Grateful!

I've had a pretty hard week and have been very emotionally out of sorts.  So I decided to follow the council of an old familiar song and "Count My Blessings".  I am such a fortunate woman.  And what was really interesting is that some of the things on the list are things I complain about all the time.  So here is part of my list.  I can't list them all but I am going to list quite a few.

1. My wonderful, sweet, compassionate, and patient husband.
2. Parents who love and respect me as I am while always helping me to grow stronger
3. A home of my own
4. My husband's job
5. Siblings who I not only love but consider some of my best friends
6. The opportunity to have a higher education.
7. Being a citizen of America
8. Living in a place where I can practice my faith and follow the Lord's council for me without being ridiculed.
9. The experience of living in a place where I was the minority and the compassion and open mindedness that gave me.
10. A healthy little boy growing inside of me.
11. The ability to go to a good doctor and hospital
12. The atonement of Jesus Christ
13. A Heavenly Father who gives me second chances, even when I am stubborn and try to get my own way.
14. Food in my stomach and in my pantry
15. A strong and healthy body
16. A pregnancy with minimal complications
17. Dear friends, past and present, who support me.
18. Being raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
19. Having a job
20. Possessing a sound mind
21. Access to the Internet
22. Modern medicine
23. A car that works
24. Extended family that I love and adore
25. modern conveniences from Ac's to smoke detectors

That's my list for now. There are so many more but this covers the most important ones.  I am truly blessed. Beyond these I had the great satisfaction of looking at my life and realizing that I am exactly where I always dreamed I would be at 22.  Married for time and eternity to the man of my dreams, graduated from my dream University, and about to have a baby.  Since I spend most of my days feeling as if I have disappointed people with the way my life has turned out it was a really nice thing to realize that I have fulfilled the most important goals I wanted to accomplish by this point in my life.  God is good.

My up coming attempt at having a cleaning schedule!

I am setting a goal, and since it is much easier to stick to a goal when other people know about it, I am putting the details up on my blog and will be reporting periodically on how it goes.  I have been trying (and failing) to be a good housekeeper.  It is not one of my natural talents at all! For some reason I was under the delusion that when you get married that talent suddenly kicks in, how about not! Any way, I have been trying to do what I did as a kid and when I was single, save it all for Saturday and write up a to-do list.  Well all that seems to be happening is either I look at the massive (and I mean 20-30 item long) to-do list and get so overwhelmed nothing happens... or I work my tail off all day and only get 1/3 of it done while completely wearing myself out.  So here is the new plan.  I have made up a cleaning schedule, and am going to try and stick to it.  In the interest of full discloser (and added accountability) here is my schedule.  (It may get altered when school starts... we shall see).

Monday (Kitchen)
     -Sweep/mop floor
     -Clean microwave
     -wipe down cupboards
     - clean stove
     - clean out fridge
     - check cupboards organization
Tuesday (Living room)
     - dust
     - wipe down fridge (outside)
     - straighten tables and shelves
     - wipe down walls
     - pick up floor
     - vacuum
Wednesday (Bedroom)
     - straighten closet
     - pick up floor
     - change sheets
     - straighten table tops
     - wipe down walls
     - vacuum
Thursday (Bathroom/Babies room)
      - Bathroom (David)
      - straighten shelves/desks
      - pick up floor
      - dust
      - wipe down walls
      - straighten closet
      - vacuum
Friday (Laundry)
      - Wash/Dry
      - Fold
      - Put away
Saturday (Patio/Catch up)
      - sweep patio
      - Straighten patio
      - clean garbage cans
      - wash windows
      - finish things not done during the week
Everyday
       - run dishwasher
       - check/take out trash
       - put away dishes
       - make dinner

So there it is, my master plan.  I know it is very specific but I'm one of those people who hates cleaning so much I have to spell out every detail, even for myself.  I'm hoping that after the first 2 weeks or so that things will get much easier.  Not only because I am used to the schedule but because things are getting done more often.  Here is hoping.

My family is in town for 2 weeks... and I still managed not to take a single picture! FAIL!

     So between my family being here and my delusional hope that I would have pictures to share I am a little behind on my blogging.  I really am disappointed with myself about the pictures.  I even managed to bring my camera every where with me! Boo, dang! Oh well, baby steps, now I'm in the habit of keeping my camera in my purse it should be much easier to remember to pull it out and take a picture. Since I am so much stuff has happened I will stick to covering the past two weeks with a list of firsts:
     1. I purchased and cooked with alcohol for the first time, though I'm not sure it counts since the sales clerk didn't even card me :( I even had my ID out and ready but nope.  I guess they figure under-age drinkers aren't likely to be buying cooking sherry for the keg party.  Still the pasta dish I made turned out amazing and has been put on David's request list! Success!
     2. Bought my first maternity under clothes... enough said.
     3. Had someone comment on my waddle (thanks Dad!).  I would like the record to show that I waddle, not because I can't walk any other way, but for balancing purposes.  I tend to have much fewer gravity challenged moments if I widen my stance.  And since balance has never been a strong suit of mine right now I need all the help I can get.
     4. Went to the Air Force museum at Hill Air Force Base.  I went up with my parents and and two youngest siblings.  We met up with my Dad's youngest brothers and their families.  It was a lot of fun to watch the little kids get excited about the planes and listen to my Dad and his brother get excited about rotary engines and helicopter blades.
      5. Had crock-pot Salisbury steak.  My mom made it for dinner and it was super duper yummy! I am definitely adding it to our dinner rotation, not that I had much of a choice since David also fell in love! Yeah for additions to our dinner menus!
     6. Finished an entire rotation of "Mexican Train" Dominoes with David and my family.  Dominoes is one of my families favorite games and we had played it with David before but never made it through all 16 rounds. (you have to play a round for every double and our set goes up to double 15).  It took up 3 days of playing (not straight through of course) but we were able to finish before they went back to CA.  And guess who won?  Yes that would be me!! Dominoes champion.  However, everyone else seemed to be more excited that David beat Mom (they came in 2nd and 3rd).  Those two had spent the entire time smack talking each other so the conclusion of that was more exciting than the actual out come of the game.  I still kick both their butts though.
    7.  Made a banana cream pie.  So even though I love to make pie I had never made one before (probably because I think they are disgusting! I don't understand why people like them so much).  I try and make it a point to make a pie for each of our home teachers and one of them requested a banana cream.  I started out with these grand intentions of doing it all from scratch, but between the extra dishes that would take and the extra time with the stove on I changed my mind and stuck with the instant vanilla pudding version.  It ended up looking pretty good if I say so myself.
   
     That about covers all the firsts we experienced.  Its been a fun couple of weeks.

Over and out!