travel – Page 3 – nancy merrill photography

Thankful November 30th: Life

I have a wonderful life. I love my husband. We have great kids. Most of our family lives close by, and we have good opprotunitues to visit those who don’t. We travel frequently to really cool places. We have our own business and live in the freest country in the world. Life is good.

I’m glad that I’ve had the chance to reflect on what I’m grateful for this November. Hopefully our gratitude isn’t limited to just one month each year.

May this holiday season fill your homes and hearts with love, thankfulness, and peace.

Thankful November 23rd: Chocolate

Okay, so most of my Thankful November posts have been on a more serious side, but this one is pure fun. I love chocolate. I love really good chocolate. By taking my husband to Europe, I have turned him into a chocolate snob. I am not sorry about this. We are always on the lookout for good, European chocolate here in the States. We also take suggestions of good chocolate to try.

Thankful November 21st: My Heritage

I have a very diverse heritage. English, Irish, Danish, Swiss, Italian, Jewish, Spanish, French, Scottish. And we don’t know if that’s all. One of the biggest influences on my life was my mother’s mother, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Switzerland in the 1880s. I had promised my mom that I would make sure she got to Switzerland in her lifetime, and we took that trip in the summer of 2016. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for my mother, who was 83 at the time. She will probably never get back to Switzerland because of her health, but she will always remember that trip.

Thankful November 20th: Our Kids

When I married my husband, I inherited four children of varying ages. The oldest was 22 and the youngest was 13. Step-parenting is an interesting journey, and it definitely has its ups and downs, but I love my kids, which now also includes two sons-in-law, a permanent partner, and two grandsons. They are wild and wacky and very, very different from each other, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Thankful November 18th: Traveling

I know that I’ve already expressed gratitude for the earth and its beauties, but I am also very grateful for the chance I’ve had (and continue to have) to travel many places around the world and also close to home. When my husband and I got married, he hadn’t traveled much. A couple of years after we married, I convinced him that we needed to take a trip to Great Britain to visit a nephew who had been transferred to London for a year, along with his wife and three boys. It was the best thing that could have happened to us. Since then, we have made a few more trips across the pond to the east, across the pond to the west, and headed down south for my first experience in Mexico (besides Tijuana). I’m looking forward to many more adventures around this amazing globe we live on in the near and distant future.

Thankful November 14th: Flowers

I love flowers. I love smelling flowers. I love looking at flowers. And I especially love photographing flowers. My maternal grandmother had the most amazing flower garden: roses, lilies, snapdragons, daisies. Each summer, her small yard was transformed by colors and scents that transported us to a fairy world.

Thankful November 11th: Veterans Day

Today, the United States of America honors its veterans. Many other countries are celebrating Armistice Day and Remembrance Day today. One of my grandfathers served in World War I (yes, I’m old), several of my uncles served during the Korean Conflict, and many more nephews and nieces have served or are currently serving in the armed forces. As a nation, we can never thank them enough. The gratitude of the nation should never be in doubt.

So, thank you to everyone serving to keep our country and our world a better, safer place.

(The images are from the Punch Bowl Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii.)

Thankful November 10th: Family

I know that I’ve already mentioned my parents and my siblings in individual posts, but I have a lot more family. My husband’s family is very large (he is the youngest of eight kids). I have a wonderful group of aunts, uncles, and cousins. I inherited four wonderful children when I married my husband. And then there are people who aren’t blood relation, but are still family. Family is very important to me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thankful November 9th: Music

There has never been a time in my life that hasn’t included music. I grew up in a family of seven (including parents), and all of us played at least two instruments (including parents). My dad’s mother was a piano teacher. She taught me for 11 years, and she was my biggest supporter when I chose to study music in college. I play the piano, and violin. In college, I studied singing and choral conducting. I started teaching piano when I was 18, and I currently have 15 students who do two to three recitals a year. I met my husband because I was the music director for a show at a local community theater. The show we were doing was written by a friend who asked my younger sister and me to arrange the music. I have written a little original music, but I mostly do choir arrangements (makes sense, see previously mentioned college path). I love music. I don’t know what life would be like without music infusing pretty much every aspect of it.

Thankful November 8th: Brothers

I have one brother. He is my oldest sibling, and he is admittedly my parents’ most spoiled child. When we were kids, he would sit on you and tickle you, all the while yelling to our mom “Mom, get her off me! Mom, help!” He has a wicked sense of humor, is a wonderful father and grandfather, and loves his family. He is an amazing man. He and his live in Colorado, and I miss having them close by. Love ya, Terry!