give thanks everyday

So this past Thursday was Thanksgiving. That means social media was filled with everything that people were thankful for. I thought that blogging on Thanksgiving would be way too cliche.

I am thankful though. For many different things in my life.

I'm thankful for my large, loving family. Seeing so many of them this past week was amazing. I can't remember the last time we brought so many people together. Takes me back to the Hilton Head days before college and jobs were a part of my cousins' lives. That's the saddest part of growing up in my opinion. Seeing family grow up and move away. It hasn't hit me that my cousin Joey is 28 years old. I guess I sort of froze him in time in his senior year of high school. That was ten years ago now. Wow.

I'm thankful to have my best friends from high school. It doesn't matter if they're in Charlottesville, Akron, Cincinnati, Bloomington, or right here at Pitt we all manage to stay close. Every time we get together at Amanda's it's like we're back at West A, talking like things haven't changed one bit. The truth is that things have changed quite a bit. New loves, new friends and new homes, but our friendship has held up through all of that. I'm beyond thankful for that.

I'm thankful for all my friends at Fordham who I stay in touch with. Julia, Peter, Kaitlin, Steve, Lily, Emily, Carol, and Rachael. It was this time a year ago when I had told them all that I was leaving. I left, but they've kept me a part of their lives. I can't wait to go up and visit them all. It's way overdue.

I'm thankful for all the new friends I've made at Pitt this year. Zach, Ross, and Nick especially. I never thought Jared, Dave, and I would find a group of guys as strange as us, but I was wrong. They fit right in with us and our weird ways. A really good group of guys who I know have my back.

I'm thankful for friends at Pitt that I made last year. Especially Jeff and Greg. "The Wolfpack" from Tower A. Two of the best guys I know. Greg has really become like a brother to me and I haven't even known him a full year yet. Can't wait to live with both those guys next year.

I'm thankful for my PCB family. I'm so happy to be back playing baseball again. Intramural soccer is great and all, but playing really competitive teams from other schools is something totally different. The road trip to Cornell has been one of the highlights of my semester. I'm pleasantly surprised with how accepting all the guys on the team have been and I can't wait to try and make a run at a World Series title with them in the spring.

Finally, I am thankful for my PSP family. It's a family I didn't expect much from when I was starting out, but now that I'm farther along I can see that these people are going to play a significant role in my college career. I'm especially thankful for my initiate class. 15 of the best people I know.

Those are all the people I am thankful for in my life. Obviously I am also thankful for my parent and Pap and Joyce. They all make me feel like I'm at home whether it's in Oakdale or Oakland.

In addition to all the people I am thankful for I'm thankful for some other things too.

I'm thankful for my family's and my own health.

I'm thankful for all my opportunities, be it school related or personal.

Things like the opportunity to go to school, to learn, to meet to new people, to fall in love.

I'm thankful for a lot, I guess. And next year I'm sure I'll have even more to be thankful for.

NP: Atlas- Coldplay