thankfulness, last day!: being able to be thankful

Think about it: I'm thankful that I'm able to be thankful (see what I did there?). In the penultimate "thankful reason" of this month, I'm thankful to be alive and in good health so that I can be here and present and thoughtful about my life. So many things could have happened to me while growing up.

For example, my family and I were on vacation somewhere west of here, Colorado/New Mexico/Arizona or somewhere like that. It was the 1990s and happened to fall during a "honeymoon" kind of period in which my new step-father cared about us and wanted to broaden our horizons through family trips (that all took a nose-dive in later years). We were stopped at a gas station, standing behind our Ford Escort, eating sandwiches or something like that. All of the sudden, a white truck that was parked to the left of us sideways, started to roll towards us. The driver of the truck was inside the gas station, oblivious. I saw it first and screamed. We all ran towards the truck to stop it from hitting us and our car, while my step-father jumped into the truck and stopped it. Had I not noticed the truck was rolling towards us, one of us could have possibly been killed or seriously injured.

It's memories like this that make me forever grateful and thankful that I am here, healthy, and in possession of a sharp mind. I've made it through 27 1/2 years mostly unscathed (no broken bones even, holla!). I'm so glad about life!

I'm here. I'm present. And I'm thankful.


Jes

thankfulness, day 28: sleep...again

Because it means THAT MUCH to me.

Sleep is pretty crucial between maintaining my happy state, and when I haven't had enough sleep, I run the line between being an unbearable twat and feeling normal. I've not been able to sleep very well this week so far, and it's running me down. I'm certainly double-thankful for nights in which I get adequate zzzz's.

Hopefully I'll have one of those soon.


Jes

thankfulness, day 27: my evenings after work

There are days where I work in which there's nothing more I want to see than the end of the day. Yesterday happened to be one of those days--it was busy, we were coming off of a holiday, people were surprisingly out of the office here, and everyone was just in a mega-poor mood by the afternoon. Totes ick.

My evenings are full of possibility, and as much as I try to plan out any evening at home, those plans usually go by the wayside in favor of a "freestyle" kind of evening--doing whatever sounds good. I'm thankful that I have this time to myself away from work, and I guard it fiercely. Grrr.

Also, holy heck it was cold this morning!! 18 degrees (F)? After I scraped my car window, I drove nearly all the way to work before realizing my A/C was on! No wonder I was freezing to freaking death in my car. Hello, Monday #2. C'monnnnn evening!


Jes

thankfulness, day 26: soup

I don't know about you, but I couldn't get through life without soup. It seems like a kind of off-the-wall thing to be thankful for, but it's true! Soup is one of the most inexpensive meals that I can make myself at home, and the possibilities of foods to use, while not "endless" (no meats, dairy, eggs, yo!), are at least vast!

It is easy for me to say that the majority of meals I make at home are different soups. And they are easily transportable and reheatable, so I eat them at work all the time. This week, I'm savoring some leftover borscht from our Walking Dead party last night (thanks, Meg!) and some leftover chipotle black bean soup from last week (my favorite EVER.).

Yay for soup!

Jes

thankfulness, day 25: that this month will soon be over

Guys, I'm kinda tired of being thankful. It's a good thing this month will only be around for a few more days. Onward to December, xmas fun, hopefully SNOW, and one month until my cruise if the end of the world doesn't catch up to us first!

Jes

thankfulness, day 24: video games with my hubbie

One of the more simple things in my life is when I can stay home with my husband playing video games and watching movies. I'm truly thankful that I have the time and ability to be a dork with him.

We've been Mario Partying this weekend. Oh yeah!

Jes

thankfulness, day 22-23: this.

I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful and loving (adopted) family and have very much enjoyed getting to see everyone for Thanksgiving over the last 5 or so years. I look forward to many more!

Jes

thankfulness, day 21: my nerdiness

That's right. I'm a nerd and a geek.

It was already there in place before I met Philip 8 1/2 years ago, deep down in my whole being, rooted in my soul. I think there's a little bit of nerd and geek in all of us; it's just how much we personally tap into it that matters. That sounds so new-agey-spiritualistic-but-nerdistic.

