Thankful Thursday

I mentioned last Thursday that I was going to try something new this year for Thankful Thursday.  Kenzie over at Chasing Happy is hosting "The Thankful Project - 28 Days of Intentional Gratitude" throughout the month of November.  If you click on "The Thankful Project" you can see a list of the daily prompts - I have chosen to do these on a weekly basis.  If you hadn't heard of The Thankful Project before, you can catch up now, then post daily for the rest of November, or maybe follow my lead and do a week's worth of prompts on Thursdays, now through Thanksgiving.  At any rate, I encourage you to take a look at the Project and follow the daily link-ups.  Maybe you will learn something about bloggers you follow, or even something about yourself.

A person
In the years since I came back from college, I have found that it is really difficult to make new friends in the real world.  Meeting my husband allowed me to become friends with some of his friends and their significant others, but that isn't quite the same.  During the last year or so, I have had the opportunity to develop a friendship with a sweet gal from work, as well as grow closer to one of those "significant others".

Our office is super quiet and anti-social - there are days you could probably hear a pin drop if it wasn't for the carpeted floors, and the only time anybody really socializes outside of work is during the three annual office events.  So it is a miracle that Mckenzie and I have been able to become friends outside of work.  But she is my gym partner *when we both manage to get our butts there*, my sounding board when I get frustrated with work, my "painting buddy" (more on that tomorrow) and just a really great friend.  We almost always find something to laugh about.

Krista is usually busy raising her FOUR kiddos (including twins), but I adore them and the middle one always makes me laugh.  Her and I are a lot alike and various circumstances have allowed us to kind of open up to each other, which I am not usually very good at.  I try to get her out of the house when possible for some "child-free" time, and sometimes we spend family time all together.  Either way, I am super grateful for her friendship.

A role you've played
Two "busy season"s ago our firm hired a kid right out of college to help prepare tax returns.  In the past, I had been the primary preparer for our individual tax returns, so the partners decided that I would be reviewing the new guy's work before it went on to them for review.  Holy cow - it was overwhelming!  Unfortunately, this guy wasn't able to apply the feedback and recommendations that I gave him on one client to another - which resulted in me feeling like a bit of a broken record.  He didn't end up working out - but the role of middleman made me really appreciate everything that I have learned, as well as the work it takes to be accountable for somebody else's work.

A place
As much fun as I think it would be to move somewhere like Phoenix or Colorado or even Central Oregon, I don't know if I could handle living that far away from the coast.  As a Pacific Northerwesterner {yes, I probably just made that one up} I probably take advantage of living so close to the ocean.  It may be cold, but even in the winter it is beautiful and relaxing.  Not only am I thankful for our proximity to the coast, but to have a friend that lives there who we can crash with on occasion.  

An experience
Oddly enough, before we were married Tristan and I never really "traveled" anywhere together.  We had been camping, and gone to my family's cabin a day's drive away, but never a real "trip."  So being able to travel for the first time together, as a married couple going on our honeymoon, it was a really special experience.

A talent you have
You probably all thought I would say photography, right?  Well, I don't know if that in itself is a talent - it has taken work to get to where I am.  If I had to pick a talent, or skill, that I am most grateful for, though, it would be my ability to learn new things, and typically catch on to them pretty quickly.  This is something that I have been able to apply to multiple facets of my life - including photography, but also my career as an accountant.

A failure
This one I struggled with a bit.  But I think that if I had to be thankful for one of my failures, it would be the issues we had in our marriage a couple years ago.  That time brought a lot of heartache and stress, but in the end it ended up bringing Tristan and I closer together than we were to begin with.

A job
I was extremely fortunate when it came to finding my first job in the real world.  After officially finishing my college classes in June of 2008, I had plans to complete a double major by spending the fall in China on a study abroad trip.  Knowing that I would return from China needing something to do, I started watching for possible opportunities.

There was a day in August that I had 3 job interviews, all at various public accounting firms.  At the final one of the day, I spent over an hour speaking with two of the partners, and even received a tour of the office and met some of the other employees (I know now that this is something that doesn't normally occur until day 1 on the job).  I was told that there was a partner meeting the following week and they would be discussing applicants at that time.  So imagine my surprise when, half an hour later I was walking through the mall and received a phone call, and a job offer!  It was such a relief to be able to go on my trip and know that I had a job to come back to.

For almost five years now I have been with the same company and they have been so wonderful to work for!
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I know this was a little bit "wordier" than my normal post, but I hope it spoke to you a bit and showed you a little bit of who I am and what I am grateful for. We all have things to be thankful for in life, and most of the year we are really good about taking advantage of all that. But this is time of year I think it is an important reminder.

So - what are you thankful for?!