50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

20.  Sunday 6/22 – A few days prior to today, our washer unexpectedly died.  This happened on a Thursday night before going out of town over the weekend.  When we got back this evening, my sister Carolyn and her boyfriend Michael were nice enough to let us crash their evening and do some laundry at their house.  It was such a huge relief to be able to get some much-needed laundry done before our new washer arrived – the week would have been a little rough otherwise!  Plus, it was great just to hang out at their place and catch up.

19. Monday 6/23 – As I mentioned above, we were out of town all weekend.  With the washer fiasco, we just didn’t have time to get to the grocery store and set ourselves up for the week.  Lucky me – Anissa is off work and was able to get our shopping done Monday during the day.  I came home and she had gotten fresh produce, chicken, cereal, everything we needed for the week.  It put a big smile on my face when I got home and saw it.

18.  Tuesday 6/24 – We have had some unsettled weather this week.  Today we had some really heavy rain and thunderstorms.  I got caught driving home in some of it.  Sure, it was a little scary.  But everyone actually slowed down and was behaving well on the roads.  The whole time I kept thinking how incredible the rain was.  I still am not sure why, but extreme weather is so cool to me.  Sure enough it rained and rained and rained all night.  There’s nothing quite like the sound of rain on the roof to lull you to sleep!

17.  Wednesday 6/25 – Anissa and I both really enjoy Christmas including all the related music.  On my way home from work today I couldn’t find anything on the radio.  So I switched to a random CD in my car.  It was the Polar Express soundtrack.  Yes, it is June and I still have Christmas CDs loaded in my car.  And yes, it made me happy and I listened to it all the way home.

16.  Thursday 6/26 – I noticed a lot of people out and about in my neighborhood today.  People were walking, biking, jogging, mowing, trimming, and just sitting on their porch.  This was just the kind of neighborhood we were looking for when we were house hunting last year, and I am so happy with where we landed J

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5 (a day late, whoops)…

25.  Tuesday 6/17 – Summer is finally showing up this week, with temperatures pushing into the 90s.  After I got home from the gym this evening I spent some time in the yard watering our plants and flowers.  I take a lot of pride in our yard and it felt good to have some time to maintain it.  Yahoo for having a yard!

24. Wednesday 6/18 – I work in one of several buildings at my company’s campus, and there are security guards that monitoring the traffic in and out of the campus.  Every morning (including this morning) I drive in and one of the guards waves.  Hundreds of people come and go from this campus each day, and the guards are always there waving and greeting everyone.  I really appreciate that.  It sets a good tone for the day.  Sometimes it really is the small things.

23.  Thursday 6/19 – I went to the gym today and I noticed a couple of extremely large women working on some of the machines.  I could tell they were trying to figure out how the machines worked, and what settings were appropriate for them.  I remember my first few trips to a gym, and how awkward I felt trying to understand the movements on each machine, and how much resistance I could handle (and all the while wondering who was watching and judging me).  I still feel that way sometimes.  So I had to give it to these ladies.  I know it took them a lot of courage to come to the gym and start to figure it all out.  Props to them, and thanks for inspiring me.

22.  Friday 6/20 – A few things made me really happy today.  Anissa and I are traveling to Iowa for a cousin’s wedding.  I was very happy that I could take a half day from work without using my PTO.  It made our travel arrangements so much easier knowing I had that flexibility.  What also made me happy was the drive.  Yes, the Midwest is covered in farmland.  But it is really quite breathtaking at times.  Large rivers, valleys, rolling fields, and picturesque skies.  On our last hour of the drive, the sun was setting and it was just incredible.  I couldn’t stop staring.  What could have been a terrible and boring drive actually turned out to be quite pleasant.

21.  Saturday 6/21 – Alas, the purpose of our travels was to see Anissa’s cousin Rebekah tie the knot.  So many things made me happy today.  But I think what struck a chord with me today was watching everyone’s excitement at getting to see each other.  Most of the cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. don’t get to see each other all that often.  I really enjoyed catching up with everyone, as well as watching everyone have such a good time with each other.

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

30.  Thursday 6/12 – I went to gym tonight.  There is a “Costume Vault” or year-round “Halloween Express” or something of the like in the strip center, and they have the creepiest mannequins dressed in costumes all along the front windows.  Tonight when I went by the store to get to the gym, the mannequins were lined up holding signs that spelled “W-I-L-L  Y-O-U  M-A-R-R-Y   M-E”.  I would never propose in that way, but I’m sure some lady did like it, because the next day the mannequins’ signs spelled “S-H-E   S-A-I-D   Y-E-S”.  It put a smile on my face, wondering about how this guy had planned out this special proposal, and then it got me thinking about when I proposed to Anissa.  J

29.  Friday 6/13 – Friday the 13^th and a full moon!?  Watch out!  On particularly quiet days at work, I often listen to Pandora on my phone.  I’m still old school in that I only listen to personally-cultivated radio stations inspired by very specific artists.  Today, my hip hop/pop-Latin blend station (featuring Pitbull most of the time) was just firing on all cylinders.  It put me in a great mood and made it easier to stick around the whole afternoon even though many others were taking half days.

