11. Sharing happiness with ones we love

Last night, Ricky came home after a gig and was on top of the world. He played with one of the best trumpet players in DC, and he said he played extremely well and everyone in the bar was loving it. They got plenty of free drinks from the bartenders, he got half a joint from a bus boy that he enjoyed on his own, and Mike showed up with lots of work friends who all loved the music and show. He was so excited and happy about the experience he just had, and I couldn't have been happier for him. It makes me so so happy to see him so pleased with himself and with his playing and it makes me even happier when he shares it all with me. It was probably about 3 in the morning when he came home and woke me up, and it was such a great thing to wake up to. I just love when he shares his emotions and experiences with me, and knowing that my happiness for him positively affects his already incredible mood is a wonderful feeling. I love knowing that he could have the greatest night he could imagine, and I can still make it better =)

10. Accomplishment

I have just finished my full draft of my scholarship essay for Lesley and it feels so good to have successfully finished something I set out to do. And it feels especially good to be proud of the result. In this past year off, I have lacked in the accomplishment department because I really haven't had too many things that I set out to do and actually finished. Generally, I lived an extremely simple life of working most days and relaxing on days off and didn't really have projects I was working on or major goals I was working towards, and I think that's a major contributor to why I've felt so unhappy at times. I lacked direction because I lacked accomplishment. But in a couple months I'll be switching over to a life full of direction and accomplishment. And although I know I'm going to miss all my free time and lack of stress, I am so excited to feel really productive again and be constantly feeling that wonderful sense of accomplishment. It's going to be very healthy for me and I know I'm going to thrive in the grad school environment.

9. Airports

Generally when I think about airports I think about long lines and lots of waiting. I think of uncomfortable seats and wasting time. But airports are beautiful. They're the gateway to almost anywhere you could want to go. They allow you to travel the world or go home to your family or take a much needed relaxing vacation. This morning i had to wake up at 515 to leave for the airport and make my flight on time. I was dreading it and once I arrived at the airport I had to wait in a long line to get through security. It sounds miserable right? But I looked around at all the different people heading to various destinations and realized how much I take these little experiences for granted. I listened to the airport employees yell things like Aruba and Barbados, and I watched couples talk in line about their upcoming adventure. And I watched a family with 3 little boys in strollers struggle to maneuver the strollers through the lines and imagined how much fun they were going to have at Disney world and how wonderful it's going to be for the kids along with the parents who get the joy of watching their kids have the time of their lives knowing it's all because of them. And I just saw so much love all around me. And then I thought about the other end of airports and how wonderful it is that I have someone I love to pick me up when I land. And how lucky i am for that :)

8. Yoga

I have finally found a way to exercise that I honestly look forward to and completely enjoy. I have never really been much of a health and exercise freak, mostly because I love junk food and hate exercising. I would dread going to the gym even though I'd feel good after I went. I never really could understand why I hated exercising when it made me feel good. But now I've found an exercise method that I actually like, and it makes me feel good just like the gym would. Yoga is a wonderful practice. Ricky and I have been doing yoga in our room along to a DVD a lot, and that's been pretty good. We both enjoy it but I had no idea how much I was going to like yoga classes. I went to my first yoga class yesterday with Jess and I loved it. It felt much more like a real workout that had me sweating throughout almost the whole thing, but I didn't even want it to end after the hour was over. At the gym, I'm always counting down the minutes/sets/whatever until I finally get to leave and just feel accomplished. With yoga, I feel accomplished and relaxed and I like doing the actual exercise the whole time. It's wonderful =) I can't wait to keep going back to classes!

7. A cold drink on a hot day

Taking the first sip of an ice cold beverage on a hot sweaty sunny day is one of the greatest pleasures I can think of. It's so intensely satisfying and makes you feel alive and well after sweltering in the heat. I remember when I used to play softball in the dead of the summer and sweat through every inch of my jersey, and every time the inning ended and I got back to the bench and took a sip from the water jug full of ice cold water, it was like nothing had ever felt that good before. Today was super hot and I already have a sunburn, and drinking an ice cold diet coke on the mall was exactly what I needed after playing catch in the sun.

