Embracing JOY

I thought it might be helpful to have a list of things that brought me joy – you know, for the times that I’m feeling joy-deprived.

Here’s what I came up with:

1. The Boy’s jokes
2. Bridget’s sweet face
3. The way Ben crawls on my lap while I’m sitting at the computer
4. The smell of fresh cut grass
5. The first blooms in spring
6. The colors of fall leaves
7. Catching the first snowflakes of winter
8. Rainbows
9. Freshly washed baby smell
10. Having my feet rubbed
11. A great run
12. The smell of spring
13. New shoes
14. Putting on jammies after being in work clothes
15. Bubble baths
16. Looking at mountains
17. Red tailed hawks
18. The smell of the annual Kansas prairie burns
19. Birds on our bird feeder
20. The way Bridget follows me through the house
21. Time spent visiting with my Grandma
22. Spending time with my mom, dad and sisters
23. Spending time with my close friends
24. The naughtiness of my best friends
25. Christmas lights
26. A warm shower on a cold morning
27. The first bird chirps in the morning
28. Sunrises
29. Sunsets – especially the ones in Kansas and in Kenya
30. Springfield, MO’s dogwood trees in bloom
31. Washington, DC’s cherry trees in bloom
32. When Ben or Bridget pout (because it’s so darn cute)
33. Watching The Princess Bride
34. Geoff Moore and The Distance’s Good to Be Alive
35. Toto’s Africa
36. The Boy’s ability to name nearly any song that we own (1000s) within a few bars of the opening
37. Rainy days while I’m in my pajamas
38. Sunny, but not hot days, while I’m dozing in the shade
39. The sound of ocean waves
40. Just chatting emails from long-lost friends
41. Having coffee or lunch, just for fun
42. A gentle breeze
43. Hiking
44. Reading a great book
45. Eating my lunch outside
46. Catching all of the stoplights “just right”
47. When someone holds the door open for me
48. Finding a geocache
49. Listening to a piece of orchestra music that’s so beautiful that it makes me cry
50. Clean sheets

Have you ever thought about what things bring you joy?