Counting My Blessings

bottom left doodle by me. other 3 images from Pinterest

Happy THANKSGIVING DAY! Here comes the obligatory "what I'm thankful for" blog post for Thanksgiving :)

2012 has been quite a long year for me - it's been one of those young adult limbo years where I'm trying to figure things out. The typical annoying young adult questions - "what do I want? Where am I going? Did I make the right decision?" But then again, I guess that's what growing up entails -
seeing what's out there,
intrinsically reflecting on your values and priorities,
identifying what you want
and making choices in order to attain them.

And it's years like this where Thanksgiving really reminds me to count my blessings. Okay so all that deep heart-to-heart talk aside, here are some specific things that I've felt hugely grateful for this year:

1. I am thankful for being given the opportunity to take a very exciting step in my career next year. Yay!!!! Now that I at least have a next step laid out and ready to go, I am very thankful that I've been given the opportunity, and that I can afford the option to make this change. And best of all - that 2012 is almost over so that it can begin soon!

2. I am thankful that my boyfriend and I survived our first year of long distance (and hopefully not too many more to go!). I'm extra thankful that he's only a 3 hour plane ride away, so we've been able to afford flying back and forth. And although being apart sucks, the silver lining is that we've made good use of the opportunity to travel and see a couple cities in Southeast Asia for cheap.

3. And that brings me to all the wonderful technology - Whatsapp, my iPhone, Skype, Viber... thanks to modern day technology I'm able to feel like my boyfriend is still spending every day with me although he's in an entirely different country. I'm also able to "see" my brother in London with a click of a button (we love virtual dinner dates).

4. I'm thankful for being able to see Europe for the first time, and I can't wait to see more European cities in the future (near future hopefully!)

5. This sounds silly, but I am thankful for our new oven at home. I used to have to go over to my aunt's place to use hers, which meant much less baking. I wouldn't be able to leisurely bake as much as I do now without our own.

6. I am thankful for this blog which I started this year. Blogging has inspired me way more than I would have thought. I had no idea where this was going but I've been having so much fun writing about what I love and meeting new friends that share common interests.

Then there are the constants (and randoms) that I am thankful for all the time:

my family / my boyfriend / my lovely friends / my colleagues that seem more like friends that co-workers / my home / home cooked meals and soups / job security / my health / my loved ones' health / education / my religion / handy baking utensils / coffee & teas / colored pencils / concealer / my iPhone / gel manicures that don't chip / satisfying good books / popcorn / DVDs of my favorite TV shows

[Side note: I am actually off sick today thanks to one of the worst stomach infections I've had... on Thanksgiving weekend. Worst timing ever! Suddenly I am pretty thankful that our celebrations don't start till Friday/Saturday, since I'm not in shape right now to be gobbling down big plates of mashed potato/turkey goodness. Must. recover. right. away!!!]

Have a great Thanksgiving day! And however you decide to celebrate (or not celebrate), be happy, eat some good food, and count your blessings :)