Gratitude is an attitude...everyday.

I love thanksgiving. It is definitely one of my favorite holidays. You have an excuse to stuff yourself on wonderful food and be with family while thinking and considering all of your awesome blessings. I look forward to it every year, because it is such a great time to think of everything Heavenly Father has given you.

My heart is full of gratitude. I love my life and every single part of it. I honestly, wouldn't change ANYTHING. I feel like I have been blessed in so many ways on every front of my life.

Here are some of the things I have been thinking of lately (I might add pictures later, but I am using Richards computer and all my pictures are on my computer)...after the first three there is no particular order either...

I am SO thankful to have such a strong faith and knowledge in my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love them with my whole heart, and know that they are guiding my life and want the best for me. I am so thankful for the church and all of the wonderful blessings that come into my life because of the church. I realized yesterday that all of the things I am thankful for are blessings from living the gospel. Without the gospel, my life would be so empty. So as I look to my blessings, it directs my vision back to my faith and my knowledge that the gospel is true, and I am thankful for a strong personal testimony. It makes all the difference.

Second I am so thankful for my perfect husband. Seriously, he is so amazing and wonderful and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with him. He is such a strength and a rock in my life, and through all the stress I have in school, work etc. he upholds me and keeps me laughing. He is my best friend and I would rather spend time with him than anyone else. I love him so much. I want to go on and on about him, but I will spare you the mushyness :) But all you need to know is he is second only to the gospel, the thing I am the most thankful for. He is amazing.

I am thankful for a wonderful family. My family is so strong and such a strength to me. We all have so much fun together, and are always playing and laughing. I am so grateful for parents with a nearly perfect marriage. That is such a wonderful thing, because they set such a great example to me. Also, in my family(since they are our family), I want to include how thankful I am for wonderful in-laws!! I love them just like I do my own family, and look up to each of them so much. I have always wanted older siblings, and I love being able to call them the older siblings I have always wanted! They are such a strength to us and such an example. They really are all wonderful and so much fun! We have been blessed with such great families!!

I am thankful for the opportunity to go to college and (hopefully) graduate in an area I love and really enjoy
I am thankful for great heath
I am thankful for wonderful hobbies that I find so much joy in
I am thankful for great memories and pictures that capture the happiness
I am thankful for a bright future with my loved ones and the opportunity to be SO excited about what is to come
I am thankful for a great car that we own completely right out (and HEY we have been getting more than 30 miles a gallon which is cool)
I am thankful for the opportunity for both of us to go to college together with basically no debt
I am thankful for an apartment I love (which is cheap too...perk...)
I am thankful that my sister is living with us right now so I get to party with her whenever I want and have her around so much (she is so much fun!)
I am thankful for the blessings that come with having a temple so close so that we can go to the temple a lot
I am thankful for the opportunity we have had to travel and see so many cool places
I am thankful for the traveling in the future we will be able to do
I am thankful that my husband has good job prospectives that will make him happy and take care of our family
I am thankful for cute clothes and a nice haircut color/color I love
I am thankful for good books
I am thankful for ancestors who sacrificed so much to bring me the gospel and the blessings I have
I am thankful for different technologies that make life easier and communication easier
I am thankful for adversity, because it makes me stronger/humble and makes me rely on the Lord more and grow closer to Him as I watch how much he directs my life
etc...etc...etc...

So here is a challenge that I have been thinking of lately. Instead of only reflecting on your blessings and being thankful for them on thanksgiving, I want to reflect at the end of each day on all of the wonderful blessings I have been given. I want to start a journal called a "gratitude journal" and record all of the blessings I have had each day. Try it! It really opens your mind to all of the tender mercies you experience every day! I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!! :)