Well, today is not the most peaceful and relaxed of days for me, as I have to e-mail my proposal for my second English paper to my prof today and I still have no idea what my area of interest is (I can tell you this, though: it'll be on some aspect of Beowulf), but I've still certainly got plently to be thankful for, and I thought I'd join some of youse in writing a list of things I'm particularly thankful for right now:

I'm thankful...

that I go to Wheaton. It is the perfect fit for me in so many ways, and I feel at home there like I've rarely felt at home elsewhere.

for my English and German professors and classes.

for the German language. I can't even say how much or why I love it, but this language feels like the native language of my soul, or something like that.

for all the new and incredible friends I've made this semester.

for the beautiful music I've discovered and rediscovered.

for the wonderful books I've read and have yet to read.

that it is so easy for me to get books! The campus library has more than half a dozen magnificent bookcases of YA and children's books, and the public library is so excellent and so close.

for Irish dance. For my dance school back home, that I've finally found a school here that seems like it'll work out for me, for the feíseanna I've been to, for the progress I've made, for the fact that I got up my nerve last October to try a class in the first place, and for how well it suits me.

for my marvelous bike, for the freedom it gives me, and for all the time I've spent on it.

for the stunning Pacific Ocean.

for Midwestern trees and skies.

for the vivid and strange moments and memories that make life what it is.

and for miraculous poetry.