It's a Wonderful Life

"You see George, you really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?"

Sometimes we can't see how wonderful our lives really are, because we're in the midst of them. We don't see the ways in which we touch the lives of others. We don't see the past good we have done. We don't recognize that there are people who love and even rely on us. Instead, we only see our trials, our mistakes, our shortcomings, our flaws.

George Bailey was never able to do what he really wanted to do - he didn't go to college, travel Europe, get away from the Building and Loan... As a result, he was so preoccupied with his trials, with all that had gone wrong, that he couldn't see the wonderful blessings he had in his life, or all the good he had done. He even came to a point where he thought that the world would have been better without him. Clarence gave him the opportunity to see that world, and he didn't like it. What's more, he realized that everything he really wanted wasn't all the things he hadn't been able to do. Everything he always wanted he already had. It was at home with his wife and children. It was in the friendships he'd developed and in the good he'd been able to do for the people of Bedford Falls.

Life is difficult. It is hard work. Every reward, every relationship, every good thing we have doesn't come without some struggle - without some blood, sweat, or tears. Because if it does, it means nothing to us. We have a natural inclination to want to earn the things we have. But sometimes it seems the reward we're expecting never comes - that we work and wear out our lives for nothing, and we only see our trials. It is in those darkest moments that we should look to our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is His birth we celebrate at this time of year. He is the light and life of the world. He can remind us of who we truly are, and how much we mean to Him and to those around us. He can show us that it is worth it, in the end.

"Each man's life touches so many other lives, and when he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

I am so grateful for my wonderful family and friends. I am especially grateful for my wife - she is my strength and my support. May God bless you and your family this Christmas and always.

Operation Gratitude: New Ward, New Friends

We loved being in the primary in our old ward, but aside from the primary presidency and the kids, we didn't have any real friends in that ward. It was in a wealthier area, which meant that most of the adults were older (i.e. nowhere near our age), and we just didn't really make any friends.

We moved to our new house (see my last post) in July of last year, and our ward has a lot of people in similar situations to us. Kristen has especially made some new friends through her calling in young women. And there's also a guy in the ward who is in the MBA program with me, and he and I "talk shop" when we get together. Kristen and his wife have also gone to MBASA events together. I think it's just easier to relate to other people who are in a similar situation to you, who have similar experiences. It's why I immediately bond with other motorcycle riders. :)

Anyway, I'm grateful for good friends and a good ward.

Operation Gratitude: Willing Babysitters

I love being a dad. It's one of the best things ever. But I love being a husband even more. And that's the way it should be - they say the best way to show a child you love them is to love their mother. So every now and then, Kristen and I like to go out on a date, just the two of us. No baby to worry about.

I'm grateful for people who are willing to watch our little one so we can do that. The most prolific babysitter is grandma, of course, followed by granddad. But we've had just about every other close-by family member help us with this too: Uncle Aaron and Aunt Stephanie, Aunt Shannon, Great Aunt Joyce, Uncle Zach, Uncle Sean. It's wonderful to have people so willing to help us out, and who love our baby almost as much as we do. Thank you everyone!

Operation Gratitude: Great Landlords

This might seem a bit strange, but we have the best landlords ever. We found our house by accident - I accidentally selected "For Sale" instead of "For Rent" in my search criteria on KSL classifieds, and it was mistakenly classified as For Sale. It was the only option that popped up. Within two days, we had signed the contract.

Our home has much more room than our previous apartment (we needed it with the baby coming), has vaulted ceilings, a garage (which is great for storage, woodworking, and I love being able to keep our vehicles out of the weather), much more kitchen counter/storage space, and we just love it.

When we signed the contract, the owners of the house were actually on a mission in Africa, so we were dealing with the kids. Our landlords got back from their mission a few months later, and they have been so fantastic. We've had a couple issues, and they're always super quick to respond. For example, the motor on our heater went out last winter, and they had someone there to fix it a couple hours later. We mentioned that our dishwasher had a bad smell coming out of it (it was really old) - they replaced the whole thing. They also did a bunch of new landscaping recently, including switching out the old, broken-down fence for one that matched the neighbor's, adding a carport next to the garage, and putting up new outdoor lights.

They're also redoing the downstairs apartment somewhat, so they can have a place to stay when they're up here visiting grandkids (they're from St. George). A couple weeks ago, they were here painting, and we went down to say hi. While we were there, they also mentioned that they wanted us to cut our December rent in half, as a kind of Christmas present. How cool is that? Anyway, I'm very grateful for such wonderful landlords - I couldn't have asked for better.

