37

I have not felt so bloggy lately. Which usually means I am in a shlump. January does that to me. As I indicated in my last post. But every time I have checked on my little blog lately, linking to other non-shlumpy bloggers, I have been faced with that afore-mentioned post. And I am tired of it. Tired of the complaining. So I decided to write another post. One that was absolutely whine free. Because, let's face it, nobody wants to hear it. And more important, I really don't have a whole lot to complain about. In fact, my life is pretty darn sweet. So I thought I would come up with 37 reasons why it's so good, in celebration of that birthday of mine. So, here they are; 37 things I love about my life right now:

1. Oooh, number one is always the hardest, so much expectation involved. So I will start with something really simple, ease into things. And here it is. Rain-X. I know, right? The thing is, we have had a dry winter. But back in October when we were home in Portland my dad put some Rain-X on my windshield. And today it was not so dry. And there we were, driving along Redwood Road and those raindrops were flying off the windshield. The stuff is amazing. And it reminded me of my dad. Because those are the kinds of things he does.
2. Brooks. That is the very best thing about the beginning of every year. Celebrating the birth of that sweet boy of mine.
3. This one is extra exciting. Hawaii. In fact, I am spilling over with excitement. We made the reservations today. And in March we will be heading to Paradise.
4. My new anthro boots. I am obsessed. With shoes that is. But these boots have to be the cutest I have ever owned.
5. Christmas decorations. We took ours down today. And as we did, we reminisced about where they came from, who they came from, when we got them, etc. It was so fun, that little trip down memory lane.
6. Teaching. I love my job. Even when I hate it, I love it.
7. Wood floors. This always makes any favorites list I have. I love the feel of wood floors under my bare feet.
8. My husband- He puts up with a lot from me. And from our kids. And he hardly ever complains. He just comes home from work every day and hugs us all tight.
9. My neighborhood. I love living here. I love the people and the houses and the lake and the temple and all the things that make this place home.
10. The picture of Christ on my bedroom wall. It looks just like the Savior I have always pictured in my head.
11. My cousin Stacey. She is one of those people in my life that I just love, all the time.
12. Skiing. I love speeding down that mountain. I love the way it feels, gliding along the snow. I love being there with my boys, doing this thing I love with them.
13. I made some goals for myself this year. And one of them is to let myself be creative. I used to do this all the time. Before I was a momma I had all kinds of creativity spilling over into my life. And in the last 10 years that creativity has come out in different ways. But I miss the old ways too. The creative things I used to do with my hands, painting and drawing and scrapping. And I am going to let myself take the time for that this year. I am so excited.
14. I was thinking of this earlier today. Thinking of all the best friends I have had over my lifetime. There have been lots. I have been so lucky that way. But the one friend that was the very best was my mom. My whole life I would have said that. As a little girl, as a teenager, as an adult. My mom has always been the best kind of friend.
15. I love staying home with my kids. Some moms can't and I have been able to. I have never taken that for granted. I have been there for all the everyday stuff, the first steps and sick tummies and nap times and stories. That is a gift.
16. Our house. I love so much about it. But mostly, I love the way it feels. I love walking in the door and feeling a little sense of relief every time, that I am where I belong.
17. A good black dress. I have several. And somehow they always make you look better than you really do. Every girl needs that.
18. Going to lunch with Anne Marie. We have been going to lunch for almost 6 years. We went to lunch when Jeffrey and Jonas were little and got in fights at the McDonald's play land. We went to lunch when Paige was a baby. We went to lunch after Owen and Alex got out of kindergarten. We went to lunch when Brooks was a baby and when Harrison was born. Every stage of our lives has been played out over chicken nuggets and diet coke. We know each other. We have laughed and cried and talked for hours. Those lunches, that friendship, are a part of my life. A constant. I love that.
19. Jeff's baby picture. It was the one his mom had framed on her dresser. He looks like my little boys and like himself all at once. And it makes me think of how much his mom loved him. I can tell, looking at that picture. I can imagine her kissing those squishy little cheeks. I can imagine her loving those little baby gums and staring at those big blue eyes and just falling in love with that baby of hers. Just like I fall in love with mine. And it softens me.
20. Scrabble. There, I said it. Jeff's new i-pad is good for only one thing. And that is scrabble.
21. Our couch. It is old and red and stained here and there. But it is very comfy. And it fits our entire family. And that is where we spend a lot of our time, squished together on that couch. And that is my favorite.
