Day Eleven: The Temple

Hello!

Today, I am grateful for the temple.

I always know that if I can make it to the temple, everything in life will be okay.

I'll feel peace.

I'll find answers.

I'll know even more deeply that God loves me.

The temple is another one of my favorite happy places.

Also,

check out this sunset from when I came out!

Preeetty nice, eh?

It was better IRL.

Day Ten: Friends

Tonight, I laid by the fireplace and watched a little P&P. I finished the episode where Mr. Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth. (Can we take a minute to remember how very terribly awkward Mr. Collins is? He kills me. Well done, David Bamber.) 

After the episode finished, I kept laying by the fireplace having my internal struggle of kind of not really wanting to go anywhere, but knowing that I should probably go do something with my life.

The latter won out, and I texted my friend, Alexa.

We ended up painting/calligraphy-ing and watching a movie.

It was just what I needed.

Aren't you happy when you find friends who enjoy doing the tranquilo things with you when you don't feel like being a really exciting person? 

I am.

Today (and everyday), I'm grateful for friends.

 

The Painting 11.10

We don't really know what it is.

It just is.

Day Nine: Future Opportunities

This has always been one of my favorite Mormon Messages.

Especially the guy who starts at 3:36.

"I'm grateful for future opportunities. If you have a hard time, you can always overcome that. There's always positive in the future."

Amen.

There is ALWAYS positive in the future.

One thing I have seen time and time again during my months of not having a job is that God always provides more hope. More future opportunities. Even when every light seems to be out.

I'm grateful for that.

Like Maria says, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window."

A window with light streaming through to guide us to the right door.

Good things are ahead for you!

 Things so good that they're out of the scope of your wildest dreams.

(This may sound cheesy to you, but it's true.)

So, keep going, friends.

Heavenly Father loves you, and He knows what He's doing :)

Day Eight: The Cabin

Nearly 100 years ago, my great-grandparents built this cabin off of the Snake River in Island Park, Idaho. 

PC: Becca

It's one of my favorite happy places.

A place where everything but the important things slow down.

Where good memories are made and remembered, and eternal bonds are strengthened.

It's our family gathering place,

and that's why it's heaven.

Day Seven: Devotional

Tuesdays

11:05 am

Marriott Center

BYU

We began by sitting in Portal F for family, fun, food, friends, and future family ;) 

Eventually, we decided to stop beating around the bush and to just sit in Portal M--for marriage. 

The portal change worked for two of the people in this picture! So, that's great!

(That doesn't count my dad, though. He was already married :))

I love going to devotional.

Devotionals and forums have expanded my views, broadened my intellect, and brought me closer to God.

On a regular basis they speak very directly to my specific needs. 

Among other things, the conglomeration of lessons I've learned from forums and devotionals has shaped who I am.

Of most importance, they've helped to solidify my knowledge that God cares for and knows me individually. 

The Pride Cycle

Change and Becoming: Thoughts from a Reluctant Grower

Waiting upon the Lord: The Antidote to Uncertainty

The Rock of Our Redeemer

The Power of Not Knowing

My Life is a Gift; My Life has a Plan

His Grace is Sufficient

Be a Light to the World

Becoming Men and Women of Integrity

Appropriate Zeal

Devotional. #youshouldtryitsometime

Day Six: My Dentist

I love going to the dentist. 

I get to sit in the chair and have a good chat with my hygienist and friend, Loreen, while she cleans my teeth.

Then, Dr. Mark makes sure I don't have any cavities, and if I do, we set up another appointment for me to come get them fixed. 

They put fluoride on my teeth and give me a new toothbrush and floss.

They're happy to see me, and I'm happy to see them.

If I have a cavity, which, I might add, hasn't happened for a long time (20 points for Hufflepuff), they fix it while I get to sit there and listen to music on their little iPod. 

As if taking care of my teeth wasn't enough, they send me a postcard on my birthday.

What's not to love?

After all, you know what they say:

Day Five: Pandas

Once upon a time, I decided to like pandas.

I think my friend Allyson Austin posted something about the panda cam on her blog one time and I began watching it. That was a game changer. 

Sometimes during finals week I would be up in the middle of the night stressed, either studying or writing a paper, and I'd go to the panda cam and watch them walk around, or sleep, or eat bamboo. It's quite therapeutic. I highly recommend it. #annalifecopingskills

You know something is truly fantastic when you can sit and watch it do nothing and still love it. I think one of the things I love most about pandas is that they never seem to rush. They just do what they're going to do when they're going to do it, and eat bamboo.

Last November, I got to see the pandas from the panda cam IN REAL LIFE.

Needless to say, I was a very happy soul.

(The girl who took this picture for me probably thought I was nuts, except she was there looking at the pandas by herself too . . . )

Day Four: Chocolate

I’m not quite sure when my love began, all I know is that it did, and it’s been going strong ever since. It could be that I was indoctrinated with this as a young child:

Or it could simply be the fact that chocolate is the food of the gods, the breakfast of true champions, and the ultimate sustenance, physically, socially, and emotionally.

We may never know.

The best chocolate experience of my life took place circa August 2012 when my brother, Jonathan, brought a Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate bar home directly from the motherland. One square of delicious, milky chocolateness melting in my mouth was all it took. Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate is recommended to keep on hand both for daily use (between zero and two squares) and emergency purposes (up to six squares, or as needed).

Other delectable chocolate experiences include Tillamook Mudslide ice cream and Costco’s All American Chocolate Cake. 

But, really.

Day Three: Things that keep me warm

I'm grateful for the things in this world that keep me warm because, let's be honest, being cold is the worst. 

When your name is Anna, you find all sorts of things to keep yourself warm: 

the sun

ovens

toasters

stoves

warm food cooking on stoves

candle flames

blow dryers (fantastic, except when they melt your dress :/ what's with that?)

space heaters

the big, soft blanket that Mark and Ali gave me for Christmas last year

holding your hands under hot water

the steam that comes off of the rice cooker

the steam that comes out of the dishwasher when you open it in the middle of a cycle (or even just standing by the dishwasher)

warm clothes from the dyer

those heaters they have over the doors when you first walk into Costco during the winter

and especially,

this fireplace

just to name a few. 

Day Two: Faith

Today I am grateful for faith.

I’m grateful for the faith I see in others as they press forward through hard times. 

Their faith helps to increase mine.

I’m grateful for the power that faith in Jesus Christ gives me. Faith in Jesus Christ enables me to become more than I am, or ever could even dream of being, on my own.

I’ve recently been reminded that living by faith is a choice I need to make everyday.  

A Grateful Month

     Happy November!

The ambitious side of myself decided that I want to post about something I'm grateful for everyday this month. 

The realistic side reminds me that I just finished day 29 of 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene, and that I started that two and a half years ago . . . so we'll see how this 30-day thing goes.

Friends, I present to you 

30 Days of Gratitude with Anna!

Day One

I am grateful for the Bristol "Apostrophiser".

 

He who lives the life the rest of us can only dream of.

Making the world a better place, one apostrophe at a time.

Bless you.