Today is a good day.

I know I'm not the only one who has a social media routine.  Before bed, as well as right in the morning, I go through IFT (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) in that exact order to see what I missed while I was sleeping.  It's sounds pathetic when I write it down like that but I know that pretty much everyone else does this too.   If you don't then good for you!

This morning as I was going through IFT trying to open up my eyes and start my day I noticed that today is Caitlin's birthday.  Now, I will look back on this blog years down the road and remember that Caitlin really wasn't my friend.  In fact, if I didn't have this one thing to tie to her name, or wasn't "friends" with her on facebook I wouldn't even remember her or that her birthday is on Feb 21st to be honest.  Caitlin was the first person who befriended me in the South Weber ward when I moved to Utah.  She was nice, ridiculously skinny, dated a lot and wore sweater dresses.  I knew that she probably wasn't a person I would be BFF with but I loved her for making me feel welcome in a ward filled with strangers.  She gave me a voice in that ward and most importantly she gave me the opportunity to throw my first Utah birthday party.  I know I've talked about this event before but this was just a significant night in my new life.  I didn't really know anyone, my brother had just moved in with me, and I was eager to make an effort to make friends.

That night changed everything.

I never really hung out with Caitlin again outside of church events (despite her efforts to try to get me to go country dancing) and she totally never gave back my cake pan, but I won't forget her.  

I guess sometimes we don't really stop to think how good we have things when we are just going through the motions of life.  Two years have pretty much past since I started to meet people and make Utah my home.  I remember what it was like before then, I remember the time in between and all the fun I've had here and I remember how rocky things have gotten at some points.  All in all, even when things have been a little difficult lately, I am so grateful for how good I have it.  I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned and am still learning and I'm grateful for the people who have given me second chances and stuck with me..especially those, who two years ago, never thought we would ever hang out again :) I'm glad we were all wrong.

Today is a good day.