It's Dad's 50th Birthday!!!

My Dad is:

sacrificing

Hard working

strong spirited

faithful

a Melchizedek Priesthood holder

a return missionary

a teacher

a lover of hymns

a lover of books

a lover of traveling

a lover of neckties

a good story-teller

a Trojan through and through (fight on!!)

funny

sometimes embarrassing (but we love it)

a wonderful father that I love very very much.

My Dad helped me to learn how to read. He has always worked very hard to make life good for us. He has saved money to take us to really cool places. He has sacrificed a lot in the past few months to keep our family happy. I love him very very much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Daddy!

What I am most grateful for.....

Today was a really good Thanksgiving. It was a little weird not being with my family, and it is a little weird sitting here in my apartment on Thanksgiving night, but it is refreshing to mix things up a bit and to know that I can be happy and have fun in new places with new people.

Writing a post every day about the things I am grateful for has led me to a lot of reflection on what I am MOST grateful for in my life. The thing I am most grateful for in my life (besides my family, that is a given) is my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was fortunate enough to be born into the church and to be active in it my whole life. However, it was not until about a year ago (if I am being really honest) that I started to gain my own testimony. My testimony of the gospel-and more specifically of my Savior Jesus Christ- is my most prized possession. Luckily it is one that can never be taken away or stolen from me. It is one that I can keep forever, and it will even get stronger as I live through the rest of my life. I am so grateful for EVERYTHING that has happened in my life to get me to the point I am at now. I still have a looooong way to go, but I have a strong and deep faith in the Atonement and in modern -day prophets. I have the Book of Mormon and temples. I have my family for all eternity. I have a strong relationship with my Heavenly Father through prayer. What else could I need? I am so grateful for these things which have been (and will be) the strong foundation I need to conquer whatever challenges life brings me. For this I am very, very extremely and eternally grateful.

lots and lots

to be thankful for:

inspiration

my job

got my paper done :)

seeing my cousins tomorrow!

LDSP job posting

Noelle in PMPC for helping me make two people's day :)

dancing turkeys

Mt. Timp (it was pink tonight) kind of like this:

It looks like Thanksgiving outside

Today I walked outside and it really looked like Thanksgiving! I don't know how, it just did K? Ok.

Tonight I attended my FIRST BYU basketball game EVER! It was way fun! I am really glad I went!

I am grateful that I live on this earth,at this specific time, in the United States, in Provo, UT, at Chatsworth, in Center 7, as Tati's roommate. I am so blessed.

I am grateful to be the daughter of Rex and Janet Gutierrez. I am grateful to be the grand daughter of Welcome and Eleanor Adamson and Carlos and Lucy Gutierrez. I am grateful to be the sister to Anna Beth and Rex Elias Gutierrez. I am grateful to be a cousin to my 56 cousins on my Gutierrez side and my 9 cousins on my Adamson side.

Basically, I am just grateful for my life. Just the way it is. For everything that has happened in my life, the good and the bad. For everything currently happening in my life, both the fun and the not so fun.

Dear life,

I love you.

Love, Alison

Vulnerable

Today I am grateful for many things:

Joseph Smith

Guru's with the BF (best friend, not boyfriend!)

Kathryn I.

Apple Cider

Thanksgiving break

Katie S.

That I was not one of the ones presenting today in ethics

that I changed my emphasis

Eva- for being understanding and flexible

Mom

Oops...

Oops, I totally forgot to post yesterday! So this post is for what I was thankful for yesterday and tonight I will (hopefully) remember to post about what I am thankful for today. But first, what is the difference between THANKFUL and GRATEFUL? I am going to investigate because I have always wondered....

Ok so they are synonyms and are basically the same thing.

In Websters Dictionary (online edition) it defines thankful as:
1. Conscious of benefit received
2.expressive of thanks (duh)
3. well pleased; glad

Grateful is defined as:
1. a) appreciative of benefit received. b)expressing gratitude (duh)
2. a) affording pleasure or contentment. b)pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated.

Hmmmm.... very interesting.... so being thankful is more of a recognition of something whereas being grateful is actually being appreciative something. I think you have to be thankful for something in order to be grateful for it. But they are basically the same so.....

I am grateful for Steve for helping me transport the turkey last night and for not getting juice all over my car.

I am grateful for days where I am alone most of the day (I really mean it, I am not being sarcastic). I think we all need those once and awhile.

I am grateful for music

I am grateful for my car

Pink

Squaw Peak was pink tonight at around 5 and I really liked it.

I am grateful that I got to talk to my sister today. We really don't talk enough.

I am grateful for seeing friends I haven't seen in awhile and catching up with them.

I am grateful for hugs.

I am grateful for children and the pure love of Christ that they exemplify.

I am grateful that it was warm(er) today

I am grateful for Michael for making me laugh this morning when I really needed it.

I am grateful for the email I just got from Andrew M.

I am grateful for Jarilyn.

I am grateful for the "Peaceful Holidays" station on Pandora