Day Twenty-three: 30 Days of Gratitude

Jill's Gratitude:
     Tonight I am grateful that Joseph and I are on the same page and headed in the same direction. . .  I've been married before; I remember the feeling of knowing I wanted something else.  I remember the feeling of being alone but married, it was weird really.  Now that I'm married to the best person in the entire world I am so grateful that we have the same ideals and goals.  It sure does make life easier when you're in sync with your partner.  That's just it; Joseph and I are partners and for that I am grateful.
     I am grateful that I am a quick learner and resourceful.  I'm not trying to brag but I've had bosses in the past that speak in code and incomplete sentences.  I've always been able to interpret what is needed and figure out what to do.  Being resourceful eliminates a certain amount of fear in one's work life I think.
     I am grateful for inspired men who are brave enough to go after their dreams.  With our presidential election coming up I've been thinking about the courage our candidates have to want to run a whole entire country (with help of course), but a country that seems divided and full of whiners, in my opinion.  I'm grateful it's them not me, and God speed to both of them.

Joseph's Gratitude:
      I am grateful tonight that I life in a fertile land.  I grew up in Wyoming since the age of eleven, and that is a land that supports life only grudgingly.  Cache Valley is a little slice of agricultural heaven, so it is not surprising that there are towns here with names like Paradise, and that the university students are "Aggies."  As I sit here, I am finishing off a bowl of ice cream we made from peaches grown in my boss' backyard and local milk, and a cup of cider freshly pressed from apples grown at the south end of the valley.  I have lived in more fertile places, but never in a more delightful.
     I am grateful, however, that I did grow up in Wyoming.  That wild landscape taught me the majesty of Nature, and both how to admire and respect it.  Death always seemed quite near and present there, and I learned caution and preparedness while camping in the mountains or driving along desolate roads in blizzard conditions.
     I am grateful for artist friends who are very skilled and impressive.  It drives me and inspires me to be better myself, than I might otherwise be.  My friend Adrian and I are in the process of putting together a small print exchange, and our list of invited artists contains a lot of very good artists.  Wanting to provide them with a print that they will be happy to own means that I will be working very hard on my next engraving.