Happiness Tag Challenge

I'm up to the happiness tag challenge listed on Darci's blog... She challenged readers to list ten things that make us happy excluding kids and husband, because we all are pretty happy with them (at least most of the time...when they aren't making offensive comments at high school football games :).

1. Staying up late and sleeping in... My grandma says that she hates to go to bed, but when she finally gets there she hates to get up. That's where I get it from. When I was a teenager I was a night owl. Now, not so much, because I have to go to work and get Kamee Sue off to school. But most nights I have a hard time talking myself into going to bed and when that alarm goes off in the morning, I swear to myself that I'm going to bed earlier that night because I hate to leave my warm bed!

2. Music. I love everything from Hard Rock to Opera and Hip Hop to Country. It adds mood to every minute in my life. It gives emotion to what I'm experiencing and allows me to vent, rejoice or just relax.

3. A “Just can’t put it down” book. I love to get lost in someone’s creation of adventure, drama or romance. When I read the world could come to an end, but I’d be too busy reading to notice it.

4. Bubble baths. For serenity and reflection. Being the grown up forces me to be on “do duty” all the time. Some of my best decision making is done in the bath tub where, for just a few minutes, I’m just me and not the mom or the wife. I have some time to think and not do.

5. Lightning Bugs! Not only are they a sign of spring, but they just float there looking like stars close enough to touch. The first time I saw one I was elated and each spring I look forward to seeing their buoyant twinkling glow.

6. My scrapbook buddies. Sometimes we get a few pages done and sometimes we just make each other laugh. I’m really blessed with this group of friends to share with and to be inspired by! Thank you, Ladies!

7. Flowers. Any flower will do, but my most favorite flower is the Stargazer Lily. They smell so wonderful and are so beautiful with bright pink and white trumpets. They look like they are singing!

8. The Drum Line. Those drummers show off talented precision and fun beats that I can feel in my chest. It takes great effort to be in time with each other and they make it sound so easy! I could listen to them all day long!

9. Photography. Sometimes I have the camera in time to snap the perfect picture and other times I commit the scene to memory because I didn’t bring it with me! Either way, I love pictures of everything! Landscapes, animals, people, or just junk. That is also the meat of the whole scrapbooking thing that I love to do…

10. I saved the last one for my most favorite place on earth, Bear Lake. Living far away from the lake has been harder than living far away from my family! The sounds and smells and the gorgeous blue water live in my veins. Sometimes, when I’m down in the dumps or can’t sleep at night, I vision myself lying on that beach and I can feel the sand beneath me. I can hear the waves and the nearby children playing and laughing soaking up that glorious water. I can smell the exhaust from the boats drifting by with a skier in tow. And I can feel the sun raining down over me. It brings me a little closer to my mom, where she and I used to play when I was a teenager before she passed away. I guess that I look at the lake as an old loved one. It’s such a happy place to be…

This was super fun to do! It has really made me think about all the things that make me happy and how many times I wanted to list something that my husband or my daughter do that makes me happy, but that is obvious. I’m glad that I did this! So, I hope that all of you, who ever you are…if you are reading this and haven’t already done it, try it. It makes you happy!