This Thanksgiving…

It has always been my favorite time of year; the weather turns crisp, the leaves fall off the trees, and the constant smell of apple and pumpkin fill the air.  Unfortunately, I have not experienced that for 2 years now.  Instead, I’ve spent Thanksgiving Day getting up early, teaching classes and eating whatever we can put together from the fridge.  Oh, and sweating my bum off while being scorched by the sun.  This is what being an American expat in Singapore on Thanksgiving feels like.

I don’t mean for this to sound in any way, ungrateful, which leads me to my next point.  As an American tradition, on Thanksgiving you are supposed to share with everyone everything you are thankful for that year.  So I thought I’d share with you all some of the things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.

First, and foremost, I am thankful for my husband.  This year I married the most awesome guy in the world and had an unbelievable wedding in Boston, MA.  Steve helps me to see potential in myself and pushes me to me the best person I can be.

I am extremely thankful for my parents, family and friends for helping to make our wedding day perfect and the most memorable day of my life.   Also, thankful for our family and friends who have traveled around the world to visit us and experience our new life in a place where some people would have trouble locating on a map.

I am thankful for our dog, Paya.  We adopted Paya almost a year ago. It is safe to say that she has single handedly made Singapore feel like home.  Life would definitely not be the same, and awesome, without her.  She puts a smile on my face no matter what my mood is.

Lastly, I am thankful for having the amazing opportunities to travel around Southeast Asia this past year.  Places like Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia and Thailand are some places I would have never thought I would visit in my lifetime.

Although it’s another year without the big family dinner, the MACYS Thanksgiving Day parade, football and relatives having way too much to drink, it still is my favorite holiday of the year.  It may sound criminal to the Americans out there, but we are having as close to a proper Thanksgiving dinner as we can get with a dozen of our American and Aussie friends at the Fullerton Hotel.  I will be the first to admit I am not ready to bite the bullet and cook a turkey yet.

Happy Thanksgiving!