thankful

Sometimes I feel like it's cliche to write a thankful post on Thanksgiving. I give myself this lecture that, "I should be thankful all the time, not just on Thanksgiving." But, you know what? Thanksgiving is a day dedicated to gratitude when all of those feelings should be expressed. So that's what I'm going to do.

I am thankful for Kevin (obviously). I am so thankful that he came into my life when he did, I'm thankful for the love and respect he has shown me throughout our whole process of falling in love, I'm thankful that four months ago he asked me to be his forever. I am so thankful that he is the one that I'm going to spend my eternity with. I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I am incredibly thankful that our engagement has one month (exactly) left. The past four months have felt like they've been at least a year.

I am thankful for my family and friends. Living away from home has given me a different perspective about what is truly important. My family has stuck around even when others have decided to take themselves out of my life, and the friends that really mattered have kept in contact and stuck around. I'm a blessed girl to have such a wonderful support system.

I am thankful for Kevin's family--my future in laws. They are such awesome people and I really admire them. I'm thankful that his parents raised such an amazing man and that his family gave him the environment to grow into the person he grew into. I am so excited to get to know them more in the years to come.

I am thankful for school and the opportunity to get a higher education. I can't lie to you, school has become a huge struggle for me lately, especially since I started going to BYU, and especially since I got engaged. I never thought I would have this problem, but a huge part of me wants to drop out after we get married so I can start popping out babies. So I'm thankful that my parents have explicitly and implicitly stressed getting an education so much and planted in me that burning desire to have my degree before we start our family. I'm so grateful that I will have a safety net and backup plan if anything happens to Kevin. Education is so important, and even though it's been really hard lately, I know that education is key to so many of this worlds issues.

I am thankful that in three weeks I'll be able to move out of this apartment and never have to live with roommates again. I can't wait for Kevin to be my only roommate.

I am thankful for my healthy body. It gives me grief sometimes, but I am healthy and strong and can mostly do all the things I want to do. When I take care of it, it treats me really well.

I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the Atonement that makes it possible for me to repent when I fall short, to always come back and try to be better. I'm thankful for the love of our Heavenly Father and the interest He takes in His children.

I am so thankful for the temple. I'm thankful that Kevin and I are going to be sealed for time and all eternity in the temple and that I get to go through the temple to make my own covenants in just three weeks. I am thankful for the blessings that the temple provides.

I am thankful for my job and that I can support myself. Going to school and working have been really hard, but these past two semesters have been liberating to be able to make an income, budget and live within that budget. My job is wonderful and definitely better than any on campus job I could hope to find. I'm thankful for a great boss who is willing to work with my school schedule and for an understanding supervisor when I am really struggling to get to work on time.

My list of gratitude could go on and on, but too many words and not enough pictures makes this blog a dull story. ;) Happy Thanksgiving all.