SIMPLICITY
Do you ever think about the really little things throughout your days that make you happy?
Recently in my journal I listed all of 'my favorite things' and I swear that whenever I go back and read what I wrote, I am instantly grateful for such simple things, such as (in no particular order):
Green arrows when you're turning left
A good parking spot
No line at the grocery store
Friendly store clerks
When something is on sale but you don't know it until you're buying it
The smell of a bookstore
Cold Coca-Cola Classic - cold to where there's condensation on the outside of the can
The smell of someone grilling out
Charcoal grills - when your food tastes a little like charcoal and lighter fluid
When you trip on an un-even sidewalk crack and no one notices
Clear lakes
The smell of dirt in the woods
The smell of fresh cut grass on a summer day
Getting new shampoo and conditioner
The smell of original Dove soap (pink bar)
When a snowfall looks like bags of powdered sugar have been dumped out everywhere
When rain melts the dirty snow in the spring
When you're at church and can pay attention to what the topic is instead of nodding off
Puppies
Washing your car in the driveway for the first time in the spring
Downy fabric softener (or Bounce)
Hot chocolate
The smell of coffee
The sound of coffee perculating
Hearing your favorite song on the radio
When you don't want to run into anyone you know at the store - and then you don't
Reconnecting with an old friend
Mint chocolate chip ice cream in a sugar cone
Chocolate malts - not shakes
McDonald's French fries
Salamanders
Monarch Butterflies
The smell of peonies
The excitement of planting tulips in the fall and then seeing them come up in the spring
Carmel Apples
When the leaves are in full color
The smell of the insides of a pumpkin
Baking the seeds with butter and salt
"It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!"
Hotels with good water pressure
When you find a pen that magically makes your penmanship nicer
Freshly sharpened pencils
Blank sheets of lined paper or a brand new notebook
Dove chocolates with carmel
The smell of the top of a baby's head
Baby Magic lotion and baby bath
The crackling sound of a campfire
Fireplaces
Lightning Bugs (how cool!)
The moon
Laughing until your face and stomach hurt
Orange juice without pulp
Real butter (unrefridgerated)
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches on really soft bread
Tomato Soup with a little oregano and crumbled saltines
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Thick ruffled potato chips that don't break in the dip
French Onion Dip
Fresh cucumbers from the garden with a little salt
BLT's
New make-up
Flavored Lip Gloss
Fresh towels
Fresh sheets
Loving someone to pieces
Seinfeld
In the winter when they start "A Christmas Story" marathons on TV
Halloween
Candy Corn
Old-fashioned trick-or-treat plastic pumpkins
Chili
Christmas lights
Chewy peppermints (the kind with the Christmas tree in the middle)
When big trees touch in the middle of a road
Beautiful old houses
Porch swings
Swing-sets with long chains
The way it smells outside before it rains
When it's raining outside and you don't have to leave your house (or your bed)
Opening the windows during a light summer rain
Quiet thunderstorms
"The Great Outdoors" with John Candy
Dr. Suess
Shel Silverstein poems
Making peace with an old grudge
Drawing on the sidewalk or driveway with fresh chalk
The smell of a brand new box of crayons
My daughters' eyes
My husband's mouth
Petting my cat
Flannel sheets in the winter
Comfy pajama's
Teeter-Totters
Thinking about something funny and laughing out loud to myself
Grandfather Clocks
The smell of Fleet Farm (black licorice and tires)
Fresh Twizzlers (the kind you have to pull apart)
Grape bubble gum that tastes so good you want to swallow it
Discovering that it's Egg Nog season in the milk section of the grocery store
The bread aisle
The coffee aisle
The Dictionary
World Maps
The sound of sprinklers
An original margarita on-the-rocks with a salted rim and a little too much tequila
A good spicy Bloody Mary (more vinegary than tomato-y) with celery salt and a good pickle
Magic Sand
Naps in the afternoon
Being so happy you cry
Getting a really funny birthday card
Being with people you can completely be yourself around
Cold beer in a wine goblet
Realizing that it's okay to feel annoyed when putting up Christmas lights
Trying to tell a funny real-life story but can't because your laughing too hard
Chocolate milk
When you're all dressed up to go somewhere good
Breaking loose at a wedding and not caring what anyone thinks the next day (even if you did 'the electric slide' and got a little more into it than you probably should have)
Losing track of time when reading a really good book
Reading something that makes you laugh out loud
Crickets at night
The smell of the first time you turn the furnace on in the fall
Watching a leaf fall from a tree in the 'fall'
Stars