Thankful....

Thanksgiving.

I love thanksgiving. It's one of my favourite holidays in the whole year. Here in Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October. It's a great time of year - the leaves are starting to turn, pumpkins are ripe, the fall harvest season is at it's absolute peak and the farmer's markets around our town are packed with squash, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, corn and so many other great fall vegetables. Thanksgiving makes me think of life as being warm, and golden. And Thanksgiving weekend is a weekend absolutely packed full of great food and family and laughter. All things that make life feel full and ripe like the earth around us.

Things I'm Thankful for this weekend:

 - My family. I love my large extended family, and am so blessed to have a tight knit, hilarious, loving fam. My in-laws are wonderful, loving and an integral part of my life. But I'm especially thankful for my wonderful Hubs, my two wacky kiddos: big'un and littl'un, and even my silly fur-baby. Only 4 months after losing our latest angel baby I find myself feeling a little twinge of sadness at what might have been, but being surrounded by my little family makes me exceedingly grateful for the blessings I have.

 

Thanksgiving Weekend walk at the cottage

 - My job. Oooo - there are days that I'm not so loving my job (let's be honest - who DOESN'T have those days?!) but I AM thankful for it. I'm thankful that I can pull up to this beast of a vehicle every day and know that I have a job that allows me to take my littl'un along with me, make some money and still contribute to our family. It also allows me to have my days at home to clean my house (ugh), craft (yay!), blog (super-yay!), and do all the other things that make me wife/mama.

 *not what my bus actually looks like... y'know... just sayin'*

 - My church. My church family, band members, fellow dancers, and congregation make me thankful that I have this huge extended family of people who are invested both in me and my family, as well as my faith and passion for worship and ministry. I am truly thankful that I live in a country like Canada where I am free to worship who I wish in the way that speaks to my heart.

And so many other things. I'm thankful for little things, like bright red leaves that fall on my car and the street in front of our house, for hugs and "I loves you!"s from my kiddos, for fresh market cherry strudel (mmm), for friends who call and email and facebook to continue to show how they care. And I'm thankful for you blog-readers! For giving me a reason to write and share my life with you all I say: thanks for caring, I'm thankful for you!

Oh, and tea. I'm definitely thankful for tea. Obv.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Tea.