All Things Purple

Gratitude Month 2026: Jesus, My Friend

2026-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Over the years, I have been working on growing my testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and as my testimony has grown so has my peace and hope. It is no coincidence; hope is only possible because of Jesus and a loving God.

My gratitude runs deep for all the hope I have despite my deeply flawed existence. A sermon from April 2000 general conference by Gordon B. Hinckley entitled "My Testimony" shares perfectly how I feel about Jesus: "Jesus is my friend. None other has given me so much...He opened the way to eternal life. Only a God could do this. I hope that I am deemed worthy of being a friend to Him." As times goes by, I realize more and more how Jesus has always been my friend, but I was not ready to accept that special, unconditional friendship.

I am exceedingly thankful for having Jesus in my life to help me see the way back to our Heavenly Father and know that I am loved.

Gratitude Month 2026: Students Who Care

2026-11-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

I am also a teacher, so I have the privilege of sharing my time several days a week with young people, teaching them a variety of skills, mainly English or English adjacent, and I will never tire of all the love I receive from the ones who care.

To define care, I am speaking of the students who come to the classroom ready and wanting to learn, hungry for it. Even the ones who are reluctant learners but end up allowing me to persuade them to want to try even a little bit fall into this category of caring because you can see how much they give if/once they care. These students who care give their all to learn and try new things and become or excel at being coachable, and it is simply a delight to see. I probably would not have kept teaching for as long as I have without these students who care reigniting my fire each day. And they truly do that for me. Like a match in the darkness some days when life is tough, when haters surround and mistakes get made by being human, these students who care are light and fuel for more light.

I am grateful for all of the many students over the years who have cared, but to have so many students who care the past couple of years has been like a dream I never thought possible with how my teaching career began. So. Many. Haters. But I digress.

If you are or were a student who cares, just know that you probably make/made your teacher feel blessed. I know I do.

Gratitude Month 2026: Keeping Things Simple

2026-11-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

It does not happen often enough, but when it does, you know you can sit back, breathe, and let things simmer in the background for a bit. Keeping things simple has become one of my favorite blessings since this school year began. It is the first time in years that I do not have physical therapy or some other type of healthcare appointment for myself or someone else, and I love being able to do what I affectionately call "a whole lot of of nothing." I work so hard with very little reprieve, so I get tired, making it to where feeling raggedy at the end of the day seems to be a norm too often. I am so thankful for having a day or so extra each week where I am pleasantly surprised that I can simplify and relish some time to rest.

Gratitude Month 2026: Health and Strength

2026-11-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

Not to say that I am so way strong anymore, but I do want to acknowledge and show gratitude for the strength and ability that has been regained. You just do not know what you have until you no longer do have it. The ability to walk completely freely is still not one hundred percent for me, but it is really close in comparison to how life was just two and three years ago when my knees kept throwing fits randomly—on trips. I am so thankful to be able to open jars and close containers and move my body with more power. It feels great. And with being able to move better, I have to follow up with thankfulness for my Heavenly Father blessing me and my children with being so very well most of the time in our lives. I like to say I have an iron constitution, and I believe it is from all the minerals from the well water I grew up on at our old house, and maybe some of those benefits have passed down to my children. God really watches over us in keeping us from catching colds and whatever other bugs might be "going around the neighborhood" so to speak. My oldest son has a theory that we are so well because of the kitchen sponge harboring a little bad bugs, just enough to keep our immune systems working out, so that is why we all enjoy so much immunity. He could be right. Maybe we both are. But also, I have lived long enough to know that no matter what, it is by the grace of God that we have any good thing, so I will just say how grateful I am. So many times in our lives, we have watched the world around us get so sick and run through whole families but not us. So grateful.

Gratitude Month 2026: U.S. Veterans

2026-11-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for all the veterans in the United States of America who love our country and have protected us from enemies, foreign and domestic, over these past 250 years and more if we count the colonial period. My grandfather and uncles on my dad's side were all U.S. Navy sailors, and I have one brother who is a combat veteran who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another brother served as a soldier musician in the Army bands, so that is a fun thing to appreciate too. So many people to thank for being part of the solution to problems and helping our citizens be kept safe.

My words seem to fall flat as I try to show my appreciation, but I hope what I am trying to say reaches you and helps you understand my gratitude runs deep.

Gratitude Month 2026: Cell phones

2026-11-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

With so many people addicted to screens, I am reticent to claim gratitude for something that can be addictive, but the fact remains that having a cell phone has blessed my life in countless ways.

