What I’m Thankful for This Year 2016

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?