- I love my family. I've been very lucky to have loving parents who are both very interesting people, and I get along with all of my sisters SO WELL. They are my best friends, we get each others' senses of humor, we love to talk, play games, etc. They are just awesome people, I love them. Matt too, he's a kind, talented and funny guy, I'm proud and happy that he's my brother-in-law! (First brother I ever had!)
- I'm grateful for a house! We had a water pipe break underneath the house, and so we went without a kitchen or laundry room for about a month! But you know what, we made do, and I'm just really happy to have a place to call home.
- I'm grateful for our silly pets!
- I'm grateful for Christ's gospel, and the church organization I was raised in! I love it, I know that I am a better person because of it, and I know without a doubt that it blesses the lives of those who accept it.
- I'm grateful for the opportunity to go to a nice school! I love it :) It's small, but I think it has a very nice looking campus. Even when I'm running late for class, I still can appreciate the beauty that's around, with the trees and all that. Plus, I've been VERY fortunate to meet and make a few friends, despite the fact that I don't live on campus. I've said it before, but I haven't met a mean person at school, everyone seems nice. Plus, the faculty and professors are very willing to help their students succeed if the students put forth the effort!
- I'm grateful for my work study job at the library... it's the easiest possible "job" in existence, but still. It's nice
- I'm grateful for Eric. To be honest, since about the one-year mark, I've felt more distant from him than ever. I wasn't anticipating that, I thought things would feel about the same as they had for the twelve previous months! It's probably a combination of school seeming more demanding, the fact that I'm sort of starting to make new friends, and just plain not seeing or talking to each other for a whole year. It's ok, it's not "hard" or anything like that, it's just different and a little weird to notice that I'm thinking about him less and less... I'm sure once winter break happens, I'll feel more like how I used to. But yeah! This is a thankful bullet-point, so I'm really grateful that he's been healthy and safe! I'm so proud of him for wanting to work so hard and sacrifice so much to try to share Christ's gospel with others, like I said, it improves people's lives like nothing else! It's a very unselfish decision, and it says a lot about him that he was willing to do that. I still write frequently and send packages!
- I'm also grateful for Eric's family, I really love them and think they're awesome people. It's always neat to spend time with them, because it always feels very natural, and I'm always comfortable around them. That might be weird to say, but understand where I'm coming from-- a lot of women, even after they get married, they might not feel like they"fit in" or are very comfortable around their in-laws. Well, awesome for me, Eric's family has been extremely welcoming and accepting, and I feel like I've done many things with them without Eric (even though I haven't seen them as much this semester), and so in a way I gotten to spend time with them on my own, rather than only be around them if Eric was also there. I don't know if that'll make sense, but that's how I feel!
- Things happen for a reason-- I don't know how much I always believe that, but when something happens and I wonder "Why didn't this happen instead?", I think about it and pick out a few reasons why it didn't. "Why did I transfer back and forth, why not just stay at one school?" or "Why wasn't the mission-age change earlier so I could have conveniently gone at the same time as Eric?" etc. I'll never know what experiences I missed out on if I had just stayed at Westminster, or if I had decided to go on a mission, but I can sure as heck point to lots of wonderful things that have happened because I didn't do those things! In the first case, I got to experience life not being at home at a bigger university! I got to be with Sarah and Matt, and meet some of their friends, as well as some other awesome people in Utah! Yeah, I got to live in the beautiful city of Logan in the awesome state of Utah! And most importantly, I had almost a whole year of not long-distance relationship with Eric, just got to spend time with him almost every day. It was amazing, and I needed those memories and that time to be able to deal with him being away for two years... And in the second case, I got to make new friends, learn new things, go to a school that is sort of a better fit for me (the attendance policy is a good thing, and your professors know you, which makes me work harder to avoid looking stupid... great reason, right?) I also got to reconnect with some friends! So yeah, I'm thankful that things happen for a reason.
- I am thankful for my friends, old and new. This includes those who I've talked to today or haven't talked to in months. (And that's not as bad as it seems, remember I haven't "talked" to Eric in months!) Thanks, everyone! I hate to be so generic, but I'm not sure who's cool with having their identity floating across the internet...
So Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night!
