Appreciating Everything!

I apologize for the little break. In my defense, our computer was broken! Not my fault :)! After a couple hundred bucks and a few trips to best buy (don't ever go to the El Paso best buy to get your computer fixed btw), I'm back in business!

I keep thinking that I am learning to appreciate more of the little, every day things I have taken for granted, like the computer, yummy grandma sycamore white bread, and driving past a friend on my way to Ridleys :).

Today I am appreciating electricity! It's only noon and I am ready to go crazy! Just because we got less than an inch of snow last night, the schools are cancelled and the power source for the Wii, cartoons, and computer games keeps shutting off! Apparently, I am the only other source of entertainment! I finally had to go find some earplugs just to think straight for 5 min :)! Appreciating those little things right now!!!

For years I took that yummy, white, granny sycamore bread for granted! After hitting all the local grocery stores and searching for a non-mexican bakery, I decided it's time to learn to make the darn stuff myself! Sorta myself, I bought a bread machine and I dump all the stuff into it & hit start :)! It rocks! The best part is that you can cut the slices as fat as you want! I've only had 4 slices of bread today :)!

I really took my running partners (bff's :) for granted! After a few solo runs with a crappy play list, I finally decided to just leave it home. It's amazing how much mental clarity I get from hearing nothing but my own footsteps and breathing! I would still love to have those girls with me and be crazy and confused :), but I love that I can have my own quiet time! Actually, I ran with a couple of girls yesterday morning, and even though my shirt sleeve got caught on a cactus, and it was really early (5 AM!), it was the funnest thing I've done in weeks!

I miss having my little buddy Ainsley with me for most of the day! She is in all day kindergarten now and loves it! She even rides the bus home with the boys in the afternoon. She feels like big stuff, and it seems like she is learning tons more! She is always telling me Spanish words she has learned, and I love the little songs she sings even if NOBODY can understand them!

I took it for granted that almost everyone around me was Mormon. The great part about that is, I think that I am even more open with people here about my beliefs partly because it's just habit. I can really sense how much we are needed here! None of our neighbors are members of the church. Another Mormon family lived down the street, but they moved away a few weeks before we moved in. A little boy in the neighborhood has been calling me "the new Jamie". He is at our house a lot, and His mom apologized when she picked him up the other day. She said for some reason he loves being at our house and he thinks I am just like the other lady that used to live a few doors down. Then she asked if we were Mormons :).

I definitely took having all my family so close! We talk to them on skype and my mom sends awesome packages in the mail! I miss stopping at the UPS store to see my brothers, Sunday dinners at mom & dad's, and doing random stuff with my sisters! I miss seeing my nieces so often that I don't notice how much they are growing! I do love that as a family, we are closer! My kids pretty much just have each other to play with, and we have more time to together. It's already getting a little busier, but it's nice to have the slow down from the usual crazy busy routine!

I will say that I did not take the crappy winters there for granted! I am appreciating sunshine and this one day of a little snow is a reminder of how amazing it is to have 60 degree weather in January :)!!!

Love to you All!