This Post Contains a Bluejay, I Promise

I feel so blessed and thankful for all of my family and friends.

My heart is so full of love and joy!

I had the opportunity to visit lots of family this weekend. I feel so recharged and ready to take on the rest of the semester.

I can hardly contain my gratitude, and I decided to spare my friends the aggravation of a huge recap in their news feed on Facebook. Blogging is better, anyway:

I'm grateful for a safe journey there and back.

I'm grateful for the new friend I made when I rode down. It's amazing how conversations with complete strangers at BYU-I turn to spiritual discussions.

I'm grateful for loving grandparents. 

I'm grateful for so many bright, adorable, lively little cousins. I sure miss being around kids sometimes.

I'm grateful for older cousins who keep it real. (You know who you are.)

I'm grateful for exemplary aunts and other women who give their all to marriage and motherhood. I have much to learn from them.

I'm grateful for spring and all the color and vibrancy it brings both physically and spiritually. I love the sunshine.

I'm grateful for opportunities to grow.

I'm grateful for answers to prayers, for the ability to be confident in myself as I try to become the woman God has given me the potential to become.

I'm grateful for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I know that His influence and power is real. I feel guided and directed when I'm humble enough to listen, and obedient enough to follow through.

OKAY. I know what you really want to see is the peanut-eating-bluejay. I'm most grateful for that. Naturally.

Enjoy!

(First, we put the peanut on the table where we were all sitting. Then as the bird became more confident, my grandpa put a peanut on his shoulder. Eventually, my cousins laid down face-first in my grandparent's backyard and put peanuts on their backs for this resident bluejay's consumption (hoarding?). Anyway, it was hilarious to watch the excitement when the bird came close. I have to admit, I realized that my younger cousins are much braver than I am. He landed about two feet away from me while I was filming at one point, and looked right at me. It was all I could do to not scream out loud and scare him away! Hahaha! Maybe I've suppressed a traumatizing childhood experience involving birds? Beats me. But it was fun to watch from a comfortable distance. And a huge bonus for parents, the kids were completely still and silent during the bird feeding!)