I Am Grateful

Welcome to November!

I absolutely love this time of year.  Today is the day that I feel the holiday season officially begins.  Halloween is just like a little teaser.

I have always felt that Thanksgiving and Christmas go together.  Each is a way to celebrate the many things I have to be grateful for and to serve and love and be happy.

I had a great day planned today to kick things off.  Unfortunately, I have instead been in bed for most of the day with a rather nasty little flu.  Dang it.

That's ok, though.  I'll get through it and still enjoy my holidays.

Now, I have a lot planned over the next couple of months: lots of gifts to make, treats to bake, decorations to create.  It's all going to be great fun!  I will share with you what I can, but some of my recipients read this blog faithfully.  Sorry, Family; I won't be posting pictures of your gifts here.  I'll post those in January.

For this month, I would like to take a little step back from some crafting.  I want to take advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday to give some thanks and to share with you a few of the many things I am thankful for.

I'll probably still post a few crafts here and there, though.  I can't really resist, you know.


So, to start things off, I need to express gratitude for something I should have mentioned ages ago.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Mormon.  I don't talk about it very much and I am sorry for that.  I hold my feelings about the church very sacred and I hesitate to talk too much about it on this blog and I will probably continue to do so.  I don't want to seem pushy (if you have questions, though, please feel free to ask me)  But, it should be obvious to all who know me, that my church and my beliefs are very important to me.  I am who I am because of the Church and I am very, very, very happy because of the Gospel.

Recently, I got to go on a trip to the LDS Temple in Washington D.C.  I was so excited to go.  I have never been to Washington D.C. and I haven't been able to go to the temple in about 2 years.  So, everything about this trip was good for me.

The temple was so beautiful.

And, just so you wouldn't think I just posted a picture of a picture, here is a picture of me making a weird face (not on purpose, but the only picture I took) in front of it. 

But still, standing in front of it, I felt as if I had walked into a painting.  A very peaceful and welcoming painting. 

I went with the women in my branch and had a great time!  It is always fun to spend time with friends.

There was a lot of good food, good conversation, a few laughs, and even a little bit of this: 

Oh!  And, we went to Golden Corral for lunch.  Did you know they have a chocolate fountain there?

Oh, yeah.

Today, I am grateful for my membership in the Church, for the peace and joy it brings into my life, for the friendships I have made, and for the person I am because of it.