Gratitude Countdown Rundown

So I kinda dropped the ball on that whole gratitude countdown thing, didn't I? In my defense, we drove down to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving with my family and I didn't have a lot of time to update this old blog. But since then, several other things have occurred which give me lots of reasons to be thankful.

First and foremost is that I got a job! My first day is tomorrow and I'm all sorts of apprehensive and excited about it. It was one of those rare opportunities where the job was absolutely perfect for me and I was absolutely perfect for the job. My official title is "History Internship Coordinator" in the History Department at BYU. It's a brand-new position which they've created to helped facilitate and administer the internships which both family history and regular history majors undertake each year. I'll be working closely with two faculty members and the students to help them find internships and to help them navigate the legal and academic requirements of the internship. I really hope I'll be able to help the students become acquainted with the many diverse places a history major can work (or intern) and help them recognize what a great opportunity it is to intern (as it is how many organizations hire new employees).

The job is part-time (which is great, I didn't want to work full-time) and even though we plan to arrange my work hours around David's class schedule next semester, we still had to find outside help to watch Zara for a few hours each week. We were, of course, quite apprehensive to trust the care of Zara to anyone else, but after meeting our new daycare provider (Audrey), a lot of that fear and guilt has disappeared. She runs a small daycare out of her home and I think Zara will gain a lot from spending time with someone other than me all the time and being around other children her age. We'll see how it goes, but at least I'm not feeling like a horrible mother at this point. And that's progress.

David and I also (FINALLY) receive callings in our ward today. It's not official yet, so I don't want to say what it is right now, but I'm super excited about it. And that almost rarely happens.

Also, David has finals all this week and then he'll be officially done with his first semester of graduate school. He's worked very hard and enjoyed his studies so much, but I am looking forward to two weeks of unencumbered David time (meaning that he won't have to spend his nights doing homework). I'm really looking forward to Christmas and celebrating it with my little family.

Gratitude Countdown: Day 12

Today I am grateful for those who serve others. I joined the MBASA service committee and one of my duties is arranging help for new moms. (And since this is BYU, we have a lot of new moms.) One spouse had her third baby this past week and I set out to arrange some meals and playdates for her other children. I was overwhelmed by the response of people willing and eager to help. It certainly made my job easier but it reminded me that there are many kind and giving people out there. We have all been touched by the service and kindness of others and it's also good to remember that "when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God."

Gratitude Countdown: Day 11

Today I am grateful for the ability to create. I don't just mean babies, though I think I did a really good job with that the one time I tried it. I still sometimes look at Zara and marvel that I grew her myself. Totally from scratch! How did I do that?!?

I've come to see that women have the innate ability to create. It's something that I've come to love about myself as well. I didn't set out to be "crafty" or "domestic" or "housewifey" or any of those terms; in fact, I resisted them for a long time. But as I've embraced those attributes within myself, I've found great joy in creating things for myself, my family, and friends. I love to bake and cook and am grateful that I enjoy those pursuits since I know so many women who absolutely dread the kitchen. I love to sew and fill my house with the work of my own hands. I've undertaken a new sewing endeavor (which I'll share with you soon) and I'm surprised by own enjoyment at being hard at work at a sewing machine. I also (gasp) started making my own Christmas cards this year. It started out as a Relief Society project but I discovered that I really enjoy the artistry of paper crafts (I know, I know). It's a delight to create this things and I am grateful that I have the ability to do so.

Gratitude Countdown: Day 10

I am grateful for the Gift of the Heart Exchange (GOTHE), a free exchange of clothes and toys that the BYU MBASA (the MBA spouses group) and the Law Partners put on several times a semester. Kid-to-Kid, a used clothing company here in Utah, donates a lot of clothes to this event and there are piles and piles of clothes and toys and baby items available to take for free. It's open to all student families and is really helpful for those of us who have a limited budget and income. They just held one this morning and I was able to find all the clothes and shoes that Zara will need for the upcoming months. It's a wonderful blessing for us poor grad student spouses.

Gratitude Countdown: Day 9

I am grateful for our sweet little home. Being the history nerd that I am, I get a huge kick out of the fact that it was built in 1899. Of course, a home that old comes with a lot of quirks and problems. Still, I try to think of it as just having a lot of personality. I love to think about all the people who have lived in this house in the past 112 years, imagine what they did, what they thought, and the children they raised here. It's a great little house in a good location in Provo. I can walk to several stores, the library and many different parks. I'm glad to call it home for the next year and a half (at least).

