The Gift of Gratitude........

As I searched for Christmas gifts for my children I saw a book on things to do for the Savior for Christmas.  One of the many things to do that caught my attention was " Give the gift of Gratitude".  Remember to give thanks daily to God, and our Savior for all your blessings.  If you are not religious you may just thank the universe.   I believe there is a God and Savior and so through out the day I say thank you for those things that are blessings.

If you think about it, it's very simple to give thanks.  And the wonderful thing that I have learned is that as you give thanks you are then given more blessings.  When a trial hits, I look for what is going right and thank God for that.  And though everything may not work out perfectly at least I have made a bad situation not so bad.
I hope for the year of 2014 to continue to learn and grow and focus my life on Gratitude.  I hope to keep my Friday blog posts focused on Gratitude.  I'm working on other topics and the days I would like to blog about them.  But Fridays will remain my Gratitude day.
Here are things I'm thankful for this week:
1. I'm thankful for the employees who support me in my new position at work.
2. I'm thankful for time with my family.  We had a wonderful Christmas day.
3. I'm thankful for books that teach about healthy eating, my new goal for the new year is to eat healthy, no more soda and chips for me.

4. I'm thankful for all the beautiful photo's of flowers that I took this year.  I look forward to getting more photo's in 2014.
5. I'm thankful for technology that allows me to keep in touch with friends and family around the world.
6. I'm thankful for my wonderful children, who made beautiful Christmas presents for me.
7.  I'm thankful for lots of sunshine to sit in on cold winter days.
8. I'm thankful my husband is a mechanic and can fix our old cars.

9.  I'm grateful for all the learning of this year.  I hope for a new year with learning, but perhaps less struggles.
10. I'm grateful for my life and all the blessings that have been mine.
Have a wonderful New year.
G.G.

Our Horse and Carriage Ride Around "Down Town Salt Lake City .....Merry Christmas!!

My Daughter wanted to go "Down Town"  and take a horse and carriage ride to see the lights.  So this past Saturday we did that.  She was so excited!

We dressed real warm, because it was very cold out and I'm very glad we did this as there was a 40 minute wait to get a ride.

I can't believe both my children are taller than me!

Frozen but totally excited!

There were lots of horse and carriages out.  This was my favorite one and ended up being the one that we got a ride on.  The horses name was "Buddy" and he was part Morgan horse which I liked.  He was beautiful!

Finally our turn.  We wrapped up in the blankets and enjoyed the ride.  Don't the kids look so happy!

My son sang a song for us.  My daughter at some point starts laughing because my husband is making funny faces.

The lights were beautiful!
I hope we get to go again next year!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
G.G.

The rescue, He came to rescue us all...... Christmas and the Rescue....

I was so thankful yesterday to be able to attend church.  My new position makes it so I see my family more, but sometimes I have to work Sunday mornings and miss getting to attend church.  So as I walked to church I said thank you multiple times due to the fact that I was so happy to be able to attend and to be with my family.  As I sat and thought about the topic that has been spoken on for the past few months I thought " Jesus Came to Rescue us."   I thought about how from the beginning there was a plan, and the plan was that we would have a Savior to teach us how to live and earn eternal life.

"God So Loved The World That He Gave His Only Begotten Son....."  I thought of how thankful I was that Christ came to this world and gave his whole life that we might live forever with him, Heavenly Father, and our families."

The great rescuer taught us how important we were to him, as he taught us about being rescued and about how we can rescue others.  He taught us to love others as he loved us.  He taught us to search for the lost, as he searches for the lost.  He taught us to be patient and always hopeful that the lost will be found, for he is patient and always hopeful that all the lost will be found.  He taught us to be filled with joy when someone who has been lost is found.  Because then we will know how he feels too.  It was wonderful to think about this yesterday, and then to have my thoughts confirmed by the talks given.  I hope that each day I can help others learn to be kind, and loving.  We need more people to build up others in this world.  Each day I strive to help others.  I hope during the Christmas Season you can see how much love the Savior has for you.
G.G.
Related Site:
LDS 2013 Christmas Message
The Gifts of Christmas

Our Bowlby Family Christmas Letter Blog post.....

