Give Thanks - Everything!

I have spent the month looking into my life and finding things that I am grateful for.  It comes down to the fact that I am just so thankful for everything I have in my life.  I am so lucky and I hope that everyone I love and makes me happy knows just how much I am grateful and how much I value them.

I am so thankful to be living with Jake and be so in love with him.  I never knew what this would feel like and it is amazing.  In the quiet moments when it is just him and I all snuggled up, I finally understand the word love.  It's wonderful and I hope we have a long life together.

I am so thankful for my family.  I haven't always been thankful for them and have taken for granted that I had them in my life.  But, through everything, I know I am so lucky to have a strong support system behind me that love me for who I am and will celebrate with me when I win and pick me up when I fall.  Dad, you are a rock.  Mom, you have always fought for me.  Caitlin, I have never felt like someone was completely in my corner and loving me as you have.  Jak, you bring fun and warmth to this family.  Geoff, I look up to you and I know you are a quiet strength that I can lean on.  Riley, I see most of myself in you and I have so loved seeing the person you have become.

I am so thankful for the furry, four-legged members of my family.  Whitman is my dog through and through and I love that.  Theo makes me laugh and when he snuggles it is a delight in my life.  Jeanine is the biggest goof and she always cheers me up.  And I would not be who I am or where I am without the dogs in my past.  Vallie and Gerani are the angels on my shoulder that I miss everyday.

I am thankful for the friends I've made and kept over the years.  Friendships are not something I'm stellar at but I am so grateful for the ones I have in my life.  Caitlin, from cradle to grave forever.  No matter where we are and what we are doing, you are my best friend.  Kathleen, we've had to figure things out but I know you'll always be in my heart as a lifelong friend.  Sarah, I never forget where I've come from and you were there.  Sean, my fun time friend; move back so we can hang out again!  Ryan, I am so happy you came into my life like a ray of kick ass sunshine.  Amanda, you are weird and we are weird together; priceless.  Shay, dog geek and regular geek, enough said.  Astrid, brave enough to take a chance with me and also sharing in my geekdom.  And to all other friends who have come and gone, I am so thankful for every moment.

I am thankful for the experiences I've had in my life.  Traveling, learning, and just experiencing the wild things.  I've backpacked Europe.  I've been to Thailand in a 5 star resort, petted tigers and rode elephants.  I've been on a cruise and tasted some of the finer things in life.  I've been to college and had the chance to better myself.  I've studied something that I love and explored my creative side with writing.  I can't even name every moment that I've loved in my life.  I wish I could but I've valued all of them.  I'm also thankful for the painful experiences in life.  They've been an even bigger influence in molding me into who I am.  Everyone struggles but you take that and make it into a positive influence. Everyone gets knocked down.  The trick is to get up and dust yourself off.  That's a great thing.

So this is the end of November, the month of thanks.  Even if I'm not posting about it, I'm still going to keep in mind that I have so much to be thankful for.  It's a healthy outlook on life.