these are a few of my favorite things

Some days I have a hard time finding joy.  Today is one of those days.  [insert WHY]... Because I am down, I look to a few things that always make me happy.  I know happiness DNE joy, and the terms are not used interchangebly or synonymously, but, when I am happy, it is easier to see the real joy I have.

I'll just make a little list [some things very lame, I know]:

1. When someone tells me my hair looks long/good.  Ooook, now, we know I am too vain and concerned with how I look, and how self conscious I am about my hair... but seriously, when someone tells me my hair is looking good it just means so much to me!  Like, seriously, you caught the only good day this week!  You should have seen the messy bun and stringy ponytail all five other days!  Oh and, of course I am always trying to grow my hair out, so telling me it looks long is so encouraging!  Ha ha!  One thing for which I am so so thankful, Nick is always telling me how pretty and soft my hair is.  He knows how to get to my heart ;)

2. When I make time to read my Bible and journal.  Shoot, you would think with all the joy that brings, with all the peace and energy I get from being spiritually fed, from pursuing the God that is pursuing me, that I would be better about doing it.  You would think that knowing, having experienced the closeness that comes from being filled with His Word on a daily basis, would propel me to do it more often.  I have been doing better, trying to create a part of my daily routine that involves tending to my spiritual health more than just squeezing in a rushed prayer in the car on the way to work.  I so deeply desire for my vocabulary, conversation, interactions to be filled with the scriptures, for His Words to be so familiar and natural to me that it exudes from the outpouring of a an overflowing heart.  I yearn for the wisdom that is found in His truths.

3. Hanging out with my parents!  Is that lame?  Haha.  I consider myself so blessed to have the parents I do and love being able to spend time with them.  I love love love my momma and usually talk to her at least once a day on the phone (is that bad for someone who is going to be 25 this year???).  I just think my mom is so wise and fun and knows so much about life and living and loving and can offer me such unique, special encouragement whenever I need it.  It is so great to be able to shift into adult mother and daughter relationship and be friends too.  And my dad is one of the wisest and smartest men I will ever know.  Part of that of course comes from the superhero he was to me as a little girl, and still shines through as I am grown-up (haha, not) and still need him to swoop in and rescue me from time to time.  He is so special to me and I deeply treasure our relationship.  [Now, I also have been beyond blessed as I also have the best in-laws known to mankind as well!]

4. The best friends in the whole world.  I sometimes wonder how I got so lucky.   Even as friends here in Manhattan have graduated and moved on from this place, I have been SO blessed to build more and more relationships with people here.  I thank God for keeping me here for so long, as there are so many friends, friends I want to keep forever, that I would not have if He hadn't!  That is not to mention the friends that are not here in Man, Kan!  I am beyond blessed to have friends across the country and wish we all lived in the same two-hour radius and could be BFF's all at the same time and place!

5.  Nick.R.Brown.  Mmm yahhhh.  Daily I thank God for a man who truly gets me (although he may not think so) and knows how to challenge me, encourage me, push me, and love me enough to make me want to be better.  I can't even express how lucky I am and how perfect he is (in so many imperfect ways].

6.  And Petee.  Best dog in the whole world.

And see, now my mood is lifted, I am going to clean the living room and go on a run!  (I am training for a 1/2 marathon which is in 7 weeks... not that I'm counting or anything...!  Doing a 10K aka 6.4 miles this Saturday with my momma... hopefully no snow and all sunny skies!)

"I thank my God every time I remember you..."