Thankful/Grateful Days 5-18! FINALLY CAUGHT UP!

Well… our volleyball banquet was last night and I kind of feel like I have time to BREATHE again, somewhat. I say somewhat because basketball season has officially started, and there was no break from one sport to the next. I don’t know how I did it in high school… it’s a little more overwhelming as a coach I’ve decided. But I decided I had better get caught up. So… Thankful/Grateful Days 5-18!

***** WARNING!!!! It’s a long one! You may need breaks in between! :) ******

Thankful Day 5: Cameras! Pictures are great! Capturing the moment/memory of something you want to remember is so great! We had a picture scavenger hunt for the last team night of volleyball and without cameras this would not have been possible! Love love love pictures! Reminds me of some great memories and many good times that is for sure!

Thankful Day 6: Friends. I have some of the best friends! Seriously! I know everyone says that. But I really mean it. It’s great to know you have people who you can count on and who will be there for you when necessary. I wish I could see all of them way more often than I do, but even when I don’t it’s great to know our friendship still exists. :) The other day I was stranded at UVU after watching some volleyball games at the state tournament. Instead of riding the bus home with the team, I had stayed to watch the game that we would play the winner of the next day. So, I did not have a ride back to Springville! I called one of my friends, they came and picked me up and took me all the way back to my car at the high school. It was a simple act of kindness, and without it I would have been stuck at UVU! Hooray for friends!

Thankful Day 7: Sight. It was the state volleyball tournament a couple weekends ago, and unfortunately it was not the finish we in any way had planned on, but nonetheless we had a good time and hopefully created some memories! We took 8th place in the entire state of Utah, which is a pretty good accomplishment. Only 7 other teams can say that they placed in the STATE tournament. While I do not necessarily agree with the setup of the tournament (4 courts playing with games going ALL AT THE SAME TIME!) I did get to watch A LOT of volleyball that weekend! So for this thankful post, I’m grateful for my sight. Seriously, I’ve realized I take a lot of things for granted each day, and I would be truly sad if I was not able to see the things that were going on around me.

Thankful Day 8: Naps, especially Sunday naps! Everyone makes fun of me for taking them but they are my favorite! Getting woke up in the middle of a Sunday nap, NOT my favorite! But really, I am thankful for sleep! I can say one of the worst feelings is wanting to go to sleep but not being able to go to sleep, so when the opportunity presents itself for a nap it’s probably one of my favorite things to do to relax! Unfortunately, as a result, I can really never sleep that night! But it's worth it to catch up on some sleep earlier in the day! :) If only there was time for a short nap every day!

Thankful Day 9: Good weather! I’m afraid to talk about it for fear of jinxing it! But it has been surprisingly sunny and considerably warm for being November in Utah! If I have to walk out of practice and have it be dark, it’s nice to wake up and drive to work in some sunlight.

Thankful Day 10: Jobs. Having enough jobs to be able to survive and still do the things I really wanna do that don’t necessarily pay the bills (i.e. COACHING!)! Not being able to get a permanent teaching job has been frustrating to say the least. I realize I have limited my options by staying in Utah County. So I am partly to blame! But, coaching has been the best experience and so I find it difficult to give it up! Anyways, I have been truly blessed to make enough money to survive! Recently, I started doing more work for a company in Arizona that I did some things for while I worked at BYU! It has been a huge blessing and although I have a million different jobs, it allows me to continue coaching at Springville and for that I am super thankful!

Thankful Day 11: Coaches. Recently I had to endure basketball tryouts. Can I just say, tryouts are the worst thing ever! I don’t enjoy making people sad! :( By far the WORST part of coaching… but partly necessary I suppose! Anyways… on this day I’m thankful for coaches. My high school coaches, my parents, and others who taught me valuable lessons and helped shape me into the person I have become. They have had a tremendous impact. More than they will probably ever know! Since I have been in Utah, I have had the privilege of coaching with some truly amazing people. They have taught me A LOT the past few years and I am so grateful for the friendships and things that I have been able to learn as a result!

