I'm grateful for the people who've gone before who've established and created things that I appreciate and even take for granted. I'm grateful for the beautiful art work of friends and mentors that provide motivation and inspiration for me. I'm grateful that I went to school at BYU and got my degree in visual art despite all the well meaning people who've tried to talk me out of it along the way. I'm grateful for the well meaning people who care about me and have tried to talk me out of pursuing art (even though it can be frustrating and discouraging at the time). I'm grateful that I live so close to so much beauty.