47. Today I am grateful for toothpaste and toothbrushes

Like most people, I brush my teeth first thing in the morning and at night before going to bed. In fact, I can’t start my day or go to bed without brushing my teeth. Well, there have been a few occasions where I haven’t been able to brush my teeth due to not having one with me and not having access to one. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. While brushing my teeth I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to live without toothpaste and toothbrushes. I am grateful that I don’t have to know.

46. Today I am grateful for the internet

We got the Internet set up in our home yesterday, after a few days without internet service. I will admit that I thought that in some ways it was nice to have a few days away from the internet at my home (I still had it at work). However, I also realized how reliant I have become on the internet: Every day things like communicating with others, banking, paying bills and looking up driving directions on maps. There is a wealth of information that can be found on the internet; of course not all of it is accurate.  I also love researching my family history and the internet is a wonderful tool for helping people find their ancestors.  

45. Today I am grateful for a day of gratitude

Today Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving, a day where we are encouraged to focus on the things that we are grateful for. I am grateful for a day of gratitude. There is power in a nation coming together in thanksgiving for one day. However, we should strive to live each day with a grateful heart. I really like what Elder Quentin L. Cook said during his recent general conference address: “We should be grateful for all the tender mercies that come into our lives. We are unaware of hosts of blessings that we receive from day to day. It is extremely important that we have a spirit of gratitude in our hearts.”

One of my favourite things about Thanksgiving is getting together with family and friends and eating good food. Today, I am grateful for friends who invited me over to have thanksgiving dinner with them. Yesterday a ward member invited my roommate and I over for dinner and today a friend of mine and his wife invited me over. It was neat because tonight half of us were Canadian and the other half were American. Two of those Americans have just recently moved to Canada and celebrated their first Canadian thanksgiving today, one of them being my roommate. I am also looking forward to celebrating American Thanksgiving next month!

Being that I have been writing in this blog for over a month now I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my experience. I was recently talking with my sister who mentioned that she hadn’t seen any posts on my blog lately and asked if I was not grateful for anything anymore. I had just been talking about some things that hadn’t been going well and replied that sometimes I think it would be easier to write about the frustrating thing of the day. However, I do feel that it has made a difference in my life to reflect on the day and the things I am grateful for and choose one to write about. I am trying to focus more on the simple things to be grateful for. It usually seems easier to think of the big and significant things but by August 27, 2012 I would like to see a list of 365 unique things that I am grateful for.

Also, there will be times that it appears I don’t have updated posts. What I do sometimes is save the topics as a draft and then go back to finish writing and posting for that day.

What are you grateful for on this Thanksgiving?

44. Today I am grateful for Sunday’s

Sunday is my favourite day of the week! I love going to church and having a day to focus on the important things in life. This includes my family whom I usually talk to on Sundays, gospel study and visiting with friends. I also enjoy participating in my family history research and going for walks on Sundays. Sunday can be busy but usually it is being busy with church and family stuff which I see as things that have more eternal value than the things we are busy with throughout the week.

43. Today I am grateful for the cute and funny things my nieces say

I not so secretly wish that I lived closer to everyone in my family. This includes my twin sister and adorable nieces. They are so sweet and loving and I wish I could spend more time with them. Little children also often say the cutest things in the most sincere ways which really helps me to appreciate the simple things in life.

I am grateful, though that my sister often calls me to tell me the cute things they do or say. Today was one of those days and she told me about a conversation who two oldest, age 5 and 4 had that I thought was really cute and funny.

 While picking up the 4 year old from Pre-school


4- year old: I Saw snow today!

5-year old: So did I! I almost thought it was December!


Hahaha ...


I am also grateful that it snowed in Provo before it snowed in Edmonton.

42. Today I am grateful for my little sister, Mikayla

Some people say that “love at first sight” doesn’t exist. I know that it does. Twelve years ago today, I was in a hospital room where I saw my mom lying in a bed and next to her was a beautiful tiny baby girl, just a couple of hours old. I was instantly filled with love for this precious baby. It was love at first sight. I loved watching her grow up, say her first word, take her first steps. The first time she laughed, I was holding her while playing ‘Go. Go. Stop!’ With our sister, Alexandra.   

One of the hardest things about moving to Edmonton was leaving my little Mikayla. Even though there is a 17-year age difference between us I have always strived to maintain a close relationship with her. We played together, went to the park, went swimming and ice skating, gave each other makeovers and went to the theatre to watch the latest princess movie. I looked forward to coming back home and seeing her list of things she wanted to do with me. She’s also pretty good about sharing her room with me when I come to visit. J

Mikayla is now 12 years old, just one more year and she will be a teenager. Where does the time go?! Even though she is now more interested in Justin Bieber’s latest song and playing wii games, she will always be my little princess.

41. Today I am grateful for the Young Women’s program

On Saturday evening I went to Generations book store in Edmonton and picked up a couple of things relating to the young women program for my little sister who turns 12 tomorrow. When an LDS girl turns 12 she moves up from the children’s primary program to the young women program. Yesterday evening I made her a card using all the colours associated with the Young Women values.

I have been thinking fondly of my time in the young women program. I love this program! This program teaches young women that they are daughters of God and that he loves them. This in turn fosters positive feelings of self worth. The program also creates an opportunity for girls to build relationships with others in their age group and participate in wholesome activities including service projects and camps.  

The Young Women theme that is recited each week reads:

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. We will “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:

Faith • Divine Nature • Individual Worth • Knowledge • Choice and Accountability • Good Works • Integrity • and Virtue

We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

During my trip to the Generations book store I also bought myself the book, “Your Happily Ever After” which is adapted from a talk given by President Uctdorf at the General Young Women broadcast in March 2010. There are so many things I love about this talk. Fairytales, falling in love, finding happiness, overcoming challenges, our Heavenly Fathers love for us, being Disciples of Christ and the list goes on. My favourite quote is: “It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.”  

This past spring I went to a Relief Society conference and went to a class where this video was shown, the song “Happily Ever After” is also based on the talk. Embedding is disabled but I would encourage  you to click on the link. This is such a beautiful video that not only made me wish I had a little girl but also to hope that someday I will have a daughter who I can teach to know that her Heavenly Father also sees her as a princess. To teach her that living the way Christ taught will lead to happiness.

Listen to the full song here:

Watch a recording of Pres. Uctdorf’s talk here: