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This year, instead of posting each individual thing I’m thankful for, I thought I would do things a little differently. I’ve got a LOT I’m thankful for this year. But I’ve been looking forward to the future, and I’ve been looking to the past on how I’ve got here, and I am so very thankful for every aspect of my life.

My Past…

I had an amazing childhood that I can truly look back on and smile! I was born in a small town, in a house surrounded by woods, with gardens, and animals, and a happy family. ❤ Things weren’t ‘perfect’, but I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood and I was always thankful for my family.

When I was 7, my family joined the Military, and my life changed a LOT! There were new rules, new houses, new states we moved to, new friends we made, and a new way of life. It wasn’t easy by any means, and I probably hated it quite a lot while living there. But looking back at that life now, I am very thankful for everything, as it made me who I am today.

When I was 19, I moved back home to Michigan to live with my grandparents while I went to college. I was so thankful to my grandparents for letting me live there and experiancing everything I did. I was able to do so much more there than I could in the Military. I could plant gardens, paint my own room, and wear whatever I wanted for the first time in years!

My childhood made me who I am today. It gave me my likes, my dislikes, my friends, my attitude, and my family. Sure, I was born with a blood family, but my childhood gave me my REAL family. People I could trust, count on, laugh with, and who were always there for me. My childhood also gave me my fiancé! If it wasn’t for growing up in that small town, our mothers wouldn’t have met. And if it wasn’t for both of our families joining the Military, we wouldn’t have been close friends who wrote to each other all the time.

So for my past, I am thankful. ❤

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My Present…

Oh, the places I’ll go, and the places I’ve been, have nothing on where I am right now!

I’m thankful for a roof over my head, a warm bed to climb into, friends to laugh with, and family to spend holidays with. Right now, I am writing this on the couch, both of my cats are cuddled right next to me, the sun is just barely starting to rise out the living room windows. My fiancé is in the kitchen next to me, making apple pies for lunch tonight at his grandparents, and dinner at my parents house. The mashed sweet potatoes are in the fridge until it is time to go, and my dress for the day is sitting on the bed ready to put on after morning chores.

Life may not be easy right now, what with our apartments raising rent after Christmas, and my fiancé and I officially looking for a house, and things at work getting hectic for the holidays. But despite all the hard stuff, my fiancé always has a way of reminding me what we have in this moment, and it’s certainly an abondance of love, family, and laughter!

I am thankful for the places we have gone recently, and the friends we have right now. I am thankful for movies we can sit on the couch and watch. I’m thankful for laundry days at my parents house where I get to sit and chat with my mother. I’m thankful for my two cats, who make me smile every day. And I’m thankful for my amazing man who makes me smile every day. ❤

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My Future…

I don’t know what my future holds.. But if the past and present are any indication for my future, I’m going to be just fine. I’m thankful that my future is going to be filled with close friends, a sweet husband, and a big family that spend holidays together every year. (Of course, between the two of us, our collective family is already very large!)

Someday, I will have that beautiful homestead I’ve always dreamed about, and kids I will homeschool and raise to see the beauty in this world, and I will still be writing posts about how thankful I am for my life. Until then, let me end this today by saying again that there is so much to be thankful for! Today, I am thankful for all of it! Past, Present, and Future.

As always my lovely readers, Smile, have an amazing day, and enjoy your Thanksgiving! For my international readers who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, remember to take a minute today to just write down what you’re thankful for. And then do that every day for the rest of your life! 😉