhere, but in order for other comments to be understood, it seemed important to mention here. Now we return to the gratitude portion of this journal/blog.

October 16-

    Clara went to preschool. Carly Pendleton was so kind as to keep N for me so I could go to a dental appt while Clara was at preschool. I'm grateful for friends who are willing to help and serve!  Bookgroup was at Jill's. It was a nice night, so I walked to her house. We talked about "The Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis. I read it years ago, but it was good to hear the discussion about it. I'm thankful for bookgroup!

October 17-

     E and M are out of school today. That means I get to go to yoga! I'd missed some yoga this month and so going today felt like it had been a long time! Clara had a Dr appt in the afternoon. Cynthia invited me to a moms night out with her MOPS group. (MOPS = Mothers of Preschoolers) We painted pottery/ceramics at Imagine Studios. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. :) We all went to Kikiberry afterwards. yummy! Cynthia is a good friend. She's so smart, fun and talented. She has many admirable qualities.

October 18-

     This morning I took E to her art lessons. I stayed in the car and finished listening to, "Northanger Abby" by Jane Austen. It was a good story. It made me want to watch "Pride and Prejudice" but I couldn't find it. So I watched, "Princess Bride" instead. That movie is so great! E watched it with me. I think she liked it. Curtis was busy painting today. He painted the clubhouse and the posts on the back porch. Curtis and I went out for a late date after the girls were in bed. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel and then hung out for a bit at the Buckey ball outside Crystal Bridges. It was a chilly night for a motorcycle ride, but fun!

October 19-

     Today at church, it was my turn to play for sacrament meeting. I was so focused on following the beat for the sacrament hymn that I almost played another verse. (after all ready playing 4) oops! I'm VERY grateful for Aly Clark and her daughter Ashley. They have been ultra helpful with visual aids for songs in Primary. What a lifesaver for me! whew! Jenny McBride played piano for us in Primary today. That too was ultra helpful. She is serving in the Stake Primary as Primary music director. We've been able to chat some and she has been helpful to me in this calling. Jenny is not only fulfilling this calling, but she is magnifying it as well. She's doing a superb job. I feel the standard for my calling is set high. That's not a bad thing. It makes it hard, but still doable. Focusing on the Primary program will help some in taking my mind off waiting to know more news about Curtis' job offer. (ps, I had a good chat on the phone with my parents)

October 20-

     Clara came down with a fever yesterday after church. She didn't sleep well last night and so we didn't sleep well either. Poor girl! However, bc M is out for the next 2 weeks, only E and C will go to school. (each to their own schedule) This morning, around 10 am, I made 2 batches of stove-top cookies. I put them on plates and we will go 'boo' some families. That will be FHE. Since Clara hasn't been feeling well, this causes me to take time to be grateful for modern medicine.

October 21-

     Pretty sure I didn't take C to preschool bc she still wasn't feeling very well. I am grateful for the time I have to be home with my children. Being a mom/parent is hard. Anyone who says otherwise is mistaken. But, I do love my family & am grateful for them. <3

October 22-

     Confession: I don't keep track of events very well, like I used to do. According to my calendar, nothing happened on Wed. But something must've happened, I just don't remember what. Hmmm. Instead of being grateful for what happened this day, I'll choose to be grateful for something that I, of course, am grateful for, but may not always take the time to recognize. Elizabeth is really turning into a rather decent human being. :) She is & can be, quite helpful. She causes me much less stress than she used to. (Sadly it seems M is carrying the 'stress' torch these days.) E can be quite pleasant at times. It's fun that she gets my sense of humor. 

October 23-

     Clara felt better today, so I took her to preschool. Her class was supposed to make a little trek to the pumpkin patch next door, but it was rainy & too wet. So a lady from the pumpkin patch brought pumpkins to them. It was really cute. Clara had a good time decorating her pumpkin. I'm grateful M can be helpful with her little sisters while she's on break from school. 

