Today in Sacrament meeting the topic was "gratitude". What else would it be the Sunday before Thanksgiving? One of the speakers really got me thinking. He said, "Everyday we pray and say that we are thankful for the day, but what about the day are we thankful for?" That got me to thinking, what about today am I thankful for? Today I am thankful for friends who love and support me and want me to be happy. I thankful for a loving family that is going to drive me crazy over the next five weeks, but then will be okay after that. I am thankful for the gospel and the restoration. I am thankful for inspired leaders. I am thankful for personal revelation. I am thankful for the Savior and the sacrifice that he made for me. I am thankful for a loving fiance that will support me in whatever decisions I make and my goals in life. I am thankful for Temples and the opportunity to be sealed to my family for eternity. I am thankful for technology because I don't think I could do math without it. I am thankful for a roof over my head and food in my cupboards. I am thankful for so many things today there is not enough time to write them all down. I guess, most importantly, I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who has blessed me so much recently. I am thankful!

I am also in the Christmas mood now. The past couple of years I have not been all that into Christmas. It just hasn't felt like Christmas but after going to the mall yesterday and walking around a Christmas store looking for my mom's Christmas gift and seeing all the nativities, I am in the mood. I needed the reminder of the nativities about what the season is all about. It's not about the gifts or the sales, or the materialism. It's about the birth of Christ and I hope I will be able to remember that as the stress of the season comes upon me. It is my goal to remember what the time is really about and not worry about the other stuff that the world thinks the season about. This year is really turning out to be a great one! One more month and the year will end. Another year down, another year of experience and wisdom.