22. The book I am reading. It is about prayer. I am learning all sorts of things. And it inspires me.
23. Pinterest. I love it.
24. Jeffrey. We have been working on math lately. Just the two of us. He can drive me crazy, that boy of mine. And then all the sudden he doesn't. And it all clicks. For a minute I can see him clearly and understand. And he understands too. And we have this moment. Not just a math moment, but a REAL moment. This mother-son connection. And if math can do that, sign me up.
25. Ballet. Or maybe 4 year old girls. It's a toss up. But seeing my little Pippa in her leotard and tutu makes me want to eat her up on the spot. She is so cute I can barely stand it.
26. Clean toilets. It's the simple things, really. But Brooks has decided that drinking out of the toilet is his new favorite. Or even better, dipping Q-tips into the toilet and sucking the water out of the tip. It's awesome. And so the toilets around here are spic and span lately. Silver lining, folks, silver lining.
27. Adele- Love that voice of hers. My favorite new sing-along album.
28. Jeff bought me a locket. I had been looking for one for months. I knew exactly what I wanted. And then we found it when we were in Portland. And it is perfect.
29. I love compliments. Everyone does. But I think they are especially important. Last week my friend gave Owen the nicest compliment. Owen was standing next to me at church and Luci said how handsome he was. She really meant it. And I agreed. And he heard it, both of us gushing on him. He smiled and maybe blushed a little. And that is why compliments are so great. They make people feel good. I am such a fan.
30. Our family motto. I know, so cheesy. But we have one. "Be excellent to each other." Our kids have a hard time with it. They are not always so nice to each other. OK, that could be a tiny understatement. But we try. And this motto of ours comes from one of my very favorite movies, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I watched this movie a hundred times when I was in junior high. At least. And it seemed so inspired, so obvious. We need to be excellent to each other. And sometimes it works.
31. Castle. It is our favorite show. Jeff and I snuggle into our bed and try to figure it all out before Beckett and Castle do. And the tension there, will she just admit that she remembers already?
32. The gym. I love going. I love feeling stronger and skinnier than I was before I went.
33. Books. I have a stack on my nightstand. A tall stack of happy anticipation that I have vowed to finish this year. Another aspect of that "let myself be creative" thing. Books give me the best ideas. Reading make me want to write. It makes me feel creative. And I waste too much of my time on things that don't do that. So this year I will read. A lot. And so I created this stack of books. Part of that stack is the 'Percy Jackson' series. My mom and dad got them for me for Christmas. I can't wait to jump in. But I am making myself go in order, top to bottom. And 'Sarah's Key' was first. Not my favorite. And then the prayer one. Which I am still working on. Then 'Percy Jackson.' And 'The Catcher in the Rye' after that. I love books.
34. Clinique lip gloss. I never splurge on make-up. Target is my go-to store. But it wasn't always so. When I was a teenager I had this crazy skin that reacted to everything. Except expensive, hypo-allergenic make-up. It spoiled me. Or I should say, my mom spoiled me. And then I grew up and had to buy my own make-up. And my skin calmed down. And I shopped at Target. Until Jeff bought me some clinique lip gloss for Christmas last year. And I decided I liked it. And the colors are so pretty. And so I splurge every now and then. And that's ok.
35. I made scrapbooks for my kids at the end of the year. One for each of my babes. They love them. They love looking back and remembering what they did and how they looked and where we went. Think of how fun it will be years from now. When they are all grown and have families of their own, they will show their own children what their childhood looked like. I love the idea of that.
36. Cafe Rio. I love it. The pork salad and salmon tacos and chips and queso. Manna, I tell you. I think I could probably eat there everyday for the rest of my life. It is the one place I never tire of. Ever.
37. Baby names. I love finding new names to love, adding to my list of possibilities. Do other people love this like I do? Just the thought of possibly, maybe, perhaps having another baby makes me giddy. And one major reason for that giddiness is the fact that I get to name that baby. It's like a game, finding a name that we both like that seems to fit that baby and the names of our other children and our last name and... A fun, obsessive little game. One that changes from day to day. So, for the record, today I like Oliver for a boy and Luci for a girl. Or maybe Noah and Stella. Such a fun game...

So, there it is. A very long list of a lot of random things about this life of mine that I love. It is good to think about. To think about the big things and the little things and the things you never even realized made your life happy. A lot more productive than all that whining. But I may have to re-think the whole birthday correlation in the future, 37 is my max.