Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Well…Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in the United States…in about two days.

Okay, drug so I’m a little ahead. But I AM getting very excited for it. Its a day where we can show thanks (though, really, we should do this every day), and its a day where we can eat as much food as we like, without anyone calling us fat.

And okay, that doesn’t always happen either. But this year, I’ve decided to distance myself away from the people who judge me on my looks, and not the awesome, hardworking, creative person that I am.

Moving on though!

This Tuesday Top Ten isn’t nerdy at all, but instead, I’m giving thanks to the top ten things in my life that I am thankful for.

There is so much more in my life to be thankful for. But definitely these Top Ten.

I swear, next week I’ll be back to nerdy Top Tens. I know I’ve been super lax on them, and I know I gotta get back to it. I promise I will! If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them too! My ideas are running out, admittedly.

But for now…Ten things to be thankful for!

10. School

I am so lucky to be able to go to school, and to have access to an education. Sure, its a very expensive education but an education nonetheless. There are plenty of people, especially women, who are unable to get a good education, in this world, and so I am grateful for the fact that I can. I am also thankful for the school that I go to. It took me years to get into it but its a great school. If you had to choose a school in Southern California, Cal State Fullerton is definitely a good one to choose. Go Titans!

 9. My New Job 

Yay! I am so happy to announce TODAY that I have found a new job. I start today (orientation and paperwork, hurrah!) and admittedly, it is only seasonal work, but I am so excited to start and I want to work as hard as I can to make it a permanent job. Because, wait for it, I got a job at Barnes and Noble. I know, I know. Can you honestly think of a better job for ME? I can’t. Besides an author, but I’m working on that! So I’m grateful that I am going into the holiday season with a job and with a job that I think that I am honestly going to enjoy. I’ll let you guys know how it goes!

8. My Car Elphie 

I’ve had my little green Honda that I named Elphie after the main character of the musical Wicked for six years now, and she has been such a great and reliable car to me. She gets me where I need to go, and I go lots of places, like book signings and premieres and such. She’s handled it all. Plus I just like my car! She’s green, and small, and I’ve got her covered in stickers. I have Harry Potter stickers, and a Mockingjay sticker, and a fearless rune sticker, and all sorts of nerd stuff. Plus my license plate is personalized to say “HP NERD”. Its my vehicle to all things nerd. Its my own Firebolt, my own Tardis.

7. My Dogs

I have two of the best dogs in the world. They are silly, kind of dumb at times, and one of them is super fat. But I love them both. Scout is my half husky chubby pups that I bought for my brothers and sisters as a Christmas gift seven years ago. She’s a loyal dog, and such a well behaved dog. You know, until you put food in front of her face and she gets a little nuts. Sabet is my dog that I bought Jon for his birthday four and a half years ago. He’s half German Shepherd and half Boxer, and he’s so adorable. He’s not as well behaved as Scout but he also doesn’t eat everything that comes his way so there is that. But I’m thankful to both of them because they make me laugh and smile, and they make me happy.

6. My Friends 

I’ve had bad luck with friends for a good chunk of my life. I let people step all over me, and I was content on being a complete doormat. In the past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to meet some amazing friends. My relationship with my boyfriend has brought me to amazing people. Joining the Los Angeles Dumbledore’s Army (the 21 and over Harry Potter fan group), two years ago has introduced me to a plethora of fantastic people that I am SO proud to call my friends. And this blog has brought me a ton of friends too, that make me laugh and share my love of books.

5. Food

Yes, I am thankful for food. And not just that I have the access to food when so many don’t. I am definitely grateful for that. But I am also thankful for the many different choices I have. I am thankful that I can enjoy such great food. I love food, and sometimes I’m given a hard time for it, because, let’s face it, I’m not a size 2 but I’d rather enjoy so many good foods and be a little bit on the curvier side, than to starve myself just to be skinny. I love that I can tacos one day and then eat delicious pasta. I love that I can eat pleasure inducing pizza and cupcakes. I love food. I’m hungry right now so all I can think about is food. Its quite distracting.

4. Books and this Blog

What would I do without either of these? I can honestly say that I would be infinitely less happier without the both of them. Books make me incredibly happy. They give me a place to go, a place to escape. They make me laugh, and feel happy, and break my heart, and make me fall in love. They are the beginning and end to each day. I seriously have no idea what I would do without books. And without books, I wouldn’t have this blog and that would be such sadness. This blog…has given me so much. Its a place that I enjoy to come to. It makes me happy, and I honestly love working as hard as I do on it. Its given me the chance and the opportunities and the bravery, I suppose, to experience all the amazing things I’ve experienced this year. I’ve met so many amazing people through it, authors and actors, and such, but also all the amazing friends and followers that I’ve met through it as well.

3. My Family 

I have an amazing family. I’m one of six kids, and they are the coolest and craziest and the most annoying but the most awesome siblings that I could honestly have. I am lucky enough to have five siblings. FIVE. Sometimes that drives me insane. I mean, do you know how hard it is to go to the bathroom or take a shower in my house? Seriously. Its ridiculous. BUT they’re all so unique, in such a wonderful way. They’re funny, and we’ve been through so much together, the six of us. Life is taking us into a million different directions. We’re 25 (me), 23, 22, 20, 19 and 16. We’re growing up, which is incredibly scary but I never really feel like I need to worry about us. We’ll always find our way back to each other because we have so many times before. Which is SO cheesy, I recognize. But I adore the family that I was born into and even on the craziest, hardest, most irritating days, I still love them and am glad I have them.

2. My Boyfriend

Time to get cheesy, everyone. Jon and I have been dating for nearly six years now. It will be six years in February. Six years! That’s insanity. And he’s not perfect. I tell people all the time, my boyfriend is not perfect. There are days where I want to punch him in the face, or just spray whipped cream all over his head, or I don’t know, weird stuff. But I make a point of telling people that because his imperfections are what make him so perfect to me. He’s an incredibly smart person who makes me laugh and who is incredibly passionate about so many things. He makes me happy and he supports me 100%, every day, even when others don’t. He’s the only person who would understand if I dropped everything in my life, and focused on my novel. He’s the person who believes in me every single day. And he loves me. What more could I honestly want?

1. Myself

This sounds silly, maybe a bit conceited but that’s not what I mean. I am thankful for…my intelligence. For my creativity. For my talent. For my determination, my gumption, my ambition. I am thankful that I’ve changed from this mousy, insecure, invisible person to this person that I am today. I still have doubts and I still have insecurities but I believe in myself more and I have such confidence in myself for the first time, ever. I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of the novel that I am working on. I am proud of this blog. I am proud that I work so hard, because it shows that I believe in myself. I feel like so many of the things that I am thankful for above come from the confidence that I have in myself. I kind of rock. I’m just saying ;)

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What are you thankful for this week? Share in the comments!