10 Things I Am Thankful For

10 THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON:

1) God and all the blessings he has given me. The next 9 things on this list are all because of God, so obviously that deserves the number 1 spot. I am so blessed in so many ways. I love my life and thank God so much for it.

2) My husband. Justin is so incredible to me and treats me way better than I deserve at times. He is a great man and an amazing husband. He constantly goes out of his way to show me how much he loves me all the time. Anytime I ask him to do something around the house, he usually does it without hesitating or questioning, which is awesome :) We are literally the exact same person and we want the exact same things for our future. I love him very much and am very thankful to have found my perfect other half. Funny side note - Justin just called me while I was writing this to tell me that he heard on the radio that being near a microwave or vacuum cleaner decreases sperm count and makes it harder to have kids, therefore, he could no longer cook or clean. I am also grateful for his humor ;)

3) My family. I have an amazing family! I love both of my sisters very much and my mom will probably never know how much I love her and appreciate her for all the things she's done for me in the past several years. I am incredibly thankful for my precious little Lydia, who looks more and more like her mom everyday (but definitely has my skin color) and my nephew, Anderson, who keeps growing and growing and growing. I love that kid. Click here to see one of my favorite Anderson Thanksgiving videos.

4) My in-laws. This could have probably gone in with family in number 3, but I think all the Morris' deserve their own number. Gordon and Debbie are such amazing parents to Justin and Jennifer. They have definitely raised their kids right. Debbie was an enormous help to me during the planning of our wedding this year and I couldn't have done it without her. Some people don't like their in-laws and don't enjoy spending time with them, but that is most certainly not the case with me. I love them and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them. I definitely look up to both of them and they are amazing role models. They both have such a passion for helping out other people and I love it! Debbie feeds the homeless downtown every Friday morning, which is something I plan on doing with her very soon. I am so grateful to have such awesome in-laws!

5) St. Mark United Methodist - I have been going to this church ever since moving back to Birmingham from Nashville last August, but I guess I wasn't officially a member until I married Justin. I absolutely love our church and all of its members. There are some amazing people at this church that have welcomed me with open arms. I love the contemporary service that Justin and I along with his parents and sister and brother-in-law attend. Don Cross, the pastor (and our officiating minister at our wedding), does such a good job with the Hillside service. I love being involved with the church too. Teaching dance every week has allowed me to get to know some some of the younger girls and I love them so much!

6) Stephanie Meyer. She wrote the Twilight books...she's freaking awesome! Definitely thankful for her :)

7) My amazing friends. I've had the opportunity this past year to reconnect with some of my oldest friends. Ashley Matherson and I were best friends since 8th grade and I lived with her throughout college. She was my go to girl when Justin and I dated in high school so she knows EVERYTHING about our high school fling. We lost touch when I was in grad school and during the two year period when I lived in Nashville. I reconnected with Ashley this year and I am so thankful for it. Few people have known me for that long (literally Ashley, Justin and my amazing twin friends are the only ones that have known me that long) and it is so nice to be surrounded by people who know you so well and can pretty much finish your sentences. A shout out to some other fabulous newer friends: Tiffany Lobdell, who has probably known me for a lesser amount of time than most other people, but somehow understands me and the reasoning behind the things I say and do and can read me like the back of her hand (and I'm pretty darn hard to read sometimes). She is definitely one of my best friends. Lillian Quarles (soon to be Turman) lives in Nashville and she literally saved me when she moved to Nashville. I was working all the time and didn't have time for friends and my only friends were the boys at work and I had zero girlfriends. When she moved there, all that changed. She really has no idea how grateful I am to her. Love these people and so many others that I just don't have time to go into detail on how much they've done for me.

8) My job and coworkers. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my job. I work for an amazing firm that really values its workers. Everyone I work with is openly Christian and it's awesome! It is really hard to find a CPA firm like the one I work at. The shareholders are grateful for the work done by everyone and they show it, which is unusual for a CPA firm. I could literally go on for days about all the things I love that they do for us but I won't bore any readers.

9) Employment. Justin and I are both incredibly blessed to have such awesome jobs. Because of our jobs, we are able to do what we love the most, which is traveling...CONSTANTLY. We love going from place to place all over the US and eventually the world and all of it is possible because of our jobs. There's tons of homeless people out there and the unemployment rate has risen so much because of the economy. Luckily, Justin and I still have jobs and a home and haven't had to give up our hobbies. We are both so thankful for the ability to up and go wherever we want whenever we want. Of course that will certainly change when we have kids. But we're not going there ANYTIME soon.

10) My past. This sounds weird, I know, but I am incredibly thankful for my past. I have had some really tough times between my parents divorce, putting myself through college while working and somehow managing to find time to be an athlete, past relationships, etc. I've learned so much from my past circumstances and it has made me who I am today. I consider myself a "fighter". I know what I want and I bust my butt to get it. If something bad happens along the way, I get over it and keep pushing. I am so glad that my parents have made me pay for my own college (even though I was absolutely not happy about it while I was in college). It makes you appreciate it more and makes you want to work that much harder. The fact that I worked through all four years (five if you count grad school) made me have the work ethic I have today and the work ethic I have today has allowed me to excel in my career. Past relationships gone bad has made me truly appreciate a good thing when it comes around. It has caused me to appreciate the smallest of things that Justin does to make me smile. My past has made me who I am today and I am incredibly grateful. My life's motto is to never settle. Never give up when you deserve better.