Potpourri

Greetings, people of the internet!

[Insert the usual apology for my lengthy blogging absence and typical litany of excuses, followed by a renewed vow to write with more regularity]

Phew. What a busy few weeks it has been. Between preparing to run in a half marathon, organizing the half marathon on base, pondering thanksgiving meal planning so as to optimize the amount of deliciouness I can experience before I have to unbutton my pants, and general care and keeping of house and husbands, I haven't had much room in my noggin for thinking up interesting things to blog about. But, I ran my half marathon (woo! also, hello sports bra chafing.) and for better or worse, have adopted a lackadaisical (10 point word. I didn't even use a thesaurus, so I'm promoting it to a 15 point word) attitude regarding current projects at my place of employment, so let's get this party started.

I have a lot of things I feel like discussing, and they should probably each have their own blog post so as to avoid one overly large and nonsensical post, but I don't feel like it and you're not the boss of my life, so quit yelling at me!
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Hey, so guess what? My sister had a baby yesterday! I can't wait to meet my sweet little niece! I love her already. Look at this precious girl:

Ellie Jane Blake

I can't wait to hold her and snuggle her and kiss those perfectly round baby cheeks! I'm Colorado bound on Friday, and it can't come fast enough. I already feel so connected to that angelic little baby. A little glimpse into heaven.

I sang "Come Thou Fount" yesterday in church. On a normal day, that song gets me all choked up. Combine that with the fact that I had just looked at pictures of my lovely sister holding her tiny miracle, and I was already feeling like the space between here and heaven was very thin. My knees shook through the entire song with the effort of trying not to cry. But I lost the battle at the end of the song and barely squeaked out the last lines. Music has always been my solace, my outlet of emotion, and my connection to the divine. For anyone who is interested, or for those who were there yesterday, but want to know what the song sounds like without ragged breaths and a shaking voice, I thought I'd post the recording I made for my mom when I left home to go to school. And if you think it's totally lame that I'm posting a recording of myself singing, once again, you aren't the boss of my life! (p.s. I couldn't figure out how to add a song, so I threw on a random picture I found on the internets and made it a video. Technology, why are you so hard??)

Thanksgiving is in 4 days. Oh, I can't wait. I love eating. And, I love the grateful attitude that Thanksgiving inspires. I am so undeniably and undeservedly blessed. I recently read a quote, something along the lines of, "What if one day you woke up, and the only things that remained were the things you were grateful for yesterday?" That quote really inspired me to consciously acknowledge all of things I have to be grateful for. Almost every day, I lay (lie? I just did a google search and I still can't figure it out) in bed and feel overwhelmed with gratitude for the life I am blessed with. I have a wonderful husband. He makes me laugh every day, even if I am grumpy and I don't want to laugh. He is so patient with me and my many idiosyncrasies. I have the most incredible family. They are my best friends, and I am constantly in awe that I am related to such amazing people. We have a cozy, comfortable house and a fridge full of food. I have a cute pooch who wags her tail by the door when I come home. We live in a great community and I'm so grateful for the friends we've made here. We are surrounded by such kind, thoughtful, hilarious, welcoming, and inspiring friends. They constantly act as answers to my prayers. I'm grateful for a healthy body. I'm grateful that I have a job. I'm grateful for my husband's job and his pride in serving our country. For my faithful little Honda that keeps running even though I don't take very good care of her. For phones, e-mails, skype, and texts to keep in touch with my friends and family. For Diet Coke (Don't look at me like that). For best friends who don't care if it's been a month or a year; you pick up exactly where you left off. For music. For beautiful things. For chubby baby legs. For the using a towel that's fresh out of the dryer. For holding hands. For books that take me to a whole new world. For little kids who can't quite say their "R's" yet.  For the gospel of Jesus Christ. For a loving Heavenly Father who knows me, and hears my every prayer.

Life is a beautiful thing. And I am so grateful for mine.