I have been extremely remiss in writing my gratitude blog, but the gratitude has been in my heart daily.  This past month, there has been so many things that I have been grateful for including the sunshine, a recent trip to Point Reyes, evidence of some of my students learning math and science and keyboarding, the flowers blooming in our yard and in the ‘hood, for friends that were willing to drive up to Park City to celebrate my birthday, to being able to take online classes from amazing universities around the United States, to simple moments of silence, and grandiose, loud, and amazing times in our life, but most of all for my husband.

We have recently celebrated both of our birthdays and our anniversary. We have shared and made more great memories.  In all total, we’ve been together 22 years now – 12 of them as a married couple. I am so grateful that we are married to each other for time and all eternity; it makes a world of difference when there are challenging times because we can look at these moments as minuscule specs of time within the bigger picture of eternity.  There truly isn’t anyone I’d rather
be with forever than my husband.

Twenty-two years and one week ago, we decided that we would give a go at the feelings that we had flirted with for a while and see where they would take us.  They have taken us on some amazing journeys, literally around the world.  What precious memories have we made through our explorations.  Plus, knowing that there are more to come make life even a little more exciting.  We have also gone through some of the most trying times including Cancer and not being able to have or in the end adopt children of our own.  But we’ve been blessed with an “Exchange Son” that has helped us grow in so many ways, along with the our endearing nieces and nephews, students, and young adults that continue to bring more meaning to life and help us have parenting moments.
The amount of gratitude here for both of us is without bounds.  All of these experiences have brought us closer together and given us a deeper love for each other and our Heavenly Father.  We have been so immensely blessed beyond our wildest notions and in ways we would have never dreamed.

Life is more than good with this man.   There are no words that I can share that will ever, in a zillion years express my love for him.  I love you ‘infinitely squared’ and more Chip.  Thank you for our life together.

I am grateful for a husband, a kind, humble, and loving one.

I have not been the best blogger over the last month.  It’s not that I haven’t been grateful.  I’ve been busy doing things like grading papers and preparing report cards, cleaning the house and doing laundry, being a work-a-holic and spending time on our callings. And probably more importantly I’ve been spending with the people I’m grateful for…Most recently that has been our niece Katie.

Katie has a special place in my heart.  Twelve years ago, my brother and his wife were extremely kind and generous and allowed me to go with my sister-in-law to pick Katie up in China.  Chip and I have no children – (a very, very, very epic of a long story, that we can save for another time when I can gather enough gratitude to share it) – so having this “gotcha day” with Katie and her mom is a priceless gem in my heart, just as Katie is in our life now.
Katie decided to come and spend Spring Break with us a few weeks ago.  Chip and I had a really fun week with her and look forward to more hangin’ out together
in the future.  From those seven multi-event packed days, we learned a lot more about what we have been missing out on.

If that wasn’t great enough, during the same week, our nephew Chris and his wife Mary, just had their third child, a handsome son, Maxwell which we can hardly wait to meet this weekend.  We need to warn Maxwell and his parents right now that Chip and I want our fair share of holding him time.

Yes this weekend, currently we are in the middle of a count down to the BIG wedding one Saturday, of one of our other special nieces, Ali, who is marrying this awesome guy Artie.  Ali, also has placed one of those rare special gems in my heart. Ali served a mission for our church several years ago and I was the lucking/blessed/honored person to take her to the MTC (Missionary Training Center for you non-LDS folks) when she left for her mission.  Normally, parents do the emotional drop-off honors, but Ali’s parents decided to say goodbye at their home in Washington state and afforded me a special sharing moment privilege with their youngest child.  And now this weekend, we get to be there when she gets sealed in the temple.  How lucky are we!!!!!!  Another jewel placed in the mine.

Ali’s parents have other wonderful children besides Chris, Cameron and Carly that both hold incredibly dear places in our hearts.  We love when they come and visit.  Cameron got married last year and still owes us a visit with his new wife Jacquie. Carly has this amazing heart of her own that she freely shares and we are looking forward to spending more time w
ith her when she moves to our neck of the woods to do an internship in the near future.

