On Some Things I'm Really Grateful For

I know, I know. I'm an entire week late.

But still. Gratitude is something we should have all of the time anyway and not just one day a year right?

Let me just tell you, I had some grand plans for November. I was going to keep a journal and write about the things I was grateful for every day. And I was going to do a post a week about adoption because it's adoption awareness month. And I was going to get so many things I've been putting on the back burner done because November is one of the slower months, right? But somehow it ended up not being slow and at all and none of those things got done. I haven't even folded my laundry for like three weeks. Seriously. It's all sitting in our extra bedroom in a big heaping pile.

So, what has been keeping me so busy, you ask? That's the funny thing. I don't even know.

Anyway, back to the point of this post.

On Thanksgiving my mother in law had everyone write things they were grateful for on this gigantic paper and then we're going to take it out in two years when it's the year for the all of the Kim side to eat together again and see how things have changed and progressed and such. I thought it was a brilliant idea! After that I wanted to write a post about each thing I wrote on there, but now it's been a week and I can't remember all of them, but I'll do my best.

• I'm grateful for Jayson. I'm so grateful to have a husband that supports me in everything I do. I'm grateful that he's stuck with me even though sometimes I'm a crazy person. I'm grateful he helps me with chores, that we have a relationship full of trust, and that we can always depend on one another. He is always there to hold/pick me up when I'm down. I'm so grateful that we love to spend time with each other, that we laugh together, and that we enjoy the simple little moments like a big home made breakfast on a lazy Saturday morning. And he let me get a dog. What a wonderful guy!
• I'm grateful for Ruby. You guys she really is the best dog! She doesn't destroy thing, she's a sweetheart, she minds really well, she's fun, she's friendly...I could go on. I just love her. She makes my heart so happy. There are very VERY few things better than an excited dog greeting you at the door when you come home from work. And when she wags her tail her whole bum moves! It's the cutest thing ever. Did I mention she's super adorable? 

 She LOVES to be outside and run. It was so fun to see how excited she got over the snow! 

Here she's waiting for Jayson to come back inside from the garage. Adorable!

• My family. I honestly have the best family you could ever ask for, in-laws and all! Everyone is always loving and supportive of one another. For the most part everyone gets along, there's not constant drama, and we love to spend time together. I feel so blessed to know that there are so many people that are there to love and support me when I really need it. I'm grateful to know that I have people I can call to come over and help me fix a section of my fence that fell over when Jayson had to work super late (thanks Dad!). That's love. 
• My friends. I truly feel like I have the best people around me in the whole world. My friends are wonderful. All of them. My best friends, my friends I met in school, my ward friends, my friends from when I was little, new friends, friends of the family...you get the picture. I love every single one of them and it means to much to me to get to have them in my life. 
• Support. This kind of goes along with being thankful for my friends and family. Adoption has given me the opportunity to see how many people support and love us and I'm truly overwhelmed with gratitude  for the love and support that we have. You're all so wonderful. 
• Adoption. I am so grateful for the miracle of adoption. I'm grateful beyond words at the opportunity that it gives so many to be parents when they otherwise wouldn't be able to. I'm grateful that it's going to give us that opportunity. I'm grateful that we're able to be a part of it. I'm grateful for the birth mothers out there who make such an incredibly hard, courageous, and loving choice. You guys should really watch some of the videos found here. They're all stories from the birth mother's perspective. They're wonderful. Also, this article is really great. It gives a lot of perspectives on adoption that you don't normally get to hear, like the adoptee, the birth father, the birth grandparent, etc. I highly recommend it. 
• The temple. My friend from my ward recently went to the temple for the first time and she invited me to come. It was such a great reminder of the wonderful blessings we receive there. She was so happy that day and I was just giddy with happiness for her. Adoption has also made me even more grateful for the sealing power than I was before. Even though we can't have children our adopted children can still be sealed to us and we can be together forever, just the same as if we had given birth to them. What an amazing blessing!

I could go on and on with this list, but these are the things I've been thinking about the most lately. We truly are so blessed. We have all of the things I've listed, we have the gospel, we have always had enough food to eat and clothes to wear. We have good jobs that support us. We have a roof over our head. And we really love our lives.