Thirty Days of Gratitude - Day 5: Home

Photo by The Purple Lady

For the past three years, I have either been pregnant or nursing in the heat of the Las Vegas summer and have found myself wishing that I lived elsewhere. Those who have ever had to endure a summer here know that 115 degree temperatures (and I don't care what they say about dry heat. 115+ degrees is stinkin' hot!) are not cool - pun intended.

Now, add on the fact that I run a little on the warm side as it is (you'll usually find me running around in a t-shirt and flip flops during the winter), and the fact that being pregnant and/or nursing make me feel even warmer, and yeah...summers make me feel a little uncomfortable.

Most of my husband's family lives in the Salt Lake City, Utah area, and I have often thought of how much nicer the summers would be if we lived there - but the Thirty Days of Gratitude challenge has me thinking today that I need to change my stinking thinking and focus on all the reasons I am grateful for living in Las Vegas. :)

First of all, living in the desert means that we have milder winters. It snows very rarely, so you really don't have to deal with that mess unless you want to make a quick get-away to Mt. Charleston. And when it does snow, it is a super special event - kids often get a day off from school for such an occasion. ;) We also don't usually have any major weather-related events like hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc. For that, I am extremely grateful, especially considering the fact that Hurricane Sandy has caused so much devastation on the other side of the country.

In addition, nearly my entire family is here (minus my older brother, and he is only a 7-ish hour drive to Reno), so I have the privilege of seeing my mom, siblings, grandma, cousins, nieces and nephews (etc...) on a pretty regular basis. Holidays are a blast because we all cram together in some "lucky" family member's house (hehe) to take part in the festivities - creating memories and enjoying each others' company. It's awesome. And with the holidays right around the corner, I am already getting so excited. If we lived somewhere else; though, we wouldn't be able to be as involved with our family and would miss out on a lot of these experiences.

Because I have lived here for so long, I know the roads like the back of my hand, and can usually get anywhere in town pretty effortlessly. We have some awesome forms of entertainment here as well if we ever want to indulge in a night on the town, or if family comes in for a visit. The strip is only about 20 minutes from where we live and there are some incredible shows, not to mention the awesome Las Vegas Philharmonic (a shout out to the extremely talented, oh-so-handsome Principal Tuba. Hehe), which performs pretty regularly at The Smith Center. AND Las Vegas has some seriously awesome Hawaiian BBQ ((winks at The Purple Lady)). hehe.

In a nutshell, Las Vegas is the only place I have ever lived and I am grateful to have a place that I can call my own - a place that reminds me of my childhood and provides me with a sense of comfort and belonging. A place that I call home. :)