29th Birthday!

Happy 29th Birthday to me!

In honor of my 29 years on this earth I'm going to list 29 things I'm grateful for:

1. Charlie- my best friend and husband. Without him my life would not be complete. He is my rock and he keeps my sane. He has given me the most wonderful life and I love him so very very much.

2. Natalia- my sweet little snuggle bug. I have a purpose now, I always knew I wanted to be a mommy. She is my whole world.

3. My wonderful and amazing parents- They worked so hard to give us a good life growing up. They taught me everything. They supported me and have been so strong at times of need.

4. The rest of my family! I have a great brother and great in laws. Amazing grandparents, aunts and uncles and nephews. I could go on forever. I love them all to death and couldn't imagine life without them.

5. Oliver- he gets his own because he is so darn special. That little man has taught me so much in his little life. He was always such a happy baby despite being so sick. He was a fighter and wouldn't let go when faced with some pretty serious stuff. Our time in Utah with him was the most intense days. But, we became so much stronger as a family because of it. He's an amazing little man and so much fun to have around.

6/7. My friends/Alpha Chi- I have a great group of girlfriends that are the best girls ever. They make me laugh when I need it and the listen when I need it. We have fun dress up parties all the time! It's nice to get out of the house from time to time and just enjoy myself. I say Alpha Chi as well because without it I wouldn't have gotten so close to these girls. Plus Alpha Chi made college some of the best years of my life. It was so much fun. It also made me accountable for my grades in college because I had to have a certain GPA to maintain my offices in the sorority. So when times were tough I still plugged through just so I could stay in the sorority.

8. Switch- yes my dog. He's my fur baby. He keeps us safe, even if he is a big wimp! But, he looks meaner then he is. He will be a great protector of my children and our little family.

9. Charlie's job- with the economy the way it is, I'm so glad that Charlie has a great job and it's stable. Which leads me to 10.

10. Stay at home mommy- Because of Charlie's steady income and his working hard I get to stay home with Natalia and our future children. I love being home with her and taking care of her. Even if I'm so tired all the time!

11. Our house- we did pretty good in buying our first home. It suits us quite well and it's in a great location. I love that we own a home instead of having to rent. We have so many great memories here, it will be sad to move when the time comes.

12. My health- considering all the crap my family has been through, I'm pretty grateful for my good health. I had a relatively easy pregnancy (even if I complained a lot!) and have managed to lose most of the weight without having to restrict my diet too much. I'm very fortunate to have all that.

13. Our camera- this might seem a little silly, unless you really know me. But I LOVE LOVE pictures. I'm always taking pictures and Natalia is one of the most well documented babies you will ever come across. I used to transfer that love of photos to scrap booking, and maybe someday will get back into it... but in the mean time I still love looking back at photos and remembering all our good times.

14. Modern Appliances! I seriously hate dishes and couldn't imagine having to hand wash dishes everyday. Washers and dryers are also great because who seriously wants to hand wash that much laundry!

15. Speaking of modern appliances, the DVR- now that I've had one, it would be seriously hard to go without it. It's awesome to be able to record all the shows I enjoy and then fast forward through the commercials. And, I don't have to sit and watch the shows right when they come on. I watch them as I have time now. Its amazing.

16. Books- I love to read. I don't know how it started or when... but for as far as I can remember I've loved to read. And, I'm pretty fast at it too. I got that from my dad. I would love someday if we could just build shelves to cover an entire wall of like an office and just fill it with books. I hope that Natalia will love to read too.

17. Traveling- I've been to some pretty cool places and have had some amazing trips. We went to Italy for our two year anniversary, which was a dream come true. Plus going on a cruise to the Caribbean, stopping in New York, for our honeymoon. And, of course Disneyland and Disneyworld. AMAZING! When I was little I was even lucky enough to go to El Salvador and see where my mom grew up. That was pretty awesome as well.

18. Date nights- we are going out to eat at Goodwood tonight and then going to see Iron Man 2. I know we don't go out on a date night often enough, but when we do I really appreciate it!

19. Sunshine- today's crappy weather reminds me how much I miss sunshine. After being cooped up in the house all winter we are ready for some warm weather!!! I didn't realize how much I would miss leaving the house everyday like to go to work, until you just don't anymore. So once this sunshine and warm weather sticks we are out of here.

20. Caffeine- yes I said it. I love me some Dr. Pepper, it's a slight obsession. Especially fountain soda, to me it just tastes the best! and the occasional white chocolate peppermint mocha frappichino from Starbucks always makes my day too. Funny how those things were a staple in my diet at the end of my pregnancy. For some reason they would be the ONLY thing that would make my heartburn go away.

21. The Internet- what would our lives be without it? It's how I stay in contact with friends and family near and far. I order this and that off of it, I sell my bows on it... I could go and on.

22. Being Bilingual- most of you know of my Spanish speaking abilities... or lack there of! I grew up with Spanish speaking family all around me, so I can understand it almost perfectly.... speaking it is another thing. I can get by and hold a conversation... just don't ask that my verb conjugation be perfect. I guess when I was born my parents only spoke Spanish to me so it was technically my first language, and then I started speaking English when I went to church and they spoke English. Pretty cool huh?

23. Cable TV- he he he. The endless amount of shows I can watch on it. Especially the food network! I love watching cooking shows and trying to figure out meals for us from it.

24. Food in general- I love love love food. I love bad food and healthy food equally. I'm so excited for my birthday meals today!

25. Soldiers- I'm grateful to them for making the sacrifice to serve our country so that I don't have to worry and I can be home with my family safe and sound.

26. Cell phones- I love that I can go anywhere and bring a phone with me. I live for text messaging. I do the majority of my communication in text he he he.

27. Hot Showers- after long nights with Natalia my body gets pretty achy and the hot shower is always a way to relieve that... plus it's just nice to have hot and cold water at my fingertips.

28. Living in Idaho- I love it here, it's pretty great!

29. Last but not least, I'm just pretty grateful for my awesome life! I have it pretty great and want people to know it. There are a lot less fortunate people out there.