Some of the things I appreciate the most are being able to text my friends and family like passing notes, calling people any place you are—not just at home or at a pay phone—to take care of business or shoot the breeze or get support in the moment, doing family history and scripture study on apps to lift my spirits any time day or night, taking photographs (like soooooo many photographs) that help me explore my creativity and capture memories, and so much more. I just love what a useful tool my cell phone is. I can connect with so many people and take care of so many things with one tool.

I am incredibly grateful for all the goodness and helpfulness I experience by having a cell phone, and it feels right to acknowledge how much this technology has blessed my life.

Gratitude Month 2026: Great Movies

2026-11-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have written about movie appreciation many times before, and you might have seen my top 100 movies of all time list, so a gratitude post about great movies should not be a surprise. What got me thinking about movies is how I went to the theater to see Rocky for its 50th anniversary. Such a cool experience to see a movie I never thought I would get to see on the big screen. And the Rocky movies are so good to me. The first one, the original, is my favorite of them all with such relatable themes and simple yet dynamic storytelling. There are so many movies I love that I really cannot get into it, or I would begin writing another book, and there is no time for that!

Suffice it to say, I am exceedingly thankful for all of the interesting, dynamic, and captivating movies I have seen over the years. I have learned so much, been comforted and felt seen, and have made sweet memories with friends and family all while enjoying a movie.

Gratitude Month 2026: My Little Brothers

2026-11-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

My family dynamic that I was born into is complicated, but to simplify a bad situation that I did not create, I am the oldest of my siblings, the only girl, and I have five younger brothers. This pack of brothers of mine have meant the world to me since I have been able to have a recollection of our time together. Growing up, we had good times and bad times and everything in between like all siblings, but something that has always been dear to me in my memory of them is how we had so much fun together playing outside in our backyard, swinging on the swings, running around chasing each other, giving and going for rides on the riding lawn mower, sword fighting with sticks, climbing on the wood pile, and so much more.

The first of two of my favorite memories where I was the leader of the pack in our backyard is when we were pouring any and all cleaning agents from under my parents' bathroom sink in and around a giant anthill we had discovered in the way back of our acre property and trying to light it on fire. I was pretty young, but I knew how to read and was scanning the containers for the word flammable. I made sure my little brothers kept a safe distance because, while we did want to destroy the ants, I did not want anyone to get hurt. We did not meet much success at burning out the anthill, but a bit of flame did happen probably after the bleach, I think. And everyone was safe from the chemicals I felt for sure were very dangerous since they had the word flammable on them. I remember feeling so big and responsible for keeping my little brothers safe from getting burned.

The other favorite memory with my little brothers in the backyard was when I had a friend over and our dad gave me permission to make a tiny fire with twigs on our concrete slab that ended with me cooking bacon and eggs for everyone (including my dad who never questioned why he had a plate of bacon and eggs delivered to him by one of my brothers) over what turned into a large fire and my little brothers running around that fire and being handed pieces of bacon from the pan as they finished cooking like a wild scene with the Lost Boys from Peter Pan. We were having the time of our lives. And then—mom came home. I do not recall her being angry that a bonfire was lit in her backyard by her approximately 8 or 9-year-old daughter who was encouraging her sons to run around a fire like maniacs but because I had used her good frying pan, and she was livid about that. I was so busted. Her good pan was a stainless steel with copper bottom Revereware, so anyone who knows what that is knows full well she had every right to be ticked. Now that I know what that is, I would have gone ballistic on my children! But I digress.

I share these two top tier moments in time to show how I have loved being the ringleader of my little brothers who are not little anymore. In fact, we are all so grown up now that we hardly have a moment for adventure and have not all been together in the same space for many years. Each of them have special gifts and talents they bring to our family and in the world where they have shared them, and I am thankful to be alive long enough to look back and see how far we all have come and what a difference they have made for so many including myself. Each of my little brothers have taken turns being there for my children as they were growing up, and I am extra thankful for those times when we needed their time and presence.

Their presence in my life has made me who I am as the oldest of our pack and the only sister. Their love and trust have pushed me to be brave and strong. Their kindness and forgiveness have pushed me to be my better self at every turn. I am thankful for these five now grown men who have blessed me and my children more than I can find words to express it all.

Gratitude Month 2026: Good Food

2026-11-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Just before sitting down to write about something I am thankful for, I finished a bowl of homemade cheeseburger soup that I had prepared for us today. And my thoughts are overwhelmed with gratitude for my full refrigerator and pantry and the crockpot full of delicious, warm soup that we will be working on over the next few days. I have been so fortunate my whole life to never have gone hungry and never to have to watch my children go hungry either. My dad knew destitution and hunger as a child, and he would share stories to teach us to be thankful and to take care not to waste what food we had. I hope I always remember the lessons he taught us about being grateful for something as basic as food because not everyone has their basic needs met. Food is basic but a blessing, and I am so thankful for it.

