Give Thanks

In the true spirit of doing what everyone else is doing, I thought I'd post about those things that I am grateful for this holiday season. For the first time in almost 5 years I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I've either had to work or they have gone out of town and I was unable to go with them. Not only did I get to spend Thanksgiving with my family but I had 2 Thanksgivings! So over the course of this past week I've had m
any opportunities to see the very many blessings that I have and those things that I am incredibly thankful for. So without further ado....

I am incredibly thankful for my job. I know I complain....at times I complain a lot! But I'm truly thankful that every day I get to do something that I love and grateful that I even have a job in a time where many are struggling to find work and provide for themselves and their family. I've pretty much always knows I wanted to be a nurse and I can not imagine doing anything else.

On that note, I'm very grateful for my health. Everyday I see people at their worst. They are sick and vulnerable. I see people struggling with chronic diseases, terminal diseases, and even simple health problems that are not permanent. I'm not in perfect health and I'm definitely not in great shape, but I'm healthy and that is truly somethi

ng to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for books. I know this one is cheesy but it's me. I love to read, literally LOVE to read. If I had to choose only one thing that I could do for the rest of my life I would read. I can't bare the thought of not reading. And the dying breed of bookstores brings an ache to my heart. But I am indeed thankful for books. They bring great joy to my life and I feel incredi

bly lucky to know that I have something that makes me so happy.

This one may sound silly, but I'm thankful that I'm single right now. I want more than anything to become a wife and mother and as hard as it is to believe, I have faith that someday I will. But I've also learned to be thankful for the experiences I've had and things that I have learned because I am single, things I could have not learned and experiences I could not have had otherwise. I've learned to love and live every day. I don't do it perfectly, but I do it and I try to love it.

Last but certainly not least, I am indeed incredibly thankful for my family and friends. The people in my life I am closest to and those people who support me through everything. I have had a really rough couple of months but my family and those close friends have supported me and loved me through everything. I know how much I am loved and that means more than anything ever possibly could.

And there you have it, a serious and sentimental post. One of very few that you will behold from me!

Love the One You're With

I sit here at what I lovingly call the "Holgate Bed and Breakfast" aka my grandparents home in Cedaredge, Colorado. Don't worry, nobody else knows where that is either. Hence the magic. They live in the middle of nowhere. I often tell people they live outside of Grand Junction, when in fact their home is about an hour and half outside of Grand Junction. My grandfather is, for lack of a better, more loving term, a hermit. Which is one thing I so lovingly and willingly inherited from him. I'm a homebody. There is probably nothing I love more than curling up at home with a blanket and a good book, a movie, an athletic competition, or a great friend and some conversation.

So I find myself here, in the middle of nowhere, sitting on the porch, wrapped in my colts blanket, contemplating what it is I love about this place so much. It does not possess the majesty of the snow covered mountains I see outside my window every morning and, although am hard pressed to admit, absolutely love coming home to after a long trip. It does not contain the immense and beautiful architectural genius of the skyscrapers contained within those large cities I love so much to visit and imagine myself living in one day. Nowhere in sight is the breathtakingly gorgeous clear blue waters I have beheld on the beach in Haiti. So what is it? It's the stars you can see because we are miles and miles away from anything resembling a city. It is the sounds of my nephew laughing in the next room and who, despite my best efforts, continues to call me Carlee. It is the complete quietness I hear as I sit on this porch. It is the long hug I receive from my grandmother and my very reserved but loving grandfather. It's the fact that I have terrible cell service here. It is the solitude. However, despite this word, solitude, and the fact that I associate this place with it, I find the reason I love this place so very much is because of those I am here with.