Sweet Ashley tagged me to list just six of my very favorite things. I've actually given this a lot of (non-blog-related) thought lately, hoping to narrow down the most meaningful ways to spend my time. It's a lot harder to do than it sounds...here goes!
1. Bradley and Blue. We may be crazy, but I love our little household. Sometimes I worry that it's unusual for us to so thoroughly enjoy just hanging out. I mean, shouldn't we be inviting more people in to our ridiculous, irrational house o' fun? That's something I hope to become more intentional about in coming months. I am, however, thrilled to enjoy myself so completely by doing so little.
2. My nearby and far-away friends. Notes in the mail, smiles as I walk to my desk, sweet voice mail messages when I'm too sick to call back, emails at just the right time, a lunch or dinner to take my mind off of every little thing - from top to bottom, I've been blessed with incredible friends. The ones who have known me since braces and bangs, those who met me before Bradley did, and the fabulous folks I've met since we moved to Greenville - each of you play such an important part in my life and my happiness. Thanks for letting me into your lives. (And for consistently updating your pictures on Facebook - y'all know that's my favorite peek into your world!) Wish I could have each of you on my street; wouldn't we make the most fabulous neighborhood?
3. My family. Raised me, see me through thick and thin, still think I'm amazing. How that is possible, I'll never know. I'm so fortunate to have parents who are also really great friends - to one another and to me. I appreciate them for a lifetime of family dinners, unfailing patience, vacation memories, much-needed braces, absolute belief in me, always answering the phone when I call and never blinking at my crazy stories. (The picky eating I developed against their wishes and best attempts to teach me otherwise, I promise. Those weirdos can even allow their food to touch. Bizarre.)
4. Reading. I could sit in a hammock, in my bed, on the beach, in a recliner or on the floor for hours each day and read. Blogs, books, magazines, journals, biographies, travel guides, shampoo bottle labels - it really doesn't matter. It's the fastest way to entertain me and the most fun I can have in an instant. It's equally relaxing, stimulating and informative. I should probably become a librarian when I retire. I may need to work on my inside voice, though...
5. Doing what I "should" do. While I'm not a fan of doing things simply because I have to or I'm expected to, the feeling I get afterwards is pretty remarkable. For example, I rarely feel better than I do in the gym parking lot after a workout. Or bragging about how I got up at 5:15 to hop on an elliptical. (That's a true story - twice this week. It's ok if you're shocked; I am too.) Checking something off my to-do list is a dorky thrill for me and clicking 'send' on a project I've been working on is always a relief. I hate cleaning but adore a sparkling house, laundered sheets and an organized closet. So, as this list winds to a close, I'm about to do just what I "should" be doing right now - cleaning for our open house tomorrow.
6. Dreaming. In every sense of the word. I'm the world's best and most appreciative sleeper. Left to my own devices, I could easily sleep ten hours a day. I'm always happiest after a full night's sleep or a quick afternoon nap; therefore so is anyone who has to hang out with me. I also enjoy dreaming by imagining what our life will be like in five, ten, twenty or fifty years. Will I be have my own little PR (or stationery) shop? Be a college professor? A writer? Retired and addicted to pasta? Living in that gorgeous house with a huge porch downtown? Spending a year in a glass-bottomed hut in Bora Bora? Answering the phone for Bradley's furniture company? Wrangling seventeen childreen or just one? Hard to say. My eight and a half ideal hours of sleep each night give me lots of time to explore the possibilities though. Not counting naps on Sunday, of course.
Honorable mentions: teaching our 4-year-old class each Sunday, Christmas ornaments, Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, monogrammed stationery, monogrammed table linens, clean sheets, a good thesaurus, new journals, recording Bradley-isms, pretending I can sing, broken-in jeans, hot showers, pedicures, Febreze, lip gloss, naps, holding hands, holding babies, Clemson football, Clemson colors, Clemson people, Clemson's campus, old-school family pictures, rewatching favorite childhood movies, gelato and Diet Cherry Coke. Whew.
P.S. The title of this post is a definite reference to a favorite childhood movie, The Sound of Music. Add in Annie, Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Cutting Edge, Shakespeare in Love and With Honors and you have the perfect recipe for a 1990s Anne movie marathon, from 3rd grade to graduation. Anyone in?
