Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I know it’s not original, and many of you may not care, but I’m going to do the obligatory blog post about the things I am thankful for.  Why?  Because these things are important to me.  I’m so thankful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with so many wonderful things. 

First, my family.  Immediate family, In-laws, extended family, the whole bunch!  I am so blessed to have such a loving and supportive family.  I’m especially thankful for my parents and my husband’s parents.  They do so much for us and have given us much to be thankful for.  I love them so much!  And of course, I’m especially thankful for my husband as well.  He has been working so hard in medical school and still takes the time to show me he loves me.

I’m thankful for children, particularly my two little nephews and my…second cousins?  Whatever you call my cousins’ children!  Children bring such joy and such opportunities for learning.  My two nephews are at our house nearly every day, and I enjoy watching them grow and experience the world.  I also think it’s funny how entertained adults are by the things kids do and say.  Some of that stuff you just can’t make up.   I look forward to having my own someday!

I’m thankful for animals.  I have always been an animal lover and I don’t think that will ever change.  They just make me smile and I’m glad to have them around.  I’m especially thankful for my goofy dog.   She is a sweetheart and it’s nice to have her come snuggle up next to me on the couch.  She does important things like protect me from moving clouds and hot air balloons. 

I’m thankful for my friends.  I feel like I have been kind of a flaky friend lately, because I’ve had so much going on in my life that I haven’t had much room for friend time.  But even throughout my flakiness, there are still my true friends who are always there for me. 

I’m thankful for my job.  In this economy, having a job at all is something to be thankful for.  But I’m especially thankful to have a job I enjoy.  When I used to think about what I would like to do for a job, I always came up with the same list of interests: Writing, drawing, photography, working with kids, designing.  Somehow I found a job that lets me do all of that and more.  I’m also thankful for the people I work with.  It’s a positive environment and I’d say we all get along pretty well.   The job I had prior to this one had me coming home on the verge of tears every day and dreading going to work—not because of the job itself, but because of the people I worked with.  My current job is completely different, and that’s a good thing.  I have been here 3 years so far, and hope for more. 

I could keep going on and on, because I really do have so much to be grateful for, but I’ll end it here.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!