Case in point:
-we dvr episodes of jeopardy! and watch them in the living room while eating lunches/dinners. and each time one of us gets a question correct we high-five. yup.

-we dvr adventure time and comic book men and watch them every week. we also fist bump when finn and jake fist bump in the intro to the show. we're dorks.

-we have a pull list at the local comic book store...and half of the titles we get are mine...

-my favorite comic book character has always been scarlet witch (marvel). i don't care if she magically wiped out the majority of the mutant population with three words. she's the shiz! and i think i'm getting a tattoo of her next year :) my husband's anniversary gift to me was an action figure of the scarlet witch! totes awesome. and he painted this for me:

{HUGE painting of the Scarlet Witch. gorgeous!}

-i have a degree in history and anthropology and read history books for fun. and i know it's sad to admit, but i love me some historical fiction!

-our artwork hanging on the walls at home was all made by my husband (and a few pieces were from fellow artists he knows). this includes paintings of superheroes and a huge painting of patrick stewart that we call "p stew." why hang anything else? :)

-i have painted my friend, nick, twice with a unicorn. just because i could.

-i would rather find cool clothing at thrift stores than buy new clothing (i draw the line at underthings!!!). not sure if this qualifies me as a nerd/geek or just cheap! also, i wrote "would rather" which doesn't mean "i never buy new."

My name is Jes, and I am a self-proclaimed nerd and geek. And I'm thankful to be myself, to be an individual, to be a dork, and to be a nerd/geek.

Have a wonderful holiday tomorrow!

Jes

thankfulness, day 20: ma famille!

If I'm going to be thankful for my lovely and awesome friends, it only follows that I am also thankful for my family (pshaw, of course!!). I'll always be proud that I was lucky enough to be born into this fantastic group of people who seem to be equal parts crazy and loving. Your eccentricities make you fabulous! And the family I married into has been everything I could have hoped for and more.

{family gathering when my grandparents were here from Idaho this spring}

{my wonderful mother-in-law, Patsy--xmas several years ago}

{my high school graduation in 2003}

{Patsy and my awesome nephews and niece, photo taken by my sis-in-law}

{my husband's family at Thanksgiving 2010}

{my brother-in-law, sister-in-law (her photo), and kids}

{xmas 2011 with my family}

{xmas 2010 with my brothers and mom}

{my silly mom and brother modeling some toilet paper covers she crocheted}

{mom and I at the KS State Fair in 2003...yeah, we're dorks}

{my husband's grandparents and I}

{my aunts and I}

{I sorely miss those who have passed, like my grandma}

Jes

thankfulness, day 19: my awesome friends

You guys are the best ("better than all the rest!"). I am forever and ever thankful for my great friends, including those I'm not that close to any longer. You've all etched your names on my heart.

{wedding fun!}

{from October...so captionable haha!}

{our wedding "sad face" photo...we have this one framed at home}

{friends from high school, Stacy and Amber}

{rocking out during our senior year party}

{one of many pool parties over the years}

{my 21st birthday happened to fall on a work super pub crawl...fun times!!!}

{my husband, Philip, is my best friend}

{friend from France, Morgane}

{girls' night!!!}

{drinky-drink!}

{Riverfest River Run 2 mile in June}

{Halloween 2011}

{photobombing couple!! haha}

Jes

thankfulness, day 18: sriracha and hot sauce in general

I have a confession: I love hot sauce. I'd gladly pour sriracha on just about anything (within reason, of course!!). Example: I was making some noodle soup tonight for dinner, and my husband said something like, "You're making a soup to accompany your sriracha?" My response was that it was a garnish for the sriracha :)

I'm surprised I still have working intestines and stomach lining. Thank you, world, for hot sauce!!


Jes

thankfulness, day 17: movies with friends

It is most splendid to go out to see movies with friends. Today we saw Breaking Dawn: Part 2, and I think the thing I most liked about it was being there with my best pals. The movie was alright, and it had its perks, but I'm thankful for having this group to go see movies with. Makes it extra special :)


Jes

thankfulness, day 16: the weekend!!