October 24-

     Curtis came home from work early bc he came down with strep throat. :( However, I am grateful he decided on his own to go to the Dr. Earlier in the AM, I did get to go to yoga! My body was telling on me for not going more. As a favor to Jen Harrington, we'll have her girls at our house during the day, while Nathan is at work. (Bev & Lea were at our house early this AM.) After yoga, I took the girls to playgroup. It was a good day for it.  Jen went to NY again bc her mother will pass away soon. :( While its a sad occasion for her, I am grateful we can be helpful to them in this time of need.     Beth came to our house around 6. She wanted help making her Halloween costume. Jill Smallwood let me borrow her sewing machine. Beth is going to be the Gatekeeper, from Ghostbusters. She'll be with Adam & Michele & that's the theme they are doing. We had a good time together. It was good to see her. 

October 25-

     Today was a beautiful day! The weather was perfect, especially perfect for a motorcycle ride! :) After I was packed & ready to go for my trip, I took Jackie for a quick ride around town. The trees are beautiful too! The fall colors in NWA are just so lovely. I'm grateful for the chance to go for a bike ride & to come to UT to see Julia B. & Loren & Michelle. Hooray for little vacations! 

     It seemed like a rather long flight from ATL to SLC, but well worth it by the time I got there. I LOVE JULIA! It was SO superb to see her. She was pleasantly surprised to see me at the airport. :) Hooray for surprises! 

October 26-

     Attending church with the Bernards family in UT was splendid. Their ward put on their Primary Program. It was spectacular. They did more songs than were in the actual program AND the pianist was wonderful. I've never seen such a program. Perhaps in UT this is normal? It certainly is different from any Primary Program I've ever seen. I really enjoyed it and am grateful to  the chance to see and hear it. The spirit was strong as well. After church, Julia and I took a lovely hike up Rock Canyon. The mountains really are quite beautiful there. I definitely enjoy her company. She is so uplifting. Her friendship is a blessing to me. (ps, see FB posts and pics for details) (PPS Curtis texted the changes in  Stake. There is now a Bentonville Stake, and B'ville 1st and 2nd are in that Stake. Sugar Creek is still in the Rogers Stake. Among other wards. The growth in NWA is amazing!)

October 27-

    Julia was and is an excellent hostess. She allowed me to be a tourist around Provo and BYU campus. Seeing as I've never lived there or attended school there, there are plenty of places people mention and I'm clueless as to what they are referring to. We visited the Museum of Art. That was lovely. We had yummy lunch at Cafe Rio! Tasty! Then it was time to meet Michelle Chandler, my sil. She took me rappelling. That was fun! I'm highly grateful for all that I do during my brief visit to UT. It was really good to see Loren, Michelle, Emily and Ethan. They are good kids. :)

October 28-

    Time to go home. But not without a quick motorcycle ride and a brief visit to Bridal Veil falls. It was kind of Loren to take me for a ride before taking me to the airport. Fortunately, the flights home were decent. There were no troubles. It was nice to be gone and nice to home again. I'm definitely grateful all flights were safe. Curtis took Beth to the airport earlier in the AM and her flights were safe as well. :)

October 29-

     Back to life. Time to go grocery shopping. Mer is still on break from school and so took N grocery shopping with me. C stayed home with M. That was helpful. Jenny Harrington is in NY again. This time for her mother's funeral. Lea and Bev are staying here with us in the day while Nathan goes to work. It really works out bc M and C both have a friend to play with. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be of service to their family in their time of need.

October 30- 

     Clara got to go to preschool. Curtis forgot to take her on Tuesday. oops! Her class had a Halloween party and Clara got wear her Hello Kitty costume. While she was at preschool, I made some granola. (yummy) After getting her from preschool, I made bread. Curtis had some meetings to attend after work. Nathan, Lea and Bev had dinner with us. It was a nice evening.

October 31-

     Happy Halloween!  Yesterday the weather was great! Today is freezing. It's going to be a chilly night to go trick or treating. I'm grateful for all the conveniences of clothes and a home that keeps us comfortable in all kinds of weather. :) This AM I went to yoga. There was some mental debate bc I did want to sleep more. I'm glad yoga won. 

    (Side note: Mom suggested a book called, Clutters Last stand. So far, so good. The urge to purge is strong with me. I just hope to have plenty done before we move. Yes, the possibility of moving is growing.)