Operation Gratitude: Technology

To anyone who spends time around me, it's no surprise that I love technology. My wife is most likely tired of hearing me say I want to control everything from my phone (i.e. the lights, garage door, TV, car, etc.), but I geek out over cool technology. I love my Samsung Galaxy SIII phone, my laptop, our iPad, my 60-inch TV (Kristen calls it a monstrosity). I love technology! I'm a little like Kip in that:

I most love what technology does for us. Technology allows us to connect instantly. Email, instant messaging, texts, phone calls, and now video calls/chats allow us to keep in contact with friends and family, as well as conduct business in real time around the world. I love being able to have my daughter see and talk with her grandparents, who are 1000 miles away, whenever she wants. Internet in the palm of our hands allows us to keep up-to-date on what's happening in the world, and connect another way: social networks.

I'm grateful for social networks, because that's technically how I met my wife. :) Without Mark Zuckerberg, who knows where I would be now. Social networks and blogs allow us to share memories and have shared experiences we might never have had otherwise. My phone has a digital camera in it that allows me to save memories visually, so that I can share them with others (and myself in the future). We take so many of these things for granted nowadays, but technology is quite incredible.

From a church perspective, technology also allows us to have access to all of the church materials, no matter where we are or what we're doing, and it allows the words of the prophets to be broadcast throughout the world. I am grateful for technology, and can't wait to see what the future holds. We'll have flying cars before you know it.

Operation Gratitude: My Wife

This is another one of those mushy posts, it's true. This time it's about my beautiful wife, Kristen. I know I've written a lot about her in the past, but this is different.

Four years ago today, we spoke for the first time. It seems like yesterday and yet like a million years ago. When we first met, I was surprised at all our similarities - we seemed to have so much in common. But let's be honest - how many guys wouldn't be amazed to find a girl who was so into Homestarrunner that she'd make a Homestar / Marzipan wedding cake topper? Or someone who knew more about Lord of the Rings and Star Wars than they did? Sometimes when we go see a comic book movie or another action movie, Kristen's mom asks her why we don't go see what Kristen wants to see. Little does she know. :)

Although we had many similarities, we were also very different. As all you married people out there know, two people who grow up in different families really come from different cultures. Kristen is from a family of artists - I'm from a family of business people. We just think differently. We had different concepts about how to communicate, cleaning, the holidays, spending time with family, how to raise children...we're still in disagreement about when our daughter is allowed to pierce her ears and wear makeup, in fact. Kristen says 8 is old enough for ear piercing, but makeup is for junior high. I say ears at 12, makeup whenever. I said let's compromise - she can wear makeup once she gets her ears pierced. Kristen doesn't think that's a satisfactory compromise.

But despite our differences, or maybe because of them, we've learned to work well together. Kristen has opened my world to so many new things that I never would have even considered before, both in terms of art/music/movies, as well as how to think about things. I've learned to be a better communicator, a better listener, a better friend, and certainly a better husband and father. And I hope I've been able to teach her something along the way as well.

I'm grateful she is patient with my shortcomings. She doesn't get upset with me when I'm too opinionated, or have to be right about something, or my neat-freak tendencies come to the surface. She encourages me in my goals, in my hopes and dreams. She is my cheerleader, my confidant, my best friend. She's also the best mother to my little girl I could have ever hoped for.

Operation Gratitude: Scarlett

I love being a dad. It could very well be one of the coolest things ever. I love having this tiny person wandering around the house, making messes wherever she goes. I love when she comes up to me with a book and sits in my lap so I will read to her. I love when she cuddles up on my chest after her bottle, right before bed. I love how she kicks her right leg when we carry her very messy self from the high chair to the bath. I love how she still grabs one foot and holds it up to her face (like a blanket) when she drinks her bottle.

Every day she's growing bigger, getting more curious about the world, imitating more of what we do and say. She's growing up, and it's happened so fast. Where did the last 14 months go? I must really be getting old to say this, but it truly seems like yesterday that she was so small I worried I would break her by holding her the wrong way (little did I know how tough babies really are). She keeps outgrowing clothes and shoes, and we say to each other, "Can you believe she used to fit into this?"

She is our sweetheart, our princess, our little squeaker (she'll probably think Squeaker is her name before she learns it's actually Scarlett). We both love her so much, and I am so grateful she came into our lives when she did. She was a miracle for our little family, and is just so much fun. I can't wait to see her grow into a young woman (and yet, I can certainly wait - I also want her to stay a baby forever). I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed our home with our sweet Miss Scarlett.