Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes and lives? Every month a group of six bloggers share their work-spaces, homes, towns, thoughts, with posts based on specific prompts. It’s been so interesting over the years to see the different ways each of us interpret the topics.

With (American) Thanksgiving right around the corner, we thought we’d share the things we’re most grateful for…

I think I am not by nature a grateful person. I find I have to acknowledge the bad stuff before I can get to the good stuff…and sometimes I get stuck on the bad stuff. And while I’m not trying to change that, necessarily…I think the bad stuff SHOULD be acknowledged…not ignored…I mean it exists, right? It’s part of life…it should be acknowledged. But in recent years I have been making a conscious effort to make sure I notice and acknowledge the good as well…to not get so hung up on the bad that I miss the good.

All that said, here are some of the things I am most grateful for in my life.

#1. My daughter Katie. I really don’t know how I got so lucky with such an incredible human as my child. But…I NEVER FORGET how lucky I am. She was a wonderful baby and child, thank GOODNESS, because I did not know WHAT the heck I was doing as a mother! And as an adult she is independent, strong, courageous, kind, and smart. One way or another I managed to send a good human out in the world.

#2. Health. I have my little glitches, as we all do, but for the most part I am healthy. Healthy enough to live the life I want to live. And I’m sort of healthy in spite of myself, ha ha, because I am not one to do much in the way of healthcare. Even a few years (6!) back when I was diagnosed with stage 3 uterine cancer, it was not because *I* had gone for a checkup to ask about some particular symptoms. It was my boss at the time who was like THERE IS SOMETHING REALLY REALLY WRONG WITH YOU AND I’M TAKING YOU THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW. And she probably literally saved my life because I would not have gone on my own. Someone would have just found me one day, dead in my apartment, having bled to death. Tra la la. But I got through all that (grateful) with the help of my boss (grateful) and now I am six years cancer free (grateful) with no other serious thing going on (at the moment) (grateful).

#3. I do not believe in a higher power in the form of a personish type being…but sometimes I feel like something somewhere is keeping me safe as WHO THE HECK LETS ME OUT OF THE HOUSE EVERY DAY?!? The number of things I do wrong, forget to do, do dangerously, am oblivious to EVERY DAY is just…overwhelming. And yet I somehow come through every day relatively unscathed. Luck? I dunno. But believe me, I do some STUPID things…and I am grateful that somehow I still get through every day.

#4. People, Part 1: Family and friends. I am grateful for the family and friends who I know are always there for me, who support me, who laugh with me, who talk with me, and remain my friends even when I am not as good a friend as they are (I tend to disappear off the planet at times…and yet they’re always there when I get back).

#5. People, Part 2: The men in my life. While none of them have been “til death do us part,” I am grateful for having been in long-term relationships with some really great people. I hear so many horror stories about ex-boyfriends/husbands…and even current partners…and I’m always like wow, how lucky am I?

#6. Me. Ha ha. I’m pretty grateful for the person I am. I know I’m not anywhere near perfect, and I do wish some things about me were different, but for the most part I’m pretty pleased with myself. Plus, I’m my own best company, and I’m grateful for that cuz I’m always available to me 🙂 Not only do I not *mind* being alone, I LIKE being alone. I never feel lonely, I find myself wildly amusing and entertaining (ha ha), and there is no end to the things I’m interested in. I have friends who struggle with finding something to like, to do, to be interested in…and I’m like THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY to do, learn, study, practice, participate in all the things I want to do. Piano, sewing, badminton, learning Japanese, painting, etc etc etc. Yeah, when left to my own devices I am never bored or lonely, and for that I am extremely grateful.

#7. I am grateful I was able to make this dream come true – to come and live in South Korea. It’s not without it’s struggles (as you know if you’ve been following for awhile), but that never takes away from the fact that I am HERE. I DID this thing. With all the challenges and frustrations, do I ever regret coming here? NOT FOR A SECOND. And I will do everything in my power to stay as long a I can.

#8. Animals. Like friends, family, and men…I have had wonderful animals in my life. For the most part they have been well-behaved, gentle companions to me (and Katie). And most recently, my Caleb…I was grateful for him every day. Such a wonderful addition to our family…and such a huge loss when he was gone. A life-changing loss…and yet I wouldn’t have missed his time with me for anything. I’m eternally grateful to him for always being such a good boy and a good companion. And now I’m crying. Okay, next!

#9. While there were some lean years as an adult – when I ended up in a LOT of debt after being out of work for two years, and climbing out of that hole is a BEAR – I have managed to keep my head above water and I’m grateful that I have always had a home and enough money for food and car and insurance, etc. I remember hearing Oprah Winfrey say once that a large percentage (I forget the exact number but it was a lot) of Americans are just two weeks away from homelessness. I managed to survive two years of unemployment (2005-2007) without losing our home, and while it took almost 15 years to get out of the debt from that time, I did finally get it all paid off (well, except for a student loan that I will die with) and have been able to live better since then. I know many people are not so lucky…and I can see how easy it is to get stuck and lose everything. So I’m grateful that I managed to avoid that.

#10. This blog and followers! That might sound trivial compared to some of the other things but…this blog has been (more or less) a constant in my life for over 7 years (!!!) and some of you have been following for years…and I really appreciate and am grateful for that. It’s not “just a blog” to me…it’s a way to connect with people – who I will probably never meet – that I know support me and my dreams. So THANK YOU THANK YOU to old and new followers who are “my friends on the other side of the screen” (oh my gosh that was so cheezy, ha ha).

Those are the BIG things. But every day brings small things, too…
* I’m grateful for light streaming in my window creating shadows on the wall
* I’m grateful the coffee machine downstairs actually makes REALLY good coffee!
* I’m grateful for lucking into this goshiwon that is really clean and well cared for, and “house ladies” who really care about it and its tenants
* I’m grateful for a patient tutor who is helping me learn Korean at my own pace
* I’m grateful for heated floors now that it’s finally gotten colder here
* I’m grateful for my window and view from my new room
* I’m grateful for every time I make it up that %$*$#$@!!! hill on my way to class
* I’m grateful for new friends here in Korea

There’s more. There’s always more. And I’m grateful to be noticing and acknowledging them more now.

What are *you* grateful for?

Make sure to visit my friends to see what’s on their gratitude lists!

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris will not be joing us this month and we miss her….Iris’ Original Ramblings <-
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own