Gratitude Month 2026: America 250

2026-11-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

This semiquincentennial year for the United States of America has been a time of gathering friends and family for celebratory times, experiencing its history and present innovations, and reveling in all the good that is America. I am grateful for my ancestors who sacrificed greatly to leave their homelands for an unsettled wilderness and all who kept coming as they were beckoned by the hope of liberty. I am thankful for my American roots that anchor me to this land. I am thankful for all the freedom that has been fought for and won because people have believed we could have something different, something better. I am grateful to God for watching over us, and I pray for His holy protection as we move into the next two hundred and fifty years.

Gratitude Month 2026: Deep Conversation

2026-11-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I could talk the ear off a horse—or whatever that saying is. I talk small talk, big talk, and everything-in-between talk, but my favorite kind of talk is deep talk. Not everyone revels in argumentation, complex concepts, and random trains of thought that bring you to truly contemplate the important and eternal things in life. I will be friends with anyone and everyone, yet I tend to gravitate toward those individuals who appreciate and enjoy deep conversation. It is usually self-professed nerds like myself who love deep conversations, and I am here for it.

The other day, I was part of one of these treasured talks, and I was asked how I would define love. My first response was that love equals loyalty, and I gave evidence to support my claim. The talking kept going and even weaved into other conversations, then, something someone said provided me more clarity on how I could describe love, and it is affectionate loyalty. This description can apply to any form of human love that we share. I give affectionate loyalty to my children, my brothers, my parents, my extended family, my friends, my coworkers, and my employer even. Each iteration of love looks different, but the definition stands true to how I live life.

I would like to give affectionate loyalty to a romantic subject again someday, God willing. I must say I am not grateful for the realization that I have never received genuine affectionate loyalty in this form, but I still seek it, so I guess I am thankful I still have hope that I can find someone capable of reciprocating romantic affectionate loyalty for me.

So today, I am thankful for the deep conversations I have had in my life and the recent one that got me thinking about something that brings me hope. And I am thankful that I am someone capable of loving the intellect it takes to hold these types of conversations.

Gratitude Month 2026: Good Music

2026-11-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was raised around good music. Between my parents' wide range of musical tastes and growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s, I have experienced the best of the best throughout time, so whenever anyone asks me what is my favorite type of music, I literally say one word—good. Not all music is good, but you can find good songs in just about any genre. Some of my favorite genres with many good songs in them include classical, classic rock, new wave, alternative, country, and gospel music. I enjoy songs in other genres as well, but these are what I probably listen to most as they bring happiness, understanding, and light to my days.

Going to live musical performances is another facet of my gratitude for good music. There is nothing like hearing a live orchestra or a choir singing in front of your very eyes, and I will add how much I love watching a marching band competition played outside on the football field. It is all so good to me!

I am so grateful for the gift of music that has been ever present in my life.

Gratitude Month 2026: Friends

2026-11-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Throughout my life, I have had friends, and as I continue in life, I realize that this luxury is not the case for everyone. Not everyone knows how to make friends, and it has always come naturally to me. I have childhood friends I have known since I was four and five years old, and I do not take that for granted. Another section of friends I will never take for granted are the people who have known me since we were teenagers. Holding onto even one friendship during such a tumultuous development period seems like a miracle to me, and I have been able to stay connected with many of these amazing people who helped to shape who I am today. I have a best friend whom we have known each other since fourteen years old, and I am always astonished that she has not gotten fed up with my antics by now. Not even kidding!

I have so many dear friends that it would take a book to write about everyone, but I simply want to pay honor to each of you who have blessed my life so much. You have been so good to me even if was only for a moment or for years. I am thankful for you. And I want to say thank you to anyone who is soon to become my friend—buckle up!

Gratitude Month 2026: My Children

2026-11-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

It has been quite the journey, becoming a mother and watching everyone grow up while I feel like I am still growing up. Watching my children develop and learn has been the work of my life and a true joy to see them becoming such goodhearted, strong, mindful, resilient people. My heart appreciates all the lovely moments, the birthday parties, the playdates, the mom-times, the road trips, the movie nights, all of it. All those same things are past though, and I look forward to the now, every time we can gather, every time even one of them chooses to pause their big life to keep our family ties strong.

