Thankful.

I know Thanksgiving is over, but that doesn't mean we should forget about what we're thankful for.

This is the forth Thanksgiving that Ryan and I have been together, but for some reason we've never been to his parents house.  We decided to take the 10 hr drive to TN for Thanksgiving this year, and we're definitely glad that we did!  We had a good time and since I'm currently home by myself during the day with no one around, I was very happy to see some familiar faces.

I was warned to come prepared if I hadn't experienced a Kim Hibbard Thanksgiving.  Kim (Ryan's mom) is a big believer that everything should be home made and she doesn't take cooking lightly.  We had multiple courses, 2 turkeys, and lots of dessert.  I wish I took pictures but I completely forgot!! It was  all soooo good!

Anyway, I few things that I'm thankful for this year:

- Ryan.  When our friend Jessica Williams said she wanted to introduce us at a party in 2007, we both took it pretty lightly.  Little did we know that after the first night we met, we would be married a little over 2 years later.  He's my biggest supporter, my best friend, and my life is much better with him in it.  I love you!
- Family.  This starts with my parents.  Since my brothers and I were born, they've sacrificed so, SO much to give us the best lives possible.  I've learned so much from them and I'm so thankful for everything they've done for me.  The same goes with my brothers.  Chris and I have always been very close and he always supports me with my decisions.  I'm also thankful he chose Emily as his wife & mother to his soon to be daughter :) Brandon has taught me a lot about life and I'm so glad he's in such a good spot in his life right now.  He has a loving wife and 2 beautiful kids that I don't get to see enough of!
- Friends.  Nikki and I have been close friends since we were little little bitties.  I always forget how long, but it's been more than 20 years and for this, I'm so thankful.  Her family is like my second family and we've been through SO much together, I know that I can count on her for anything and I hope she feels the same about me still.  I broke both of her hips and she's still by my side!  Also, I have so many other close friends that mean so much to me.  Ya'll know who you are, but just know I thank my lucky stars you're in my life.
- Zoe.  I love my little doggie and she makes Ryan and I so happy!  She's a b*tch to anybody else, including dogs (except Roxie!), but we love her! She has unconditional love.
- In laws.   I realize when you fall in love with someone and decide to spend the rest of your life with that person, you don't get to pick who they're related to.  Lucky for me, I have the best in laws.  Ron & Kim have welcomed me into their family as soon as I met them, and for this I'm so thankful.  Also, Randy & Alysa (Ryan's bro & sister in law) are awesome and have produced 2 of the cutest kids I've ever seen. Ryan's Aunts, Uncles & Grandparents are all so friendly & supportive, and I'm thankful for them, too!
- A break from work.  Even though staying at home all day by myself has been hard for me, I'm thankful I've had a break from work.  My last job had me away from home about 60 hours a week (including the commute) and my job before that took away a lot of my work/life balance.  The time off has allowed me to catch up on sleep and really remind me that I DO like to work and I don't feel as accomplished when I'm not doing something.  Because of this, I'm ready to enter the workforce again and I can't wait to get a job!!
- TV & Reading.  If I didn't have these 2 things right now, I would be one miserable soul.
- Blogger & Facebook.  Where would I be without it?
- Cooking & Baking.  Again, where would I be without it?

On a lighter note, I did manage to take a few pics while at my in laws house:

Randy and Charlotte, the pretty pretty princess

Ryan and Grandpa Levi

Isabella likes to feed her sister Char Char (notice hands on the hip)

Ryan and Ron

Ron's excellent camera work

Inside Opryland.  HUGE & SO beautiful for Christmas.

Family Christmas pic :) Zoe wasn't allowed inside :(

The Good & The Bad

I feel like Ryan and I haven't been in Kansas for long, but we've definitely already seen & experienced some of the good the bad of KC.

The Good 

1. Cost of living.  Enough said!

2. People are friendly.  AND they do their jobs.  One of the first nights we were here, we went to dinner where the server tried up-selling us.  Also, the lady who helped us with our apartment has been so incredibly nice since we got here and has gone above & beyond with EVERYTHING.

3. Food & Shopping EVERYWHERE!  Convenience is definitely a plus about living here too.  Living in MD, I would have to plan at least an hour just to take a trip to Michael's.  Here, we have a movie theater, Walgreen's and food less than a mile away.  If we need a mall to go to, there's an indoor mall about 5 minutes away.

4.  Drive Thru's EVERYWHERE.  Have you ever seen a China Panda drive thru before?  Yeah, we hadn't either.  Amazing!

5. Family friendly.  We aren't ready for kids yet, but if we do decide to settle down here and buy a house, this is definitely a great place to raise kids when we're ready.

6.  Everything is easy to find.  For Ryan and I, this is big.  We tend to get lost even using TomTom & Garmin (our GPS' - Ryan won't admit to this).   All of the streets here are in a grid lock, so it's easy to know if you're going the right way or not.

7.  Clean. And peaceful.  You can tell that everybody here just really takes care of their stuff, and all of the houses and businesses are well maintained.  We were at the bank and it looked so new, I asked the lady who was helping us when they opened.  She let me know they had been open for 10 YEARS.  Seriously?

8. Super Targets.  Everywhere. I could spend my life in a Super Target, even though I've already spent about 3 years of my life in a Target store working.  Love. Them.

The Bad

1. The obvious: No family and friends around.  We didn't have a lot of family and friends around us in Maryland, but we had enough to keep us comfortable and entertained (ahem:: Chris & Emily, Jim & Shannon, Justin & Amanda ::ahem). I had the convenience of driving 2 hours to see most of my friends & family, and I'm already really, really missing that convenience.

2. No squirrels.  Well, I lie.  I've spotted 2 since we've been here.  For Zoe, that's not nearly enough for her squirrel chasing lifestyle.

3. No Rio Grande Cafe.   That place has the best fajitas ever known to man, and the closest one is in TX.  Not okay.

4. Jobs for me. It's only been a couple of weeks, and even though I'm trying to enjoy my time to sleep in, do everything on my own schedule and allow my sweet husband to be my employer, it's very frustrating.  I'm trying to enter the nonprofit industry and find a job in animal welfare where I can really feel like I'm making a difference in something I'm passionate about, but there are NO jobs!  I spend hours scouring website after website and hardly anything new opens up.  I'm hoping this gets better after the New Year. Ryan and I want friends here, but that's hard to do when I spend almost all of my day in the house!  I'm starting to volunteer and making attempts to attend any networking opps I have, so I'm staying positive and hoping something will pop up sooner than later!  Until then, Ellen & Oprah are my best friends and I'm okay with that!!!

Sorry, I know this post is pretty boring.  I'm going to put pics up of our apartment next week, once I get all of the Christmas decorations up. :) :)