life is almost good - My Favorite Things

What makes you feel alive?

I can think of a few things off the top of my head that just make my heart dance.

1- Cooking a dish jam packed with gorgeous colored vegetables and tantalizing aromas. Starting from scratch and building a beautiful masterpiece of flavor and texture…I love cooking.

2- Music. From Broadway musicals, to classical masterpieces, to movie scores…music just makes my soul cheer. It can calm me down, it can give me energy, it can make me emotional. Music is amazing.

3- Snuggling my babies. Obviously. The smell of the tops of their heads and the way their sweet, warm bodies just fit like a puzzle on mine just pours into my heart and fills it to the brim. I could hold them forever.

4- My husband’s eyes, sense of humor, and his many acts of love. Everything about him, really. Being in the same room as him makes me feel like I could run a marathon. He is my everything.

5- Watching my parents with their grandkids. The joy and love that my mother exudes when she is holding one of her babies’ babies is like no other. The way my dad goes to every single sports game his grandkids play is just admirable. I think in three years he’s missed one, off the top of my head. Once this past winter, he slipped and fell on the ice and landed right in his tailbone. He still hauled himself to our son’s basketball game and stood the whole time.

6- My friends. Sitting around a fire with them, traveling with them, cooking with them, falling during skiing with them, playing games with them, dancing with them, or just hanging out with them while we have a beer, friends… my friends make my heart sing. I love each of them so much. They are all so unique and bring so much happiness and fun to my life. You all know who you are and I could just squeeze you.

7- Nature. Beautiful, beautiful nature. I’m not so happy that it snowed this morning, April 6th, but I have to admit, watching it snow is breathtaking every time. When we lived near the Florida Keys, it was magical the way the air smelled and felt the closer you got to the water. The feeling of burrowing down into the wet sand and letting it settle, while the water returns to crystal clear…oh. Nothing like it. Or walking through thick forest with gorgeous green all around you, the smell of the grass and the trees, the fresh air… Planting something in the ground and tending to it, nurturing it, loving it, watching it grow up into a beautiful flower, or food. I could go on all day.

8- Coffee. This life-giving magic elixir that fills my mouth with warmth and flavor and just heats me up from the inside out….oh yes. That’s the stuff.

This coffee may be mixed with something ;)

9- Clean sheets. Mmm. Mmhmm. Yep. Best feeling in the world. Especially after a shower.

10- Having no plans. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy getting out and doing stuff, but that feeling that comes over you when you realize that nothing is standing in the way of settling into your favorite chair with a blanket, wine and a warm dog? Yup, that’s the stuff.

What is on your list? What makes you feel all the way good?

-L-