Giving Thanks

As I sit here with my laptop, it's 83* outside.  I'm overlooking palm trees, a lake and a golf course, while my family is at Reagan National Airport flying back through the fog from DC.  Sort of reminds me of what it was like to grow up down here.  It's my first Thanksgiving with the in-laws in Florida, and the long drive was great time for reflection on all that I have to be grateful for.

I'm thankful to have been blessed with such fantastic parents.  Yes, they drive me absolutely bananas sometimes, but to be honest I love it.  I'm more like them each and every day. { There are even moments when Spencer and I are driving somewhere and I hear myself say, "Honey, why on earth did you turn HERE?!?" and I realize that I'm well on my way to becoming my mother. Heaven help us all. }

{ Aloha. }

I'm thankful for my sister.  Kates, Katiea, Maude... whatever you call her, she's the perfect complement to me.  We've been a tag team since the day she came home from the hospital in 1989 and I turned cartwheels all over the house.  { There may or may not be video of said occurrence. } And now she keeps me cool by introducing me to things like Google Video Chat and the cat { meow } flushing a toilet and the baby monkey riding backwards on a pig.

{ The team having coffee with Emily Giffin }

I'm thankful for my job.  In this economy, I realize that it's a serious blessing to have a job at all, much less one that you actually enjoy.  But I love my job, the people I work with, and the company that we work for.  Besides, my boss is so fabulous she arranged for us to have coffee with Emily Giffin earlier this year!

{ I'd like to go back to Hawaii.  Now sounds like a good time. }

I'm thankful that on May 8, I had the privilege of marrying my best friend.  And the thought that we get to spend the rest of our lives together... well that's about more than my little pea brain can handle.  Take it from someone who went to 9 schools before she was 18.  I've never had a friend for that long!  Here's to many, many happy years ahead.  {And sweetheart, if you want to know what I'll be like in 30 years... just go spend some time with Mom. }

{ This has nothing to do with health, but you don't want to see a picture of my leg. :) }

I'm thankful for my health.  Thankful that Dr. Benedict found the cancer before it could grow any bigger.  Thankful that they got it all.  Thankful that now we know what to look for and that if it comes back anywhere else, we know what to do.

And I'm thankful for you.  Thankful for your friendship.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth!  Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the LORD is God.  It is He who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.  { Psalm 100 }