Thankful Day 12: My favorite TV shows! This may seem ridiculous. But sometimes you need to just unwind from a long day, and what better way than watching your favorite TV show! Favorite TV shows at the moment: One Tree Hill (although it was definitely better in its earlier years… I’m still sticking with it!), Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice. Hopefully Friday Night Lights returns shortly. Shows that I don’t watch religiously but will watch if I am home…The Ellen Show… I don't care what you say she is hilarious! The new Let’s Make a Deal with Wayne Brady! And of course Sportscenter! Thank goodness that college basketball is back, because Sportscenter becomes entertaining once again. Surprisingly, I can sometime watch it over and over and over with the same stories, stats, and top plays… and yet I still find it entertaining. It is on as I am writing this all up!

Thankful Day 13: When people appreciate the work that you have put into something. Lately, I feel like people have been much more appreciative of things that I have done for them. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to do them and most likely would still do them whether or not they showed appreciation or not! But it is nice when people actually are thankful for something you have done for them that has taken a lot of time and effort on your part. One example: the entire volleyball season I did stats for each of the varsity games. The girls continually thanked me for doing it. While it was tedious and often times FRUSTRATING (especially rewatching the games we did not win), when someone thanks you for all the work you have put into it, you somehow find a way to suck it up and continue doing it! While I know I would still do it even if they were NOT appreciative, it gives me extra motivation to do nice things when people show appreciation and are thankful. It helps my attitude with the situation.

Thankful Day 14: Cell phone. Kind of materialistic. But truly it’s my connection to many people. Last year (or the year before that I'm not quite sure) I remember losing my cell phone and feeling totally distraught and lost. I felt as though I was cut off from the world. No one could get a hold of me. I could not contact anyone else. So I am grateful that I have a cell phone that people can get in contact with me and I can get in contact with them (although it’s usually the first scenario because I’m not usually the initiator of the phone calls… I’m working on it!)A text or phone call from someone seriously makes me so happy!!! :)

Thankful Day 15: The scriptures. I had a goal to read the entire Standard Works (Bible, Book of Mormon, D&C, Pearl of Great Price) by the end of the year. I had my calendar all mapped out with what chapters from which book need to be read each day. I am a big fan of checking things off a list. This is not to say that I considered it a “to-do” thing, but I figured I would stay on track this way. It hasn’t happened. I doubt I will have it finished by the end of the year. But I am back to reading daily to try to do some catch up! I love being able to read, even if it’s just a couple minutes a day. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something, and I always have a good feeling when I am done reading!

Thankful Day 16: see “Failure” post (below this ridiculously long one).

Thankful Day 17: Personalized letters/notes. Tuesday was our end of the year banquet for volleyball. I thought it was a great night that capped off a great season! A lot of work and preparation went into the night and by the end it was definitely all worth it. The girls on the team made me the coolest scrapbook full of pictures and then each one of them wrote me a letter. Seriously the best present I have received in a long time. It was way thoughtful, and I LOVE NOTES! Seriously, since high school they have been my favorite! I have 2 shoe boxes full of them! So today not only am I grateful for the volleyball team (which I have mentioned before), it was so much fun to be able to coach them this year, but most of all I am grateful for personalized notes from people! If I got one every day that would be so great! :)

Thankful Day 18: Temples. I rode with one of the other coaches (Jodi) and her son (Mason) to the volleyball banquet last night. On the way home, Mason wanted to see the temple so bad. So on our way home we drove to the Provo temple. He was so cute and seemed so genuinely happy to just be there and looking at the temple! I love the feeling I get when I not only see temples but when I get to go inside. With everything going on in my life, it’s nice to know that I can go somewhere that I sincerely can forget everything and just feel peace. One day, I will go to all of the temples around the world. How cool would that be? At the rate their building them, I better get on that!

HALLELUJAH! Finally caught up! :) If you read all the way to the end I'm impressed!