Can anyone else believe it’s already November?!?! (or as I like to call it… Mashed Potato Month) I feel like I blinked and 2021 is almost over! If you don’t already know this- Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I feel EXTREMELY passionate about not putting up the Christmas tree, playing Christmas music, or doing ANYTHING Christmas related before December 1st- like if you do any of those things before December 1st I don’t know if we can be friends. (jk you can do what you want… just know I may or may not be silently judging you lol)
Not only is Thanksgiving the best holiday because it’s literally a day where calories don’t count and you’re encouraged to eat so much you go into a turkey coma (although as I sit here thinking about it… that might not be a good reason to enjoy the holiday because we’re literally encouraging gluttony… oops. I’ll worry about that another time!), but I love the exercise of stopping to think about how blessed I am. Gratitude doesn’t have to be anything insane- it can be as simple as being grateful that you only live 5 minutes down the road from Starbucks and you can drive there every morning for your favorite Latte!
I’ve shared before about my struggle with depression and anxiety- and the biggest way I’ve found to combat those negative feelings and thoughts is to stop and practice gratitude. I’m not about to claim that gratitude means all your problems go away, or gets rid of anxiety and depression completely, or we should never sit with negative emotions- because that’s called toxic positivity. But I’ve found in the last year when I’ve paused in my moments of overwhelm, frustration, or just plain feeling sorry for myself because of something hard that’s going on, and flipped the script to “What can I be thankful for right now?” it can change my whole attitude 90% of the time!
So this is me sharing a few things I’m thankful for this year!
- Coco. If you follow me on instagram you probably saw that in October Coco escaped from our house. I was so scared I would never see her again and those 3 days she was gone were some of the most stressful of my life. I slept on the floor by our garage door the first night she was gone, and the 2nd night I never went to bed at all… which ended up being the night/early morning she came crawling through a window we had left open for her! She is my baby and I’m so grateful she came back to me safe and sound!
- My Parents. AKA my biggest cheerleaders- We’ve had our rough moments, but I’m so grateful for their wisdom, their support, and their guidance these last 24 years. I’m so grateful God gave me to them, because I wouldn’t want to be in anyone else’s family!
- Caramel Brûlée Lattes from Starbucks. I know what you’re thinking… “Jacqueline. That is one of Starbuck’s holiday drinks that comes in their specialty red holiday cups. I thought you were absolutely opposed to any mention of Christmas before Thanksgiving?” Yes. I know it is somewhat hypocritical of me, but in my defense- it’s not really a super Christmasy drink! It’s not like it’s a Peppermint Mocha or something like that… so we can let that one slide. Right?
- Friday nights in with my Mom watching Foyle’s War.
- Afternoons in downtown Augusta with Michelle, trying different restaurants and making candles together at Augusta Candle Co.
- All of my sweet couples!! I could write a whole blog post just about how thankful I am for them!
- Health. I never spoke about this last year as we were going through it, but in early 2020 I had some health issues and received an unexpected diagnosis. My Dad also had some health issues around the same time (both were unrelated to covid), but we’re both doing so much better! There are lots of things I don’t love about Augusta, but I am SO grateful that we both had access to some of the best healthcare in the Southeast.
- Showit United. I flew out to Arizona earlier this month for the very last Showit United Conference ever and I am so glad I did!
- Being a Full-Time Photographer. I quit my retail job this past June and to be honest… it’s still so surreal that this is my job!! I still remember getting started and wondering if I would ever be able to support myself off this… fast forward almost 4 years and here I am!!
- 2 Taylor’s Version Albums coming out this year!
- 5 weeks in New England. I roadtripped all the way to Plymouth this summer and stayed there for the whole month of August. I lucked out and booked the nicest Airbnb across the street from the beach with the sweetest host! It was an amazing adventure and I’m so grateful I got to do it!!
I could think of a million other things, but that’s all I have time to sit down and write at the moment!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
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