When I start counting blessings I am always surprised by how many of them are categorized financially.  This tells me two things. One, I am focusing on materialistic things too much. Two, I am way more blessed then I realize when it comes to having needs and wants met. If we were to class people from poorest to richest based on how much God gives them, I believe I am royalty.

Caroline’s preschool teacher has been sharing pictures from class on her website.
Check out these gems. Each and every one put a smile on my face.
How blessed I am to have my beautiful daughters.

    

 

Right in the middle of our move when finances were super tight, I took Bella to get a tooth pulled. The baby molar had a bad cavity around an old filling that was a temporary repair for a broken tooth. The adult tooth was far enough in that the dentist decided a pull was the best remedy for the cavity pain she had been experiencing. It would only cost us $15 but it was money that would come out of our grocery budget. I got to sit and rest for 45 minutes while the dentist did his job and had a great validating chat with a friend from church who works at the dentist office. When Bella got through and I went to pay this friend informed me that we had a credit on our account and I wouldn’t have to pay. Even though she insists it was true, I still think she was pulling some kind of charitable act. Either way it was a great blessing.

After we got moved a friend from our old church congregation (As Mormons we are assigned congregations by geographical location – which can make things extra tough at moving time – especially in Utah when you only move a half mile away and now have to start associating with all new people at church) brought me my favorite of her baking repertoire: coconut bread. I ate the whole thing in less than 12 hours but it was oh so good and made me feel extra loved.

Another dear friend brought us a yummy dinner, but truthfully the comfort I felt in giving her and her husband a tour of our humble home was the best part. That goes for the friends in the paragraph above also. It really is all about relationships.

Our families aren’t really the best about birthday exchanges but my sister-in-law gave me a $25 gift-card to Olive Garden for my 40th. LG and I haven’t been there in a long time and it made for a really great date night.

On that same date, LG and I went to the cheap dollar movie and outside someone was selling kettle corn for $4 a bag. Typically I wouldn’t have given it a second look but I had $20 from my other sister-in-law (and brother-in-laws – shouldn’t leave them out…but we all know gift-giving is the girls’s job) burning a hole in my pocket. The instructions were I was only to spend that birthday gift on myself. Buying that kettle corn made me so happy and it was guilt-free. Thanks Logan Jill.

I was able to get TWO new pairs of running shoes with the birthday money I received from my mother-in-law. The money my mom sent me paid for the mirror I had to replace in the bathroom before we moved. I had bought the first one for $50 and by the time we got it installed it had broke again (right under the hardware in the same exact spot the kids had broken it) so I had to pay for a second one. The glass business took mercy on my and gave me the second one for $30 but I was grateful for that birthday money so I could afford it.

LG was able to travel to Pheonix for business and had a great visit with one of his favorite cousins and when he got home we were both extra grateful for one another. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

An old dear friend of mine sent me the sweetest belated birthday card with a $25 Amazon gift-card. Looking forward to a book purchase is bringing me happiness, but her sweet sweet validating words were one of the best gift’s I’ve ever received. I’ve worked really hard at making a lot of changes in my life and I have not a single person in my life who dishes out any sort of validation. (This is not a strong suit for my parents, husband, siblings, in-laws, or children) I wasn’t even aware of how desperate I was for it until her card arrived and brought many tears of pent up gratitude to just know that I am known and supported.

Another validation came in the form of an e-mail from a new friend in the form of a small compliment about this here blog. It made my day.

As I told you in another post some very generous soul helped us to make it during this really tight-budget month. For the first time in a year when I went to get the necessities at Costco I was able to also purchase a few non-necessities. We have been loving the grape juice and bacon bits.

When we moved I was fed up with our dilapidated vacuum cleaner that was being held together by duct tape. Instead of bringing it along, I chucked it in the garbage. We haven’t purchased a new one yet, but our commercial grade carpeting can be swept almost as easily as vacuumed. While I have been sweeping I’ve been able to clear the carpet of a lot of pesky dog-hair from the last tenant’s dog that obviously hasn’t come up with a vacuum.

My friend Kathy who has four daughters (just like me) gave birth extremely prematurely months ago. Her son JJ finally got to come home yesterday. It makes my heart so happy that she won’t have to endure all the traveling back and forth to the hospital any more.

I am grateful for immunizations. Caroline got her 4 year old shots today and she was so brave and tough. Her laugh/cry was so familiar to me. It makes me a tad bit sad that today marks an end of an immunization era for our family. I will never again hold a child’s hand while they get stuck by a nurse. I’ve also been reading a lot of family history stories and the stories of so many children dying so young make me so grateful for immunizations and modern medicine. I have two kids with asthma. I can’t imagine watching them struggle for breath without their inhalers.

I love hot chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven, and I guess I better stop counting blessings now so I can enjoy them.

I just have to draw the line somewhere. I could count every moment the rest of my life and still not get everything recorded.