This year went by so fast.  First I want to apologize to any family member or friend who did not receive a birthday card in the mail this year.  With moving across the country and then moving again once we got a house I have lost all my birthday information and have not yet found it.  We are now going to be celebrating our 3rd Christmas in Utah.  The years seem to fly by and I'm not sure how many Christmas cards will get in the mail.  So I decided to do this Christmas letter blog post.  This is the photo I wanted to have made into cards to send out this year, but due to time never got printed.  I can't wait till next Saturday our family is going to go "Down Town" and see the Christmas lights and take a horse and carriage ride.  This is the last gift for my daughters "Christmas through the year book."  I hope to blog on that soon.  So I hope to have some new Christmas photo's soon.  Perhaps we will find someone to take a photo of our family, as I am not allowed to go to Target this year to do family photo's, I just spend way too much money.

I have to say that the Christmas light out here in Utah are beautiful and so I can't wait to go and see them.  But here is what has been going on with our family this past year.

Our daughter Gabrielle earned her Green belt in Karate this fall, and participated in the West Wind Karate Challenge. She got two first place awards.  She was so happy to move up to the high belt class and is now having to work harder to learn and grow in Karate.  She loves this sport.  She has also gone to every open Temple in the State of Utah this year with her young women's group.  Her last Temple to attend will be the Salt Lake Temple in December.  She is doing great in school, with straight "A's".  She loves to read and works hard to do her best.  She is such a sweet girl, and I love it when she leaves little notes to me around the house.  I look forward to watching her grow and move forward in all her activities in the coming year.

Our Son Jacob is the artist/cartoonist of the family.  He has his own YouTube account.  He tries to put new animations on it monthly.  He is always found with paper and pencil and some new idea being sketched out.  His mind seems to be filled with things to draw.  He even made a cartoon of me. Which is my new facebook profile picture. Jacob also likes to talk with different ethnic accents, I'm hoping he will try out for a school play next year.  Jacob is in all honors classes this year and is doing very well.  He does find some challenge with school work which makes me happy but not him as he would rather be drawing or skyping with friends.  He still plays the violin and I can't wait to go to the Christmas Concert. Jacob is also a member of our Ward Choir so as you can tell anything in the art field is something he loves to do.

Our cat Amber is loving her new home in Utah.  She keeps me company when everyone is at school and work.  She has one pound left to lose on her cat diet, which drives us all a little crazy as she constantly begs to be fed, but she is no longer considered "fat" by the vet.

Jim is busy with work.  He is always fixing something, and not only does he fix things at work, but even out here he fixes peoples cars.  He has had quiet a few job offers this year.  Which makes me feel safe, as if one job ends I know there are other places that would hire him.  He is the High Priest Group leader at church.  It keeps him busy.  In fact the joke for our family is that everyone has a leadership position except for me.  I'm the big slacker of the family when it comes to church.  I'm actually just happy that I get to attend most weeks.   The past month has been nice for our family as I have seen them more than I have in the past three years.  Jim has also made lots of "old car" friends out here and keeps busy with them and their projects.

I have done a lot of different things this year.  I have kept up with family history research, and I am enjoying learning more about my family's history.  I have started to get all my sources into the church website so people who look at my family tree will know I'm not just making it up.  I have been able to attend the Temple weekly which has been wonderful.  I worked for a few weeks at a garden center.  Which was fun.  I took tons of flower photo's and learned more about flowers this year. I was starting to look for a new job, when the position that I really wanted at my work came open, so I applied for it and now I work full time and really love what I'm doing.  I have a lot to learn, but I really feel challenged and feel that I can help make a difference where I work. I've been slowly getting my new house organized, and thinking of the directions I want to take my blog in the coming year.  I have lots of ideas, just need more time.  I look forward to a new year of learning and growing.  I hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas season.  I hope to share more of our Christmas season with you in the coming weeks.
From,
Kimberly, James, Jacob and Gabrielle.

