10 Things I Am Thankful For Right Now

1. My Family – Some of my paternal relatives are here for Thanksgiving, all the way from Okemos, Michigan (in the Lansing area). Although my family got to see them this summer when they went to Michigan for my Aunt's wedding, I was at NYSSSA, so I haven't seen them in a while. Even when they are playing video games and screaming or playing the euphonium, I love them anyway.

2. My Friends – I love them. In my experience, I am not good at making friends, but the ones I have mean so much to me, they are some of my very favorite people. They are the ones that know me best and still like me even when I am mean or grumpy or sad. That's pretty special.
3. Music – It's difficult to express how much I love music. I honestly cannot fathom what my life would be like if I didn't love music, especially if I didn't sing. At NYSSSA, I learned about how much music meant to me, it turns out, it means a lot. I think the reason I made such connections with people there is because we all had an understanding with each other, that music wasn't just a thing for us, it was the thing. Only someone else who loves music and singing as much as I do could understand.
4. Rowing – Rowing is the only sport I've ever been good at, and basically the only thing I do that makes me feel physically strong and healthy. Also, some of my best friends row. I love the Niskayuna crew, it's practically a family.
5. Where I Live – First and foremost, Niskayuna is a suburb, one that only exists because of the creation of a little thing called General Electric. However, Niskayuna and the Schenectady area are a pretty wonderful place. Schenectady gets a bad rap, but it has been improving so much recently and in the past week, I have been downtown quite a bit and I love it. Mot to mention the lovely trees in my own backyard and Central Park just a mile or so away. I ♥ NY.

6. Knitting – I am very thankful that my mom taught me how to knit when I was young. Even though she taught me to knit in a mostly-unknown mystery Scandinavian style (no, I am not Scandinavian). I love knitting, it's a great way to pass the time and I love having things that nobody else has.

7. Being an American – More so than in recent years. Yes we can! (Not to mention all of the obvious plusses, for one, being able to eat a meal like this, even for only one day a year.)
8. NYSSSA – Yeah, I talk about NYSSSA a lot. I actually had planned not to mention it in this post, but if I'm being honest, it is definitely one of the things I am most thankful for. It corresponds with why I am so thankful for friends and for music and just unifies them perfectly. (Bam. Homophony.) It was truly the best experience of my life and I loved every minute of it. Honestly, I could've spent the rest of my life there and been a pretty happy girl.
9. My Wreck This Journal – I highly recommend buying one of these. as a gift or for yourself. It's a very welcome change from my very controlled non-art doing (I couldn't fit an art class in to my schedule) life. It's also just a very fun thing to do when I am bored and need something to do. So, without further ado:

Assignment 28: What day could be better to do this assignment? I ate so much food, so there's a lot of variety. Go to the photos page to see all of the tags, which say what the foods are.
10. Photography – My digital camera is probably my most prized possession (it's up there with my hand-knits and my iPod). It's just a point and shoot, but I use it all the time and I love taking photos. Most of what I know about photography, I learned from my mom (who minored in photography), everything else I taught myself. For me, it's really fun to capture the beautiful things around me, and photos are great keepsakes of course.


Happy Thanksgiving :) Adios.