Happy Early Thanksgiving!!! ; ) I know I'm a day early, but tomorrow I'll be too busy to write what I want to write, so I figured I'd do it now during a quiet moment in the house. So glad to be home for a holiday, sad to miss being with my Mom and Dad, Cait and Jared, but I'll be with my Mom's entire family here, and see all of my cousins so it will still be an awesome time.

So a quick update on me: Have finally started the official physical therapy (it's about time, eh!?) on Monday and let me tell you, it's great! I had an appointment at 8am today and it went well. I started some new exercises that target walking muscles and she stretched out my knee a lot. It hurt a bit, but was worth it! Next week, bring on the weights baby! ; ) Yep...we're going to try going through the exercises with weights strapped around my stump. I have a doctor's appointment in 2 weeks and I'd like to leave there with permission to begin physio with my prosthesis! So the goal for the next 2 weeks is to strengthen this leg....I mean, I have man's arms now, so I need to tone up the rest of my body right? ; ) hehe...It feels good to be told not to be nervous and just move my knee about, try different positions, etc. My therapist is just a few years older than me and really cool and friendly. So the exercises are: quad contractions with my leg straight, terminal extensions, hamstring extensions, and front leg raises with the knee turned slightly out so I don't cheat with my hip/stomach muscles, and the new ones are lying on left side and doing the leg raises with my hip forward just to work the front muscles of the leg, ones that work my gluteus maximus (woo-hoo), where i lie on my stomach and lift my leg up straight back, and lastly ones that target my inner thigh, where i lie on my right side and do a leg lift up with my left leg bent over for balance....Okay why all those details, I dunno, but it helps me writing it out to remember all I need to do. 3 reps of 10 on the new ones, and 3 reps of 12 on the old ones. : ) I am so determined to just gain my independence back! I will not settle for a jelly leg anymore!! : ) ; )

Alright! Thanksgiving!!! I am cooking 10lbs of Mom's baked mashed potatoes! Yikes!

Now, the most important part, I just want to express how blessed I am and how thankful I am for all of those blessings I've received this year. I wish I could name everyone, but I know I'd inadvertently forget someone and feel awful about it, so I'll just say what it is about people I appreciate so much.

This year I was blessed with the opportunity to meet and make so many incredible friends from all over, to study at a place where some of the world's best minds meet, to share my Oxford world with my parents and especially with Caitlin, my sister; In my biggest time of need to have so many warm friends around who made me feel so loved and who sacrificed a lot to help me, to be privileged to become an 'auntie' ; ) to witness the miracle that is life in the birth of little Oxa and sharing with Imelda in her transition into motherhood, to throw colours for Holi, to share in my sister's dream of seeing Ireland, to learn new languages, to meet my friends' families, to come home and hear from friends who I'd left behind in the States, to see my best friend, to stay with family, to sing in Hindi ; ) to make lifelong friends most of whom happen to be from India! ; ) I guess most of all to have the privilege to, as my friends from home tell me I do, to see God in those around me and in those I meet, and to be able to see them through God's loving eyes.

Inspite of bad things that may have happened in my life or in the lives of those who touch mine, I cannot help but see the good things and the blessings coming through. The thing Thanksgiving always reminds me of is hope. Hope for a better future for my friends and family, hope for better health, hope for a better tomorrow, but most of all hope to last when the challenges arise. Because without hope, there is no such thing as faith, and without faith there is no such thing as love.

So to those who know me, I'm thankful for all of you, I'm thankful for all of the times I shared and will share with you. Be blessed this Thanksgiving and if you haven't already, take a few minutes to think about the people and the things you've been blessed with this year. You'd be surprised how many you'll find!