Things To Be Happy About ~ June Edition

Whew - I've been a busy blogger! I realize that I haven't blogged in about two weeks. There has been various things going on that have kept me wrapped up in life and away from the computer (and that's okay!!). I have lots of topics to blog about and catch up on, but for now I wanted to talk about my favorite "things to be happy about" from my desk calendar in June.

If you are new to this, I have a day-by-day calendar (the kind where you tear off a page each day) and everyday the calendar page lists a few things to be happy about. I keep all the pages from the month and at the end of the month I pick my favorites and tell you why.

Click on the names of the months here to read the previous five months, if you are interested. January, February, March, April, and May .

Here are my June things to be happy about...

• Smell of fresh paint ~ I love a freshly painted room - just a nice, new start to a room...a blank canvas if you will. We have painted all the areas of our house, but a couple and while it's obviously a big, time consuming job, it really makes a room look so much better and has that "new" smell
• Meeting your true love ~ My life was forever changed when I met John face to face for the first time on January 8, 2002 (which you can read about here)
• Vacation starting ~ I was fortunate enough to go on several family vacations growing up and John and I have been on wonderful vacations together as well - whether a week long adventure or a weekend road trip. I have so many "vacation memories" throughout my life and that's a blessing to me. There's nothing like preparing and getting ready for a fun vacation and then to experience the excitement of it actually beginning!
• Batter-fried shrimp ~ Oh my! Probably one of my favorite foods in the world. Give me a plate of fried shrimp and we'll have a long-lasting friendship...or is it friendshrimp? Oh I couldn't resisit..haha!
• Brownie Batter ~ So this means 1) there are brownies being made and 2) there's a bowl and beaters to lick - mmm!
• Friendly Salespeople ~ I think nice, friendly, happy people who work in stores are rare these days. It seems more often than not, they are rude, grumpy or just seem mad at the world. I understand that I don't know what's happening in there personal lives, but you would think they could at least be somewhat pleasant. I really enjoy an encounter with a salesperson that seems to have a joyous, kind personality
• Using the dining room ~ This is a lost art in my opinion! John and I are guilty of eating in the living room or at the bar, but there's just something about sitting at your dining table and enjoying a meal and good conversation - not watching TV and not rushing. I wish more families still ate as a family in the dining room or at the dining table - no matter what time of day or what meal. I really enjoy playing board games at the dining table too
• AlphaBits Cereal ~ A childhood favorite of mine, I called them "bitits". I recently discovered them again and they are as good as ever
• Deviled Eggs ~ Such a simple side item with a meal, but very tasty. We had them with our 4th of July meal...yummy!
• Sunday Rituals ~ We have a few routines on our Sundays. We always have a good breakfast before heading off to Sunday school and church. Then it's home for lunch and then we take sometime to call and visit with our parents (who all live in different towns from us). Following that it's usually nap time, looking at the newspaper and clipping weekly coupons. We usually have a baseball game on tv on Sunday afternoons in the spring/summer, but in the fall, Sunday afternoon and evening is football watching time. We typically have a big meal for Sunday supper and then play a game or two
• Lemon-scented Furniture Polish ~ Oh the smell of cleanliness - I love it!
• Cherry Turnovers ~ I love anything cherry...cherry pie, chocolate covered cherries, cherry preserves and add to that cherry turnovers - oh so delicious. This is also something we have on Christmas mornings at my Dad's house so it's a sentimental treat as well.
• Scrapbooks ~ Scrapbooking is by far my favorite hobby!! Sadly though, I just don't have as much time as I would like to work on them. I'm so behind on scrapbooking various events, vacations, celebrations and holidays, but I'll catch up in time. Anytime I am able to work on them is so fun and enjoyable for me. I have a ton of scrapbooking supplies so it's always fun to "play" with it all and capture memories with pictures matched with paper, stamps, stickers, die-cuts, etc. I have a list of scrapbook pages to make - whew! We always love getting out our scrapbooks and "looking back" on all of our memories - so awesome.

Well, like I said I have MUCH more to blog about and pictures to share so I will update as much as I can whenever I am able, but until then find something to bring you happiness. It truly is the simple things in live that can bring you so much joy.

Until we meet again...
Riley