Gratitude Week . . .

It would be totally inappropriate to donate an entire post to my gratitude for the recently released {and oh, so enjoyable} movie New Moon. That would be weird, right? If I did, you might never come back to this silly little blog again.

I can't bear the thought of that, so instead I want to talk about my gratitude for YOU today! Yes, I'm talking to you, the readers of my blog. Whether you are a regular commenter, a silent observer {aka: lurker}, a sweet friend of my mom's who can't quite figure out how to get a google account, my brother who randomly comments when feeling snarky, a complete stranger all the way over in Spain, an anonymous reader whose comments reach into my soul, a fabulous mother-in-law, a former ward member, a mere acquaintance or a very close friend, you need to know that I am so very grateful for you.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been going though some difficult times as of late. I know there are degrees of difficulty and in my case, it's not so bad. But it's still difficult to me and you need to know that I have looked to my blog and its readers as a little life raft in my current stormy seas.

On this blog I've been able to talk about {at times in veiled reference}, think about, and work through some tough emotions. And through it all you have read, listened and even advised. It has been a great comfort and help to me. So thank you. To all of you, whether you're vocal or not. You are appreciated. {Insert pat on your back here.}

As a little show of my affection, I decided that a giveaway is in order today. And it just happens to do with a certain little movie I love and a certain friend I love even more.

My super talented friend-for-life Jennie was willing to take a design idea from my head and turn it into a T-shirt for me to wear to the New Moon premiere. Nothing says devotion like a custom made tee. Lucky for you, she printed me an extra and I'd like to send it to a Dragonfly reader.

The shirt is screened in metallic silver and bronze {for Edward and Jacob, of course} on a super soft American Apparel tee. Here's the front:

And here's the back {because I believe no girl should have to make that kind of choice . . . it's just too hard}:

If you'd like to win this shirt, which would make a choice Christmas gift for an obsessed Twihard, just leave a comment on this post telling me what you are grateful for this Thanksgiving. I'll close out the comments at midnight EST on Friday, November 27th. Please leave an email or link to your blog so I can contact the winner.

Isn't gratitude the best?

ps. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner!

Gratitude Week . . .

Every week should be gratitude week. {Mental note to self: Life would be better if I more regularly took stock of my many blessings.} But this week just happens to be the week I am going to blog about gratitude.

Ask yourself a question: Why in the world would the Dragonfly follow a bunch of preteens into the woods? And even more important, why would she be grateful to do it - we are talking about a cesspool of prepubescent hormonal attitude, you know.

I followed them into the woods so I could look up and see this blue sky through the leafless limbs of the great trees in Virginia.

And I followed them so I could savor the benefits of living in the cradle of American History where sites like this are literally around the corner from my house.

I followed them into the woods to reach the hallowed ground of our nation's third smallest national cemetery which holds the remains of fifty-four soldiers from our country's only civil war.

And I followed them into the woods so I could enter through this crested gate.

I followed them into the woods to look at each individual flag marked tombstone.

I follwed them into the woods to ponder on the fact that of the fifty-four soldiers buried in this cemetary, only ONE was able to be identified.

I followed them into the woods so I could see our beautiful Stars and Strips waving in a gentle Fall breeze against God's gorgeous backdrop.

I also followed them into the woods so I could take a picture of the amazing bark of this "Witness Tree" - a tree that has stood since the Civil War and were it able to talk, could tell me stories of the horrible battle that occured on the very ground I stood upon.

But mostly I followed them into the woods to be with this wonderful boy right here. This boy who loves history. This boy who loves school. This boy, who despite what other kids his age might think of him or their own parents, still wanted his mom to come on the field trip more than anything else. And this boy walked with me {and probably would have held my hand if I'd asked} the entire time.

When I walked out of the woods, my gratitude for this boy and our country was overflowing.

Beauty Unmeasured . . .

Photo by Chris Carlson (using my Edward)

Saw this out the window of the plane on Monday. Couldn't help but think of my Uncle. And peace. And a loving Creator.

I'll be back to blogging after I spend the weekend listening to General Conference and feeling really, truly grateful for four remarkable days in Utah with family.