Giving thanks.

I have been in Miami for three months.  Sometimes I feel like the past five years have been a dream and that I will be eighteen year old Sara, waking up in my room in my family's little condo on Knott Avenue in Cypress, California.  But then I wake up in my little room in my little duplex in the little (hehe) city of Miami, realizing that the events of the past five years have happened.  Being that Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks, I wanted to take the time to give thanks to some things I am grateful for: 

My friends 

Who have helped me move and could not be more amazing friends

Those who spend countless hours on the phone with me

Those who, among others things, send me thoughtful text messages that make me miss home

Those who take time out of their busy schedule to help me or just spend time with me. 

Those that support the real me

Those that have become my sisters

      And those that, even though we have been through so much, I know we will always be friends, 

As well as soooo many more.  I love you all from the bottom of my heart. 

My family 

 Those here and in heaven.  I wouldn't be who I am with you (all of you...)

I am grateful for my two amazing jobs, the warmest fall weather (gotta love Miami), the opportunity I have to continue my education,and for all of the experiences, the good and especially the bad, that have tested every fiber of my being and made me the person I am today.  And today I wanna express my gratitude for the men and women who have served or are serving in the military.  I know some people may not support anything this country currently stands for, but I appreciate all those who fight for our country nonetheless.  

I am also grateful that I am alive after almost 24 years!  Yes, I will be reaching the ripe old age of 24 in a week and this sounds silly, I know, but I am coming to terms with my own immortality.  It seems like yesterday that I couldn't wait to be a grown up and now I'm getting more and more grown up every year and it's freaking me out!  Nothing has gone remotely close to the way I thought they would and I love every minute of it! 

This past month has been pretty busy here in Miami.  After much thought and prayer, I decided to quit my customer service job and take a chance on the babysitting job and boy has it paid off!  In just the past month or so I have met so many wonderful families and have spent some time in amazing hotels, where the cheapest thing on the menu was a $19 burger and fries and the bottled water was $9.  It's kinda fun hanging with the 1% (hehe).  I have spent a lot of time with a close friend and her darling baby who feeds my heart with so much love and affection.  Who knew five month old's could be so great?! 

I registered for the Spring semester and am happy to say that it will be my last full semester working on my associates degree.  With all the time I have taken off from school, this degree has been a long time coming.  The question is now... which school should I go to?  I have been taking online courses and decided to finish my A.A. online as it my work schedule is all over the place right now.  As much as I love being in class, I like the flexibility that online schooling has to offer and am contemplating completing my Bachelor's online as well. I have some time to decide, but that's been the current question on my mind.  

I have also been dating!  I have gone on more dates in the past month and a half then I ever went on since dating age (16 for those of you not raised Mormon) until I moved here COMBINED!  I was convinced by my roommate to do the whole online dating thing, which was a practical idea for me since I don't meet a lot of people.  I have met some really great guys and some not so great guys... the experience has definitely been interesting.  Unfortunately, most of them have not turned into anything.  I'm just kinda looking at it experience.  As one dear friend once said, "You can't get to the quarterback without getting through the rest of the team".  

Geez... maybe my month hasn't been as busy as I thought.  Or maybe most of it isnt' interesting enough to blog.  In any event, that's all I got for ya this time!  Take some time in your day to be grateful for the things you've been blessed with in your life.  One thing I have learned is that God is in everything... even in the things that we view as bad or negative.  Everything in life is not happening to us, but for us.  Just some food for thought... 

Until next time,

xoxo