I am grateful for four of the best teachers I could ask for, showing me the way to become my best self, teaching me that God sees me and us and will keep his promises because He has time and time again for us. So thankful to be a mother.

Gratitude Month 2026: My Parents

2026-11-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Over the last few weeks, my mom and dad have been on my mind so much. I even had a dream with my dad in it that was so vivid that it felt real until I was awake and had to talk myself into reality. He and I were walking around our family home's property assessing the patches of grass that were not growing properly and the patches where it needed to be mowed, and it was all so easygoing just how we used to talk when we would go on walks or shooting the breeze. Just before I woke up, he was telling me essentially that we have a good plan for things, and we agreed that it will all work out if we do what we planned. I cannot help but continue to believe it was a visit like my mom's dream last year (or early on this year), but somehow, I was not freaked out, just so comfortable with talking and walking around our old backyard.

The only problem is now I have my parents on my mind daily, and there is nothing to do but miss them. Well, there is something. I have been preparing to write my mom's biographical sketch and have put out a call for stories, so there is that. No one has sent me any stories yet, so that has been hard, but I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month by working on her story, so I can have it together as much as possible by the end of November and put the finishing touches on over Christmas break hopefully.

My gratitude runs deep for these two wonderful and regular and extraordinary and very missed people. They took a chance on love between two very different people, gave me life and my brothers too, and ran the course through the rest of their lives never giving up even when it might have seemed easier to do so.

Love and miss them and appreciate them beyond any description I can write here.

Happy First Day of Gratitude Month!

incandescent you

2026-05-16T12:00:00.006-05:00

How can you know who you are?

In your beauty and your strength.

You are lux et veritas.

Seek forever for the truth.

Despite losses on your way,

Hold to love and truthfulness.

Be light—wish upon the stars—

As God reaches for you at length—

Ever-reaching—at full cost—

A cost worth every pain—

God’s divine gift to this world,

Entirely luminous.

You are light, and you are truth—

You are lux et veritas.

Dedicated to the Class of 2026

May you never forget who you are—a beloved child of God.

And to students of mine past, present, and future, thank you for trusting me
to lead, guide, and walk beside you for this stint in your marathon called life.

baby mine

2026-04-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

Nothing turns out how we expect—

Sometimes, it turns out better.

Nothing can be better

Than what and how reality is.

Stand rooted in the beauty of truth

Be strong in righteous endeavors

Be you, a queen within all of creation.

for my daughter, miss d.

my love

2026-04-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

Where did you hide,

Sweet dream of mine?

Where did you go?

I am so low.

You need to find me,

darling, come see—

The time is waning,

And I am fainting.

Catch me before

All the time is gone.

not today

2026-04-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

Writing of flowers and sunshine and kisses

Is very well for the unforgotten, the ones where

Promises are still kept.

But it gets to be ridiculous when all you have known

Is leaving, lying, and cheating.

These words flow from a place of

Disappointment—

A place of pure and poignant

Sorrow—

A place of deep and abiding

Wishing for better

Than she has ever known.

And yet, she writes—

Of happiness and love and joyfulness

Most days—

Just not this day.

fate

2026-04-27T08:00:00.007-05:00

nearly endearing

nearing our critical mass

near the finish, love

top shelf

2026-04-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Her heart is sitting on a shelf most days.

It looks around and makes a few wishes,

Taking time to contemplate all the ways

Of how good life can be as it swishes

By unconcerned with how long it takes

To see around the corners and become

Something like the wish she makes

As the shelf begins to feel like home.

And nothing is quite the same again

And she see this and must pretend

That everything is fine

Even when it is not.

to choose

2026-04-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

looking around, trapped

slow-boiled mentality

His gospel frees us

my Jesus

2026-04-24T08:00:00.005-05:00

I love the way you make me feel when the skies are clear

And everything from before now and looking toward heaven is near

Family is all I can think about and dream about and hope for

I look at the past, present, and future, and realize you are an open door

Leading me to forever, leading me to always

Leading me to the best of everything God could give

Because you are the way home, showing the way

As I strive to make it through the strife and live.

You are the light I need;

You are my friend indeed.

invaluable

2026-04-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

I am invaluable—

A real treasure divine.

I am insatiable

When I lose track of time.

I am creativity personified—

Holding nothing back, nothing kept inside.

I am invaluable—

God's child to be glorified—

Sent through the fire meant to refine.

I am watching, awaiting, anticipating—

To be claimed for all eternity.

fighting chance

2026-04-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

Darkness permeates

Leaning into light, truth, joy,

Radiating hope