Reasons I'm Grateful

Today is Thanksgiving, and I know everyone is posting on Facebook what they're thankful for, but it gets kind of annoying after a while so I thought I'd post mine here instead. (Another reason is that I'm grateful and thankful for so much more than what could fit in a status. )  YAY! I'm making another list!! I know you guys are excited. 

WARNING:I get pretty sentimental when I talk about my family, so if you are prone to sentimental tear shedding...prepare yourselves now.

(I've taken the liberty of dividing subjects into subcategories, making it easier to read and a little more fun for me. I'm a nerd, leave me alone.)

FAMILY
I'm so thankful for being blessed with the spectacular family that I have!  They support me in everything I do, and they love me unconditionally. I know some people in the world haven't been as fortunate as I have, and my family has had it's fair share of problems. But no matter what problems lay ahead, we'll be there for each other. We're family. 
1) I (literally) would not be here if it weren't for my parents.  They are my rock, my support system standing behind me not only as I make it through college, but as I go through life as well.  My mom is amazing. She lets me talk through whatever is on my mind, and gives me advice and encourages me to trust in God and listen to what he's saying.  I love the fact that we can sit in the car and have a serious conversation interrupted with random synchronized singing to the radio...often in the same spot in the song and usually in harmony.  My mom is a strong, beautiful woman, and I'm so glad that I have a role model in her. (Today is also her birthday, so send her lots of love!!!) 
My dad is awesome.  He's taught me so many things over the years: how to ride a bike, how to catch (and throw) a ball, how to drive, and countless other things. I know he says he's therious (and if you know my dad very well, you can hear him say that) but my favorite times are when he cracks up so hard he has tears in his eyes.  He can definitely speak my love language, and he works hard to support his family-a job that I'm so proud of him for. He's a wonderful guy, and I'm so glad I get to call him daddy.

2) I also probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my sister, Adrienne.  She prayed to get a little sister for 4 years until I was born, and I'm extremely glad she did! My sister is one of my best friends.  The countless movies we've watched together, the random cookie and brownie baking episodes, and the spontaneous park trips where she would take about a million pictures of me make for some lovely memories.  We are so alike, and yet so different.  We provide a great balance to each other.  Even though she lives 16 hours away from me, I know that she believes in me and supports me in whatever I do (especially if I ever decided to move to South Carolina with her...lol)  I love my sister very much, and am so proud of her.  It takes a lot of courage and a lot of faith to pack up and move away from your family and everything you've known, but she did and God has blessed her for it.  She's my hero. :) (sorry if this made you cry, Adi.)

3) My brothers are some of my favorite people in the entire world.  Adam is 9 years older than me, so growing up, we weren't as close as I would've liked.  Now that I'm a little older, our relationship has gotten stronger and I'm so grateful for that!  He's intelligent, witty, (a slight conspiracy theorist), and (saying this in a braggy little sister way) pretty handsome too. :)   He's taking charge of his life and working to make himself better. I'm so proud.
Andrew is...oh geez, I don't know if I can just think of one word to describe him.  Andrew is crazy, goofy, random, hilarious, talented, caring....and so much more!  He shares my love of superheroes, my love of animals, and my crazy curly hair.  He loves God, he loves people, and people love him.  He's a great big brother, and he's a great husband to Ericka.  Their relationship is one I admire, and I hope that one day I'll be as great of a wife to my husband as Ericka is for Andrew.  She's been a part of our family for a few years now, and I couldn't be happier about it! I love having more sisters, and she fits into our family like a piece we didn't even know was missing.  She makes our crazy misfit family more complete, and I'm so glad God brought her and my brother together.

FRIENDS
Oh, man.  To list all of my friends on here would take forever, and I still wouldn't get to all of you! If I don't mention you in this list, it's not because I don't love and appreciate you, it's just that I still have to get ready to go to my grandma's for Thanksgiving, and I don't have time to tell the whole world why I love each and every one of you.  But I do love you guys. :)

1) Morgan Freaking Fender (I say freaking because she won't let me use her middle name) is my best friend.  I love her dearly.  We're like the same person from alternate universes: we think so much alike, but little details are switched.  I wouldn't trade that girl for the world.  She's beautiful, talented, obsessed with llamas, a Cubs fan (which I try not to hold against her too much), and understands the majority of my pop culture references.  With me in college, it's hard for us to hang out as much as we used to, but no matter what, she's still my bestie!

2) Tina and Kina. Seriously. I love these girls.  I love the fact that we can not talk for a while, and then pick back up as if no time had gone by.  I love that no matter how old we get we still act like the 14 year old girls we were when we first met.  I know we don't get to see each other as much as we would like, with Tina in KC, Kina working, and me in college, but that's ok.  Our bond is strong, and I know they're always there when I need them.

3) Beth and Lauren are my roommate and suitemate, respectively.  I include them on this list because it takes a special kind of person to live with me everyday for 4 months and still want to hang out with me lol.  They can match my crazy randomness with their own, and they've made my college experience so much better because I can call them my friends.  You guys rock!

4) I love my youth group!  I'm so glad I have been able to be a part of it for the last 5? 6? years.  We're like our own little bizarre family.  My worship girls Tori and Kenzie, I'm so proud of you for stepping up and letting God use you to lead others into worship.  Kim, Bekah, and Tina-you girls are awesome!  Not only are you triplets, but you're strong and becoming more confident in who you are individually and who you are as a group.  Youth group boys-I'm so excited to watch you grow up and become strong men of God.  I'm so proud to think back to how far you've come from the days that I first met you.  Keep pursuing God.  Youth group girls-don't think that because I didn't mention you by name means that you aren't important to me.  I love each and every one of you!  You are beautiful, and God is going to use you in spectacular ways. I'm so excited for you! :)

Above everything else, though, I'm so grateful that I serve a loving God who has blessed my life with all of these people.  He's there for me no matter what and gives me the encouragement I need to believe in myself and show His love to others.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without the love of my savior.  I'm so thankful that He lives in my heart and that He's blessed me in so many ways.  Thank you Papa, for everything.


Well, those are some of the things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving.  Thanks for reading and letting me be all sentimental and stuff.  I hope it wasn't too over the top! :)

That's all for now!
Alaina