Awesomes

Sometimes you just have those days where you realize how silly you can be. And when I say silly, I mean something more like ungrateful, or ignorant, or self-centered. I am those things, sometimes in small ways and sometimes not as small. But anyway, today I realized that I have a lot of stuff to be grateful for, and I can find them easily if I just stop worrying about me and look around.

For example, I have a wonderful husband who is funny and super nice to me. He does the dishes every day. EVERY DAY. We have a chore-duty arrangement, but still. I do them now and then when I want to "be nice," but I should probably do them more often for him because he is awesome. Sometimes he fluffs my pillow while I'm getting ready for bed so it will be soft and poofy for me when I'm ready to sleep. He has woken up at 5:30 am to take the dog out every day for like a week, even though we're sorta supposed to take turns, AND even though he gets up for work 2 hours later. He does it so I can sleep. He does a lot of nice, small things to make me happy. And I can't remember him complaining about any of it. He is the best. 

I have an adorable puppy who is getting so good at listening to us and not biting our fingers off. Hooray for that! He was house-trained in like a day, he licks us (lovingly I assume) when he wakes up. He runs up to us when we come home. And today I watched a video that involved a pregnant woman crying about Star Wars {it just happens} and he came walking around the corner, looking very concerned. Yes, my puppy worries about criers. That's cute! 

I am healthy. What a great blessing. 

I have an adorable little house that has everything we could have wanted. Heating, cooling, a dishwasher, washer and dryer. Furniture to sit in/sleep on/eat on. Nice carpet. Nice hardwood. Nice tile. Nice neighbors!  An awesome ward. We aren't cold because we have blankets and hot chocolate, if we want. We aren't hungry because we can afford food and because we have awesome people who sometimes willingly feed us, just cause they can. We aren't bored because we have games and books and movies and shows and a puppy and friends. 

Speaking of friends, I have awesome ones. They call to see what's new in my life. They hang out with me and plan play dates and girls' nights and we laugh and have fun together. They have things in their lives that they worry about, or that are hard, and they still make sure that I'm okay. That is amazing. They are successful and working hard towards awesome goals. They are also caring, loving, wonderful people. They are great, great friends. {And gorgeous too! :)} Even the friends I have that I don't know as well are just cool people. Good people who try to be the best they can all the time. They're inspiring. 

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, I have THE best family ever. My grandparents stay in touch and want to know about my life. They show their love for their families and are great examples. My aunts and uncles are all pretty spectacular. My cousins are some of my best friends. They are hilarious and fun and always make me feel wanted. 

Just one of my amazing cousins!
Apparently I need to take more cousin pictures.

My brother is one of my best friends too. He always wanted to hang around with me even when I was kind of a jerk when we were younger {and maybe sometimes when we were older...} He always supports my efforts in art and writing, and sometimes he thinks I'm actually good at it. He is probably one of the main reasons why I keep trying to draw and write, in fact. He is funny and caring and has a good, loving heart. I always admired his way of showing his emotions without fear. I love my brother.

My dad is my hero. His willingness to serve and love everyone has always been super impressive to me. He is silly and smart and humble and works really hard. He makes it clear that he loves and respects his wife. He supports my brother and I in everything. The list goes on and on. I love my dad.  

My mom is a superstar. She has always done everything she can for her family, and her kids. She always cleaned up after us, fed us (and it was usually quite delicious stuff, in my opinion), bought us things we probably didn't need, but wanted, and took care of our pets even though we had promised to do it. She laughs and sings and smiles all the time. And to this day she makes sure to tell us she loves us all the time. She has done a million billion things. I love my mom.

My awesome family!

I'm starting to feel like I'm getting kinda braggy, but I mean it to be a list of "Awesomes" in my life. I hope I'll keep remembering all my Awesomes next time I complain about how I ruined my just-painted nails or how I have another zit or my hair is flat or I wish I had new shoes {all pretty vain things, on reflection} or something else silly and unimportant. Cause life is great, and no matter what happens there are always things to appreciate.