6. Getting free stuff

Today Ricky and I were sitting on the mall after playing a little catch, and a guy working for Jimmy Johns came up to us and just gave us free sandwiches! How awesome! Free things just make everything better, whether it's food, entertainment, alcohol, music, whatever - it feels good to feel like you're getting something good for nothing in return. It makes it seem like you're deserving of whatever the free thing is without even having to do anything at all. It's pretty sweet.

5. Taking off your shoes after being on your feet all day

As a waitress, I'm on my feet a lot and I work doubles pretty frequently. Each double leads to about 12 or so hours on my feet running around, and when I get home and finally get to take my shoes off and lay/sit down for a while, it is such a wonderful feeling of release.

4. The sore feeling from a first workout

When I woke up this morning, my body ached more than it has in quite a while, and at first in my sleepy state I was confused and slightly upset that I was in such pain. But as I walked to the bathroom and my mind slowly woke itself up, I remembered that I had done various ab exercises yesterday and also exercised along to an intense 10-minute video. I quickly went from feeling upset and confused to loving the pain I was currently feeling. There's something wonderful about feeling sore from a workout. It makes you feel like you've accomplished something and that you're headed in the right direction. It makes you excited to work out again so that the next time you'll be slightly less sore and feel even better! It's interesting how feeling sore and aching each time you move can somehow feel good because you know the results will be worth the pain you feel, and the pain is physical evidence that your body is getting stronger =)

3. Finding a missing sock

For the longest time, I have had 2 socks of the same style, one white and one gray, that had lost their mates. They're super comfy and are good work socks because of their cut so I have been wearing the gray and white one together, but the other day I found the other white one! That in itself was exciting because I now have one full pair, but that still left me with one gray one which now had no use since it didn't have any other sock to comfortably wear with it. But low and behold, I went down to the laundry room to wash my socks, and there was the other gray one on the floor! I went from having no matching pairs among those socks to having both matching pairs back! What a wonderful day!

2. When your favorite song comes on the radio at the beginning

There probably aren't too many people left that basically only listen to the radio while they drive, but I haven't made CDs in a long time and my iPod connector is too annoying to want to use, so the radio is my main source of music. Listening to music while driving, especially while driving alone, is one of my favorite feelings because I can sing as loud and badly as I want and dance along however I feel like. It makes the drive so much faster and fun, and there is nothing better than changing the radio station to hear the very beginning of one of your favorite songs. Listening to the radio is great in a lot of ways, but very frustrating in others. There are many stations to go through to find a song you like, and generally when you finally find a song you want to listen to, it's almost over and you have to continue your search. But when you find a station that's just starting to play exactly the song you wanted to hear, it's so exciting and my mood instantly jumps up a couple notches as I blast the speakers, roll down the windows a little, and sing as loudly as I can.

1. A New Idea

Lately I've been in a little funk trying to figure out ways to make me happier. Overall, I'd say I have a pretty happy life, but my depression sometimes makes it hard to appreciate my life and all that I have. I forget all the wonderful things that exist in life, all the feelings, emotions, sights, smells, tastes, experiences, etc. So this is my new idea to make myself happier. I'm going to start this blog for myself, based on the blog "1000 Awesome Things" and I'm going to find one simple thing each day that's worth noticing and smiling about.

A new idea can be anything. It could be the new ingredient you add to a recipe, or a new craft to make. It could be a new activity to discover, or a new way to organize your room. It could be a new way to wear an outfit, or a life-changing perspective. Regardless of how big or small, insignificant or important, new ideas add variety to our lives, and make us feel inventive and creative. They inspire us to stray from the norm and take a risk to find something better. Sometimes we come up with new ideas on our own, or sometimes we take a good idea and make it new to us. Coming up with something new always excites me, and incites a good feeling. When that light bulb in my brain lights up, it's always something worth noticing and acknowledging. Right now, I am so excited to start this new project and see how it affects my overall happiness. It makes me excited to wake up tomorrow and decide what my simple thing of the day will be. It gives me a reason to look harder for the simple beautiful things that are too often taken for granted and gone unnoticed. I hope this helps me appreciate more of my life and remember how many little wonderful things there are to make life worth living.