Gratitude Countdown: Day 8

Sometimes you don't appreciate something until it's gone. So today I'm grateful for [functioning] indoor plumbing. Our kitchen sink has been backed up for the last two days (and our landlords won't return our calls) so I've taken to washing our dishes in the bathtub. I really don't know how people used to deal with no plumbing. Seriously.

Graditude Countdown: Day 7

Today I am grateful for baby faces....in all their many forms.










Man, I love that kid.

Gratitude Countdown: Day 5

I'm a little late in posting this one...had a bit of a hard time finding something to write about, I suppose. Korea is an incredibly beautiful country. I miss Korea quite a bit, especially when my friends post pictures of their adventures there.

But as Zara and I were out for a walk today on this gorgeous fall day, I looked up and saw the Wasatch mountains and thought, "Utah is a beautiful place too." And I'm so happy that I get to live in beautiful places and be constantly reminded of the beauty of this Earth and to be grateful for all that is around me.

Gratitude Countdown: Day 4

Today, I am grateful for Phineas and Ferb. Now, that probably sounds like a really strange thing to be grateful for but I totally am. See, David grew up on cartoons but I didn't. I don't really like watching cartoons. I find a lot of them really tedious to sit through. But we all love Phineas and Ferb. I love the humor, the catchy songs (we sing them all the time around our house), and the message of the show. Zara loves to watch Phineas and Ferb too. In fact, I've tried showing her other "kid shows" but she doesn't seem to care much for them. (DJ Lance Rock on Yo Gabba Gabba totally scares her....I don't know why.) But whenever I put on Phineas and Ferb, Zara just sits there, totally transfixed. Plus, she loves to dance to all of the songs. It's ridiculously cute.



This is my favorite Phineas and Ferb episode, "Rollercoaster, The Musical!" We seriously watch it at least once a day....sometimes more. If you've never seen Phineas and Ferb, I totally recommend it.

Gratitude Countdown: Day 3

I am grateful for fast and efficient means of transportation. I just finished re-reading Sense and Sensibility for my Book Club this month and I was struck again by how tedious and long any journey over a few miles took back then. A trip of 30 miles would take three days in a cramped carriage, over bumpy dirt roads. Now, I don't even blink an eye when traveling 30 miles. It takes less than an hour.

Since we like to travel, I am incredibly grateful that we have the means to see so many different parts of the world so easily. Even as I type, David is in Boston for a career fair. He left yesterday morning and will return tomorrow evening. He's halfway across the country, over 2,000 miles away, and yet it will only take 5 hours to fly home. That is indeed a miracle and something to be grateful for.

Gratitude Countdown: Day 2

Given that today is Veteran's Day (and 11/11/11), I especially wanted to give my thanks for all the men and women who are currently or have served our country in any capacity. I'm particularly grateful for my Grandpa Hayman, who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, my father-in-law who was a submariner in the Navy for 12 years, my brother-in-law Brigham who served a tour in Afghanistan as an Arabic linguist with the Utah National Guard and is now a Navy JAG officer, and my own David, who served seven years as a Korean linguist in the Navy.

While we remember those that serve today, don't forget those who love the ones who serve. I think we forget about the great sacrifice our military spouses and families make in order to support their soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Military wives deserve as much recognition as their spouses....and I'm not just saying that because I was one.

Also, go Navy!

Just throwing that out there. :)

Gratitude Countdown: Day 1

I can't believe it's already November and that Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. Where does the time go? I'm almost done with my roadtrip updates--and I'll continue to post them until I see them through to the bitter end--but I wanted to do my two week gratitude countdown in anticipation of Thanksgiving again. I really enjoyed doing it last year because it made me very aware of how much I have to be grateful for and how blessed I truly am. I have even more to be thankful for this year so I'll try not to do any repeats from last year. (Maybe. :))

I am grateful that David got into the MBA program at BYU and got out of the Navy. Now, the Navy was very good to us (I'm finding it weirdly hard to let go of our ties to the military) and it was a good job. But it was never David's lifelong career plan; rather, it was a means to an end. He gained some valuable things in those seven years: two degrees (AA in Korean, BA in accounting), financial stability, a home, and a wife and daughter. Though David enjoys learning new languages, he did not love his job. He did his job and he did it well, but he had no passion for it.

