Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For the sake of being cliché, for what are you thankful? Friends? Family? Your job? Your health? Those fantastic new earrings you just bought? Take some time and answer that question; be truthful and really think about.

I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I am claiming to be thankful for this year (I do spend about 2 hours on the train each day). My list is as follows, in no specific order:

- My health – Vegetarianism seems to have been the way to go – not only do I have more energy and less stomach pain, but I’ve lost weight and lowered my cholesterol since becoming an herbivore eight months ago

- My education – I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to get my bachelors and masters degrees

- My job(s) – past and present – they have shaped me into a pretty darn good communicator and can feel myself growing as a professional

- My friends – who have helped me so much over the past two months – I am indebted to them for their kindness and strong backs (as I have been leaning on them a lot). Some friends are old heads: Hayley and Jennifer are still my number one and number two; Bryan comes in a close third; my friend from middle and high school, Laura, has made a recent appearance in my life and am thankful I can call her a friend, again; David, Samantha and Carla are perhaps my newest friends and they are three of the most amazing friends I have ever met and am so happy to have them; some other older friends have recently made appearances in my little world, also; I am so lucky to have them all!

- My family – I am with my parents and brother at my aunt’s house in Neptune City, N.J. This is the first Thanksgiving I have spent with extended family (it used to be my immediate family and Poppy, but since Poppy died in 2003, Thanksgiving has been a rather sad holiday). We are at my aunt’s new house, which is huge! It’s right on the Shark River (see some photographs below) and is gorgeous. In attendance at this huge meals are: My mother and father (Jamie and Ken), brother (Brett), aunts (Kerry, Kim and Barb), uncles (Brian, Evan, Ken and Ken) and cousins (Kyle, Kasey, Alex, Rachel and Emily). Whooops, can’t forget about the dogs, Ranger, Reese and Honeybun.

So what are you thankful for? I hope you can say all the things I did and more. Happy Turkey Day everyone!

My cousins Kasey and Kyle jamming on Rock Band. We had a family jam sesh later on that night.