So this has been the running trend for a while, I suppose. I first heard about it through Erica, when she was going through a hard time. And then Jacintha and I created a pretty general one. And then my dear friend Katie Barnett made one not long ago, and I feel like I would like to follow suit! It's a "good things list", and basically it is a list of all the things that make me smile or give me an constant sense of gratitude. I would love to share this with y'all, in hopes that maybe one or two of them could brighten your day.
Good Things List
1. New kinds of teas and the million different ways there are to make it.
2. Finding really funny ways of scaring the crap out of people by jumping out at them and startling them. There is honestly nothing funnier in the entire world.
3. The sound of Red Wanting Blue
4. The passion of Honor by August
5. The sound and passion of Glen Hansard ;)
6. Paul Hemminger's laugh, and the way his joy fills a room
7. When you're exclusively with the same group of people for a few months, and it's come down to your last day together. You look around the room and realize that the bond you've created with these people is unbreakable and will be completely unlike anything you will experience for the rest of your life.
8. The breath of air that you gasp to take in after you've jumped/leaped/climbed somewhere that's technically illegal for you to be, and you realize you're safe...for the moment.
9. Half sitting, half standing in the back of a pickup truck, screaming at the top of your lungs and laughing uncontrollably as you go speeding down some back country road.
10. Arriving somewhere you've never been before, and having incredibly high expectations for all the beauty you will find there.
11. Seeing something beautiful in everything. Life is a gift, my friends.
12. The way I feel like the most special girl in the world when my brother, Jared, takes my hands, looks me in the eyes, and tells me that I'm pretty.
13. Saying the word, "sheeps", even though the correct plural form is "sheep".
14. God's unending grace, and His promise to fulfill us with His salvation and perfect love!
15. Days with no technology
16. Lighthouses, and how mysterious they are to me.
17. The annual lake trip with my best friends-- and the fact that they have stayed my best friends for so many years.
18. The moment when you think you've figured someone out-- and then realizing that there's just way too much to that person to ever truly figure them out.
19. Bagpipes
20. Moments of natural splendor in the nature that God created
21. A split second when you're dancing a piece that you've rehearsed over and over- and you realize that you are projecting and connecting with every single person in the audience. And that just pushes you to give even more.
22. "Walking the stage" before a performance
23. Jazz cello
24. Chords that make you tear up automatically when you hear them.
25. Coming across someone playing a grand piano on a stage in an empty auditorium. They think they're alone, and they think they're playing for no one but the ghosts of wanting hearts that were there before. But you stay there in the silence and shadow and close your eyes and listen.
26. Andy (my sister's fiancee) hugs- and how it just engulfs you.
27. Hole-in-the-wall restaurants
28. A good handshake
29. Erica Reese- and how she is the most genuine person I know.
30. Finding a locked door to some abandoned building and being able to open it with a random object.
31. The sound of an acoustic guitar when everything else around you is silent.
32. Hitting a quint with a rifle PERFECTLY on the first try. (For all those who don't know-- yes, I used to spin rifles).
33. Living at St. Tom's, and the fact that I could have filled up at least 50 more spots with all the things I love about the people there.
34. My Uncle Joe's annual Pig Roast
35. Katie Barnett's eyes- and how just one look at them today made me immediately think about how beautiful of a woman she is.
36. Cane's. Mmmmm Cane's.
37. Times Square at about 10:30 p.m.
38. Looking at my dad, and knowing exactly what he's thinking.
39. Talking through plastic cups and a string that attaches them.
40. Father Mike at 80's night...with his Priest attire and a rainbow fro wig.
41. Christie Mook's girly behavior. I truly think I started to appreciate my femininity more because of how much I love her.
42. When my Granny calls me "Missy Lou".
43. Realizing that I will never have full control in my life, and imagining myself standing in the waves at an ocean with my arms outstretched and just letting it slip away.
44. Speaking in a Scottish accent
45. Operating a chain saw
46. Learning how to drive stick from learning how to drive a tractor.
47. The Arter family
48. Huge storms
49. Wakeboarding
50. Nyoh's: the place where I line dance, where my sister teaches line dancing, and where she got proposed to. It's a "home base" for me.
51. Finding a lamp post that shines as snow is falling at night.
52. Story time with Michael Bialorucki.
53. Milk
54. Matt Horn. Just...Matt Horn.
55. The Mozart Requiem sung by Capital University's Choral Ensemble
56. Singing with Ella Duda-- and all the strawberry goodness that comes from it.
57. Julianne Judge's beautiful spirit
58. The Book Loft- how it is just a maze of 32 rooms full of any kind of book you can imagine!
59. Listening to Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong- lying on your back on a wood floor in a country house in the summer.
60. California stars.
61. Kent Darr's mad cooking skills
62. A good, long-lasting inside joke
63. Believing in Leprechauns and Santa Claus
64. Singing lullabies and rocking a baby to sleep
65. Reflections on large bodies of water
66. Galloping on a horse
67. Hot baths
68. Giving someone a gift that makes them tear up because of how much it means to them.
69. Leonardo da Vinci
70. Recalling something from your memory that you had forgotten about for years, and when you randomly reflect on it, it evokes some kind of crazy emotion that almost seems to be TOO intense.
71. Snowflakes that land on your eyelashes and in your hair- and it's cold enough outside that they are clearly visible for a while.
72. Being proud of who you are, without a trace of arrogance.
73. Whispering a prayer
75. Killer Bunnies
76. The way my mom strokes my hair and it automatically makes me go to sleep.
77. Trains
78. The Fantasticks
79. The color turquoise
80. Believing in something/someone. Pushing harsh reality aside (even if just for a moment) to soak in that magic.
This is not the end. I will continue to add to this as I come across things or remember things. Thank you for reading :). God bless you!
_SEA
