I love my job!! @ Stanford Athletics

Some of you may know that I work in the Stanford Athletics department in the Physical Education and Recreation Division. I have an awesome office located in the the Burnham Pavilion built in 1921 which houses the Stanford Gymnastics teams and Men's Volleyball team. Each day as I walk down the hall to work I get to dodge 30 rowing machines during Crew team practice, almost trip over chairs while staring at the crazy flips some gymnast is doing and each day I think to myself what an amazing opportunity I have to be surrounded by some of the best athletes in the world here at Stanford.

This weekend I got free tickets to the Stanford Gymnastics Open! Every seat was filled and Morgan and I were in awe as we watched insane strength and skill displayed on the rings, pomnel, parallel bars and high bar. I am assured that gymnasts are the strongest athletes out there; ALL of them have 8 packs and bulging muscles (Morgan wants to be a gymnast now :) hehe) and can do incredible things!

Although it probably isn't socially acceptable for a guy to be a gymnast while he is in middle school, my kids are going to do gymnastics just so I can go to these incredible events more often! We are excited to watch the gymnastics portion of the 2012 summer Olympics this year!

Family Fun

My beautiful sister Talesha is one week away from going on a mission to Singapore. While I was in UT for Christmas break we took some mission pictures and I think they turned out really great!

 The Singapore mission's official language is Malay and they don't have a Book of Mormon in that language yet! Good luck with that Talesha! :)

My family all flew out to CA on Sat. and left Sunday...fast trip, but we got to take some family pictures before Talesha leaves for the next 18 months. I sure love Stanford's campus!

I was taking pictures of my sister Holly and Talesha told her to flip her hair as she looked back at me. This is a picture of Morgan trying to show Holly what Talesha meant...without the flipping of the hair :) What a goof!

On Saturday we went into San Francisco and had lots of fun walking around and eating at Lori's Diner. Holly is really into the 50's style diners and she really loved it, plus they had a fantastic view of the bay.

Lots of fun! Its really weird to think that I wont see my little sister for a whole year and a half :(

Word of the Year!

 I saw this blog and was really inspired by it. The author decided to pick a word for the year and strive to live that word and incorporate it into her life. I decided that I wanted to do the same and have been thinking a lot about it. Honestly though, the first word that came to my mind is the one that has stuck with me the whole time I have been contemplating.

My word of the year is GRATITUDE!

Here are some of my favorite quotes on gratitude:


"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend." - Melody Beattie


"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others" - Winston Churchill
 
"I would maintain that giving thanks is the highest form of thought" - G.K Chesterton
 

"The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!"  ~Henry Ward Beecher

I really liked what lds.org had to say about what gratitude is and what it does for the person being grateful.


"A grateful heart is the beginning of greatness. Gratitude builds humility as we recognize an act of kindness, service, or caring from someone else. True gratitude is a foundation for faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. Being grateful leads us to look outside ourselves and turn to the bestower of the blessings. As we regularly express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father, we cultivate an uplifting attitude. The Savior has promised, "He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious" (D&C 78:19). Bitterness, resentful feelings, or mean-spiritedness cannot exist in a grateful heart. Greater happiness is achieved as deeper gratitude is developed."

"Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. As we cultivate a grateful attitude, we are more likely to be happy and spiritually strong. We should regularly express our gratitude to God for the blessings He gives us and to others for the kind acts they do for us.
The Lord has promised, "He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious" (D&C 78:19). Gratitude is an uplifting, exalting attitude. People are generally happier when they have gratitude in their hearts. We cannot be bitter, resentful, or mean-spirited when we are grateful.
We should be thankful for the wonderful blessings that are ours and for the tremendous opportunities we have. We can be thankful to our parents, family, friends, and teachers. We should express appreciation to everyone who has assisted us in any way.
We should thank our Heavenly Father for His goodness to us by acknowledging His hand in all things, thanking Him for all that He gives us, keeping His commandments, and serving others. We should especially thank Him for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for the Savior's great example, for His teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help, for His infinite Atonement."

I think the reason that I chose the word gratitude is because when I focus on everything that I have been given I am usually more positive, content and willing to help those around me. In a talk by President Eyring, he coorelates gratitude with remembering. He says "remembrance is the seed of gratitude which is the seed of generosity." When we remember the blessings that we have been given in the past, an attitude of gratitude comes upon us.

A hymn reminds me that gratitude can provide comfort during times of trial:
"When upon life's billows you are tempest-tosseds,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessing; name them one by one, (gratitude)
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done,
So amid the conflict, whether great or small, 
Do not be discouraged; God is over all.
Count your many blessings; angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end."

Here are a few of the things I am going to do throughout the year to keep this word Gratitude alive:
-Each month send a thank you note to someone who has touched my life
-Write in my journal each week about some of the blessings I have been given
-Say "thank you" more often


And so I will start now, THANK YOU to all those that read this blog for being such great friends and family. You have each touched my life in some way or another and I will be forever grateful!

 What is your word of the year? If you have one I would love for you to share it with me in the comments below.

Morgan's Adventures....by Katie :)

Morgan has been one busy guy for the past 5 months and Jan. is the worst of them all. He has at least 4 interviews for summer internships and those 4 could turn into 4 more before January is over. Hopefully by Feb. 1st he will have an internship!

He also just got back from a 12 day trip to the UAE and Qatar. He loved every minute except for the last 48 hours that he had to spend in airports trying to get home :)

Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

View of Abu Dhabi from Morgan's hotel

Tallest building in the world (almost 1/2 mile tall) in Dubai

 What that building would look like in New York City!

 View from the top!

 Morgan spend New Year's in Dubai and LOVED it! They had their own balcony and he said the fireworks were the best he has ever seen.

 Supposedly the UAE has to do everything extreme including building a ski resort inside the mall. Morgan said it took 4 min. to go up the lift (this is no small thing). He snowboarded for the first time and really loved it!

In Qatar Morgan went to a pet market and saw these rainbow chicks! I really want a pink one :)

 Throughout the trip they had lots of meetings with big companies.

 And Morgan got to ride a camel! He said it was really weird :)

Morgan and I are both looking forward to a wonderful 2012 with many exciting adventures! We hope everyone that reads this blog has a wonderful year as well.

Abu Dhabi

This is the type of thing Morgan is seeing every day! Lucky guy!