Be Grateful Everyday

I saw this on Facebook today and remembered that I wanted to blog every Friday about what I was grateful for and the past few weeks have been so busy that I have dropped the ball so to speak.  I believe what this says and wanted to take a moment to send out some gratitude to God and the universe.
Here are somethings I'm thankful for this week.
1. I'm thankful for safe travel on snowy roads.  Yes winter is here and I sometimes have to drive late at night on very bad roads, so that I get home safe is something to be thankful for.
2. I'm thankful for the employee who scraped all the snow off  my car the other night.  He actually scraped off all the employee cars in our lot and it was wonderful to get out of work at 1 a.m. and only have to jump in my car and warm it up and not have to scrape all the snow and ice off.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

3. I'm Thankful for my beautiful family. The Christmas season has been a bit hard this year, as I've been missing my little kids.  My teens are wonderful, but I've been missing the baby years, and have been reflecting on how wonderful they were for my family, I'm thankful for all the wonderful years our family has had together.  I look forward to many more wonderful years.
4. I'm thankful for my husband who decided that we will have a great Christmas this year and has worked hard to bring things into the house that he thinks bring a great Christmas spirit, such as a huge live Christmas tree.  I was so tired I slept through the whole thing last night.

5. I'm thankful for Christmas concerts, and that I have the time off to go to see my children play in them.  I love to listen to Christmas music, although certain songs bring tears to my eyes this year.  Like "I'll be home for Christmas"  I'd love to spend Christmas in Vermont someday again.
6. I'm thankful for comfort food, tonight we will have beef stew in bread bowls.  I can't wait.

7. I'm grateful for Christmas lights.  I can't wait to go out to see the lights in the city.  It is so much fun to drive around at night and see peoples houses lit up.
8. I am thankful for quiet mornings with my family.
9. I am thankful for a furry little cat who snuggles up with me to nap.
10.  I am thankful for weekly visits to the Temple.
Remember to bring gratitude into your life every day.  You will see a huge change in your life if you do.
G.G.

I will continue to be Thankful even with Thanksgiving being over.

Sorry I have not done any post for awhile, I got a promotion at work and have been very busy learning about  my new position.  But I wanted to take time today and think about all I am grateful for.  I also want to remind everyone not to stop being thankful because Thanksgiving is over.  I have learned over the past months that Gratitude brings great blessings.  So be sure to find things to be thankful for everyday.
Here is my Gratitude list for the week.
1. I'm thankful for all the people at my work that support me in my new position.  While I learn lot of new things many people are being kind and helpful and telling me they are happy I got the position.  So Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
2. I'm thankful for warm sunny days.  I love to sit in the sun and just rest.  I get to do that often and it is so relaxing.
3. I'm thankful for kind and creative children.  My children are just wonderful.

4. I'm thankful that I will get full health benefits at work.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
5. I am thankful for people who write books about meditation and healing.  I'm enjoying some new spiritual journeys.
6. I am thankful for computer technology.

7. I am thankful for the beauty of our world.  And the animals and plants that we share this world with.
8. I am thankful for a healthy body that I push to the limits sometimes at work.  I do a lot of standing and running about.
9. I am thankful for quiet moments.
10.  I am thankful for "God Winks"  Thank you , Thank you, Thank you.
G.G.

I focus my attitude on gratitude.........

Friday came fast.  I am struggling this week with my blog as I have gone from working early mornings (last week) to working all closing shifts at work this week.  Then next week will be all early mornings again. Ugh!  So my poor mind and body feel a bit out of it.
When I have time to read, I have been focusing on learning about connecting with my spiritual side and learning to rely on intuition.  I love to learn and the book I've been reading this week on this subject has a small section on gratitude.  So I thought I'd share from it.
The positive thought that you  think to yourself is : I focus my attitude on gratitude.

Here is a quote from the book I'm reading : " Gratitude encourages intuition and abundance.  Be thankful for who and what is in your life - instead of complaining about what you don't have.  Appreciate all the abundance and goodness that's around you whether big or small.  Be thankful for your health, children, sunny days, your garden, family, best friends, or even the person who let you jump ahead in line at the bank.  The more joy you begin to notice and appreciate, the easier it is for your intuition to lead you to even more happiness and prosperity.
Here are somethings I am thankful for this week:
1. a loving and supportive husband
2. wonderful children
3. a healthy kitty who keeps me company
4. people who have helped  me while I learn my new job.
5. my smart phone.  I will be using it a lot more now.
6. better health.
7. the ability to attend the Temple.
8. Time to learn and grow in this world.
9. People who are kind
10. Customers who are kind and thankful for the service they receive.
11. Quiet time to sit in the sun, and recharge my inner self.

