thankful.

Today is the Canadian Thanksgiving and as all of my family gathered together over the weekend in cozy cabins to eat, drink + play games to no avail (it's just what we Davis' do), I Starbucks-hopped from Belltown to Madison Park to Uvillage ugly-crying when our Skype date ended doing schoolwork between shifts + pondering all the things I have to be thankful for...

I am thankful for that weekend in June when I returned home for a lovely wedding. I spent every minute lost in conversation over a bottomless pot of coffee with grams, my mum, my cousins + aunties, and friendsthatarelikefamily. We stayed up long past when the little pips went to sleep, talking about the uncertainty of my future while simultaneously discovering a new appreciation for the present, in a the-good-ole-days-are-happening-now kind of way. I am thankful for getting to celebrate the second birthday of the light of my light in Tennessee the weekend before last... but even more thankful for getting to meet baby boy W. via ultrasound. He smiled + I cried tears of happiness... for there is truly nothing more incredible than hearing the heartbeat of a growing, healthy baby... and watching as my older sister proudly carries the most perfect little baby {#2} bump without reservation, for she has already bloomed {with ease} in to one amazing mama. 

I am thankful for the encouragement + support of my professors, believing in me when I doubted my abilities to finish strong in this last six months. I'm two-thirds of the way there and my confidence has been restored; the hard work will pay off. I re-enrolled this quarter + finally feel capable, again. It's an exhilarating feeling knowing your dreams are so close to coming to fruition... like if my life was a fairytale, this final stretch is akin to Cinderella's glass slipper fitting. If When the shoe fits...

I am thankful for the gorgeous autumnal weather that has taken over this town, turning the evergreen leaves various shades of red + yellow. The foliage is seriously spectacular this time of year... not to mention this October's absence of rain... replaced by the perfect temperature for wearing wooly sweaters, boots + tights and a sun that shines brightly on. Its the kind of weather that makes you feel warm + fuzzy inside, turning every day in to a good day just because it's a happy balance of sunny + cool. You know the kind.

I am thankful for being able to find the beauty in a less-than-perfect ending to a one-and-only-time trial of "casual dating"... which came to me in the form of a beautiful friendship with someone I certainly would have never met if I wouldn't had agreed to go for drinks with her cousin's roommate... and now, six months later, I get to consider her a dear friend for life. And besides, although he may have been twenty-seven kinds of wrong for me, it was liberating to know that nearly two years after this day, I am able to open myself up to the idea of dating again... which has to be some kind of good measure of a healing heart. I may be taking baby steps in my glass slippers but I think my heart may have finally found its beat again.  

But mostly, I am thankful for having a little corner of the world that is so hard to say good-bye to... almost as hard as missing a Thanksgiving feast with my family... but good gracious, am I grateful to have been given the opportunity to get to know them, call them mine + will continue to love them like family from afar.