What I’m Thankful For

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

While my Thanksgiving was very calm at home with my kitty (which is very unlike my normal Thanksgivings at home with my family), I think that it was a good time to reflect on life.

Despite all of the controversy behind the holiday and it’s origins, I think that it’s good to take some time to think about everything that we all have to be thankful for. This year, in particular, I have quite a bit to be thankful for. My previous years have been wonderful and filled with exciting experiences, but this year, many aspects of my life came together.

This year, I graduated from college!

I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Arizona! Throughout my college career, I worked at my university’s observatory, completed four NASA internships and one NPR internship, and graduated on time! Eventually I’ll get my master’s, but that’s TBD.

This year, I moved to Houston, Texas!

I’ve lived in Houston before during my first internships with NASA at Johnson Space Center and when I moved here, it just fit. I fell in love with this city and knew that I wanted to move back here as soon as I could. After graduation and a brief vacation, I grabbed all my stuff and moved to Houston without having a solid job lined up. A little risky, I know, but I had a feeling that I’d be able to find something eventually.

This year, I got a dream job at NASA!

After completing my internships at NASA, I knew that I wanted to be at Johnson Space Center. I love the work environment and the people of this incredible and historic organization. So, I used all of my connections from my previous internships (those are important!!) and interviewed at a couple of different locations before ending up where I currently work in NASA’s Human Research Program. I’ve been here since the end of July and I’m so happy to be here. I’ve already had some really exciting experiences and produced some fun material for my program.

This year, I vacationed in Hawaii!

My post-graduation and early birthday present to myself was a spontaneous trip to Hawaii. I booked my airfare and lodging literally a week and a half before my departure date, packed my bags and left! I went completely by myself, which was actually really fun and I made myself detox from my phone and all technology (including social media!). If you haven’t been solo traveling, I highly recommend it! You learn a lot about yourself. I went to Maui and Oahu – and can’t wait to go back! Hawaii is beautiful and very relaxing. Just what I needed after graduation.

This year, I got a kitty!

If you don’t know me, then you should know that I love animals. I’m not necessarily a “crazy cat lady” because I’m not biased between cats, dogs, birds or any other type of animal, but I definitely love my cat. At this point in my life, I just happened to get a cat because I live in a smaller apartment and he needed to be re-homed so I rescued him. His name is Fred and he is my cuddly baby boy.

And most importantly…..

This year, I spent time with my family.

The thing that I’m most grateful for this past year is that I was able to spend a lot of time home with my family. Over the past three-ish years I’ve lived in Tucson, AZ; Houston, TX; Washington D.C.; and then back home in Tucson. During my time away, I didn’t get to spend too much time with my family. This year, however, I spent the year in my hometown to finish up my degree and enjoy the last few “baby” years of my little brother’s life. We have a 14-year age difference and he is my most favorite human on this planet, so I was glad to be home. Of course, I’ve moved back to Houston again and I’ll only get to see him every few months, but not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. I also got to see and spend time with my mom, uncle and grandparents, who are also my favorite people and I miss terribly whenever I’m not with them. My family is very small so we’re all very tight-knit and while I enjoy being in Houston, my heart will always be in Tucson with my family.

If I listed everything that I have to be thankful for, this list would be never-ending, so these are just a few of many.

I hope that you have just as much to be thankful for as me, and I hope that this post doesn’t become misconstrued. I sometimes use my blog as a stream-of-consciousness or as a reminder to myself for everything that happens in my life, and I don’t mean for it to come across that I’m showing off or bragging about my year. I genuinely hope that you had a year as incredible as mine, and if not, then there’s also the start of the next decade, right?

What are you thankful for?

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Thank you for reading! What are you thankful for this year? Let me know in the comments below and like this post if you want more like it!

Xoxo’s

Emmalee

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