Gobble, Gobble

#17- Chocolate Chip Cookies- Aside from the obvious, “they are oh-so delicious,” chocolate chip cookies actually hold a special place in my heart for a few reasons. My mom and I used to make chocolate chip cookies together completely from scratch when I was little. No real rhyme or reason as to why, to me it was just when the mood struck, we’d hit the kitchen. My mom had the recipe memorized which always amazed me and she always let me eat some of the dough which was a special bonus treat. Now, I make cookies in our home and Mike goes crazy for them =). Not only am I thankful for the fact that any chocolate chip cookies in our home are in fact made by hand from scratch, but also that they make me smile.

#18- Marrying an English Teacher- As a girl, I never fantasized about the man I’d marry. I fantasized about our wedding, our home, our kids, but the actual face, personality, and qualities never occurred to my young imaginative mind. Mike and I were young when we met so I didn’t even have much “young adult” time to really put some of these pieces in place before it became apparent to me, he was the one.  Of course, my reasons for wanting to marry him are abundant and reach far beyond, he’s a teacher and I’m a teacher, but I’m constantly amazed at how so many day to day things I’m thankful for about him and us can actually be traced back to the fact that, he’s a teacher and I’m a teacher. One small example of this: Yesterday Mike called from the Public Library with a list of possible books on tape to listen to as we travel north for Thanksgiving. I didn’t think much of it until later last night, but I love that we do this and that it’s natural to us. I know a lot of other people do this too and I know there are plenty of other reasons we like to do this but I choose to connect it to the fact that we like to practice what we preach:  Read all the time. Amen.

#19-Holiday Food- Oh man… have you guys seen the new Williams Sonoma Food Catalog? I didn’t even know it existed until we received one in the mail yesterday (and I have no idea how we even received it but I’m thankful either way!). Even though there is no way we can afford mostly everything in the catalog it does not take away from the fact that holiday food is beautiful, delectable, and scrumptious. It’s so true, this really is the most wonderful time of the year =).

#20- Our Home- Hmmm, I have a feeling when I look back on this list it will be quite apparent we bought a home this year. Anyways, I have finally reached the level of comfort in our home where I can navigate myself in the dark without hitting furniture. Is it weird that I view this is as a huge milestone (or is it weirder for you guys to picture me walking through our house with all the lights off to gauge my progress towards reaching this milestone? ha!). Regardless, this makes me very happy and I’m so thankful to have a home to call ours.

#21- Morning Coffee- It’s true, I’m not sure how I’d survive some days without it… and I don’t even have kids!

#22- Holiday breaks- I still love the fact that Mike and I have all of our breaks off together. For this holiday break in particular, we will eat delicious food and the wine will be flowing… how can it get any better than that?!