It's fall and my garden is no longer in bloom.  I miss my flowers so I'm grateful for all the great photo's I got.
Remember to count your blessing when you feel discouraged instead of counting all that is wrong.
G.G.

Frugal Thursdays.....

I don't know about the rest of you, but times feel tough.  It always seems like there are more bills to pay than money coming in.  Over the past year I have worked hard to figure out ways to cut my budget.  It's hard, some payment are fixed, like your mortgage, and insurance.  Others are not but sometimes they are the ones where I over spend without any thought.  Groceries, eating out, utility bills.  As a new year creeps up on us, and it is coming fast since we are already being surrounded by Christmas decorations and advertising I have decided to dedicate my Thursdays to learning about being more frugal, and thought I'd share it with you.  There are tons of blogs, and websites that talk about this subject.  So I hope to have lots of related sites for you.

Over the past year I can say that I have been able to cut a lot from my budget.  Some things I have done.
1. I have only bought about 3 new items of clothing for myself this year.
2. I have only bought food from the work vending machine a handful of times.  I used to buy almost every day, but when you add it up and find that you have spent $500.00 on sugar,salt, and fatty items you realize that the money could be spent better.
3.  I have stopped using expensive cleaning products.  I now use Baking soda, and vinegar to do the majority of my house hold cleaning.  Does vinegar smell pretty, no, but most cleaners don't smell that great either.  I am amazed at how clean my house is with these products.  My next step is to learn how to make my own laundry and dishwasher detergents.
4.  I've consolidated all the debt from our move, it has a lower interest rate, and I have stopped using credit cards.

My steps that I will be writing about are:
1. Trying to cut my grocery bill in half.
2. Living on 80% of my budget.
3.Working towards finding a more rewarding job, possibly one that pays more, or at least finding a 40 hour a week job.
I would love to hear from you and how you save money and work to be debt free and frugal.
G.G.
Related site:
Frugal living 101

I don't know about you, but I'm NOT feeling 22........

I have to say that I really like Taylor Swifts songs.  What I like is that her songs tell of experiences that young girls and young women deal with.  The first song that I want to talk about is her song "15".  I like this song and the video because I can see how many young girls can connect with it.  Even at my age of almost 42 I can remember back to my high school days and think about how true the words of her song are.  We all know what it is like to be young and have a first love and all the pressures that go with that.
Here is a link to her song "15"

Another song that I really like is " I knew you were trouble".  Haven't we all met a guy in our lives that we were interested in and yet something in you said this is exciting but most likely not going to be good for me.  And when you finally get out of the relationship you have totally been changed. And haven't there always been men like this.  When I do family history I find many of these trouble makers.

I also really like her song "We are never getting back together."  Don't all women have that one guy that they are just done with and have to figure out a way to get it through to them that it's over.

The song I've really been thinking about lately though is "22".  I'm not 22 any more, and in looking back I realize what a wonderful time in life that was, I was young, I felt good, and I didn't have the burdens of adulthood and family life to deal with.  I felt like the world was great and that every thing would be alright.  Her lyrics are " I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22."  Many times I'll say to friends or coworkers " I don't know about you but I'm not feeling 22."
I don't feel young, and I'm heading into midlife and great changes. These changes happen to most women starting between the ages of 35 and 40 and going until they reach 50 or older.  They are not fun, and it doesn't seem as if many women have the support of others as they go through these changes.  So I'm hoping that every Tuesday I can begin to blog about the health issues that women in their late thirties and through their forties deal with. Because I think there are many women out there who are like me not feeling 22 and needing to have more information about the changes that occur at mid-life.  So look for my post next week as I begin to discuss life at "Almost 42."  I hope Taylor Swift has a good career and is still singing songs when she is 42, I'd like to see what type of song she would write when she has her mid life crisis.
G.G.

The Great Pumpkin is real and he comes to our house Charlie Brown......

My favorite Halloween story is "It's The GREAT PUMPKIN Charlie Brown."  I remember being a child and waiting for the night that you got to watch all the Halloween shows on TV.  It's not like today where you can own a copy, or possibly just go on to the Internet and watch it.  You had to wait, you had to be home to see it, and if you weren't home you missed it for a whole year.  I think sometimes that is a problem in this world, no one knows how to wait and enjoy something when it finally comes.  But that is not my topic.

