Happy Thanksgiving, True Believers!

By now you should know this was coming. Every year I list off the many things I’m thankful for. It is, after all, what Thanksgiving is about, right? It’s not just food, family, and football. Admittedly, this holiday season is a bit more melancholy for me what with the death of my Grandma Ruth, but it is my determination to practice the holiday.

So, with that, here’s my list for 2016.

1. God the Father
2. Jesus Christ
3. The Holy Spirit
4. My salvation
5. The Bible
6. My wonderful family
7. That I’ll soon be an uncle again
8. That my Grandma was reunited with Grandpa in heaven and is no longer suffering (though I still miss them)
9. My amazing friends
10. My equally amazing writer friends
11. The Fort Wayne Ballroom Company (FWBC)
12. My “dance family” at FWBC
13. That I got to perform at FWBC’s showcases and at a charity event with two wonderful instructors/partners
14. Ballroom/social dancing
15. For all the conventions I attended this year
16. My car, which I named Silver Sable (206,000 miles and still going!)
17. My church
18. My gaming consoles and video games
19. My book collection
20. My movie collection
21. My laptop
22. My music collection
23. My day job
24. That I’ve paid down my student loan debt by nearly half in almost two years
25. My cosplays
26. That I’m a published author
27. Hades Publications/EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy, which published my first novel and still has me under contract
28. CreateSpace, which publishes my self-published books
29. That I published by first short story collection this year: The Worlds of Nathan Marchand
30. That I’ll have a new novel published in 2017 (more on that later)
31. My strong sense of justice
32. The house I live in
33. My talent for writing
34. all for One Productions (afO)
35. Volunteering for afO
36. My YouTube channel
37. For being part of the team writing at Children of the Wells
38. That I’m creative
39. My intellectual mind
40. My poet’s soul
41. My warrior’s heart
42. That I can read
43. My iPhone 5S
44. That I’m an American
45. That I’m a Hoosier
46. Summertime
47. October (the “sweet spot” of autumn)
48. Changing seasons
49. Christian Gamers Guild
50. GameChurch
51. Theology Gaming
52. My sense of humor
53. The North Webster Community Public Library
54. The Constitution, which lists my inalienable rights.
55. My “superpowers” (rarely get sick, my “BS” sense, look much younger than I am, heal fast from injuries).
56. My health
57. Netflix
58. That I got to meet some awesome celebrities this year (Brent Spiner, Ian McDiarmid, Ray Park, etc.)
59. My camera
60. My knack for photography
61. Pretzels
62. Exercising at the gym.
63. My comic book collection
64. Chimp’s Comics
65. B.E. Comics
66. My board game collection
67. My nerdiness
68. The police and their service
69. The military and their service
70. My journal(s)
71. My website (NathanJSMarchand.com)
72. My fandoms
73. Gen-Con
74. The family pets
75. Bookstores
76. Spaghetti
77. Highland toffee (the family recipe)
78. Amazon.com
79. Movie theatres
80. My college degree
81. Running water
82. That I’m tall
83. That I still have all my hair
84. Football
85. That I got to play kickball with great co-workers/friends
86. (Most of) My coworkers
87. The generosity of others
88. The TUFW Alumni and Friends Center
89. That I attended TUFW
90. The YMCA
91. For living in the countryside
92. Plumbing
93. The Internet
94. That I somehow won the “fantasy bowl” when I tried fantasy football for the first time (beginner’s luck?)
95. That I’m on the verge of starting my own podcast
96. My big tax refund
97. Facebook
98. The freelance writing gigs I had this year
99. Holidays
100. And lastly…THAT THE ELECTION IS FINALLY OVER!

What are you thankful for this year?