What I am grateful for...

Taking a little break from cooking and cleaning the house, getting ready for guests (13!) in an hour and a half....

I've been dwelling on what I am grateful for today. And I want to get it written down.

I am thankful....

• For my husband Jeff, for being understanding of my quirks and silliness (and for understanding me when I spend a lot of time on my blog!), for sharing my life, for recognizing when he's cranky and apologizing for it, for being such a sweetheart, for coming to my Spin classes 7+ years ago (where we met), for being such a good athlete himself...
• For the house that Jeff is building for us, about 20 miles away. About 2 months from being finished.
  
• For living in such a beautiful place. It's getting cold now, so the wonders of winter are awaiting me (just a little more snow though, before I'll get out and ski).
• For my good health; this is something I really cherish!
  
• For Spinning, because it's allowed me to stay in excellent cycling shape throughout the winter - bikes on trainers can be so boring!
• For my role as an instructor, because I love working with people to help them reach their goals.
• For my role as a Master Instructor, because of the wonderful people I've met from around the world who are as passionate about Spinning as I am, and because it allows me to inspire other instructors to inspire their students. I just LOVE doing this! :-)
• For my back. Despite the challenges it provides me occasionally, I could be so much worse off, and I am thankful that I can do everything I can do! Every now and then it reminds me that it has its limits, and now I can say I'm grateful for those reminders because it keep me careful. (my goal - more core training....)
  
• For the fact that I found a way to have fitness as my job. Albert Schweizer said, "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are dong, you will be successful."
• For my bicycle tour company, Viva Travels, because it not only allows me to share my love of cycling in Europe with others (and make some money in the process) but look where I get to go ride my bike (AND get a tax write off while researching it)! ;-) Alpe d'Huez, Mont Ventoux, the Dolomites, Tuscany, the Pyrenees, etc! I am soooooooo grateful for this!
• For my friends around the world, who keep my life even more interesting.
• For the amazing opportunities that are presenting themselves in this economy - they're there if you'll look hard enough! History is FULL of stories of people who come out of recessions far better off than they were before, and I plan on being one of those people! I will not buy into this bad economy BS, I will only look for the good, how I can grow, how I can turn things around and really improve my income. (Because I'm not afraid to admit it - I want to make a lot of money some day. That's the only way I'll be able to help the world in the way I plan on doing it. And to travel and see other amazing parts of the world that are awaiting.
• For my parents and the things they gave up in order to provide excellent educations for me and my siblings. I am thankful to them to this day for their sacrifices. Everything they did was for us!
• For music and the way it makes me feel! ;-)
• For gourmet food and wine - ah, one of life's greatest joys! (That's probably from all the traveling I've done in France - it's rubbed off on me!)
• For Peace. The more we focus on being grateful for peace, the more likely we are to have it. Not being anti-war...but being pro-peace. Here's to the eventual end to the war in Iraq!
  
• I am so incredibly grateful for the outcome of our election, and the direction I believe our country will take from here on in. It won't be a quick-fix, it won't be an easy 4 years, it's not a fairy-tale that with a wave of a wand all the negativity and wrong directions will be fixed right away. It will take sacrifice on everyone's part. But I believe that Yes We Can! I am grateful for Barack Obama!
• For blogs! A year ago I never thought I'd be doing this, but what a great way to connect with people!
• For everyone who reads my blog. Thank you so much!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!