Countdown to Thanksgiving -- 10 Things I'm Thankful For

Today I am Thankful For...


1. My wonderful primary children & the opportunity that I've had to serve them for the past 4 1/2 years. What a wonderful 4 1/2 years it has been! When I run into them at the grocery store or the elementary schools or the soccer fields, they are excited to see me and sometimes I even manage to get a hug from them too! There is no place on earth like primary and I'm really going to miss it!

2. My pantry that James built me out of thin air!

3. our popcorn popper -- this is the best kind of popcorn popper ever invented. I think this is our 4th one during our nearly 14 years of marriage. We received one as a wedding gift and in our very first apartment there were ants in the cupboards and one night I pulled the popcorn popper out to make popcorn and it was totally caked in ants -- GROSS! I threw it outside and it broke (like I would have ever used it again anyway!) and soon thereafter we bought a new one. We had it for many years and then somehow it either got cracked or quit working (we tend to use appliances more than I think they were meant to be used, and this has been no exception...) and same thing with our 3rd one and now we're on #4. So far so good... No ants, no cracks...

4. My crock pot. How would I cook Sunday dinner without this? Actually, I use it quite often during the week also.

5. My rice cooker. Have you noticed I'm on an appliance kick today? My rice cooker is my very favorite appliance. We eat a lot of rice at our house. This isn't as big as the rice cooker that we bought when we lived in Provo -- it could hold twice as much rice, but when that rice cooker kicked the bucket (after several times of having company over and opening the rice cooker to find raw rice mixed with water, we finally threw it away) we looked for a new rice cooker and the big ones are outrageously expensive so we have a little one. The only down-side to the rice cooker is that you're not supposed to put the bowl in the dishwasher but guess what... I put EVERYTHING in the dishwasher, including the rice cooker bowl.

6. my computer. I could seriously NOT LIVE without my computer. I use it for literally EVERYTHING. And this weekend while James, Cameron, and Micah were on their scout campout, I was working on a movie to give the primary children as a farewell gift and I used James' laptop to burn the copies of the movie so I could use my computer for other things (my computer moves at a snail's pace while I'm burning movies on it) and that was SO NICE to have 2 computers that were only for ME to use -- so guess what is on my wish list now...

7. my prescription sunglasses. I got these sunglasses a few years ago and they cost over $200 (I can't remember how much the insurance covered). I have lost them several times and miraculously have found them. Just this week I left them at the swimming pool and when I realized it, I prayed the whole way there that they would still be there and I could find them, and sure enough, there they were on the bench in the dressing room. I can't see to drive without them so they are definitely a necessity and I love them! I run in them too because my eyes are sensitive to sunlight, so you could say I'm very dependent on them.

8. My two washers! Yea! I love having two washers and now I can't imagine how I would get through laundry without being able to do 2 batches at once. I do at least 2 loads of laundry every day, and quite often 4 or 5 loads a day. One of my washers is a super-capacity one (that James' dad found at the same place he found our Mazda. They are hurricane survivors -- our hurricane washer and hurricane mazda) and I fill it completely full. Our other washer belonged to James' mom and it doesn't hold as much, but it still works great. We also have a 3rd washer out in the shed that Chad & Chalice gave us and is on hold for when one of these breaks down.

9. My 2 dryers! How would I make it without also having 2 dryers? Aren't you glad that my husband is so smart that he figured out how to wire & install 2 sets of washers and dryers? And aren't you glad that my laundry room used to be a kitchen (the lady who owned the house before us rented out her basement) so that there was room to take out some cupboards and fit 2 sets of washers and dryers? One of my dryers has been through some interesting fixes (all 3 of the arms have fallen off, and now the start button doesn't work so it's just always on unless I turn it to "off"). But it dries clothes great!

10. The Olive Garden. Can you believe I waited 4 whole days to list the Olive Garden, a.k.a. Heaven on Earth? Olive Garden salad is my very favorite food ever created. I would seriously eat it every day if I could. I will always remember the Christmas that James gave me 6 little index cards that said "Good for one trip to the Olive Garden" on them. (hint, hint, James) We were part of a panel at an Enrichment Night in Laramie and one of the questions they asked James was, "if your wife could go anywhere on Earth, where would she go?" He said "Switzerland" because he knows that I've always wanted to go there, which I do. But when they asked me where I would go, I said, "the Olive Garden." :) We didn't win that game. But when Teancum was born, 2 of the ladies who had been at that Enrichment brought me an Olive Garden gift card as a gift, instead of baby clothes or diapers, because they figured I ought to go to my very favorite place on earth. Why isn't there an Olive Garden in Lander? If only...