A lot to be thankful for

I'm sitting on a couch with my two best friends watching a movie I have already seen.  And for some odd reason I love it.  Its been a while since we have all been together what with one getting married and the other bouncing in and out of the country.  We all live a half hour apart, and yet it is hard for us to ever get together.  It is so nice to be with familiar people and just feel like we are back in high school hanging out, except instead of a boyfriend on the couch with us it is a husband.  I think I take for granted the fact that we have all been friends this long, even though at some points we have been better friends than others.

This thanksgiving was a good one.  I got to go and spend time with some of my cousins that I don't know very well.  They grew up in Idaho, so we never spent much time together.  It was so much fun to hang out with them and get to know them a bit better.  Their kids are cute and they are just great people.  I'm terrible though and didn't take any pictures while I was there.

Today I woke up and decorated for christmas.  I LOVE this time of year.  It reminds me of how blessed I am.  I was thinking today about my last christmas in the mission.  My companion and I went out caroling with the bishop and his counselor and a few other people from the ward.  We went to almost every single family in the ward and sang to them. I remember not even caring about the presents that had been sent to me and the things we were going to eat the next day.  I cared about those people...who's best present that year was the songs that we were singing.  I sometimes wish I could get back to that point in my life, where I cared more about blessing others than really blessing myself.  I sometimes think that I get there with my calling and what not, but other times I lack...but that's what life is all about though isn't it?  My goal for this season is to just enjoy the fact that I live in a free country, I have a wonderful family, and I have been blessed enough to go to school.  That should be enough for anyone, right?