here's the thing

i never thought i'd ever be here.

high school was a little rough for me. I wandered off the path here and there, and i struggled. (didn't we all) Sometimes, when things were really rough, i just knew that because of my past, i would never get all the good things that as a young girl i had wanted. That because i did the "typical teenage" thing and "traded what i wanted then for what i wanted most" that i would really never get all the wonderful things life could've offered me. If only, if only was a common thought.

I also was tainted, because my parents didn't stay in love. I was a real skeptic when it came to eternal marriages. although deep in my heart, that is what i have wanted since i was a sunbeam and learned "i love to see the temple" seeing your family fall apart, and trying to understand your parents sealing be canceled. it just made me a little...skeptical is a good word for it.

and then...when i went to college i was so so so sure that i wasn't getting married until i was 30. at least. and even then, i just figured i'd have to settle. Boy, was i wrongg.

i met tyler. and he told me that to him, I was way more than "good enough". Even though i had made what seemed then were these life changing mistakes (looking back..very good learning expiriences that we all have to go through) those oopsies didn't matter to him.

and we got married. for eternity. and when we said "yes" over the alter that day, we meant it. and i knew that i could have what i wanted most. an eternal family. i knew that i didn't have to repeat my parents story, that i got to make my own.

and then i had a daughter. a tiny, soft, angel that i knew was straight from heaven. she doesn't care about my mistakes as a teenager either. she loves me, even when i'm frustrated, or impatient. having a child really is a gift from God. a gift that i don't think i'll ever feel worthy of, it's so precious.

my life at 21 is so much more then i ever in a million years expected it would be. if you told me at graduation day, that in 4 years you'd be here, i simply wouldn't have ever believed you.

Through the atonement, and the gospel all things are possible. This time of year my blessings are more apparent i guess with Thanksgiving. what a wonderful thing, huh?

Counting my blessings humbles me beyond anything else. i just keep thinking, that my Father in heaven must really love me to take care of me so well.

i'm one lucky, no blessed, girl.