picture a day: november

weekend getaway

okay, let's play catch up:

mid-november, we took a quick drive down to riverside to visit him:and his beautiful wife {love the hair!, really!}.
leah rode her first dog. hey guiness. we took naps, and just hung out.

then we drove down to san diego to watch these guys:run a half marathon. except one got sick and couldn't run, so her husband did.
and this guy ran barefoot. that means no shoes. for 13.1 miles. ouch. we walked around coronado on a beautiful evening. leah was our entertainment. i was pretty funny too.
she tried to pull a few shenanigans, but we kept her under control.
ryan even created this make-shift shack for her to sleep in:
worked like a charm! he should have been an engineer, i tell ya. and to make...er...help her sit still, we tied her to the chair with her blanket. also worked like a charm.
i cheered in my first race. i've never gone to a race that i wasn't running. i guess you could call me a cheering virgin. i loved it! that aforementioned beautiful girl beat her previous time. hip! hip! hooray!

leah cheered too.
i was obviously more enthusiastic.

and then we drove home.

quick. but oh so fun. and oh so worth it to see family. {oh, and to shop at that new 3-story forever 21. must. go. back.}

gratitude: day 30

Today I am grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

{The Lord Jesus Christ - Heinrich Hofmann}

I'm grateful for this wonderful time of year to celebrate His birth and His life.

I'm grateful that he gave His life so I could return to live with Him, as well as my family, forever.

I'm grateful the He understands all I have gone through, am going through and will go through. He knows my sorrows, my joys, my struggles, my triumphs, my sins, my strengths.

I'm grateful He doesn't want me to do it alone. He waits to patiently for me to remember and re-remember to ask Him for help. And when I do remember, He is ready.

I'm grateful He is so willing to forgive me when I don't behave as He would want me to behave.

I'm grateful for the friends and family He sent to me to brighten my days.

I'm grateful for the guiding angels He sends to me to help me when I need it.

I'm grateful for His perfect example.

I'm grateful for His comfort.

I'm grateful for His life.

I'm grateful for His sacrifice.

I'm grateful for His love.

I'm grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

gratitude: day 29

today i'm grateful for talents and gifts.

and i love that each person's talents and gifts are unique.

some are obvious. i really enjoy playing the piano and i consider myself talented at it. although i have logged many, many hours of practice time for the last 23 years of playing {i started when i was five!}, it really did come pretty easily to me. i think i'm a good sight-reader because i didn't always practice as i should {if any piano students are reading this, please ignore that last sentence} and i would have to kind of b.s. it to my teacher on piano lesson day. now that i'm a teacher, i'm pretty sure she knew i didn't practice, but i will say that some students are better at gliding through a lesson than others, practice or not. ryan has an obvious talent for languages. he picks up on them very quickly and understands a lot about them that many people don't catch onto - tones, accents, etc.

some talents or gifts we have to work really hard for. i love running. i'm not "talented" at it as far as competition, but i can put one leg in front of the other over and over and over...and i consider that a gift. i have to run often in order to keep my skill level up - i lose the mileage much faster than i gain it. leah now has a talent for running as well - and believe you me she had to work hard for it. she continues to work hard for it each day.

others, not so much. i'm very talented at being sarcastic. and i really don't work all that hard at it. hehehe. ryan's really talented at cleaning the bathtub and doing the dishes. phew!

i'm really grateful that ryan and i have different gifts and talents when it comes to interacting with leah. she needs some of what both of us have to offer. and we need some of what she has to offer. i'm beginning to realize her talents and gifts are going to be very different than mine, but i know i can learn a lot from what she has to give.

i'm grateful that my mom had particular gifts that she was able to share with me {and hopefully she passed some of them onto me!} when i was little.

i hope i can continue to grow my own talents and use the gifts i have been given to continue to bless my life and hopefully bless the lives of others.

i'm grateful for talents and gifts.

gratitude: day 28

today i'm grateful for modern medication.
especially: vitamin i, vitamin m, and vitamin t....er, ibuprofin, migraine medication and trazadone.

really, though, i am very grateful.

and this is coming from a girl who has only EVER taken aspirin, tylenol, ibuprofin and low-dose over-the-counter migraine medication her whole life {plus disasters below}. they tried to give me the 'good stuff' after i had leah and it made me feel so strange. so out of control. so i just lied and told the nurse i felt fine. i didn't, but i'd rather feel not fine and in control than feel goooood and have no idea what is going on. i've never had cold medication or allergy medication or anything.

this is coming from a girl who, when her step-dad removed her wisdom teeth, he had to give her nine shots of novocaine on one side. when i could still feel the pain, we just went ahead with the extraction. the other side was given seven shots...and when that didn't work, the tooth was just pulled with pain.

