Thanksgiving

It is now thanksgiving break for me. I have been dreading this break for a long time b/c I have ambitious plans for my grad work. Also, I am not going home for thanksgiving this year and it's kinda depressing.
It's weird, too. Last year when Paul and I went home for thanksgiving, it took about 9 hours to do a normally 5 hour trip. We were grumpy and exhausted and got to Michigan late wednesday night. Then we woke up thursday/thanksgiving day tired and had to force ourselves to be social and happy-go-lucky for our families. Last Thanksgiving we went from one family home to another and it was a non-stop exhausting day. I told Paul last thanksgiving that I never wanted to go home for that holiday again. Besides, I hate thanksgiving traditional food and traditions always make me grumpy when they have no true personal value (ex: WHY must we eat boring pumpkin pie and bland turkey? It's not b/c our family has fond memories of either of these, it's b/c that's what everyone in America eats for the holiday. Blegh. I hate traditions like these). Anywho, so I was originally glad we weren't going home for this thanksgiving.
However, I guess it's a combination of the fact that we aren't seeing family for this holiday OR Christmas this year (Paul and I are fishing in Florida instead) that makes me kinda sad. Now that Jon is married, I have a nephew, Jim is dating, Michael is dating, and Christy is preggo, I feel like it's more important than ever before to connect with family. I don't want to be that aunt/sister that no one evers gets to know. Five hours is not that far...However, the problem is that Paul and I never have breaks that match up to go home for a weekend and grad school is slowly killing me (or at least robbing me of a life)... I hope that our families can someday take time to come visit us for weekends. That would be nice.
So I kinda wandered off topic. I guess I am writing because thanksgiving is different this year and it's weird. I know my blogs have been mainly negative, so I will end this blog with a thanksgiving tradition that I actually think is important:
*Things I am Thankful For this Year*
**I am thankful that I finished grading the quizzes and did my medieval presentation
**I am thankful that I will have time this weekend to do ALOT of work, so that maybe I can relax a bit in December
**I am thankful that God allowed me to get into a Phd program, even though it's hard and I don't like it. It will make it easier to get a job someday, so Thanks God!
**I am thankful that I am making/eating delicious food for thanksgiving instead of food that makes me want to pull my hair and scream (Marinated/grilled steak, cheesy veggies, savory stuffed mushrooms, crockpot chunky applesauce, pumpkin spice cake w/ choc)
**I am thankful for my house, which I love so much. Everytime I come home, I think about how God has blessed us with an affordable and awesome-sized home.
**I am thankful for my precious dog Athena. She completes our family. Paul and I love her so much and it is such a blessing to snuggle and play with our sweet pup.
**I am SO thankful to God for adding on to my family! I want to get to know Amanda more and I want to spend more time with my awesome nephew Quentin! And Thanks God for giving Paul and I another nephew this spring!
**I am thankful for our wonderful families, and our old and new friends. You all complete our lives.
**Finally, of course, I am super super super thankful to God for blessing me with my Paul. I could not survive grad school (or life for that matter) without Paul encouraging me and helping me. Everyday, Paul picks me up from school and I am sad and angry, but when I see him pull up with the car, a smile forms on my face and happiness fills me to the core. I love you, Paul. :)