What are your favorite six things? I tag Shelley, Kristen and Elizabeth.
1. Bradley and Blue. We may be crazy, but I love our little household. Sometimes I worry that it's unusual for us to so thoroughly enjoy just hanging out. I mean, shouldn't we be inviting more people in to our ridiculous, irrational house o' fun? That's something I hope to become more intentional about in coming months. I am, however, thrilled to enjoy myself so completely by doing so little.
2. My nearby and far-away friends. Notes in the mail, smiles as I walk to my desk, sweet voice mail messages when I'm too sick to call back, emails at just the right time, a lunch or dinner to take my mind off of every little thing - from top to bottom, I've been blessed with incredible friends. The ones who have known me since braces and bangs, those who met me before Bradley did, and the fabulous folks I've met since we moved to Greenville - each of you play such an important part in my life and my happiness. Thanks for letting me into your lives. (And for consistently updating your pictures on Facebook - y'all know that's my favorite peek into your world!) Wish I could have each of you on my street; wouldn't we make the most fabulous neighborhood?
3. My family. Raised me, see me through thick and thin, still think I'm amazing. How that is possible, I'll never know. I'm so fortunate to have parents who are also really great friends - to one another and to me. I appreciate them for a lifetime of family dinners, unfailing patience, vacation memories, much-needed braces, absolute belief in me, always answering the phone when I call and never blinking at my crazy stories. (The picky eating I developed against their wishes and best attempts to teach me otherwise, I promise. Those weirdos can even allow their food to touch. Bizarre.)
4. Reading. I could sit in a hammock, in my bed, on the beach, in a recliner or on the floor for hours each day and read. Blogs, books, magazines, journals, biographies, travel guides, shampoo bottle labels - it really doesn't matter. It's the fastest way to entertain me and the most fun I can have in an instant. It's equally relaxing, stimulating and informative. I should probably become a librarian when I retire. I may need to work on my inside voice, though...
5. Doing what I "should" do. While I'm not a fan of doing things simply because I have to or I'm expected to, the feeling I get afterwards is pretty remarkable. For example, I rarely feel better than I do in the gym parking lot after a workout. Or bragging about how I got up at 5:15 to hop on an elliptical. (That's a true story - twice this week. It's ok if you're shocked; I am too.) Checking something off my to-do list is a dorky thrill for me and clicking 'send' on a project I've been working on is always a relief. I hate cleaning but adore a sparkling house, laundered sheets and an organized closet. So, as this list winds to a close, I'm about to do just what I "should" be doing right now - cleaning for our open house tomorrow.
6. Dreaming. In every sense of the word. I'm the world's best and most appreciative sleeper. Left to my own devices, I could easily sleep ten hours a day. I'm always happiest after a full night's sleep or a quick afternoon nap; therefore so is anyone who has to hang out with me. I also enjoy dreaming by imagining what our life will be like in five, ten, twenty or fifty years. Will I be have my own little PR (or stationery) shop? Be a college professor? A writer? Retired and addicted to pasta? Living in that gorgeous house with a huge porch downtown? Spending a year in a glass-bottomed hut in Bora Bora? Answering the phone for Bradley's furniture company? Wrangling seventeen childreen or just one? Hard to say. My eight and a half ideal hours of sleep each night give me lots of time to explore the possibilities though. Not counting naps on Sunday, of course.
Honorable mentions: teaching our 4-year-old class each Sunday, Christmas ornaments, Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, monogrammed stationery, monogrammed table linens, clean sheets, a good thesaurus, new journals, recording Bradley-isms, pretending I can sing, broken-in jeans, hot showers, pedicures, Febreze, lip gloss, naps, holding hands, holding babies, Clemson football, Clemson colors, Clemson people, Clemson's campus, old-school family pictures, rewatching favorite childhood movies, gelato and Diet Cherry Coke. Whew.
P.S. The title of this post is a definite reference to a favorite childhood movie, The Sound of Music. Add in Annie, Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Cutting Edge, Shakespeare in Love and With Honors and you have the perfect recipe for a 1990s Anne movie marathon, from 3rd grade to graduation. Anyone in?
What are your favorite six things? I tag Shelley, Kristen and Elizabeth.
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