Grateful

It's time for my favorite Thanksgiving practice: Giving thanks! I'm flying home to Oregon tomorrow (!!!!) and do not plan on spending any time at my computer except for the occasional check-in with my office. So I am posting this today. Things I'm grateful for, and there are a lot of them. This post is rather self-indulgent, but I think it's a necessary exercise. We all need to take a  couple moments to reflect on what fills us up inside with warm fuzzies.

I am grateful for....

Parents who still very much love each other. A dad who is more than happy to guide me through these new and intimidating post-grad obstacles. A mom who encourages all of my creative whims. A sister who doubles as a best friend. A brother who shows his love in quiet, meaningful ways. A family that I love to be around. A boyfriend who makes me laugh and swoon and think. Long, rambling text message exchanges with friends who live far away. Blossoming friendships with clever, interesting people. Brunch. George R. R. Martin. The way street lamps look at night on a tree-lined street. Public transportation. Malbec. Puppies. My job. Being challenged by my job. Having the means to pay my rent.  Coffee. Tall boots. My 10 toes and 10 fingers and eyes and nose and mouth and ears. Art. FaceTime. The first person to ever shave black truffle on top of risotto. Scallops. Forgiveness. The Actors Cabaret of Eugene. My sharp memory for little details. Black opaque tights. Artichokes. Late nights out with friends that begin and end with cocktails and laughter. Sunshine. Rain, especially at night. Low-maintenance house plants. Goat cheese. The family farm. My aunts and uncles and cousins and grandmas. And grandpas, may they rest in peace. Candles. Cuddles. Sundays curled up on the couch reading a new book while Sean watches football next to me. The skyline. Airplanes. Arugula. The ability to cry. Color. Shimer College. Mountains. My independence. Lily and Helene and the comfort of knowing that as long as we're all alive, we'll never be alone. Fresh air. The fact that nail art is totally a thing now. Musical theater. Parties. Inside jokes. Vodka gimlets. Letting go. Prayer. Recipe blogs. Songs you can sing along with. Microbreweries. Loving, being loved.

Tomorrow I fly home, but tonight Maura and I have plans to eat vegetarian chicken  nuggets and watch too much Family Guy. Life is beautiful, isn't it?

Art by JR Schmidt