my thanksgiving wish for you.

I'm four weeks into working in the public schools, and while the system is a can of worms in itself, I will say that one thing I am so thankful for in this setting: THANKSGIVING BREAK.

An entire week without a 5:30 a.m. wakeup call, a 40 minute commute, and approximately 32498295 therapy plans and meetings to schedule makes me one happy little sugar plum speech princess.

Granted, I'm recently out of school, where I also had "Thanksgiving/fall break," but there were always serving shifts to be worked, reading to be completed, final exams to prepare for, etc. Now, it looks a little different. I'm getting in a couple of "work" hours today, just so I don't drown next week when I get back, but I'm making it a point to unplug when I can, spend time with family, catch up on some novels, and simply reeeeeelax. Like many, I really love this time of year, but it's easy to get caught up and forget to really enjoy yourself.

So with that said...

• I hope Thanksgiving finds you surrounded with family - the kind you were born into, or the kind you chose yourself. 
• I hope you shut off your mental calorie calculator, and enjoy every last bite of your dinner, whether that's a traditional turkey feast or a third helping of pecan pie. 
• I hope that if you're a turkey trotter like myself, you hit a new PR, or at the very least, simply cross the finish line (and throwback a well earned mimosa or holiday-themed latte afterward). 
• I hope you get to snuggle on the couch with your favorite person or your favorite pooch to watch the Macy's Day parade or your favorite football team. 
• I hope you get a chance to help out in the kitchen, to learn the "tricks of the trade" for your favorite recipe, to look around and soak it all in. 
• I hope you're thankful, because if you're reading this, it means you're still alive and kickin', despite the country/world's seemingly daily tragedies.

Photo by Jessica Castro on Unsplash

Happy Thanksgiving to all my loyal friends out here in the blogosphere! 

thanksgiving 2017.

Thanksgiving looked a lot like waking up at 5:45 a.m. Not to cook a turkey (we’ve swapped turkey for prime rib & ham over the years), but to run the Turkey Trot.
It looked a lot like going to the ATM at 6:15 a.m. to grab cash and thinking it must be malfunctioning, because there’s no way I have $0 in my savings and -$216 in my bank account…and then checking my banking app & realizing that someone has actually wiped my entire account clean via Career Builder purchases.

Pre-Turkey Chit Chat.

I cannot believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving (and the beginning of Hanukkah, not that we really celebrate much anymore). But seriously. Where has the time gone?! I feel like ever since I got my "big girl job" aka a Monday-through-Friday-off-on-the-weekends job, time just flies. I hate that phrase because it's so generic, but I can't think of a better way to put it!

It should come as no surprise that with Thanksgiving comes a blog post about what I'm thankful for. So here goes:

1. First and foremost, I'm thankful that my entire family is still alive and kickin'. Sometimes I find myself comparing my family to my friends' families, especially around the holidays. But they're different and they're mine and I love them all to pieces.
2. I'm thankful that I was able to travel around Europe for three weeks pretty much completely paid for. Some people never get to leave the country and I got to explore three new countries in such a short amount of time. It was such an incredible experience and I can't wait to go back!
3. I'm thankful to have landed an internship with the Tampa Bay Business Journal back in January, because I was able to get a full-time position with them this past October. I know countless people who graduated with me that have the hardest time finding a job. I may tell you differently on a Monday morning, but I'm so happy to be starting my career. 
4. I'm thankful that I was able to move back home, rent free, to save money until I get on my two feet. I'm also thankful that I had scholarships/my parents to help me through school so I wouldn't have a bazillion dollars worth of loans to pay off straight out of college.
5. I'm thankful for my group of best friends. I'm so lucky that I don't just have a couple true friends…I have almost ten! Whether I needed a drink or ten, a shoulder to cry on or a backup singer to jam with in the car, I have never felt alone. Ever. Not once. That's an incredible feeling.

I realize the majority of these were pretty generic, but hey, I'm thankful for the small things, too. Like the extra kick the basil from my new basil plant gave my pizza the other day. Or when the barista at Starbucks forgets to charge me for soy milk AND an extra shot of espresso. I'm a sucker for the little things in life.

Now. BRING AWWWWWNNNN THE TURKEY!!!!