Wait, there have been birthday celebrations of late as well, since my last post – Logan, Katie, and Sarah.  Logan is Katie’s younger sister.  She’s the kind of niece that makes you laugh and laugh and laugh, the kind you want to tickle and snuggle and giggle with some more.  Sarah is the oldest of five kids that we love skiing with.  We’ve been skiing with Sarah, Anna, Alex, Andrew, and Spencer since they first learned to ski and each year we have even more fun with than the year before.  We’re lucky that we usually get to see them once in the summer and once in the winter each year.  They are ALL amazing athletes – their Smiths – and actually amazing scholars and pianists and fun and silly and always, always make us smile and feel lucky to be their “fun Uncle and Aunt.”  And as we always tell them, they are some of our favorite nieces and nephews too.

I would be neglect to not mention a few more of our favorites – there’s Brandon, who turned 20 just a few months ago.  One of my precious touchstones was deposited by Brandon the I held him in my arms.  He was the first grandchild on my side of the family, my sister’s son.  I just remember the tears running down my face holding this sweet little baby.  Now he looks down at me and thinks, “Oh look, it’s my sweet little aunt…” Very funny Brandon… 🙂  You’ve grown into a wonderful young man.

And wait, I could never forget about little Claire.  Claire is our youngest niece, she turned 2 recently, and has been such a sweet, loving addition to her immediate family as well as to bigger family.  It’s been so fun watching her grow from a wee baby to a toddler on skis.  Yes, another niece that skis!  It’s that Smith blood again.

Later this year, Chip and I get to go back to California for another special wedding.  It will be Tyler’s turn.  Tyler maybe an only child within his immediate family, but when you’re with him he feels the room with his amazing warmth.  He is one of the most genuinely nice people that we call family. We can hardly wait to meet his Ali and to welcome her into our special brood of nieces and nephews.

Now together, Chip and I have a combined total of 18 nieces and nephews, that’s not counting their children…nor our honorary nieces and nephews Philip (and Elizabeth), Hilary (and Taylor), and McKenzie (and Austin).  Philip, Hilary, and McKenzie and their parents taught us, even before Chip and I were married, a lot about how much we will always want to be, not just parents, but really awesome parents who raise really awesome children.

We love all of our nieces and nephews more than I could ever write in a simple blog.  Each one is unique and incredible in their own right.  They add to our lives in ways that can’t be described with any number of words. We feel so blessed that these children and their parents allow us priceless experiences.  I can’t even begin to tell you how honored we are to be called Uncle Chippie and Aunt Debbie (or Uncle Debbie and Aunt Chippie if your name is Logan).  You all fill our empty crevice with rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and more.  THANK YOU ALL, even the ones not in this picture!

I am grateful for amazing nieces and nephews who truly fill our lives with happiness and love.

I am grateful for “Important Places.”

Tonight was the last of our Valentine celebrations for the year.  I took Chip to the opening night at the Banff Film Festival at Kingsbury Hall. It was awesome.  If you’ve never been, you gotta go.  There was one film in particular, that has inspired me to write in my gratitude blog tonight.  The film, entitled “The Important Places” by Gnarly Bay and Forest Woodward (their names themselves hint of some adventurous locals).

It’s a short flick about a father and son.  A story of a father made sure his kids had a lot of outdoor adventures while they were growing up, including rafting, swimming naked in rivers and mountain lakes to name a few.  And he also wrote a poem to his son reminding of the importance of going to these special places that they had shared with each other.  Well, as we all do, this family gets older and as the son sees his 70+ year old father start to struggle getting up and moving around he decides its time to take his dad back to one of these special places – the Colorado River for a raft ride through the Grand Canyon.  It’s a genuinely touching picture that has made me think about – what are my dad’s important places?  Is there a place he’d like to return to, that has special meaning in his life?  He and my mom took us on a lot of camping trips and vacations growing up.  I will always be grateful for those special times, because I know that it where I began my love of the outdoors and of traveling in general.

