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Thanksgiving is, by far, the best holiday. There’s no stress of presents, family is all around, there’s a ton of food and, in my family, we play a lot of games and watch football. If we’re lucky, runs,walks and naps can be tossed in, too. Perfect day, right?

This is why I don’t understand why it’s kind of the “forgotten holiday.” Why must stores and radio stations skip over it and go right to Christmas? Every time my mom tried to listen to the radio today, Christmas music was playing! This might be fine for some people, but to me, the celebration of Christmas does not begin until the day after Thanksgiving. Not before. Not on it. After. Give the turkey some respect!

Anyway, I have a whole lot to be thankful for this year. And since I just closed out my 22nd year on Sunday, let’s kick off 23 with a bang – here’s 23 things I’m thankful for.

I’m thankful for my family. Come on, you knew this was going to be number one. Basically, my family rocks. I hope yours is as cool as mine. And now that we’re older, we all get along really well. Even though we’re all living in different cities, I love that we’re still all close enough to reunite for the holidays. We don’t get to hang out together often, but when we do, I find it to be quite epic. Game night is pretty insane.

Insert Scott, Karissa and Stephen here. We weren’t smart enough to take a family picture today.

I’m thankful for my mom’s cooking. Damn, she knows how to make a great Thanksgiving dinner. So full.

I’m thankful for Ryan Gosling. Clearly.

I’m thankful I can run. There isn’t a turkey trot in my hometown, so I made my own and hit the pavement for 4 Garmin-free miles today. I may have forgotten to pack my watch so I technically was forced to go stat-free, but it was glorious. I know a lot of people have had running struggles this year, and I’ve suffered through a few injuries myself, but I’m so thankful I have the ability to lace up my sneakers and sweat out some stress whenever I need it.

I’m thankful for today’s weather. And the weather on my birthday. Both days were pretty phenomenal. Way to go, Mother Nature.

I’m thankful for peanut butter. I don’t know how the world can go on without it.

I’m thankful for my health. Again, I know a lot of people who struggled this year. Fortunately, I had no major setbacks and am in great health. I had a bit of a scare earlier this year, but was lucky that it wasn’t anything serious.

I’m thankful I survived my first year as an adult. I made it a full year (almost a year and a half, actually!) on my own, in my dream city, working at my dream job. Life doesn’t get much better.

Speaking of, I’m thankful for my job. It really is awesome and something I dreamed about doing since I was in sixth grade. I have fantastic co-workers who showered me with love on my birthday, and who are so unbelievably passionate and amazing to work with. I truly am so grateful for every day I get to wake up and go to that office.

I’m thankful for my iPhone. Judge all you want, I love it.

I’m thankful for my bucket list. I’ve managed to cross six things off of it in 2012! I’m grateful for each and every one.

I’m thankful for shirts with thumb holes in the sleeves. 

I’m thankful for my roommate. Living with Libby the last two years has been a dream. It’s not very often you find friends that you can actually stand to live with, so I’m lucky she’s one of them. When we part someday, it will definitely be the end of an era.

I’m thankful for FRIENDS. Best TV show ever. And if you say How I Met Your Mother is better, I might hit you. It’s basically the same show, but FRIENDS came first and they did it better. But I still like HIMYM. 

I’m thankful for books. I’ve kept up my New Year’s resolution to read at least one a month and it’s made me so happy this year. I feel so much more balanced about my life if I give myself the time to get lost in someone else’s story.

I’m thankful for Oswego. 

I’m thankful for bobby pins. I don’t know how I lose so many all the freaking time, but for such a small thing, it does a great job of keeping my hair in check. Whenever I can find one to use, that is.

I’m thankful for New York City. It’s just an amazing city, along with the people who are in it.

I’m thankful for SoulCycle. It totally balances me out from running and there’s nothing like the cardio dance party I get when I’m there. I don’t like to be competitive when I spin, which is why I prefer Soul over Flywheel. At Soul, I’m able to totally let go and just sync up with the beat of the music. It really is a dance party on a bike – the 600-calorie-burn in 45 minutes is just an added bonus.

I’m thankful for Liz, Joey and my soon-to-be baby niece. I may not be blood, but I will be the best pseudo-Aunt ever. Liz and Joey recently let me know that I’m baby girl’s godmother, and I could not feel more honored and loved. I am going to spoil the crap out of that child.

I’m thankful for Twitter. I like it more than Facebook. The people are fun there.

I’m thankful for my friends. Whether they’re on social media or from real life, I love you all. I’ve found some pretty rad people to hang out with me. I don’t know what I did to convince them to let me stick around, but I’ll keep trying to impress you. I can bake! Kind of.

I’m thankful for Dustin. He really, truly is my best friend and I would be lost without him. He listens to my crazy talk, puts up with my mood swings and well, he just gets me. He supports me and encourages me to go after my goals. He’s one of my biggest cheerleaders, and I can always count on seeing him on the sidelines at my half-marathons, most likely at the point when I feel like I’m going to die. He always knows how to make me laugh, even if he was pissing me off two minutes before. And he likes a lot of the same weird stuff I like. And if he doesn’t, he puts up with it. Which is kind of awesome.

Now it’s your turn to get your thankful on: you don’t have to tell me 23 awesome things going on in your life, but it’s cool if you do. I want to read at least one. Everyone has cool stories.