But now he absolutely loves what he's doing. He's really enjoying his program and comes home every night excited to share what he did and learned that day. It's such a nice change from the last two years. I'm so glad he got into this program. It was absolutely the right step for him and us.

Gratitude Countdown - Day 15

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the last day of my gratitude countdown, but it may be something I continue to do once or twice a month from now on. I've really enjoyed listing all the things I'm grateful for. Every day I think about what I could write about and I've found so many things to be thankful for. It's really helped me to be so much happier when I stop to think about how truly blessed I am.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am most grateful for my little family: me, David, and Zara. I love my extended family, of course, but there's something so special and sweet about having your own little family. I felt it most when my parents were visiting. It was the first time I've really spent any time with my parents since getting married and it was surprising to me how different it feels to relate to my parents not just as my parents but as another married couple as well. I've never been more grateful that I married such a wonderful man like David and that we get to build the kind of family we want together. We truly are equal partners and David has really taught me so much about myself and how to communicate effectively. We have very similar goals for our lives and how we want to raise our children. When I think about our future together, I just get so excited at all the possibilities.

I'm absolutely in love with my crazy, chunky, beautiful, smiley, squeaky, joyful, happy monkey baby. I just can't wait to see what kind of woman she becomes and to meet those other potential future children of mine. Sometimes it scares me just a little to think of how much of my life will be devoted to the raising and rearing of children, but then I think that I'll never experience true joy without them. Zara wraps everyone in the joy that she exudes.

But more than all the babies I'll raise, I'm so grateful to have my best friend by my side to wander through this life together.

It truly doesn't get any better than this.

Gratitude Countdown - Day 14

At my Book Club meeting this past month, we somehow got on the topic of the difference in how we equate the work of men and women. We talk about the number of lives lost of our soldiers and sailors during our many wars. We erect monumets to them and have holidays set aside for their remembrance. Yet there are far more women who have died in childbirth than who have ever died on the battlefield. And how do we honor those women? They don't get Vetern's Days or poignant statues to remember their sacrifice. [Bear in mind, that this was a discussion among a group of military wives. We love our men in uniform and are extremely grateful for their sacrifice. I love patriotic holidays where we honor our soldiers and sailors. But the point was the discrepency between men and women's sacrifice and the value we place on those lives.]

Being a woman can be a dangerous thing and today I am monumentally grateful for the many wonderful women in my life who have touched me in so many ways. So today, I'd like to honor those women by expressing my gratitude for the many unique and important things they have taught me.

For my mother, for instilling in me a great love of learning and a passion for good books.

For my sister, for showing me how to be an independent and strong woman.

For my mother-in-law, for raising such a remarkable man.

For Kara, for proving that friends are the people who know everything about you and still love you anyways. We've been friends since we were 9 years old and I wouldn't be the woman I am today without her good influence.

For my grandmother, for teaching me the definition of charity.

For Jen, for making everything more fun.

For Whitney, for showing me that people are full of unexpected greatness.

For Tessa, for constantly amazing me with the depth of her sincerity, thoughtfulness, and sweet nature.

For Nicole, for demonstrating what true loyalty and friendship is.

For Tabitha, for teaching me the power of persistence.

For Mandy, for always lending a listening ear.

For Cara, for being patient and helping me strengthen my faith.

For Jasie, for teaching me that you can't judge a book by its cover.

For Amber, for inspiring me to be a happier person and for letting me be me.

For Kathryn, for teaching me how to knit, how to breastfeed, and for showing me that I'm not alone.

For Jenn, for telling me it's okay to have emotions and for hosting the best parties around.

For Rachel, for teaching me the beauty of being your own person.

For Erin and Abby, for teaching me how to see beyond myself and recognize the needs of others.

For Melissa, for telling it like it is and for making me feel like if she can do it, so can I.

For Kate, for being my American Studies sounding board and for introducing me to the Outlander series.

For Lexie and Lizzie, for understanding why we love what we love. [American Studies]

For Emily, for being a source of much baby-related information and encouragement.

For Darsha, for teaching me to not sweat the small stuff.