It also made me think, what are my “Important Places”? So after a bit of thinking, remembering, and appreciating, here are a few of my “important places”.

My first official “important place” is near where I grew up in Colorado.  I’m hoping this  isn’t going to get me in trouble with my parents.  I’ve not told very many people about this “Important Place” because it had to do with riding my bike on a 4-lane highway (only for about a 1/2 mile or so…) to get to the turn off to take me down another road to my destination, Eldorado Springs.  When I was in about 5-6th grade, until the time I was in high school, whenever I felt like I wanted or needed to be alone, I’d ride my bike to Eldorado Springs.  Mileage-wise it wasn’t that far from where my childhood home is, but it was an adventure each time.  First of all, getting across the highway to the right-side to ride, down the hill, up the next and then off to a side road that takes you up to Eldorado Springs.  I’d love going to the “end of the road” where the climbers park.  I’d never stay very long because I was always afraid of someone finding out where I was – partly I didn’t want to get in trouble, and partly because it was my secret and I wasn’t interested in sharing.  But it was thrilling to watch one or two people climb one of the faces and dream about doing it myself.  Although, I’ve never climbed there, I have done a little climbing and loved it.

There are other special places as well that easily make my “important places” list, such as a few special beaches in Orange County (not telling which ones – they’re special); a very unique woodsy place in Glacier National Park (not telling where, it’s a bit of a sacred place to me); a hike outside of Telluride, (even during the days of being in awesome shape it still made me catch my breath); Acadia National Park, somewhere in the maze of dirt carriage roads there’s a place that looks like a scene out of Princess Bride; 

a road near Mt. Vent0ux in the South of France where I huffed and puffed to get me and my bike up another mountain; the corner of the Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue du Buci in Paris; and a recent entry, a part of Guardman’s Pass Trail, where I caught some air on my mountain bike.  These, along with a few more places are so near and very dear to my heart because of the adventures I’ve had in these places.  Only a few of them have been spent with someone else.  They are places of amazing beauty, those WOW kind of places in nature that are etched in your mind forever. Some are on the list, not only for the beauty, but for the moments that brought me there and the time spent taking in the wonder of it all.

We are so blessed to live on the spinning, chunk of rock that we all get to call home.  It’s truly an amazing, spectacular place full of adventures waiting to happen.  I hope that I will get to return to these places again someday, however, I also know that there are so many more places I want to see and experience.  I hope that you take time to think about your “Important Places” and that you have the opportunity to return to them as often as possible.  These places can heal our souls and fill us with such exhilaration, which makes our “Important Places” unique to each of us, and often that much more special when we get to share them with others.

The Important Places

Child of mine

come as you grow

in youth you will learn the secret places

the cave behind the waterfall

the arms of the oak that hold you high

the stars so near on a desert ledge

the important places

and as with age you choose your own way

among the many faces of a busy world

may you always remember the path that leads back

back to the important places.

— Dad for Forest, 1986

I am so very grateful for my “Important Places.”

I am grateful for snow and skis.

For Christmas, we received this great photo on canvas of my father-in-law as a boy standing tall with skis in hand on a “hill” not too far from where our house sits today.  Thanks to his love of skiing, he taught his six children to find their way, with enthusiasm, down a mountain slope, (the best of the bunch is my husband).  And thanks to my father-in-law, and three of his sons, I am now shouting out my gratitude for the snow and skis.

   My husband and I had a more than great day today skiing.  Of course the company was unrivaled, not just because he’s an awesome husband, but also because he’s an awesome skier.  The conditions were ideal for improving my carving, the sky was blue, the temperature just right – not too cold, but not too warm (it’s definitely now spring skiing yet), and the trees were all decorated in beautiful puffy powder.  But we haven’t yet got to the best part.  You see today, I ventured into a new aspect of the sport we love, gates or as otherwise referred to “the course”.

