Giving Thanks

Today is the Canadian Thanksgiving (ie. the REAL Thanksgiving). While we should all be grateful and appreciative of what we have every single day of the year, this holiday really makes you stop and think about the important things in life.

Many of you who are reading this blog know that my mother passed away in March this year. That life changing experience made me appreciate the good things in life a lot more. I try not to take things for granted (but let's be honest, that's part of human nature), and I try to live life to its fullest. I try to appreciate the little things and find joy in what I do. I am more deliberate in my decisions, and I choose to try to surround myself with positive things (and people) that are worth my time. Life is too short to waste your time on things (and people) that make you unhappy. This is something that I am working on.

I had a really hard time yesterday after skyping with my dad and brother back home. I felt like I should have been home for Thanksgiving. I felt like I was missing out on a family holiday, the first one without my mom. I felt like I needed to be there on the nature walk in Spring Valley, where we took our last family photo. It really upset me.

Spring Valley- Thanksgiving 2009

But, I am so thankful for my wonderful friends and family. Of course I have such a great support system back home, but I've also founds some really great friends here too. Mandi and Rob helped to turn my day around yesterday. We hung out by the pool and Rob made us delicious BBQ chicken pizza. I am truly thankful for them :)

So here are some shout outs to the people who make me smile and those who I care deeply about. To the people who I could not live without and who have helped make me the person I am today. To the people I love and want to be surrounded by:

To my family- I love you and I miss you every day. I am happy to be here and I'm loving my job, but I am always thinking of you. Thank you for putting up with my quirkiness, my craziness, my stubbornness, and all the other weird things I do. And you know that I do a lot of weird things.

To my friends back home- I love you and miss you too! Thank you for all of your love and support, especially this year. I really want to keep in touch, so let's keep skyping! I love when your faces light up my screen! I would also be very thankful if you came to visit!!

To my new friends here- You are all amazing and I couldn't imagine a better group of people to be working and living with. Thank you for your friendship, support, and the fun times! I'm excited for all the adventures to come :)

To my mom- Thank you for being the best mom I could ever ask for, for the past 23 years. Thank you for loving and caring for me; for listening; for worrying; for supporting; for laughing; for smiling; for believing; and for everything else you did. The list of your virtuous qualities is much too long for one blog post. I love you and miss you every single minute of every single day. You are forever rooted in my heart.

Even if you are American or another nationality that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving in October, take our Thanksgiving as a reminder to appreciate life and what you have (I single out the Americans only because they're always the ones who poke fun at Canadian Thanksgiving).

Happy Thanksgiving! And to anyone who is reading this, thank you for being interested and taking time out of your busy lives to read about mine!

xo Sam