Just To Name a Few

My Thanksgiving this year was not one filled with all the "normal" yummy things that make Thanksgiving wonderful.  I love, love, love all the food...especially the stuffing (if it's done right).  I don't care about pumpkin pie, but I love me some candied sweet potatoes.  I love the green bean casserole and the mashed potatoes with warm brown gravy on the side of a little taste of the white meat...and a few bites of the dark meat.  Mmmm...I love Thanksgiving.

This year, I stayed home from Mike's family dinner with my favorite patient, Raelynn.  I'm thankful she was home from hospital and resting comfortably by the time everyone else had dinner plans, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bent about missing all that good food.  Having said that, I wasn't too bummed to stay home...Raelynn and I were both promised dinner would be brought to us since we couldn't go to dinner.  We waited and waited...Raelynn needed to take her meds, but she refused to eat anything I offered.  She reminded me over and over that Richelle was bringing her dinner...mashed potatoes and stuffing.  I knew our mouths were both watering for that food...reheated or not.
 

Finally...the food arrived.  It was after 9pm.  We were not happy.  I was more than grouchy...I was mostly angry that Raelynn had waited so long to eat...which meant she had waited too long to take her meds. Had we known our food bringers would not actually be bringing dinner at dinner time, I would have made our own dinner of some variety and then eaten the left-overs when they arrived.  What a bummer...the one day you wait for and then disappointment.

I figured since I was so bitter about our (after) 9 o'clock dinner arrival, I should really sit down and list a few of the things I am so completely thankful for this year.

{My husband} 

We've had some (beyond) rough times in our brief two year marriage.  I won't lie...it's been a challenge.  I'm thankful he's still here...and I'm thankful for how hard we've both worked to get to this point.  I can't imagine life without him, and he's been my rock during our baby trial.  I need him more and more everyday...and I don't even want to smack him most...okay some...days. :)  He is an amazing man, a hard worker, and he's just dang cute.  I am thankful he loves me so much.  I am thankful he comes home every night to me...I am thankful for his warmth at night when I am cold. 

{My career}

I love my job.  It's still hard sometimes for me not to be in uniform everyday, but I know I am where I should be for now.  I work with great people, I am still learning so much and I have an amazing boss.  I am so lucky...we are truly blessed with job security, good benefits and a financially secure future.  I'm so thankful my parents raised us to be hard workers.  I am thankful they taught us the importance of financial stability.  I am so thankful I am not a financial burden to anyone, and hope that our long term planning keeps us from ever becoming a burden to anyone in anyway.  I can't imagine where I would be in life had I chosen to do something else that was less secure, made me less happy, or did not allow me to live the life I love.  This is truly where I belong and I am thankful to be here.

{My sisters}

Do I even need to write more?  I love them each so much...and I couldn't make it in life without each of them.  They make everything better, easier, prettier...they are the best thing that ever happened to me.  They are each amazing.  I have been so blessed in this life...I am so thankful for each unique quality they add to my life.  I am thankful they keep me grounded.  I am thankful they are always standing next to me when it counts.  I am thankful Wendy accepts me as her sister...because she doesn't have to.  I am thankful for quick, random lunches with Robyn to catch up and keep us from going nuts.  I am still thankful Regina was the first one there...her face is still what I associate with peace & comfort at a time there was none.  I will be forever grateful for that few moments she carried my burden and gave me just a glimpse of the peace I would never know again.  I am thankful for Richelle. Period.  She is my brain's working half...and I'm thankful she married someone that let's her be my best friend.  I am thankful for Raelynn's innocence...and for her long tongue that makes us giggle loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear, turn and stare.  I am thankful for their children...I love their kids so much it hurts.  I am thankful for each and every one of those amazing souls...and my brother's kiddos too (even though he's obviously not a sister).

{This amazing house} 

I didn't want a house this big, or this expensive.  When I realized this is what Mike wanted (size wise), I decided I better get on board so I could at least pick out the floor plan.  I have loved/hated this house since we first found it.  We have put so (so, so, so ) much money, blood, sweat and tears into making this house our home.  I truly love coming home everyday.  I love still having so much to do to make it complete.  I love everything we've already done to this place...and I can't wait to get to each project.  I can't wait to have kids running around driving me crazy...even if they aren't mine.  I will borrow some.  I love cooking in my kitchen...I love all the storage space...I love all of it.  Last night we laid on the couch together and watched a movie with our fireplace on.  It just doesn't get better than this...this is the life I longed for all those years.  I'm so thankful for all of it.  I am so thankful the Lord hears and answers our prayers.

{My mother}

...both of them, but today for the first one I was blessed with. 

I have been making a book about my mom for all the kiddos.  It's taken me 2+ years (with about a year off in the middle) to get to the nearly finished point I'm at.  I am hoping to be done by Christmas...this year.  In making the book, I have read hundreds of letters written by my mother to her mother, or family.  It's been interesting to learn things about my mom, and about my family that I did not know before.  I am so thankful she took the time to write those letters, and then to keep them preserved for us.  It's almost as if she knew we'd need them someday.  She taught us each to journal...there is no better way to teach your children than by example.  My mother was an amazing woman...one I miss more as the years pass.  One I wish I knew better than I do.  I am thankful to feel just a bit closer to her than before.  In January it will have been 15 years since she died.  She has already been gone for more than half my life.  I am thankful for the years she was here on Earth with me, but can't wait to see her again someday.  I am thankful for all the lessons she taught me, or tried to teach me (even if I didn't actually learn the lesson until much later).  I am thankful for the love of reading I have because of her...all those nights of listening to her read to us before bed.  She would sit at the end of the hallway and read chapter after chapter, book after book.  I am thankful for endless nagging about getting an education.  I now truly know the importance of getting/having my education...it was worth the sacrifice.  I am thankful that she was able to teach me the importance of sacrifice and the importance of giving service to others.  I am thankful for her determination in life...and for the example she and my dad set everyday by loving each other and loving the Lord.  My mother was truly an inspiration...an amazing woman everyone should have been lucky enough to know.

{To be an American} 

I love this country...even though I know we have some serious issues, what country doesn't?  I truly feel blessed to have been born an American.  I am thankful for the sacrifices made by those in the past, the present and in those that will sacrifice in the future for our freedoms.  There is nothing more sacred than our freedom.

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for this year.  My list could go on and on...I have a truly amazing life and I am so completely thankful for it and the people in it.