I remember watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports on many a winter Saturday afternoon as a kid, thinking how amazing those racers were that ran the gates and how I would like to do that someday.  Well many Saturdays later, I got my opportunity, today was my day.  Three times I took off from the starting gate and made swooping turns around the blue gates.  One time even nudging a gate with my shoulder, what a thrill.  With each pass, my heart beat faster and my time decreased; and to think we still have more days of winter, hopefully more days of light, delicate snow fall, and more days of swooshing down the runs and through the gates.  Undoubtedly, this new adventure will visit my dreams until the next time we have a chance to hit the slopes.

I am thankful for kindness and gentlemen.

My husband has been working the trade shows circuit of late – Outdoor Retailer and now Ski Industry Association show – on behalf of several of his clients.  SIA is in Denver, so I thought I would use a couple of my “Personal” days to tag along to see family and friends.  This is when I spied my first set of gentlemen.

You see lately, I have noticed that many of the children I teach, have not been taught the same “manners” as my generation or generations before me were engrained with from the time we could walk and talk to say “please” and “thank you,” and in general to kindly think of others.  Chip and I had just walked over to retrieve our large bag from the carousel when I noticed a group of men (only men) standing at the chute of the baggage carousel waiting for their luggage to come tumbling out.  Normally I would have not even thought twice but I’ve been looking for things to be grateful for, or in other words, people doing good, especially the little things.  All of these men, including my husband, were doing this for their traveling companions who incidentally were women.  And they weren’t doing it because their female counterparts weren’t capable of doing the same, not one of the women were injured, feeble, or extremely elderly, these males were just being nice, they were being gentlemen.

I don’t see as much “gentlemanly” behavior as I did twenty years, or even forty years ago for lots of reasons that can be simply be summarized into one lump statement, society has changed.

Yesterday, another gentleman appeared while I was out for breakfast with my brother, sister-in-law and my two nieces.  We were occupying a very small table, not intended for five, when a man sitting next to us with his companion, offered up their small table next to us and graciously moved to a nearby spot, so that we could spread out a bit and have room to eat.  This nice couple didn’t have to do this, they were just being thoughtful.

If you were to look up the word gentleman in Merriam-Webster’s, you would find my father-in-law mentioned in the example sentence.  He was always polite and never failed to open doors, pull out chairs, and offer his arm when crossing streets. In fact, he had a long list of ways he showed his kindliness.  He didn’t do it because he saw women, children, or elderly as a weak, he did it to be kind and thoughtful.  It always made me feel special.  When his son does the same for me, I feel genuinely cared for and attended to.  I hope that I in turn also cause my husband and others to feel the same way, when I find things I can do to show kindness and appreciation for them.

I realize this are very small acts, but its tiny incidents like these that can cause pause, and can truly help to bring a smile to one’s face and a spark to one’s heart.

I am grateful for kindness in those around me – whether I know them or not – thank you!

I am grateful for Christmas.

I know, I know Christmas was last month but I have been grateful for its reminder today as I reenacted the joke of about the ‘How many ________ does it take to replace a light bulb?’  My version involves wandering around a very dry, scratchy, dead Christmas tree about a hundred times as I removed the multiple strings of, what were a few weeks ago, twinkling lights upon our glorious tannenbaum.

As I delicately took each ornament off tonight, the Christmas melodies were once again booming through the house.  Thank you Pandora for being able to play my favorite Christmas music stations whenever I please.  I know that sounds kind of weird, but for me it seems almost sacrilegious to not soulfully (and loudly) sing along to carols when handling our Christmas wares.

Well the boxes of Christmas ornaments and decorations are currently being hauled downstairs to the utility room for much later this year, when we will once again carefully carry them upstairs as one way to express the special Christmas spirit we get during our annual celebration.   