28.  Saturday 6/14 – Today was my bachelor party.  I had a blast hanging out at the Clippers game and then hitting up my favorite Arena District bar (R Bar) for the rest of the evening.  Nothing wild or crazy, just a really fun night out with the guys!

27.  Sunday 6/15 – Tonight Anissa and I went to Yabo’s for some tacos for dinner.  We were just enjoying ourselves and then the song “Simply Irresistible” by Robert Palmer came on in the restaurant.  Anissa had never seen the music video before, and I had a lot of fun watching her reactions to it.  If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and go to YouTube right now.  (beware, some parts of the video may make you uncomfortable so be careful who’s around when you watch it!)

26.  Monday 6/16 – Today Anissa and I had time after I got home from work to run 2 errands, go to the gym, hit up Kroger for some fresh produce, and cook ourselves a tasty and healthy dinner.  Having the time to do all that, and still have time to relax the rest of the evening is invaluable.  I wish every week night was like this!

 

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

35.  Saturday 6/7 – Tonight was Anissa’s bachelorette party which meant I had a night to do whatever I wanted.  A few years ago I read the book Moneyball (great read for all you nerdy baseball lovers), and then for my birthday that year Anissa got me the movie.  I had never watched it, so that’s what I decided to do tonight.  I don’t know what it is about baseball movies, but I just love them.  So that brought me happiness.  A quiet night in, just watching a movie that turned out to be quite good.

34.  Sunday 6/8 – Today was kind of a dreary day with off and on rain all day.  Anissa and I had little to do (or at least nothing time sensitive).  We actually were able to take a nap in the middle of the day.  I used to nap every day in college (in fact, I built my class schedule in a way that allowed for a nap every day around 2 or 3.).  We put on some golf and just snoozed until we woke up naturally.  It was wonderful!

33.  Monday 6/9 – I ran 4 miles today.  I haven’t run that far in one day since the middle of March.  Time is a precious commodity this past year.  It felt very good to complete 4 miles – it almost made me wish I had the time to train for another marathon.  Almost.

32.  Tuesday 6/10 – It was a quiet day at work today.  I love what I do, and I work for a great company.  But the quiet, predictable days are few and far between lately.  It made me happy to have some time organize my thoughts and tasks, and put some real think time into what I was doing.

31.  Wednesday 6/11 – Today, Anissa and I finished our last super menial task for the wedding.  All things left to do are fun and interesting.  Tomorrow marks the 1-month mark until we get married, and that makes me VERY happy J

 

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

40.  Monday 6/2 – Sunshine!  I was so happy for a break in the weather that was just long enough for Anissa and I to get in our practice session/engagement pictures with our wedding photographer.  And I was very happy with how efficient and professional our photographer was.  She’s pretty awesome.

39.  Tuesday 6/3 – I am happy for guy in the car behind me at the red light just recklessly abandoning all car decorum by flailing around like a fish out of water to whatever song he was listening to.  It reminded me how much I love rocking out in the car.  My earliest memory of doing this was in my Aunt Shelley’s and Uncle Mike’s van when I was 4 or 5.  The song of choice?  Great Balls of Fire!  Such a great memory!

38.  Wednesday 6/4 – Nerd alert!  Learning makes me happy.  A lot of people complain or poke fun at the “touchy-feely” training they have to attend for work.  I really like those kinds of things.  I got to step away from my desk for 2 full days this week to go to a training class, and I totally geeked out over the theory, group sharing, and team-building activities.

37.  Thursday 6/5 – I am happy when I run outside.  I definitely don’t do it enough.  Today the high temperature was 72 with virtually no humidity.  And to top it off, the sky was picture perfect.  Bright blue with the whitest clouds.  It reminded me of the movie “The Truman Show” when he gets to the edge of the set and you see that the world around him was a painted set.  That’s what the sky looked like.  Oh, and I could see the moon at 5pm too.  We live in a pretty cool world.

36.  Friday 6/6 – Pizza!  The fat kid in me just perks up when I know I’m having pizza for dinner.  And I don’t really discriminate.  Take-out, froze, bagel bites, pizza rolls, at-home english muffin homemade pizzas.

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

45.  Wednesday 5/28 – While I hate being the center of attention, I do enjoy the texts, calls, and facebook messages on my birthday.  It’s nice to know people are thinking about you!

44.  Thursday 5/29 – I am happy for the gift of time.  I got out of class early, and that extra hour just makes such a huge difference.  And it was my class until 8/27, so I get the gift of time for the next 3 months!  Such a relief, especially with the wedding coming up here shortly.

43.  Friday 5/30 – Weekends bring me happiness.  It’s a chance to catch your breath, reset, and even steal some time for yourself.  Anissa and I met our wedding DJ (also a personal and family friend) for dinner and it was nice to just be away from the house, school, and work.

42.  Saturday 5/31 – I am happy for late-evening chats.  Anissa and I stayed up late talking with her parents about anything and everything.  At one point we were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.  Good times.

41.  Sunday 6/1 – Going to church brings me joy.  The last month has been a whirlwind and it’s been so long since we’ve been able to attend mass at our home parish.  We went tonight and it was a breath of fresh air.  Familiar sights and sounds, and familiar faces.  Sometimes routine is a good thing J