Goodmorning, GCC!!

I must confess that every time I see the word “happy” I either hear the Cheerios slogan “Bee Happy, Be Healthy” (No, that is not misspelled. See, the honey bee pun?) or the opening shot of Elle Woods, spritzing Clinique’s popular fragrance Happy on her wrist while she is getting ready, in the fantastic (yes, I love this movie) film, Legally Blonde (you know, deep, deep down, that you love this movie too). 

Why am I going on about the word “happy,” you may ask? Well, a good friend of mine informed me this morning that my blog is sad. Not sad, in a pathetic sort of way, but sad as in emotion. Now, I know that he was kidding, however, it got me thinking. I have been posting about alot of introspective, sad stories.

I have decided that it is time for me to lighten it up a bit!!

During the second half of my senior year of highschool, a few of my close friends and I ended up in a study hall together during the last block of the day. This study hall was run by one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Watterson, and basically consisted of joking, gossiping, serious talks about wordly issues (seriously, we talked through a bunch of different topics with Mr. Watterson), complaining about a highschool that we all secretly love, a bit of school work, (done mostly by me) and the exchanging of wisdom between friends.  

During one of these study halls, one of my friends came up with the idea to make “happy lists.” Simply put, happy lists ended up being very, very, very long lists of anything and everything that we could think of that made us happy. We would spend about half a block laughing and coming up with the lists, while spending the rest of the block reading them outloud to each other. “Happy lists” are one of my favorite memories of my senior year; I still have my list in a keepsake box, safely tucked away in my bedroom.

I would like to share a bit of my list with you today, and encourage you to make one of your own. Creating my happy list forced me to see all the blessings I have in my life, and sharing it out loud brought me closer to my friends.

So, here are 50 things that make me happy, in no particular order. Maybe, some of these make you happy as well, or maybe they will just help brighten your day a little. Enjoy 🙂

1. dancing on a cold, hardwood floor

2. watching the sun rise through the wind shield of my car

3. eating popcorn

4. my family

5. shopping

6. watching my brother win a 100 hurdles race

7. Ryan Reynolds

8. black Starbucks coffee

9. teaching dance

10. watching a Buffalo Bills football game (no matter the outcome)

11. the moment immediatly following finishing a big project

12. unexpected smiles

13. late night hangouts at Coffee Culture

14. a fantastic pair of high heels

15. John Wayne movies

16. dreading the last page of a great book

17. men in white t-shirts and blue jeans

18. the last day of the semester

19. blasting the music in my car

20. church on sunday morning, immediatly followed by the NFL pregame show

21. posing for pictures

22. accents (English, Australian, Southern….love them all)

23. Johnny Depp

24. riding an ATV through a cornfield

25. the smell of fall

26. surprises

27. writing

28. work boots

29. hearing from someone you havent seen in a while

30. walking through the halls of my highschool (making lots of noise in my high heels)

31. Friday night football games, cheering on my brother

32. a great pair of jeans

33. the color black

34. going out to dinner

35. music from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s

36. 90’s alt. rock

37. Friends

38. diamond jewlery

39. finishing a test with 40 minutes left in free class time

40. the smell of vanilla

41. The Office

42. Aerosmith

43. Any movie/TV show produced by Lorne Michaels

43. vacations

44. tail-gating

45. the colors red, white, and blue (multiple reasons)

46. crazy jingles that get stuck in your head

47. That 70’s Show

48. chocolate

49. thunderstorms

50. cheesy disaster movies

There are over 300 items on my original list, 50 is just a drop in the bucket. Please think about writing a list of your own, it really does help to put your life in perspective.

Until next time,

Emily