this is coming from a girl who, after throwing up on a car ride to southern california, didn't want to take pepto bismol. everyone assured her it would feel better of she consumed it. she did consume it. she didn't feel better.

this is coming from a girl who, along with her three travel buddies, took a sleeping pill on a 13 hour plane ride to hong kong. aforementioned travel buddies were OUT. that girl was wiiiiiide awake for 13 hours.

this is coming from a girl who gets frequent migraines, but knows {look at that history, folks} that there's a good change high doses won't work magic on her, so she goes with the prescribed amount of over the counter fixes.

you'd think, after all this, i just wouldn't be grateful for modern medicine. but i am.

i do try my best to find a natural remedy {e.g. sleeping off a headache, de-stressing, exercising, eating right}, but when that doesn't work, i'm grateful there are other options. i'm glad i can reduce the pain a little bit after a 20 mile run. i'm glad i can wake up without a headache once in awhile.

i tried my best to help leah stay asleep without medicating her. but when the screams continued and the layton family was on the verge of imploding, i'm grateful modern medication came to the rescue.

i'm actually grateful i've had examples of how too much medication can be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing, so i won't make the same mistakes i've witnessed. but i'm grateful it's there to help us, in the correct dosage, and the correct usage.

and with that, i'm going to bed. and i'm pretty sure i won't wake up until morning. thank goodness.

i'm so grateful for modern medication.

gratitude: day 27

today i am grateful for my body.

i think our physical bodies are an amazing thing. i've realized that even more as i've watched leah's body not work exactly as i had hoped it might.

muscles. bones. blood. organs. nerves. everything has to work together in order to move our bodies. it's so incredible to me.

my body lets me run. i feel so good when i run.

my body lets me play the piano. i love playing the piano.

my body lets me eat. i really love eating.

my body lets me sleep. mmm...sleeping is nice.

my body lets me learn. learning is so much fun.

my body lets me play, rest, jump, spin, dance, twirl, sit, stand, bend, stretch.

my body lets me see, hear, taste, touch, smell.

my body is a gift. i'm trying to take good care of it.

i'm thankful for my body.

gratitude: day 26

today i am grateful for plenty.

for enough. for all that i need...of everything.

i'm one pretty blessed girl.

ryan has a great job - and it looks like it's pretty secure. we know how blessed we are with this as so many jobs aren't right now.

we have plenty of food every day. we never have to worry about what will be on our table {just who is actually going to have the talent and time to cook it}. we don't have to worry about a roof over our heads. and, although managing is a lot of work, we've been able to save a lot of money.

we have great medical insurance, which has proved invaluable this year with so many tests and draws and appointments. please, government, don't take that away from us.

i have plenty of good health. in fact, i'm probably more healthy than i've ever been. i've never had stitches or a broken...anything...or an ear infection, or strep. i maybe get a cold once a year. i don't have allergies. i've never even had a bloody nose {really!}. i'm really blessed this way.

i have plenty of family and friends who i adore and cannot imagine my life without.

i just have enough. there's nothing i need.

i'm grateful for plenty.

gratitude: day 25

today i am grateful for leah.hopefully everyone already knows this.

i'm grateful she has made me love someone in a way i never knew was possible.

i'm grateful she has helped me be more patient. more understanding. more nurturing.

i'm grateful she has helped me to slow down {sometimes} and enjoy smaller things in life. to see things as i'm sure i used to see them, and then somehow forgot. to relax and play. to not always worry about messes...and even have fun with them.

i'm grateful she's my little helper. she goes almost everywhere with me. she does almost everything with me.

i'm grateful for her laugh. her smile. her curls. her eyes. her chubby cheeks. her roly-poly legs. her six-pack abs. her ticklish tummy. her bum cheeks. her sense of humor. her love of books. her curiosity. her teasing. her wobbly run.

i'm grateful she was strong enough and brave enough before she even came here to sign up for all of her challenges. and i'm grateful she trusted me enough to take care of her while she is here.

i'm grateful she has helped me remember to fall on my knees to pray each morning and each night...and usually many times in between.

i'm grateful for the ups...and downs...even though i much prefer the ups.

i'm grateful she forgets when i make a mistake. or when i'm not as nice or as patient as i should be.

i'm grateful for her hugs and kisses. and i'm grateful she said, "ma ma" today, even if she wasn't saying it to me. i needed that.

i'm grateful for leah.

oh, bean

i love when i find things in unexpected places.

like a plastic bath duckie in bean's laundry basket. it made me smile today.

where's waldo...er...ryan

ryan went to bed earlier than me last night {i know, shocker, right?!}. i guess this is how he felt about all my christmas gift stuff all over the bed.