Thankful...

It's a week until Thanksgiving and this is a week that I even need to remind myself of what I am thankful for. So here they are (in no particular order!). I am thankful for:

1. My wonderful, loving, caring, funny husband. I am so fortunate that he has been so supportive of me! I am SO proud of how hard he is working in school and I cannot picture my life without him. I feel ready to face everything that comes our way as long as he is with me! (As a sidenote, I'm also thankful he let me put up the Christmas decorations so early because they make me happy.... even though I know he was probably annoyed with having to help me with them 2 weeks before Thanksgiving even got here.)

2. Chloe... our dog. I guess its a little weird to be thankful for her, but she is our baby. She has kept me entertained for a countless number of hours and always seems to know when I feel sad or sick. She's the perfect thing to keep me company when Marc is gone studying all those late nights.

3. Our families. Marc and I have been blessed to have the most supportive and loving families. They have encouraged us in all of our endeavours and have supported our relationship with each other since our high school days (which meant a lot to a young couple). Each of our parents are wonderful examples of what good marriages should be, and we are so lucky to have them in our lives. We are also lucky to have wonderful siblings, who are not only our brothers and sisters but our friends.

4. My job. Even though somedays I do not feel thankful at all, I realize that in this economy I am one of the lucky few that found a steady, well-paid full time job with good benefits. It has been a huge blessing, and gave us  the ability to live in a very safe apartment in a nice neighborhood. I'm also incredibly blessed that I work for a Christian agency...it is refreshing to hear clients talk about their relationship with God and their spiritual journeys. I am a firm believer that the spiritual aspect of this shelter is what makes the clients successful... without a strong relationship in Christ I don't believe we would see such dramatic changes.

5. The kids at my job. Somedays they drive me up a freaking wall, but then again they are 6-8 years old... they are supposed to do that. They always say the funniest things and they all have the kindest hearts.  They make life seem so simple even though it is much more complicated for them than I can even imagine. I love them, I really do.

6. The donors. Without the people that donate to my workplace, it would not exist. I am constantly amazed at the people who will donate their time, money and effort to help those who are less fortunate. Today one of the moms was even wearing a brand new pair of jeans I have wanted! I know she was so proud that I could compliment her on something like that.

7. Our cars. Living 6 hours from home it is such a blessing to have reliable transportation.

8. A college education. And one paid in full at that. Just having a degree has kept so many doors open for me, and I am so thankful.

9. DVR. I work too many crazy hours to watch my favorite shows. Sometimes they are all that keep me sane!

10. My never dying Iphone. It has been soaked in water twice and loved me enough to come back each time. Its shallow, but its pretty much my lifeline to Abilene so I am thankful.

11. Our friends. (yeah told you this wasn't in order... they should be much higher on the list!). We are pretty lucky in this area too. We have had the same group of great friends for quite sometime and although almost everything about our group has changed over the past few years (breakups, reconciliation, marriage and even babies!), we still love them all! There are not many memories I have from high school and college that do not include them, and sometimes those memories get me through when I am so terribly homesick! (P.S. we miss you guys!)

12. Grace. (again, this should be much higher!) Boy do I need it! I can be jealous, selfish, angry, proud, and every other thing that makes me not deserving of Grace.

13. Answered prayers. It seems like we have gotten alot lately. Little Hana is doing great and precious baby Paige and Heather are healthy! The children in my class are doing better and all of my tests at the doctor's office turned out fine (even though we thought they probably would!).Marc did good on all of his tests (but we will chalk that up to great studying and only a little prayer :).

14. Having insurance. So far I have been to the doctor's office 3 times and we have paid a total of about $50. Wonderful. And I have a feeling I will be back soon... working with kids makes me SICK (I mean literally I am always sick.hehe.). This time of year, plus all those little snotty noses, means I am washing my hands every 20 seconds and still getting the sniffles and achy body. YUCK!

I could think of so many more things... but this is long and I am in super need of a sudaphed and some hot tea! I hope everything has a wonderful Thanksgiving and that your list is much longer than mine!