A whole lot of bloggy love and a great big Meme!

First off, thanks for the friends who "came out" during our de-lurking day.

Georgie in Tasmania - G'day mate!  Thanks for reading and love your guts!  PS - I have a "second son" serving a mission in that area right now.  In fact, Tasmania was his first assignment.  Watch over him would ya?
xoxoxox


Token Male Reader from AZ - A pre-mssionary eh? Let me know when you get your call.  You'll be in our prayers.  In fact we pray for people by name.  "Please bless our Token Male Reader......."  will now be included.  Good luck to you, and I'd give you the whole xoxoxox thing too, but um, you ARE going to be a missionary and all.  I'll just remind you that I love you!

Patricia - Another gal called MeeMaw?  I freaking LOVE you already!  We need to be friends.

MaeRae - okay, she's not a blurker but she did give me a fabulous award last night!  Bloggy awards are F.U.N!

The rules are simply for me to list the 10 things that make me the most happy and then I pass on the award to 10 other bloggers.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezie.  Wait.  Is that phrase even still cool?  I never know anymore and dont' want to continue looking like a dorkwad.  Let me know if that one is out and there is something else in it's place.

Okay, without further ado....... 10 things that make me happy (in no particular order):

10.  My boys.  A few years after having Tuffy, I really wanted one more.  Just a little girl.  I dreamed about her, I was sure we were meant to have just one more.  But after having to use fertility drugs to get our Tuffy, Splenda said, nope.  Not going that route.  If Heavenly Father has one more to send us, it will happen naturally.  It didn't.  Now in hindsight, my family of  'my three sons' is exactly as it should happen.  I love them to the death and would do anything for them.

9.  Sissy.  There are no words.  I love her in a way that can't be described.  While it is different than the love I have for my own sons, it is not less or more intense, just different.  I don't suppose it can be understood until one is a grandparent themselves.  And she looks just the like the little girl I saw in my dream all those many years ago.  I know she is meant to be a part of our family.

8.  Splenda.  My best friend, my confidant, my love.  My absolute everything.  He keeps me grounded.  Reminds me when it's time to rein it in, but also laughs at and with me.  I cannot imagine my life without him.  He defends me when I am wronged, and corrects me when I need it.  He loves me and all my freaking quirkiness.  He is the absolute best there is!

7.  Friends.  I am a very lucky woman in that I feel like I have more than my share of friends.  Good friends.  Friends that listen, counsel, make me laugh, teach me, and are willing to be a little crazy and have fun with me.  I was told in a special blessing years ago, that my life would be filled with good friends and that they would help me in times of need.  I find that to be true every single day.  And this goes for all my bloggy friends whom I have never met IRL, but when I do, it will be like meeting someone I have known my whole life.  Maybe I should add that to my bucket list.  Make a visit to every state to meet blog friends in person.  That would be cool.

6.  Jordan.  Wha?  You put your DOG on here?  Heck yeah.  She makes me happy.  Even if she is the ultimate yapper that I need to work more on her training with that.  Even if her bark is so high and shrill it makes even the deafest person wince.  Even if  her breath stinks and she talks to much.  She makes me happy.  I would take her everywhere with me if it was allowed.  I'm starting to freak out about what to do with her in March while we are in Cancun.

5.  Diet coke.  Or diet pepsi.  I'm not particularly picky.  It just has to be brown, diet and bubbly.  I think I enjoy the carbonation the most.  That first swig of the day.......pure bliss. 

4.  A clean house.  I don't mean just stuff put away, I mean CLEAN.  SCOURED.  I grew up with the habit of scouring the house every Saturday (I could be wrong, correct me if need be Mom, but I sure remember it that way), and I loved the feeling when we were done.  I still try to get that done every Saturday, but lately it feels like we are a tich busy and it goes about every other week.  But once done, and you have that clean smell going on.....LOVE IT.  Make me muy happy.

3.  Coupons.  Okay, I admit it,  I am a coupon clipper and user.  Every week.  I keep a little envelope and I only clip coupons on products that I normally buy.  Each week before we head out to the Wally World (gasp), I review what we need, pull out the coupons and review the expiration dates.  If something is about to expire but we don't necessarily need it right away, I still get it.  Just saving the freakin .35 cents makes me feel a little happier inside.  I feel most happiness when at the check out line and I see that after they deduct all my coupons I have knocked 5 bucks or so off my bill.  Somtimes it's been as high as 12+ dollars.  So yeah, coupons make me happy.

2.  Eating out.  I hate cooking.  HATE IT!  Which would be why Splenda does the majority of it.  Yeah I can whip out a few specialties but in general, I'd rather clean the kitchen after someone else cooks the meal.  Even better, is eating out.  I could eat out, or order something in, every single night of the week and never get sick of it.  Ever. 

1.  My relgion, my faith.  Remember how I said these were in no particular order?  Well, this one is hard to put into words.  I was raised LDS (Mormon), and until I was a teenager, was an active participant.  Then, as many teens do, especially those with challenges in their lives, get rebellious and choose to walk away from it trying a different lifestyle.  After I had my kids, got my head back on straight,  the gospel has become one of the biggest things in my life.  It defines me, my choices and brings me so much happiness.  I do know what it is like without it, and I much prefer life with it.  The happiness I feel from it's principles, my association with my ward family, the strong testimony I have of Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to serve in my church are all encompassing and as I said before, very much defines who I am.

So that's it.  That's my 10 for now.  Of course the rules state I pass on to 10 other bloggers, and as much as I LOVE RULES. (no lie), I can never pick just 10.  So I am opening it to all of you.  Grab the logo and post your 10 happy things.  It's a great exercise in examing yourself and creating feelings of gratitude.

xoxoxox
M-Cat