Being Thankful

Hi everyone!  I hope that by now you are all safely at home or wherever you are spending the holiday.  Seeing as tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought it would be appropriate to take some time to think about everything I'm grateful for this year.  There are so many things, but here are some of what I think are the most important:

1. My family - As with many things, being away at college makes me appreciate my family on a whole new level.  For me, being home all summer made it easy to take for granted the fact that I lived with my family and could therefore see them whenever I wanted.  It also made it easier to get annoyed with them about trivial things that didn't really matter.  However being back at school for a few months has helped me to regain my appreciation for my family and everything they give me.  Those of you who know me know that I have an extremely close relationship with my mom.  I always keep in contact with her when I'm at school, but there is something special about actually seeing her face, being able to give her a huge hug, have sporadic talks, or just watch our TV shows together.  I've been home for a little more than 24 hours and already I'm loving it and am so appreciative of the blessing that my mother (and my family) is in my life.

2. My house - I'm pretty sure anyone who's ever spent a significant amount of time away from home can attest to the fact that there are simple comforts of home that cannot be found anywhere else.  Since I never moved growing up, I am thankful for my house in general and all its little quirks.  Being home again reminds me of all the things I love about it - my goats, doing as many loads of laundry as I want, the sound of my mom working in the kitchen (and preparing wonderful home cooked food), emptying the dishwasher (my favorite household chore, weird, I know), having a room to myself, and countless other things which are all unique my house, town, and the wonderful state of New Hampshire!

2. My friends - I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have such wonderful friends, both at home and at SMC.  Not much more to say except that I love them all and I'm so happy that I've been able to stay in touch with friends from NH as well as meet some absolutely amazing people at Saint Mike's!



Hiking Mt. Philo this past weekend...check out Alex's post about this!



Surprising my best friend Paige at the airport last year :)

3. My health/safety- As my mom always says, "If you have your health, you have everything."  I am so happy that I am healthy and can always go to Health Services if I ever need them.  And of course when I'm home my mom can take care of me!  I'm also so grateful that I feel safe both at home and at SMC.  At Saint Mike's, I know that Public Safety is always there if I ever need them for anything, even if it's as small as locking myself out of my room (which I have yet to do, knock on wood!).

4. Opportunities - I am thankful every day for the opportunities I have been blessed with, specifically in the form of higher education.  I know not everyone has this privilege, and going to school at Saint Mike's is more than I could've asked for.  There isn't anywhere else I would rather be.  I absolutely love it there and can't wait to go back on Sunday!


Oldie but goodie :) Getting ready to send in my deposit!

5. Last but not least, I am forever grateful to everyone who reads my blog!  After all, I wouldn't have it if there was no one to read it!

So there you have it.  These are just some of the countless things I am grateful for this year.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and gets to spend some quality time with family and friends, and eat delicious food of course!

As always, thanks for reading my blog!
-Merrill