A good friend of mine, Liz, writes a blog called A Bowl of Stew(art) and every week on Thursday she posts about someone she is thankful for.  I have even been featured there as someone she is thankful.  I always look forward to this post every week, it’s a fun way to see into her life and the different people she meets that make life fantastic.  As I like to focus on the AWESOME, I decided it was only fitting to steal this custom from her.  So of course my first official “Thankful Thursday” should feature Liz.

I first met Liz when I decided to start my first NaNoWriMo back in 2010 (was it only two years ago?  Feels like longer).  She was (and still is) the organizer of the Wolfeville Wrimos in Nova Scotia.  Thanks to that experience and the huge feeling of being welcome and invited into this group that Liz provided me with, a lot about my life changed.  I met many other great people through that group and got involved in a lot of activities and local events.  It actually made much sadder to leave Nova Scotia because I would be leaving Liz and all of those great people.

Liz runs more than just the NaNoWriMo group, she runs “Best Word” which is the local writing group that meets all year round.  There are two regular meetings a month, first is a writing challenge meeting where we write and work on a theme for the month.  The second is a share meeting where we share what we’ve written and compete for a prize (an old book that is dry and boring but we add to it with writing and doodles).

Liz is also a youth pastor so we have had many a discussion on theology and been able to talk about a lot of things that many people I know just won’t discuss.  She has an open mind and a loving heart that helps when discussing something as polarizing as religion.  I’ve visited her church a few times, got to hear her preach and went down with the kids and participated in the activities she plans for them.  When I see someone doing what I consider is their calling, it impresses me and makes me feel good.  I love watching Liz at work.

Liz is a lover of Dragons and of course loves Rory.  She wrote about Farwin, the dragon in her NaNoWriMo novel (and who I just love).  She squees over dragon items just as I do and has even made dragon inspired crafts (love the tiles she painted at ClayGround).

Liz loves board games, sadly I lived a touch too far to set up board game nights with her.  She is a knitter and makes cute little crafts and is often found with knitting needles in hand, and perhaps one behind her ear.  She loves local music and can be found supporting local artists.  She can also be found at the weekly Farmer’s Market buying local food.  She is a browncoat and an all around geek, I remember when she found out I had not only seen Firefly but also considered myself a browncoat she danced (she does that a lot) because she had someone to talk about her fandom with.

This past year, even though I had moved out of the province, I kept contact with my friends and planned to return for HalCon, we had a blast of course and you can see at the top of this post how Liz and I battled a Dalek.  Not even a Dalek can defeat the Queen of the Trolls!  (She was cosplaying as a character from Mark Oakley’s comic Thieves’ and Kings) We had so much fun we were talking about our costumes for the following year before the con was even over.

After HalCon I stayed over for a writing group meeting and then returned later in the month for a write all night event.  While I got less writing done thanks to the travel, returning for the event was well worth it because I got to see my friends again and I really didn’t want to leave.

I‘m thankful to Liz for sparking my writing, for making me feel at home in Nova Scotia, for being a great friend and a fantastic geek.  I’m thankful that even though I have left Nova Scotia I still have her in my life and always will.  She makes me smile and happy that there are people like her on this earth.  (Sorry if this sounds sappy to you, this is what Thankful Thursday is all about, me being sappy)