At the risk of sounding utterly cliche, since I don’t intend to blog tomorrow on Thanksgiving, I wanted to take this time to really recount my many, many blessings. It’s been an incredibly busy and eventful year for my little family. We moved from Fort Drum, NY to Fort Lewis, WA. We journeyed and drove across the United States for six whole days with my incredible mama. We’ve weathered two TDYs in our short time here in WA thus far, and we’re preparing for another deployment. And yet, in the midst of the chaos and lamenting about the hardships of military life, we have so much to be thankful for, as well.
First and foremost, I’m eternally grateful for this family of mine. They keep me sane (and insane, really – depending on the day), and they keep me rooted in the reality of the most important things in life. I have a husband who works his butt off day in and day out, and I have two little boys who try their hardest to be so good to make us proud…and they do. And, we’re adding a third little bean to our tribe, and we couldn’t be more excited – and admittedly terrified – to become the family of five we’ve always wanted.
We have a roof over our heads. Despite the fact that it’s not a house we love or plan to stay in past our lease term in June, we were able to move into a house the day we arrived in Washington. I don’t look at this as a positive nearly enough, but it really is, since PCSing across the country is no joke.
I’m so grateful that both Ryan and I are gainfully employed. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you’ve likely seen my lamentations about being a work-at-home-mom, as well as the hardships of working while balancing the burden of being a military spouse. Working with my company has been such a blessing though, so being offered a job within the company on the luxury villas side versus the cruise side was a huge blessing for us. There’s a peace of mind to knowing this transition starts next week, too, and I can’t wait!
We’re so thankful for amazing friends, whether we’ve seen them recently or not. We’ve been blessed to have friends here who’ve welcomed us with open arms, as well as incredible bonds with neighbors and friends from New York. We know those bonds, though further, will never fail, and I’m so glad to have those people – our people – in our corner, regardless how far they may be.
And, it must be said, I’m endlessly grateful, thankful, and blessed for this blogging community. I’ve forged friendships with people around the world, and I’ve been able to follow on so many journeys similar to mine. And, in the same breath, I’ve been blessed to see so many different walks of life, as well. It’s a reality that is too often forgotten, but the blogging community brings things a little closer to home, so I hope you all know I’m grateful for you, too!
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!