Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate! And even if you don’t, it never hurts to stop and think about all you have to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving in my house has always been a big shebang. Most of the holidays we just celebrate with ourselves except for Thanksgiving and New Year’s, in which we always have a ton of people over. Most of my dad’s side of the family lives in Pennsylvania, so we aren’t able to see them, but everyone on my mom’s side heads over to our house. This year we had I think twenty-five people over. It was chaotic, but it was great to see everyone.

My friend Joyce, who is part Vietnamese and part Chinese, even came over. Her family has never celebrated Thanksgiving, which makes sense since it really isn’t their culture, per se. But after living in America for eleven plus years, I think you should take part in it. She was so excited for all the food. It was really fun and she got to meet my crazy family, haha.

Before we eat, we always go around the table and name one thing we are thankful for. This has always been such a hard task for me because I have soo much to be thankful for that I feel ungrateful for just saying one. I always say friends and family, because I think they are the most important to me. I have so many materialistic things to be thankful for, too. Just things I don’t even think about because everyone has it around me, like clothes and a cellphone, etc. But there are always people that don’t have the little things. I thought I would list a few things that I am most thankful for:

• My family. These people are the backbone of who I am. I wouldn’t be the person I am without them, and I wouldn’t be able to get through half of my struggles without them either. I’m so thankful that, besides the occasional fights and upsets, my family is generally pretty close and that I have two parents that are still happily married. That is rare enough in the world that we live in. My parents are also people I can look up to; they know when to be my parent, but they are also there to be my friend at times to.
• My friends. Friends change throughout the years, but I’ve always had a few really close friends. This year, my little circle has grown even closer yet, and the circle may not be huge, I couldn’t care less. Quality over quantity. They’re always there for me and they share the same values as me. Again, I wouldn’t be able to make it through half of my issues and problems without them. I love them for being them, and they love me for being me; quirks and all.
• My country. America is far from perfect and I think that that fact has become ever-clearer in these last couple of years with the numerous problems that are surfacing, but I’m still thankful. Americans enjoy so many freedoms: to say what we want, write what we want, worship what we want. That’s a lot more than many countries in this world who can’t exercise those freedoms. I’m ever thankful.
• Andrew. I really don’t need to go into to much detail I don’t think because it’s rather self-explanatory. The year and a half and some odd months that we’ve been together have been great, and he’s always treated me right. And always buys me Taco Bell. :love:

Tomorrow is Black Friday (for those that don’t know what that is: all the stores open really early and have ridiculous sales) and it’s kind of tradition to participate in that too. We’re not those crazy people that get up at like 3 AM but rather around noon because we’re all so stuffed with food. This year some stores are opening on Thanksgiving night, which I think is so stupid. Thanksgiving is a holiday to be thankful and spend time with those you love and I feel like even that is being corrupted by going out and buying stuff for yourself/others. There’s been a lot of backlash about it, so I’m hoping not a lot of people will go and will focus on what it’s truly about. But, to each their own I suppose.

What are you thankful for?