When I started the process tonight, I was dreading it.  However, once I started the much needed task, it actually ended up being exactly what I needed.  With all the hustle and bustle of grading last minute assignments, finalizing report cards, staring new classes , and preparing for an Open House at school tomorrow night, I am fried.  On the other hand, Christmas brings cheer to my life.  I know we often talk about trying to keep the “Christmas Cheer”or “Christmas Spirit” with us throughout the year, but what if we really did greet each day with that same excitement and anticipation and had a Merry Monday or Happy Wednesday?  And when that snow starts flying (hopefully starts flying) later this winter, why not break out in a chorus of “Let it Snow” or “Frosty the Snowman”?  Anyway, I think you understand where I’m going with this rambling, so as I finish up the final clean up of Christmas, I would like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a very joy filled New Year, tomorrow, and in May, and in October and every other day of this year.

I am grateful for Christmas and all that it means to me.

I am thankful for food.

I thought I better get some gratitude flowing today since it’s been a few days since I wrote on my blog.  It’s report card time and I hate to admit it but it consumes me, and almost every waking hour.  It didn’t help that I have a huge science project to grade, along with a math test.  What was I thinking having assessments like this due right before the semester ends?

Anyway, back to food.  I don’t know if we really sit and think about our food as much as we should.  Do we really picture the farmers and migrant workers out slaving away to prepare the land, plant the seeds, grow, water, and pick the grains, vegetables and fruits we eat, let alone the ranchers who tend and watch over the animals that some of you eat, or the dairy or egg farmers who hope that their animals are healthy and can produce the quantities of milk and eggs needed for millions and millions of consumers. Not counting the feed lots, or other suppliers that we don’t think about when it comes to the production of food.  And lets not forget the fishermen.  All these people working away for our survival.

We then add in the distributors and grocers around the world that ship and market this food for us to purchase, take home, prepare, cook, bake, broil, saute, and eat, and even waste.  Let alone the options we have – the varieties and brands of everything.  Plus, there are the issues of affordable organics, the distances our food travels and the impact that it has on our environment, the health of the land we use, etc. Food is a complicated industry and yet we hopefully, sit down to two or three meals a day not necessarily giving a thought to all of that.  So right now I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped put food on our table – where would we be without you all. (That includes my Uncle Delmar, my cousins Roger, Dan, and Larry, and the other relatives on my mom’s side of the family that are farmers and ranchers,etc.) Literally where would we be.  I like to garden, but there’s no way I have the know-how to put the food we eat on our table each and every day.

Anyone who really knows me, knows how much I love food and how much I love to cook.  It’s a HUGE part of who I am.  Although, right now due to dietary issues, it’s a lot less of me, but is still in my heart.  I can’t think of anything else that is necessary to sustain life and offers people something to be passionate about as well.  I’m lucky enough to know a few professional chefs, as well as have friends like me who just love to be in the kitchen to create.  Food can really be an art form.

But there’s also another aspect of food that I am also grateful for – I’m grateful for being able to sit down and eat with my someone special, or with family, friends, and even soon to be friends.  Food has a way of bringing us together in a way that nothing else does.  The conversations, celebrations, and even discussions that happen over a dining room table very seldom happen anywhere else.  

Is it because we are sharing in something that we all need, maybe – and maybe, in more ways than we think.

I am grateful for food.

Image Source: Linda Scheels Facebook Page – Photo from their farm

I am grateful for evidence of learning.

Boy that sounds stuffy doesn’t it.  It’s not meant to be stuffy but believe it or not its from the heart.

I teach three subjects = science, math, and keyboarding.  I love teaching all of them, not necessary everyday, but in general.  This week is the end of the semester and although my science and math classes will continue as usual come next week, (with maybe a bit more motivation from receiving their report cards), my keyboarding classes are coming to an end tomorrow, with fresh victims entering the Mac lab next week.

These two very special classes and very uniquely different classes had their KEYBOARDING FINAL EXAM today.  One class is full of sweet, kind, quiet students with few exceptions.  This class has been easy to teach and fun to be with.  Some of the students I have in one of my other classes but some I don’t and I will miss most of them.  The other class, well let me tell you!

