Time to give thanks.

I love to sit still in quiet reflection while the baby sleeps, my husband is away at work, and the sun sets behind the neighboring apartment buildings. The sky  gives up her blue, and shines instead in soft pinks and purples. Fall is on her way over; a cool breeze dances in through the open windows. I feel surprised that summer is already over. We survived it! And, not only that we were so enlightened. In the midst of incredible sorrow and stress, I found equal amounts of joy and peace. Words cannot express my gratitude to all of those who took care of my family this past June. For traveling great distances to be with us, for supplying us with meals, babysitting, for making lovely arrangements, and for packing us up and moving us with only an hours notice only to help us move again a month later. I appreciate those dear friends who helped us clean, who mourned with us and encouraged us, who shared their time and talents with us in a beautiful funeral service.

I know that we do not need to be sad daily. In fact, my heart is filled with happiness! I am happy that my mom is spending her time with friends, learning and growing in wisdom and understanding. I am happy that someday, I will speak with her once more. I am happy that I realize this and that I know with every fiber of my being that we all have a heavenly Father who loves each and every one of us. I am happy because I don't understand all things, but I don't need to! He has a plan, and I trust Him. Because of the atonement, I can turn my plethora of emotions (confusion, hurt, regret, worry...) over to the Lord and I can go about my days happily, just trying to be the best that I can be. I hope I am able to be a blessing in the lives of those around me, as so many people have blessed my life.

And what a beautiful life we lead. My husband is loving school. I am so grateful to him for studying so hard and with so much enthusiasm. We are so blessed because he is able to attend such a good school, with professors who truly want to be there and want to see each student succeed! I appreciate my husband working so hard to support us so that I am able to fulfill my role as a woman by staying home to take care of our home and our daughter (believe me- this is a full time job.) I love our life. I love this city, with the friends we have made and the ones we have yet to meet. I love that we can see the temple from our home, and that our church building is less than a ten minute walk away. More than that, I love that our Heavenly Father is ALWAYS only a prayer away and that my dad is ALWAYS only a phone call away. I love that I am married to my best friend, who is such a good example to me and who leads our family with the best of intentions. This truly is a wonderful life.

Here are some pictures of our six month old that I took today. She melts my heart!