Thanksgiving in Texas + What I'm Grateful For This Year

Happy belated Thanksgiving! If you couldn't already tell from the post title, I was back home to Texas for Thanksgiving! Last year I didn't accrue enough vacation days yet from starting a new job so I was unable to fly all the way home so I ended up just visiting a friend in Toronto (which wasn't celebrating Thanksgiving at that time) and it turned out to be the most miserable thing ever. I spent Thanksgiving Day looking at pictures on Facebook of my family and other families eating giant meals of turkey and mashed potatoes and pie and spending time with each other and I truly missed it all. So this year I made sure I had enough vacation days left over so I could be home for a week this Thanksgiving. And yes we did have two Thanksgiving meals because... why not?

2017 has been a hard year for many people (including myself), so I wanted to take time to give thanks for what I have in my life and remind myself that I shouldn't take things for granted. This isn't everything I'm thankful for this year because then this post would be way too long, but these are just the ones that I wanted to highlight.

Job Security - While the recession and high unemployment rates have been over for years now, I'm still so grateful for my job and the financial security it provides me. My job allows me to pursue my passion for traveling, it allows me to eat at all my favorite restaurants, live in a safe neighborhood, and treat my family. It's not always stress free to show up for work and get through the day, but I appreciate the life I'm able to live because of my job.

Pets- This year in July our family lost our longtime dog, Furry, due to old age. Furry first joined our family when I was 11 and he was a part of us for 14 years (over half my life). When we were forced to put him down because his arthritis made his daily life basically unbearable, it was extremely hard letting go. In fact, I'm positive that without the help of our 3 puppies that the recovery period would have been even harder. It made me realize the simple joy and happiness that pets can bring into human lives. Our dogs aren't the smartest or the most well trained, but they know how to love unconditionally. They don't care about your appearance or how successful you are in life or how popular you are. They just love us because we take care of them and they brighten up our lives with their presence.

Friendship- Two years ago when I moved to New York I was very nervous about my ability to not only make new friends in a new city where I basically knew no one, but also my ability to retain all my old friends who I wouldn't be able to see on a daily basis. 2.5 years later I can say that friendship is definitely one of the things I'm most grateful for. I wouldn't have made it through these past few years without both my new and my old friends. I'm so grateful for the way my old friends have been there to support me through the hard times and just lend a listening ear when I feel the need to complain or cry. I'm also grateful for my new friends who are always willing to explore New York with me, eat brunch with me (and trust me I'm always eating brunch), and keep me company in this big and busy city.

What are you grateful for this year?