#gratitudes: day 3

I'm going to be traveling to the middle of no where with J tomorrow for Thanksgiving, and as much as I love my little blog, I have priorities. So I won't be here tomorrow. I know I could go ahead and pull together a post and just put it up at some point tomorrow, but I just feel kind of passionately about being where you are when you're there, and I don't want to have my phone out tomorrow, much less be trying to post a blog. So this is my last #Gratitudes installment, and it's just going to be a plethora of random, but still important things I'm thankful for. Ready?

A job that more than provides and keeps me comfortable. And the fact that I got said job 3 days after I graduated from college and that the process was next to painless. I'm thankful that God knows what's best for me far better than I do and knows that this is right where I'm supposed to be for now.

 My sweet little house, and finally living in a place that feels like home. After four years of dorms and college apartments, the wood floors and faulty heating in this place make it my favorite place to be. Sanctuary.

Boyfriend. You know what? I'm not even going to get into it here because I can't do how thankful I am for him justice in the small amount of space I want to use. So, if you haven't read it already, you can skip to this & read all about how much I love my boyfriend :)

One of my favorite quotes of all time, because it's so true. There's nothing quite like laughing so hard that you can't breathe and your stomach hurts, you have tears streaming down your face and every time you breathe in you make the most ridiculous noise, kind of like a cat dying. You know the kind of laughter I'm talking about? That. I am so thankful for that in my life. And that conviniently, I'm one of the easiest people in the world to make laugh.

My church & it's fearless leaders {pictured here. crawfish. mmmm.} Seriously though, I don't think I can even begin to put into words how thankful I am for my church. I know for certain I wouldn't be the person I am today. Not to say that God would have been incapable of getting me where He wanted me, He could've. But I'm glad He chose the Ring and Meg & Josh and every relationship I've formed there. You guys are life-changers.

 Being Southern. Really though, I'm so thankful I'm from the deep South and will most likely never leave. I love that I only like my tea tasting like pure sugar, that {for the most part} strangers on the street end up in coversation, that I grew up going on fieldtrips to places like this {Oak Alley}. That everyone is maam and sir, my parents are mama and papa, and that sha, grits, y'all, beaucoup, gumbo, piddlin' are a part of my everyday speech.

Last one. I'm thankful for my past. I'm thankful for all the wonderful childhood memories I have, for all the great times spent with my family and friends. The summers at camp, the hours on hours spent in the ballet studio, the family vacations. I'm so blessed. And I'm also thankful for the hard times. The stupid times. The times I look back on and cringe just a little bit. But I'm thankful for the clarity to look at the hard times and know they made me better, and that I daily put up the fight against letting them make me bitter. I'm thankful for the friends who walked away, because they taught me how to be the kind of friend I want to be. I'm thankful for the people who made fun of me for my faith, because without knowing it they pushed me towards being more like Christ. And I'm thankful for the boy who broke my heart, because I quickly learned what to stay away from in my next relationship and more about myself than I've ever learned from anyone. I'm thankful that I'm thankful for that experience, and not haunted by it daily.
 
 
 

So that wraps up #gratitudes. I hope it made you look at how blessed you and what you're really thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!