More thankful times to be had! :) Lately I have felt particularly thankful for a lot of things in my life, to the point where I'd be ever so thankful if I could share my experiences with all of you!
#1: My Adventures in Toronto! Lately I've been lucky enough to get to check out some areas of Toronto where I haven't previously explored, and it's been quite the fun experience. Not only that, but recently I had the opportunity to travel to Toronto to attend a meet and greet for fellow booksellers, and I was able to make it to my destination without anybody else's help - there was nobody meeting me at the bus terminal to show me how to get where I needed to go, and I felt rather proud of myself :) After the meet and greet I did meet up with a friend that took me to the Art Gallery of Ontario, and afterwards we went to the Ripley's Aquarium, both of which were really fun. Soon I'll be an official Toronto resident, even if it's only a guaranteed thing for about four months, and even if I never get to leave me dorm room because I'll be surrounded by a constant flow of homework assignments I'll be proud to be a Torontonian for a little while. In the meantime, I hope I get to explore the city more and more; every minute spent in my future city is an adventure :)
#2: My Aunt Kathy & Uncle Mike & Their Hospitality! I can't remember exactly how many years it's been since I started going to Wasaga Beach to visit my aunt and uncle for a few days up to a week, during my winter Reading Week as well as during a random week in the summer. Both my aunt and my uncle are a riot to sit with and watch films and BBC specials with, which might not sound like a lot but it's such a great way to both enjoy some downtime and to catch up and enjoy my family's company. Over the years I haven't managed to get to know my family members on my dad's side very well. I have trouble remembering all of their names half the time, and I regret that. In my defense, there is a lot of us; my grandmother had 11 children, and all of those children got married and had kids, and many of those kids had kids, so there really are a lot. But I hope in the future that I can get to know other members of my family better, like how I've been lucky enough to spend so much one-on-one time with Mike and Kathy.
#3: My Valentine's Day Watch-Along with Shelby & Toni! On V-Day, for lack of a date, I decided to dress up for no apparent reason, eat some chocolate that I'd been saving for a special occasion (just since Christmas, not for years - that'd be a bit knarley) and watch one of my favorite films with two of my favorite people in Michigan. To be fair. Shelby and Toni are the only iggles, the only people, I know in Michigan, but it's still relevant! We watched and quoted and tweeted the entire time and had a blast. The two of them kept me laughing almost as much as the film did. I really like this movie because I loved the book when I was in 7th grade and I literally jumped up and down when I found out there'd be a film adaptation XD Anyway, I wish I could've been there to see Toni's reaction in person to the ending, because she hadn't seen the film before, but the whole evening was still priceless, and I really enjoyed my good time with my fellow iggles :)