November Gratitude

Misan Mayıs 25, 2022

Oh my, I can't believe that it has been well over a month since my last post. Time goes quickly and my life got crazy busy after my last post. I don't want to let my little blog go, though, so I need to start posting again.

This is the month of gratitude and the past couple of months certainly given me much to be grateful for.

One thing I am grateful for is that this young man has moved to Utah and is now living in a college town about 40 miles south of here.

He is living in a large apartment complex with a lot of young people his age. He has a job and will start taking college classes again in January. He is also making plans, and saving up, to go on a humanitarian trip, possibly to Africa, next summer.

He was going to buy a car, but on his budget, he decided to ship the '96 Corolla he has been driving, from Arizona to Utah. We have had this car since my mother passed in 1998. She bought it brand new and we have been driving it since her death. It isn't pretty, but it has been well-cared for and is dependable. I am grateful Josh made the smart choice to keep his savings for other things, and keep driving his old Toyota.

I am grateful that Josh and I were able to attend General Conference for our church, together, last month.

We went to two sessions of the Conference together at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City, and it was a great experience. We are planning to make this a mother/son tradition.

We have had a really beautiful fall here in Utah. We have had some cool and cloudy days, but overall, it has been quite mild. No snow yet. This is an amazing sunrise I saw last week as I was pulling into the parking lot at school. I am so grateful for beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

I am grateful for this lovely autumn, as well for as for the late afternoon and early evening walks I try to go on every day.

I loved this full-moon over the mountain just east of our home, which I saw on one of my evening walks. I grateful for beauty like this in my surroundings.

We have lots of big trees in our neighborhood and the leaves can be a big mess and a huge job to rake up, but I love to walk on a crunchy carpet of leaves. I am also grateful for the opportunity I had to help my 91-year-old neighbor by raking up all the leaves in her back yard.

I am grateful to live close enough to the Salt Lake Temple to be able to stop by in the afternoon on my way home from school. The warm spirit I feel when I am there can brighten a cold and cloudy day.

I am grateful that school is going well. The first quarter is finished and we are well into the second. Here is a picture from a recent assembly we had.

I teach at a school with a high poverty rate and a lot of economically disadvantaged students. I am grateful I was able to help out a bit when one of our student's two-year-old sister needed some shoes and other basic clothing items. I am always thankful to be able to give and help others.

I am grateful that the holidays are coming. I know it is early, but I decided to put my Christmas decorations up, especially since we are having a big family Thanksgiving here.