Y'all, if we didn't have weekends to recharge our mental batteries, we'd kill each other (oh wait, that already happens, but it would on a much bigger and grizzlier scale!). There is one time during the year when I don't get the weekend off of work (annual inventory, have to work Sat and Sun), and those two weeks in which I don't get a break are THE. WORST. EVER.

Weekends are so full of possibility, dontcha think? This weekend, we'll be doing some thrifting, movie-watching, visiting of my mother-in-law, cleaning, raking of leaves, laundry, and grocery shopping. I'm pretty excited for it all right now :)

So here's me on the precipice of the weekend, looking down from Friday into the awesome plunge that is Saturday and Sunday. Monday, however, is when I slam into the ground without wearing a parachute.



Jes

thankfulness, day 15: leaves to rake

Here's another one of those "WTF are you thinking?!?" items about which I am thankful. You know what, though? Leaves, even when they litter the ground, are still beautiful. They're in their proper place for the season and remind us to change with the weather. Deep thoughts, right?!?

Not only am I thankful for leaves falling this time of year in that they remind me to make adjustments in my life, but they are also quite relaxing to rake. When raking leaves, I get into this methodical state where the world is blocked out, and it's just myself, the rake, the leaves, and the cool breeze. (Bagging leaves is a totally different story. Hello, stress!!). I'm thankful for the time outside to reflect on life, the universe, and everything :)

Jes

thankfulness, day 14: creamy chai tea

My breakfast this week, besides an apple on Monday, has been a mug of creamy chai tea. The other night while at home, I spied my last bag of Stash Decaf Vanilla Chai tea in my tea jar, and I gulped it down for breakfast the following morning, splashed with soymilk. It's DELICIOUS.

This morning, I moved on to Twinnings Spiced Apple Chai. I've had to scrape frost off my car windows twice already this week, and knowing that this was waiting for me when I got to work after that made it sooo much better :)

Hot tea is the shiz.


Jes

thankfulness, day 13: my job

Because as much as I bitch and groan about my job, I still have one. And it pays well. And I've managed to stick it out here for over five years. And I have insurance. I could have been jobless loooong ago.

But five years on, I still often feel like pulling a Jerry McGuire and hate that I've had to settle here for that long. So, I'm thankful for it but can't wait for what the future holds.



Jes

thankfulness, day 12: frost!

I know this is going to seem somewhat backwards to say, but I an thankful for frost! It is the promise of a winter (we didn't really have one last year, and it totally F-ed everything up here in Kansas). Frost also makes it so that I need to wake up 5 minutes earlier in the morning because I know it'll be clinging to every window on my car. I do hate scraping it off my windows, standing in the cold and all. But I do enjoy the idea that frost precedes snow, and snow indicates winter :)


Jes

thankfulness, day 11: tv watch parties

Well, this is becoming a trend for my Sundays! This Sunday was far from a "lazy day" though. We got hit with a cold spell here, so it would have been nice to chill out for longer than we did, but alas! It was not to be. I spent the day doing laundry, grocery shopping, making red beans and rice, and going to my friends' house for a Walking Dead watch party. I am so thankful for these times with friends. We're making it into a weekly thing (tentatively) until the show is over. Not sure how many episodes are left, but they're getting really, REALLY good :)


Jes

thankfulness, day 10: getting over my cold!!

Oi, it's about time I felt better!! I've been sick since Monday. Last night, I was dosed with antibiotics, codeine cough syrup, and Nyquil and sent to bed for the second time in the day (came home halfway through the day AGAIN and Nyquil-slept for 3-4hrs). But I awoke this morning feeling soooooo much better FINALLY. Went wedding dress shopping with my awesome friends Shannon and Andrea, and she found her perfect dress after three store visits (one store, then another, then back to the first store where we had AWESOME service). It's gorgeous, and I can't wait for her wedding next October. It really is the best month for weddings--besides us, we've had quite a few friends and family tie the knot that month.

Anyway, I digress. Moral of today's story: I'm thankful for the end of colds because they finally let me be out in the world again! I'm on a cleaning bender right now and am going out for a friend's birthday tonight. Tomorrow is brunch at The Garden Grill Cafe  (new d'Sozo!) and a Walking Dead watch party :)

Enjoy your weekend!
Jes

thankfulness, day 9: sleep

i need it. that is all.


Jes