No teacher should ever be allowed to have more than 2 or 3 at most “behavior issues”/”challenging students”/”problem children”/”…” students in a given class; more than that and it grossly changes the make-up of the class and alters the time given to the class by the teacher.  But no, this class has 8, yes EIGHT of those special students.  They are LOUD, obnoxious, … beyond belief.  The stern, strict Mrs. Smith often has to show herself in this class just to keep order and to protect the other amazing, kind, academically-oriented students that inhabit the other seats in the classroom.  I could tell you story after story about these, yes boys.  Stories that you wouldn’t believe, kind of stories. Anyway, the teacher with the invisible ruler in her hand today, instructed everyone that if they said one word during the KEYBOARDING FINAL EXAM that they would be ousted out the door, down the hall, down the stairs, to that dreaded place called the office to face the harshest of consequences every seen to a middle school student.  Well it worked.  They were completely and quietly compliant.  This complete tranquility was at first shocking but as it continued, it gave me a few moments to really take in the class and think, think about what I was seeing.

In this almost zen-like atmosphere, there were 30 students typing. A few looking at their fingers pushing keys on their shiny keyboards here and there, but mostly looking at their screens just typing away.  It was at this moment, that I realized this evidence of learning.  Most of these thirteen and fourteen year olds knew nothing about how to type with the ten digits attached to the ends of their arms when they entered this room in August, let alone where any letter was housed on the keyboard.  Wow! They have learned how to be very proficient typists.  Well there are two that will leave the course able to speed across the keyboard with two fingers (not because they only have two fingers but they’ve only chosen to use two fingers.)

These types of moments rarely come to a teacher.  They are the priceless seconds that make you want to keep being a teacher.  These seconds can keep me fueled for quite a while – they are my real paychecks.  I’m grateful for receiving this special bit of time today.

I am grateful for seeing evidence that my students have learned a skill from me.

Image Sources: Classroom – http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/wolimages/type.gif; Keys – http://2fm9xz2drvqemrbu.zippykid.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/typewriter.jpg

I am grateful for substitute teachers and my shopping buddy.

Since I didn’t get to writing my blog yesterday, I thought today I would share my gratitude for two things – substitute teachers and one of my favorite shopping buddies.

I had a doctor’s appointment today, and unlike when I worked in marketing, I can’t just pop out of the office for a couple hours to go to the doctor.  Instead, I have to get a substitute teacher to come in to teach my classes for the entire day.  Substitutes don’t make enough money to just cover one or two hours/classes, so a teacher typically has to take the entire day off to go to the doctor, especially when the last appointment for the doctor is at 1:40 p.m. Anyway, that’s another topic all together.  I appreciate the guest teachers, as they’re called in some schools and districts, that come in without any idea of the size of class, situation, or often subject that they will be teaching for the day and just put themselves out there.  Prior to my recent move,  there were two subs that I used on the rare occasions when I need to go to an appointment or I had deemed myself to sick to go to school.  With these super humans, I never worried about what was happening in my classroom.  Both women are amazing teachers in their own right.  However, with the recent change in schools and districts, I don’t have any idea who covered for me today.  I hope and pray that things went well.  I am grateful that I could get someone to step in and help me out today. (Okay I’ll be honest – I hoped they helped me out – sometimes you never know if things went as planned or there will be a crazy story to hear the next day.  So let’s keep our fingers crossed I’m being appropriately grateful.)

After my doctor’s appointment and blood letting (8 tubes), I got to spend the rest of the afternoon with my favorite Brazilian-American-British exchange son and we went shopping.  It was fun!  He gets very excited about shopping, whereas I hardly ever go shopping, so we make a great team.  Regardless of the new items purchased, the best part is just spending time with him.  We don’t get to see him often, because he now lives in London; so having time with him to myself was more than a special treat, it was one of those priceless memories that I will hold dear to my heart.  He’s growing up and is becoming a very amazing young man.  My husband and I are extremely proud of him.

I am grateful for a substitute teacher and a super shopping buddy.