27 things to be thankful for

1. I was born. Thanks Mom & Dad!

2. Good health.

3. Good friends I made throughout my lifetime. Q, M, C, K, W, J, T, P, C, B, C, M, D, T...hmm, do I have friends for each letter of the alphabet? Must think about that...

4. My addiction to chocolate (yes, that is a good thing!).

5. Good appetite and somewhat fast metabolism (which is slowing down as I get older but if I show some gratitude, maybe metabolism will work faster again to keep me from ballooning into the size of a whale, although sometimes I do feel like a whale after eating).

6. People who know how to make good cheesecake. We all know I hate cheese, and yet cheesecake is one of the few things with cheese in it that I will eat. So thank goodness to whoever invented cheesecake.

7. Good teeth!

8. Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives because my life will never have as much drama as those television shows.

9. The movie "Big Fish" because it's a great fairytale for adults.

10. The movie "Over the Hedge" because I loved the comic strip and my favorite line from the movie is Hammy saying "But I like the cookie."

11. Mom and Dad for raising me, putting up with my stubbornness throughout the years, for allowing me to eventually do whatever I want even if they didn't agree with it.

12. Mom's home cooking.

13. The Brother.

14. The Boy. Yay to us for making the three year mark--a record for each of us! And thankful to him for being able to listen to my pathetic whining, crying, tantrums, mood swings during all the bad times and still sticking with me through all the craziness. You're the best!

15. The Boy's Family for not judging me because I'm not Catholic, not Shanghainese Chinese, not supermodel skinny, not dependent on a man, not a good-traditional-conservative-Asian...just thanks for welcoming me and liking me for who I am.

16. Gourmet chocolate. Did I already list chocolate? Well, it deserves two spots.

17. Wellesley College for giving me such a great education even though it really didn't prepare me for the real world.

18. UMKC for trying to give me a legal education. So far, I hate 1L but am looking forward to 2L and the ability to pick my own classes.

19. Being able to meet my great-grandmother before she passed away.

20. Being able to meet my grandparents. Hopefully I can see them again soon. Maybe sometime after taking the bar exam and before starting my life as a slave to some giant law firm.

21. Food and shelter. There are so many people in the world who lacks one or both and I'm thankful I'm not in that situation.

22. Being able to grow in maturity and responsibilities, and even growing in my personality, throughout my life.

23. Having a happy outlook on life and always looking for the silver lining, even during the rough times.

24. Fall, Summer, Spring. If Winter only consisted of one week of snow, I might be more thankful.

25. Chocolate chip cookies. How did I almost forgot about that?

26. Birthdays.

27. The ability to not look my age -- "Yes, it is my 23rd birthday today!"