happy thanksgiving!

There are so many things that I have to be thankful for today, and I just wanted to share a few:

- I am thankful for working shoes. I have broken 6 pairs of shoes while living here in Mexico, and am now down to my runners and one pair of flats. The flats are pretty beaten up and should go in the trash, but I'm seeing how long they can last. Oh, and I have my heels, but let's face it - I can't even begin to try and wear those everyday.
- I am thankful for my wonderful school kids who really like me, and I'm more thankful for the kids who only sort of like me, but are great pretenders and act like they like me!
- I am even more thankful for the weekends when I can get away from said wonderful kids.
- I am thankful for my AWESOME host family. Seriously - the best you could get. I am going to miss them all so much. I have always wanted a little brother, and here I am with two! It's the best. Though I'm not really sure how they feel about having an older sister...
- I am thankful that I can go to church. I think that I will be even more thankful when I can fully understand everything.
- I am thankful that I haven't gotten bitten by any of the dogs here. There is about one dog to every person. That is a lot of dogs.
- I am thankful for freshly-squeezed orange juice that I can get whenever I want.
- I am thankful for a working computer. And iPod. And I am thankful that I can call my family at home whenever I want for free!
- I am thankful for emails.
- I am thankful to have grown up in the city and country that I did.
- I am thankful that my Mom taught me manners, and more importantly to use them.
- I am thankful for my family. Being away from everything that is normal to me has really made me realize how great I have it. I could not ask for a better family. I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line is that I love them. I love them so much. My family really is the greatest thing in my life, and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

Seeing a whole new part of the world has really made me realize how much of a blessing it has been in my life to grow up in the United States and to be able to obtain a higher education. I never thought that I would say this, but I am so grateful to be able to go to school! I have such an opportunity that I never appreciated until now. I won't take it for granted. I'll never be too cool for school!

P.S.- This is what you ate for Thanksgiving:


and this is what I had...

and I've got to admit, I missed the turkey, but REALLY liked these guys.