Thanksgiving 2009

I opted not to go home but to stay in the STL for Thanksgiving this year.  Instead my friend Jenn came up from Kentucky and we celebrated the holiday together, sipping wine and cooking our very first Thanksgiving dinner.  Neither of us had ever attempted to cook a turkey before, but we somehow managed to do so today, and quite well I might add.  We named him Bartholomew...and man, was he tasty.  Tomorrow we will make his remnants into homemade turkey noodle soup...

Oh, how I do love the holiday season.  Don't get me wrong, I am by far not one of those folks who begins blasting Christmas music from the moment the first leaf changes color, but I do welcome Thanksgiving and Christmas with open arms.  It's something about the atmosphere, the air of goodwill, the warmth, the scents from the kitchen, the TV specials and the company that I just love.

Most of all this time of year makes me reflect on my blessings and recognize the people and things in my life that I'm grateful for.  Though I'm not entirely sure why, I've been able to recognize those people and things a little more clearly this year.  Long story short, I have a lot to be thankful for, I've been overwhelmingly, indescribably blessed.

While I'd like to say that I always remember how blessed I am, I also realize that that would be a terrible lie if I did.  It's just not true.  All too often I forget just exactly how blessed I am and sometimes I lose sight of what's really important.  I think most of us do.  It's far too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day craziness and lose your grasp on what truly matters.  With that, I'd like to take a few sentences to express what I'm so thankful for this Thanksgiving, while I still have 32 minutes of it remaining.

Today, I am thankful for a Savior who loves me unconditionally and has forgiven me.

Today, I am thankful for a family who loves me unconditionally.  For parents who I can also call friends, who are wise enough to know when to step in with advice and when to stand aside and let me figure things out on my own, and who still remind me that I always have a home with them.  For a sister who still wants to hang out with me and who gives me fashion advice when I send her countless picture messages of outfit options for a night out or a big day at work because I'm fashionably retarded.

Today, I am thankful for friends who put up with me.  Friends who I can go months without talking to, and then pick up and call them and talk to them like we spoke yesterday.  Friends who will call me on my nonsense, but still spout nonsense and behave ridiculously with me.  Friends who will listen endlessly, without complaint, on a topic they've heard far too much about from me already.  Friends who will drop everything if I need them.

Today, I am thankful for the men and women who protect my freedom to type what I'm typing right now -- whose service allows me to sleep in a comfortable bed in a secure country.  For the men and women who spent today in and out of bunkers.  Especially those men and women who I know and love.  We haven't forgotten about you, and I want nothing more than for each of you to come home safely and soon.

Today, I am thankful for a job that drives me crazy, but that I love so much.  A job that provides for me, and is secure. A job that I am fortunate to have when so many of my fellow college peers are still looking for something that fits them -- and I hope with all my heart that they do.

Today, I am thankful for the strength to eliminate a toxic relationship that, in all honesty, should have been eliminated a long time ago.  And I don't regret it.  Not one bit.

Today, I am thankful for the breath in my lungs.

...7 minutes left for Thanksgiving 2009.  What are you thankful for?