Grateful for Potluck Dinners

Tonight I went to a potluck dinner.  It is an inexpensive way to eat out.  I fix one dish and take it to the dinner and then I get to eat a wide variety of different kinds of foods.  It is my chance to eat out and enjoy a meal with friends without having to pay a lot.  Tonight there were at least a dozen different casseroles, a couple of salads, rolls, green beans, grapes, and about a dozen different desserts.  The biggest challenge is not taking and eating too much.  Everything looks so good, so you take a little bit of each and before you know it your plate in completely full.  Yet, it is fun to try things you wouldn't cook yourself and it is fun to get to have such a variety of foods to choose from.  I am grateful that every once in a while I get to go to a potluck dinner.

I Am Grateful for Autumn Time

I love autumn time.  The colorful leaves are so beautiful to look at.  I love watching pumpkins growing in the garden turn orange.  I love harvesting ripe tomatoes and having a tomato sandwich for lunch.  I like the cooler temperatures.  I enjoyed a small watermelon from my garden today.  There are many reasons why I am grateful for autumn.

Grateful for Crocus

Sometimes as cooler weather starts in the fall the flowers of summer start to fade.  I just discovered the fall crocus had just bloomed.  It is exciting to see new flowers blooming as others are fading away.  So in addition to being grateful for watermelons, pumpkins, and tomatoes that are ready for harvest, I am grateful for beautiful purple crocuses.

Grateful for Learning to Make Photo Jewelry

A couple of years ago I came across a way to make photo jewelry.  It sounded like fun to make so I ordered the materials and made some jewelry.  The above photos are samples of some of the jewelry I made.  I did have fun making it.  I am grateful for having learned how to make photo jewelry.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be creative.  Life is more interesting when you can do something fun once in a while.

Grateful for a Fire Department

Tonight I am very grateful for a fire department.  I took trash out to my garbage cart, and I could smell propane.  I don't have a propane tank, but my next door neighbor does.  His tank is in the corner of his yard right next to my garbage cart.  He wasn't home.  I called the sheriff's department, and they called the fire department.  I am so grateful that there was no fire or explosion from the leak, and I am so grateful we have a fire department who can take care of situations like this.  As a child I remember seeing the wreckage of a home that had exploded from a natural gas leak.  I don't want to see that happen again.  I know I pay part of my property tax to support a fire department, and I am so grateful that they are there to help.

The above photo is in the public domain and was found at 

http://publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com/2008/07/newyork-city-firetruck.html.

Grateful for a Reminder to be Grateful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGnfq5ua2VY&feature=sub


I am so grateful to be able to listen to a prophet.  I really enjoyed this talk about the importance of gratitude.  I need constant reminders of how important it is to be grateful.  It is easier for me to focus on the negative in my life.  That is why I decided to do this blog so I could focus on the positive in my life.  I am grateful for the reminder that came this past Sunday from a prophet to be grateful.

Grateful for Rain

Right now I can smell rain outside.  It has been along time since we have had rain here.  Here it is the second day of October and we still have been having ninety degree weather.  The warm temperatures have been great for the garden.  I have three watermelons growing and four pumpkins.  They are getting bigger because of the warm weather.  But I have had to water them a lot since there hasn't been rain for almost two months.  I don't know how much it will rain, but the smell of rain is so nice when it has been so long since we had some.  I really do appreciate rain.

Grateful for Phones

I am grateful for phones.  When I was twelve years old our family didn't have a telephone.  We lived a mile outside of town.  There were no homes between our home and town.  We did have a neighbor only half a mile away in the opposite direction.  A telephone hadn't been a really important thing to my parents until the day we had a fire.  We had thousands of chickens and we sold their eggs.  My dad had two older coops and he had built a new bigger coop that was easier to clean.  On a hot August afternoon the straw stack next to the new coop caught fire.  It spread to the coop.  When the fire was discovered my dad told my sister who had her driver's license to drive to town and call the fire department.  The rest of the family tried spraying and pouring water on the fire to put it out.  Unfortunately it spread through the coop.  The fire engines arrived too late to save the coop.  However they were able to save the older coops, the corrals, the grainery and our home.  If we had had a phone help would have gotten to us sooner.  So my parents decided it was time to get a phone.

Phones have become a necessity.  With a phone you can call for help when you need it.  If some one is sick, some one is breaking into your house or you have a fire or other disaster, you can help right away.  Cell phones have also made it possible to communicate while traveling.  Flat rate plans also make it easier to call and visit without worrying about how many minutes you have talked and how much it will cost.  I am grateful for phones.