Hot Fudge Sundaes

I'm afraid this will be a long post. But aren't we all thankful for SO many things!? Ben and I spoke in Sacrament meeting today, and it went really well and of course, was more a lesson for ME than for anyone else.
I have this little journal that I started when I was 14 that I call my
Hot Fudge Sundaes. It's simple, it's just a list of things of love. I'm on page 70 now (w0w!) and it is one of my most cherished possessions. I like to think of it as my "Thankful Journal" and anytime I get discouraged, or feel blue I can read it and be reminded of all my blessings and all the little and big things that I love in life. Reading back through it is like a time-line of my life. I can tell what was happening just by what I was thankful for at the time. I love it!

As Thanksgiving is approaching, I like to reflect on what I'm thankful for and read through my little book. There are 3 big things I'm thankful for this year: 1) the small and simple things in life 2) the spiritual gifts--the Savior, His atonement for me, and the Lord's hand in my life and 3) my husband Ben. Here are a few things from my book that fall in those categories:

THE SMALL THINGS

I love the sound of a storm

I love watching lightning

I love waking up, looking at the clock, and realizing I still have 30 minutes to sleep

I love the feeling of barely shaved legs against pants or sheets (doesn't happen that often)

I love wearing new clothes for the first time

I love talking to myself

I love when my mom hugs me for no reason

I love going on walks and pretending my future husband is with me (haha--this one is funny...remember I'm 14)

I love reading the last word of a book

I love the little pictures, books, stories and cards I get from my siblings

I love watching ants build their little kingdoms

I love being somebody's hero

I love coming home late from a date and talking to my mom about it

I love the mind-boggling questions that come up when I'm laying under the stars with a friend

I love getting dance pictures backI love floating on tubes on the dam at night (Mo--that's for you baby!)

I love the chills I get when a choir sings patriotic songs

I love weird dreams

I love licking the knife after making a PB & honey sandwich

I love being alone in the car, turning up my favorite songs and singing at the top of my lungs

I love getting people Christmas presents

These are just a few, probably only a couple pages out of 70...I wish I could just list them all!

Heavenly Father loves me
I love truly knowing that I am heard in my prayers
I love getting a simple answer to a simple prayer
I love when I remember to talk to my Heavenly Father before I got to school
I love getting a father's blessing
I love having so much support from neighbors and friends during hard times w/gifts, dinner and reassurance of their prayers (when my littlest sister almost lost her whole finger when a trailer hitch came crashing down on her)
I love hearing bios on the Prophet's and that even when David O. McKay was 93 years old, he would still creep over to his wife and give her a goodnight kidss.
I love doing little acts of service and the way it makes me feel
I love EFY
I love having the gift of the Holy Ghost
I love knowing that in the 180degree night sky that we can see, there are over 400 billion visible stars, plus thousands of satellites going 17,000 mph around the sky and the shooting stars you see every 5-10 minutes plus the planets like Mars, Jupiter and Venus that are out and the milky way that you can see and that this is just one galaxy out of an infinite amount with other worlds and other people like us thinking the same thing I am and then knowing that God is watching and knows everything and that He loves ALL of us and that there is a HUGE big plan for us! (deep thinking moment, probably just got home from laying under the stars with a friend:)
I love God's "tender mercies"
I love how amazing music is alone and how it can testify stronger to me than any words can
I love the Plan of Salvation

I love Ben!
I love being on cloud 900,000,000,000,000,000,000,...TRILLION!
I love first first date kisses
I love when the "perfect guy" just waltzes into my life
I love saying his name, "Ben Garrison" (haha--I'm laughing out loud)
(Keep in mind, this was only a couple of months after we met...Ben was still off datin up a storm in Provo! :) )
I love meeting the man of my dreams and how he fits every single thing I've ever wanted and more
I love getting cute calls, messages, texts and facebooks from Ben
I love hearing Ben say, "And lo and behold! You have hold all the qualities I want in a wife!" Ah!
I love the sound of "Camille Garrison"
I love being so happy :)

Then there's a big break and the very next one is, "I love being MARRIED!"

Ben's trying out a goatee for a while.

We're also so thankful for our families. I love Ben's family, each and everyone of you: Sitty and Grandad, Michael & John, Tom & Janet, Jim & Gina and Alyssa, Wesley, and Sheridan; Patti, Lisa & Kraig, all of Kraig's kids: Tracee, Scott & Katie, Jeff & Danielle and kids, Kelley and Jason, Chris & Chelsea, Josh; Nan and Pa, Jon! Aunt Peg! And I love my family so much: Grandma Gooney! Grandpa Bert! Grandma and Grandpa "J," mom and dad! Raquel, Anna, James Brooke! Uncles: Scott, Don, Blake, Alan, Mark, Jed, Kim! Aunts: Cathy, Jackie, Deb, Christy, Jill, Laura, Diane! And all my many many cousins: Casey & Brandy, Kim & Brett, Erin, Kelly & Jen, Blake & Morgan, Dirk & Trudy, Aimee & Tyler, Lindsey, Jay, Jordan, Jared & Tiff, Elder Nick, Nate, Jessica, Dallin, Jenna, Kara, Hannah, Kate, Will, Elder Aaron and Jason! I love you ALL! I am so blessed to have such a great strong, supportive family. Wow I love my life.

Count your many blessings, name them one by one! I highly recommend starting your own "Hot Fudge Sundaes" book. Just write a couple every night before you get in bed!