Complaints turned to blessings

I started out wanting to write a "complaining" post. I've been so frustrated with still being pregnant, and just the ups and downs of life. And it's been difficult for me to make friends in my new ward for some reason, although that reason was probably me not trying hard enough.

But then the thought came to my mind, "Positive attitudes attract positive things." It's so true. I started thinking of a woman in my office, whom I really like, but can be exhausting to be around. She ALWAYS has complaint; she's never just perky. In contrast I thought about another friend who is always making an effort to be cheery; not in a fake annoying way, but in a "I know how to look at the glass half full and be satisfied with my life" way. It's not hard to guess which woman I'd rather spend time with. Then I thought, I want to be more like her.

I began thinking of all the good things I have in my life. My husband, our home, our jobs, our families, my sisters, Lucy, my health....the list goes on and on. I started to really be aware of my thoughts and attitudes these past couple of days, and through a series of small events that were actually answers to my simple prayers, I feel like I may be tapping into the beginnings of some very wonderful friendships with some moms in my new neighborhood.

Sometimes we spend so much time focusing on the problem, we don't look up to see the solution. So in short, I want to commit to being a more cheerful, outgoing person, and hope you all will too!

Tom's Promotion

This actually happened the 25th of May, but I'm a little behind. Tom got promoted to Senior Credit Manager at Wells Fargo Financial! He worked SOOOO hard to get this promotion; he was up for the promotion a few times in the year he's been there, but seemed to just miss it. However, all his persistence and positive attitude paid off!
Wells Fargo sent out a mini-press release on him to all Wells Fargo Financial employees in the district congratulating him on his hard-earned, well-deserved promotion. I am so blessed to be married to such a hard worker and capable, intellegent man.
Tom's way of looking at the glass half-full is probably one of the things people admire about him most.
To celebrate we went to his favorite place...Wingers. I actually don't like Wingers AT ALL, but this night was about him, so I choked the food down with a smile :0)
Congratulations again, honey!

Handsome man
Lucy liked the popcorn

coloring with Daddy

Ha ha, they were both annoyed with me for taking too many pictures

Tom's favorite :)

VACATION

Tom and I were starting to feel the stress of this pregnancy. Things just get so busy with both of us working, Tom getting promoted (another post to come on that), trying to find an investment property, and the general fatigue of pregnancy. Tom suggested that we get away for memorial day weekend, even if just overnight.
So Grandma and Grandpa Griffith were kind enough to keep Lucy overnight while Tom and I snuck out to Wendover. We enjoyed the time away- we ate fantastic food, relaxed, rebelled by playing the penny slots (we didn't gain or lose anything- we put $5 in, and won $4.85 back) We just had to try it, and saw a movie. It was SOOOO wonderful. Tom's favorite part was that his dad surprised us by letting us take his 2006 ZO6 Corvette!

We thought the food was really pretty; they serve it with flowers :)

Volunteer Project

We did a volunteer project at work last Saturday. We are trying to get a play therapy playground built for the children clients we see. It was a big project, but everyone was a good sport about it. We had six people there (counting Tom and I) and worked for four hours. The pictures actually start with the close-to-finished product, and go backwards. So, start at the bottom to see how much we did!
Our goal was weeding and mowing, mostly. An Eagle Scout is building picnic tables for us for his project, and they should be here next week :) We're really excited to see this become a reality because it's something the Family Support Center has wanted for a few years, but hasn't been able to get the labor or funding for. So far everything, including bark chips, rocks, labor, tables...everything, has been donated by volunteers. I have amazing volunteers who inspire me every day to be a better person.

Looking good! Almost done.

Lucy hard at work

"C'mon, Mom! Enough with the pictures."

Two of our lovely lady volunteers

My favorite volunteer; Tom NEVER tells me no when I ask for help at work

This is what we started with.

Starting a knitting group

Are there any fellow knitters/crochet people who would be interested in starting a group? I was thinking we could start a group and get together and make blankets to donate to hospitals who are sending newborns home wrapped in newspapers. I was thinking once a week, probably in the afternoons after nap time. Kids welcome. We could rotate homes it's hosted at, as long as we all live within a reasonable distance of each other.
Let me know what you think!

Get Involved

Hey everyone, for work I'm trying to put together some nice cookbooks for the families we serve. Please send me your favorite recepies! I need a good combination of main dishes, side dishes, snacks, desserts, salads, etc. Keep in mind:
Most of the families live well-below the poverty line, so simple, cheap ingredients
We want to emphasize health
Most of the families have very little education, so very simple instructions and words are best

If you keep a blog of recepies already, if you can just give me permission to use the material off of that blog, I'll copy them myself. You'll get credit in the text of the book we put together for your recepies.

Thanks everyone! This is a very easy way to get involved in a good cause. Hope to hear from you all soon!

Almost 33 weeks

Well, I'm almost 33 weeks along. Lucy was born at 36, so at this point two years ago, I was very close to delivery. I'm pretty sure this one will stay in the oven a little longer, though. I'm much healthier this pregnancy than I was my first. Of course, at this point I don't really sleep, I can't breath, I have to pee every time I sneeze, and I'm praying for time to fly. I also am very anxious to be able to see my toes again.
But, overall, the pregnancy has gone fairly well, minus a few scares at the beginning. I'm dreading labor, but ready to get it over and be able to bend again. This was taken about a week ago, but I haven't gained any weight since then, so the bump is about the same size.