What I'm thankful for...

Thanksgiving came and went, but I have really been feeling like a "thanksgiving" post would be good.  I give thanks because I'm grateful to God, and I give thanks because it is through finding pleasure in my life that I find contentment that helps me to not needlessly and tirelessly strive for more.


I am thankful for Matthew and I both finishing our Master's degrees last June.  What an exciting time!

I am thankful that Matthew got a job only a few months after graduation.  In fact, it was really a blessing to have a final summer break together even if it was spent somewhat in anticipation.

I am grateful that Matthew got a job in the Pacific Northwest, and even in Oregon.  We could have had to go much farther.

I am thankful that I lived in a place (Corvallis) that I loved enough to still sorely miss even after I have been away from it for almost three months.  I miss my friends there, but I also sincerely miss the town itself.  The streets, the parks, the co-op, the trees... everything.

I am grateful that I have had a chance to explore a new area.  It is pretty out here (once you ignore all the cars...), and it is truly a lovely place for being a suburb of a large city.  I think that since we live near a bunch of marshy areas we get a lot of wildlife that we didn't see in Corvallis.  I love seeing an occasional heron and huge flocks of ducks and geese.  I also really like the treefrogs that make their ridiculous croaking sounds outside of our windows.

I am thankful that I will be teaching at Portland Community College next term.  While I admittedly have the inward anxiety that I for some reason will not be able to handle things or do a "good enough" job, I mostly am excited to work with two classes of math students.

I am also grateful for all of the experiences that I have had that have helped prepare me to teach!

I am thankful that I got to see my parents and brother a fair amount last summer, and I am happy that we get to spend Christmas together this year.

I am thankful for always having more than enough of what I need.

I am thankful that God has given me a chance to experience more freedom and love as I continue to learn to be less selfish and to love others more.

I am grateful for public libraries and the Internet because I have had a chance to read so many interesting things and learn so much now that I'm not doing homework and studying all of the time.

I am thankful that our new apartment has big windows and more of them than a typical one-bedroom apartment... I love the natural light...

I am thankful for Facebook because it is taking time for me to meet people and get a support group up here, and I feel like I am blessed to have some support through that medium while I work and wait to see what friendships are waiting for me up here.

I am of course thankful for my dear husband who is a rock of support for me.  He celebrates for and with me, he loves me even (and maybe especially) when I'm being crazy or silly, he has been my biggest supporter as I change the very way we live as I work to live sustainably, he has learned that I can't talk when I'm crying, and he patiently waits until I can talk again... even when he's painfully unsure about why in the world I'm crying again.  While he has his own quirks and faults, he is the most patient, loving, and supportive man that I can imagine, and I'm grateful that every day he chooses to continue loving me.

Finally, I am thankful to God for blessing me more than I deserve, patiently dealing with me as I doubt and question and work to figure things out, and loving me with a love that I can't even really understand.