What makes you...

Happy?




Thanks to Kelly at My Voice, My View for passing along this blog award. I am not always the best at keeping up with these when they come along but occasionally they come along at the perfect moment such as this one!

10 things that make me blissfully happy...

1. Sunshine, sunny days, sunrise, sunset. Sun = blissful, happy. Its my drug of choice.

By the way, does anyone remember the movie Sunshine from 1973? It was a beautiful but sad movie based on tape recording journals by Jacquelyn M. Helton who died of bone cancer at age 20. She left these recordings behind for her 2 year old daughter. In the movie her husband sings "Sunshine on my Shoulders," a John Denver song, to her. It is the ultimate tearjerker and while I was young when I saw it in a re-run, it has stayed with me for years. Please tell me someone remembers the movie?

2. Crawling into my bed with freshly laundered sheets. Its a pure bonus if those sheets were hung on the line to dry outside.... nothing beats the scent of fresh air.

3. A good story. Either in a conversation, a book or a movie. I am sucked in and won't come up for air if the story captivates me.

4. Travel. Anywhere. Anytime. I've been to Russia, England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Canada and Mexico. I've been to most of the states in the United States. But my travel partner has recently been struck by a bit of claustrophobia and that includes airplanes. I have my passport ready just in case. Anyone want to go somewhere with me?

5. A certain blond-haired, brown-eyed, seven-year-old named Colton. Colton smiles with his whole face, from his dancing eyes to his dimpled cheeks... he lights up when he smiles and instantly lights my world.

6. A certain brown-haired, brown-eyed, nine-year-old named Nolan. Nolan lives most of his life at 9.5 on the intensity scale. He is a study in contrasts, loud one day, and sullen the next. But he doesn't hold back in passionately pursuing everything he loves.

7. The first sip of my morning coffee.

8. Sharing the early morning with my husband and our coffee and the newspaper.

9. Watching Mark Ladwig and Amanda Evora skate in Sunday night in the AT&T US Figure Skating Olympic Send-Off. Did you see them?  Do you see why I am so excited?

10. You. Yes, you reading this. Blogging has certainly been a life changing experience, but the reward has been getting to know all of you and having you enrich my life. Bloggie friends=blissful.

Thanks again, Kelly!



I am choosing...

Susan

Kaleena

Happy Bend Girl  Be sure to check out her Valentine's Day giveaway too!

My Cozy Cabin

Golf adventures.

Nolan

Cousin Gunnar

Colton

Nolan, Colton and their cousin Gunnar competed in their end of the season golf tournament on Monday. We awoke to thunderstorm clouds and the threat of rain, but it held off long enough for our tournament. Each of the boys played in their own division. Colton in the 8 and under. Nolan in the 9 and 10 year olds and Gunnar in the 11 and 12 year olds.

They each played a number of holes either on the course or on a manufactured spot on the driving range for Colton. All three of them putted the same course roped off on the putting green. We couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised at the little awards ceremony at the end of the tourney. Gunnar got first place in putting for his age group with a 20. I think he had plans of retiring the clubs for next year, but Uncle Rick says "no way." You are a for real golfer when you take first place and you need to continue!

And Nolan tied for first place in his age group with an 18. Not to be forgotten however was Colton who also won his age group with a 19! And Colton got 3rd place overall on his holes. Leave it to the 7 year old to show everyone how its done. He had his own little following of kids who clapped and cheered for him when he won and he absolutely beamed.

But our early morning showed a bit in our baseball games later that night. Nolan struggled with pitching, as did the other two boys who had played in the golf tourney. We won the first game and lost our second one. We will need a big win tomorrow night to earn a spot in the championship bracket for Thursday and Friday.

I've been messing with the blog design all day. I've settled on this for a bit. I'll try it on and see if it fits. What do you think? Rick cast a no vote because he says all of my links are at the bottom and nobody will scroll down to see anything. But I love the clean look. What do you think? Which do you prefer, content in the sidebar, or clean design?

Blog Meme.

Both Liss at A Memory Forever and Missy at Is It Just Me? tagged me with this Premio Meme Award! The rules say to list 7 facts about myself and pass it on to 7 people. Thanks Liss, thanks Missy, its fun to be tagged and asked to play along!

1. I have been jinxed on my birthday more times than I can remember.  Either someone dies, like my great grandmother or John F. Kennedy Jr., or I am sick or injure myself.  With my birthday coming next month I both love it and dread it all at once!  
2. 4 days before my birthday Rick and I will celebrate 12 years of marriage, although we officially started dating over 23 years ago... Uff da! 
3. This past May marks the 20th anniversary of my trip to Europe.  I graduated from college on a Sunday and flew to London the very next day.  I spent 6 weeks traveling with 28 other psychology students, through 7 countries: England, Russia, France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany.  I've had the travel bug ever since.  
4. I have always loved going to school.  I have my Master's Degree in Psychology but if I could afford it I'd go back and get my PhD.
5. I have had the extreme honor and privilege to stay at home with the boys for 9 years now.  I am both fearful and excited about beginning this next phase as both boys will be in school all day next year.  I do have a possible short term job lined up and will reveal that at a later date... but after that... who knows?  
6. I am double jointed in my left thumb and my left hip.  Aren't you excited to learn of that random useless info? 
7. I had no idea how much comic relief my boys would offer me daily.  Upon hearing of Michael Jackson's death, Nolan said "On no, not Michael Jackson.  Ohhhhh no. Oh no.  "Pretty sad, huh Nolan?"  "Yeah, he says, he was such a great BASKETBALL player and all."  "Nolan, not Michael Jordan."  "Oh,"  he says. "Who is Michael Jackson?"  

Now to tag 7 others. Feel free to grab the "award" and pass it along if you'd like to play! I'll tag:

1. Stephanie at Baseball and Tutus
   
2. Jackie at A Teacher's Pet
3. Robin at All Things Heart and Home
4. Jill at Sneaky Momma
5. Kaleena at McNabb Land
6. Sara at Gitzen Girl
7. Robynn at Robynn's Ravings