For Ruth, for showing me that laughter truly is the best medicine.

For Kimberly, for being a woman of opinions who is not afraid to express them.

For Amanda, for staying faithful in the face of much adversity.

For Tonya, for holding my hand while I pushed a human being out of me.

For Zara, for teaching me how to be a mother.



I'm sure there are many women that I'm forgetting. There are so many women who have touched my life and made it better. Who are the women in your life and how will you honor them today?

Gratitude Countdown - Day 13

I'm grateful for all the places my wandering feet were able to visit this year. We started out the year with a trip to Taiwan, celebrated Memorial Day in China and have spent the last month exploring more of Korea.

I'll be honest: the idea of living in Asia was never all that appealing to me. Asian art, culture, history, and languages have never held the fascination for me that Europe holds for me. (I'd live just about anywhere in Europe in a heartbeat.) But the more time I spend in Asia, the more I come to love it. And while I still don't find ancient Asian history all that exciting, I'm enthralled by its modern history (within the last 100 years) and I have a new desire to learn their languages, particularly Chinese. I've developed a great love for the people of Asia and I'm fairly certain that David and I will be spending more time here in the future. Plus, I think it's really cool that Zara gets to say that she was born in Korea.

I'm so grateful for all the experiences I've had which I could never have predicted for myself. I've learned so much and grown in so many ways.

Gratitude Countdown - Day 12

I'm grateful for nail clippers. They're handy little inventions. Seriously, how did people use to cut their nails?

Also Burt's Bees chapstick. I seriously could not live without you. Seriously.



This very special post on gratitute was bought to you by the word seriously.

Gratitude Countdown - Day 11

Today I'm grateful for fall. Fall is such an awesome time of year and I love the change from the summer's oppressive heat to fall's gentle cool breeze, crisp air, and colorful leaves. The world is absolutely exquisite in the fall and I love living in locations where fall really gets a chance to shine (like on the East Coast and here in Korea). The only downfall is that fall never lasts long enough. Summer always seems to run too long and then winter comes too soon. But while it lasts, fall is spectacular and it makes my soul sing. Here are a few shots I took last week that showcase the beauty of this season.

Gratitude Countdown - Day 10

Today I am grateful for squeals of babyish delight and beautiful baby smiles. (Forgive the bad lighting and video quality. I'm not a professional anything.) You can't help smiling and laughing at such a sight.

She really is the most delightful baby ever. I'm so glad she's mine.

Gratitute Countdown - Day 9

Like the Cookie Monster, I am grateful for cookies.

Cookies are awesome.

See, I used to think that cake was the best thing ever. And I do really, really like good cake. (Bad cake kinda sucks though.) But cookies. Cookies totally blow cake out of the water. Because cookies come in so many different varieties in so many different shapes and colors and flavors. You can throw just about anything into a cookie. And it almost always tastes good. If I want something sweet or I just want to bake something, I almost always turn to cookies.

I'd like to give a special shout-out to Lofthouse sugar cookies (my favorite store bought cookie creation) and my pumpkin cookies with brown butter maple frosting (my favorite fall cookie) and my chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal and toffee bits (my favorite anytime cookie). My life just wouldn't be complete without you.

So if you have any great cookie recipes, pass them my way. I never say no to a good cookie.

Gratitute Countdown - Day 8

You know what feels like a little slice of heaven?

A hot shower.

I've always thought showers were nice. But sometimes showering was a bit of pain. You know what I mean. When you slept in too late and you had to get dressed in a hurry but you looked like a truck ran you over. So you try to shave your legs while conditioning your hair and you can't remember if you already used shampoo or not. Those are not the type of showers I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the hot, steamy shower you take after a long, long day of breastfeeding and changing poopy diapers and getting spit up all over. After a long, hard, but satisfying day of work to be followed by a comfortable bed and a good night's rest. Or after a hard workout when you smell like a pig but feel like you could conquer the world. Those showers are awesome. I've come to really enjoy and really look forward to a nice, long, hot shower while the baby is finally asleep in her crib. It's my way to relax and unwind and clear my head. It's my me-time and it's become so necessary to my mental well-being. For that brief ten to fifteen minutes, I get to feel like me again.

So yes. I'm thankful for hot showers and indoor plumbing. There's almost nothing else better.