My favorite things

My friend Rachel is an English teacher. I’m pretty sure she rocks at it because she recently resolved a debate between my husband and me over whether a specific word in a sentence is an adjective or a past participle. This summer, she attended a writing project where the idea was approached that you should write a list of 100 things that make you happy. Since I love lists, (see #70 below) I decided I needed to make my own post on this. You can read her entry here.

Rachel placed some restrictions on herself, which I thought were pretty valid. I tried to follow these restrictions and think I did a good job for the most part. Here are her restrictions.
• No 'good fortune' items - health insurance, employment, shelter, etc. Not that I'm not grateful for those things, because I am, but it would be too easy to just start listing them.
• No specific books, music, and movies. I could do lists of 100 of each of those probably. Or at least 50.
• No inventions that make my life easier - sorry Internet, dishwasher, and car.
• keep the list items short - no time wasted on lengthy explanations of why something made me happy
Following the list was difficult, and you’ll see that I’m really stretching it by numbers 98 and 99. I’m sure if I thought really hard I could come up with more, but it’s Friday and my brain is tired! Also, Rachel alphabetized her list. I did not. It would've been a nice touch, but I think reading it as it came out of my brain adds a little something extra. :)

1. Headbands
2. Thekitchn.com
3. Rolling Yahtzee
4. Playing Pit
5. Game night with friends
6. Playing dominoes with my family
7. Baking
8. Eating at a new restaurant
9. Chips and salsa
10. Avocados
11. One-Ingredient (Banana) “Ice Cream”
12. Clinique dramatically different moisturizing lotion
13. Finishing a book
14. My gold sandals
15. Chase
16. Hosting parties
17. Planning wedding and baby showers
18. Hostessblog.com
19. Weekends at the lake
20. Seeing a movie in the theatre
21. A good workout
22. Volunteering
23. Checking things off my list
24. Planning vacations
25. Warm vanilla sugar body lotion
26. Christmas trees
27. Woodwick candles
28. A new pair of jeans
29. An old pair of jeans
30. Farmers Markets
31. Growing my own food
32. My nephew Alex
33. Baseball games
34. Margaritas
35. A good beer
36. Kindergarten food-Chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese (admittedly, I stole this one from Rachel because she worded it so well herself)
37. A fresh coat of paint
38. Hobby Lobby
39. Pedicures
40. Singing in my car
41. Listening to comedy radio
42. Whole Foods
43. Drinking wine
44. Sitting on decks/patios in the summer
45. Blankets
46. Fans
47. Playing volleyball
48. Beating my goal for a run
49. Traveling
50. Holding new born babies
51. My new lunch bag from Chase
52. My adding machine at work. Everyone is jealous of it.
53. Post-It notes
54. Getting letters in the mail
55. Getting letters in email
56. Cee Lo Green
57. Bruno Mars
58. Sara Bareilles
59. Photography
60. My education
61. Drinking coffee on rainy days
62. Drinking coffee on sunny days
63. Moose Tracks Ice cream
64. Thanksgiving dinner
65. Football season
66. Leaves in the fall
67. The first blooms on my rose bushes in the Spring
68. Reeses miniatures
69. Watching terrible movies nobody has ever heard of, like The Smokers.
70. Lists!
71. Clean towels
72. A clean (just washed) car
73. Taking walks with Chase
74. Weddings
75. Wedding planning-I would make this a career if I thought I could really make enough money
76. Organizing
77. Thank you notes
78. My coffee mug at work
79. Travel mugs
80. Cupcakes
81. My cubical walls (they weren’t always there)
82. My black Old Navy flip flops
83. When songs that were played at my wedding pop up on my iTunes
84. Family photographs
85. Musicals
86. Weekend naps
87. Coupons for things I ACTUALLY buy!
88. Glue dots. They’re amazing.
89. Scrapbooking paper
90. The color teal
91. Crest Glide floss
92. Target
93. Grilled Hotdogs
94. S’mores
95. Fans (even in the air conditioning)
96. Colorful pens
97. Diet coke
98. Flash drives (I might be stretching at this point)
99. Colored paper clips (Yup, now I’m just naming things that I can see)
100. WATER! (this is for real. I love water. I drink at least the recommended 6-8 glasses a day and it is the most satisfying feeling for me. I think it deserves a spot on the list)