KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON: What are you thankful for?

To get in the spirit of Thanksgiving (without eating the 5,796 calories) I decided I'm going to write what I am thankful for recently. I am so happy lately and feeling really content with my life. I am very thankful for that since the last couple months have been rough with my aunt passing away and I wasn't quite "myself". WELL..I'M BACK!!!! I'm back to my normal workouts and love that feeling. I'm back to eating healthy again...oops, I got sidetracked a bit. I'm involved in sports (thanks to my 2 amazing soccer teams) and look forward to playing every week. I'm back to being focused at work...and much more. It feels GREAT :) Have you ever been in a "rut" and had a hard time shaking it? Sometimes all it takes is time.

OK, back to what I'm thankful for. This year has been such a blessing and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Where to start? I'm thankful for the house Billy and I own that is just "right" for us..that thanks to our parents we were able to have our dream wedding with zero debt..our honeymoon that I will never forget..our dog Rocky who greets us everyday when we get home from work..our jobs..not having a car payment (this is one of the perks of being an only child and a daddy's girl :))..growing closer with my uncle and some of my aunts friends that I had the pleasure of meeting..our HEALTH..our Keurig and all of our other amazing wedding gifts ;)..for a gym that I love going to every week..my husband, family, and best friends..the heater under my desk at work (a must have for the winter).. but as of right now one relationship really sticks out to me that I'm thankful for.... my beautiful cousin, Natasha. I haven't always had her as a cousin in my life. In fact, it's only been 2 years since we've known that we are cousins (THAT STORY to come at a later date..trust me, you won't want to miss it!).

Do you have someone in your life that is just your person? Someone that is just like you but at the same time a little different..someone that can finish your sentences..someone that you are so thankful for that you would do anything for them? Well, Natasha is my person. I know for a fact that people that don't know us probably think we are lesbians or something {I promise you, we aren't - just family}. Meet the DIVA herself...

She's gorgeous, right?! Yeah, it's almost sickening how pretty, funny, smart she is. But that's okay because I am her much wiser, older cousin (by 9 days maybe but who really counts anyways?) who she had to have gotten some of these qualities from..oh wait..this is just what I tell myself. No one can understand our relationship besides us. We are SO close that she is really like a sister to me than my cousin. I couldn't be more thankful to have her in my life.

Ever since Natasha and I found out 2 years ago that we are first cousins we have been inseparable- from living in the same city, working out daily together at our gym after work, to spending our weekends together. This all changed when Natasha moved to Denver, CO at the end of this past summer to live with her boyfriend. To say I was in denial about this is not an exaggeration.

Um..wait..please tell me your kidding. Hellooo...COLUMBUS, OHIO to DENVER, COLORADO?!?! Not exactly 10 minutes away..nor a short road trip away..but one hell of a expensive flight away!! What the heck would I do? I had finally found someone that was so similar to me..shared the same emotions I did about almost every topic..and of course she was my family now. Yeah..yeah..I begged. pleaded. begged some more for her to stay, but I know it was the right thing for her to do and I am happy for her. She stayed here in Ohio until after my wedding so she was a huge part of all my planning and of course there for all my bachelorette parties which meant everything to me.

I could go on and on and on about how much I love her but the reason why I am feeling most thankful for her right now is this: the simple fact of how close we still are even though we are thousands of miles away. When she first moved, I was so scared we wouldn't be as close as we had been and I wouldn't get to talk to her as much. But nope...we still talk daily and we still can read eachother's minds. Yesterday as I'm emailing her a short email I got a message that popped up saying I had an email from her...and what was her email about you ask?! The exact same thing I was emailing her about. And this wasn't just a general topic that it would be normal that this happened..but something so out of the blue that I was shocked but yet laughing at the same time that it had happened. THAT silly little coincidence made me feel happy that even though we are so far away, we are still best friends and she's still my person...

I haven't seen her since my wedding at the end of August and miss her so much but can't wait to visit her in Denver this upcoming year (maybe a surprise visit? who knows :)) Here are some pictures of me and Natasha together & a funny little quote she said about our email incident!

"We are so totally telepatheically connected in a creep-o way!!" - Nat (we're a little strange, I know)