couldn't be more thankful

This year I am thankful for my family. I am thankful that we are all healthy, safe, and that we got to spend Thanksgiving together. As some of you know, this past year (and the year before) has been pretty hard on us. I won't get into the details because, well, most of it is just really personal and I don't really want to broadcast it all over the internet. But we will just leave it at this - we have had a really hard year on all fronts and it is nothing short of a miracle that we were all able to be together today. (And yes, I did tear up a little bit writing this.)

Cousins: (top row) Savannah, me, Allison, Zac, Zoe, Sadie (bottom row): Liana, Cassie

I got to spend Thanksgiving with my mom and her side of the family. We had our largest Thanksgiving meal to date - 22 people!! Yeah, I know, we are crazy. It worked out wonderfully though! I got to see my cousins and my uncles and aunts and we had an absolutely wonderful, (almost) stress free day.

I am also thankful for:

• My wonderful friends - I don't know what I would do without your love and support
• The girls I am working with on senior project - you all inspire me so much, thank you for being a great support system (I promise I will get around to writing about my project - eventually)
• My family - again, I'm so glad that everybody is alive and well. I love every single person in my large, unorthodox, crazy family
• The blog world - cheesy but true, I love gaining inspiration from all the blogs I read
• The fact that I have food on my table/in the refrigerator (most of the time) and a roof over my head
• My parents - because I wouldn't have the wonderful opportunities that I have without their hard work and determination to give me and my sisters the most amazing life ever, a life that neither one of them had when they were little

Here are a couple pictures from today, I will probably have another post later with more.

The dessert table - cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and three different types of pie

My beautiful and adorable step-niece, Madison Joy

Food - I consider myself so blessed to be able to say that we not only had our choice of food today, but we had enough to feed a small army (which we basically did) and still had leftovers. (not pitured: green-beans, stuffing, and salad)

Yeah, I've got a pretty awesome life. Sometimes I take it for granted, but I really am thankful for the people around me and the opportunities that I have. It's all so special and amazing.