In the Great Pumpkin movie, Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin in the pumpkin patch and misses all the Halloween fun.  The Trick or Treating, and the Halloween party.  Trick or treating with kids is fun.  My kids through out the years loved to go out and get free candy.  When they are little you can control the amount of candy they get and eat, but as they get bigger what do you do?

I realized as my children got bigger  that they wanted to go to more and more houses and get more and more candy. The ability to control the amount of sugary treats in my house at Halloween and after was not an easy task.

Then I got a great Idea.  Thanks to Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.  I told my children that The Great Pumpkin would come to our house after Halloween if they would do one thing.

They wondered what that was.  I told them if they would leave out their Halloween candy, that The Great Pumpkin would come and take some of the candy and leave them a present in place of the candy. 

They were so excited about receiving a present for their candy. That the first Halloween that we tried this they left all their candy out.

Here is one of our Great Pumpkin Halloween offerings.  The kids never minded that most of the candy disappeared.  They were so happy that The Great Pumpkin came to their house and left a gift.  The gifts were never big or expensive just a small toy.  It was worth it though as I did not have to argue with them about how much candy they were eating after Halloween.

This year my children are teens.  My daughter dressed up and went out to a few houses, she brought home a little candy, but not the mountains of their younger years.  My son stayed home and gave out candy.  He really enjoyed giving out the candy.  There was no need for a Great Pumpkin visit.  But we all watched the video and remembered the years that unlike Linus who never had a Great Pumpkin visit, we had quiet a few.  I hope when my children become parents that they carry on the tradition of a Great Pumpkin visit.

So if you are a parent in that stage of getting too much Halloween Candy, try having a Great Pumpkin visit.  You may find the days after Halloween are happier and not filled with arguments over how much candy your children can have every day.  I know we used to get enough to last until the Easter Bunny came.

G.G.

Don't let November be the only month that you find time to show gratitude.

If you Facebook....(who doesn't?  oh yeah my dad doesn't, well he does because he looks on my moms page but don't tell him that.)  You probably have noticed that many of your friends are doing daily post about things they are grateful for.  My thought to you is to not let November be the only month that you focus on gratitude.  Be grateful every day of the year.  November is a great time to start, but keep it up all year long.  There are so many blessings that come to a person who finds things to be grateful for every day.  So I'm one day behind but here is a list from this week.

1. I'm thankful for my children and all they have taught me this week.  My son stayed home and gave out candy to the neighborhood kids.  He talked about how much fun it was to give things away, what a good feeling that gave him.  He also was very concerned that children got a treat that they would like and that we had to be careful not to give out anything with peanut butter as he would not want to cause anyone to have an allergic reaction to their Halloween candy.  My daughter did a little trick or treating and was kind and shared with her brother.

2. I'm grateful for all the fall colors.  I love all the orange and red colors that surround me.
3. I'm thankful for good news from the doctors.  I was also glad to be able to do a survey for the doctors office and give them all exceeds expectations. I know how important it is to tell people they are doing a good job.
4. I'm grateful for a good night sleep.  The past couple of weeks have been stressful and so being able to sleep is great.
5.I'm grateful for people who find a cause and write books about it, and blogs too.  I have been reading a lot about what is going on with my body lately and I love the ability to be able to go to the library and take a book out and read on the subjects.  Soon my Tuesday post will be about my health issues.  I was surprised that no one has blogged on this issue yet.

6. I'm grateful for quiet.  I get to spend many of my mornings in quiet solitude.  That is probably going to change as I've applied for a supervisor position at my work and if I get it I will not work all night shifts. But the benefit of that is wonderful.  When everyone comes home and radio's blast and my son begins skyping with his friends and you can hear him in every corner of the house, I really realize just how nice a quiet morning is.
7. I'm Thankful for books on how to save money and live on a budget.  I'm determined to figure it all out and be debt free again.  It is one of life's struggles.
8.I'm grateful for my husband who is very talented and helped my daughter with her science project because I have no talent with building things.

9. I'm thankful for legs that don't ache after standing on them for 8 plus hours.
10.  I'm grateful for bee's.  I love watching them work in my garden.  I hope to plant more bee friendly flowers next year.

I have one of the most beautiful views from my back porch.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Related sites:
Count your blessings instead of sheep
Proof positive count your blessings
Have a great weekend. G.G.