100 things that make me happy

This was hard to do. Not because I am an unhappy person, but because sometimes it is hard to remember the simple pleasures. I will add to this list if I think of anything more, but for now I have 100!! Here they are in no particular order:

1. my husband
2. hay bails
3. rainbows
4. warm rain
5. C's smile
6. getting cards in the mail
7. chocolate
8. Halloween
9. perfect snow (you know the type where no one else has stepped foot in it and it is a bright white blanket)
10. curling up to read a good book
11. swinging
12. waterfalls
13. holding hands
14. scrapbooking
15. petting Luna
16. road trips
17. vacations
18. the beach
19. swimming
20. legos
21. milk and cookies
22. relaxing with C
23. crisp fall days (the kind that make your cheeks pink)
24. myself
25. bubble wrap (small joys :))
26. hugs
27. snuggles
28. hot chocolate
29. warm brownies
30. fresh hair cut
31. pedicures
32. gerbera daisies
33. poppy flowers
34. pictures
35. kisses
36. phone calls
37. sand between my toes
38. the ocean (unless it is a cold Massachusetts ocean)
39. The smell of freshly done laundry
40. cheese
41. ice cream
42. cooking
43. movies
44. laughter
45. grass
46. office/school supplies
47. thunderstorms
48. bubble baths
49. painting
50. making pottery pieces
51. yoga
52. warm spring days
53. puddle jumping
54. putt-putt golf
55. seahorses
56. orange (the color not the fruit)
57. sewing
58. working on projects with C
59. aquariums
60. smell of rain
61. monkey bread
62. my mom
63. my dad
64. my sister
65. my friends
66. Japanese gardens
67. sunshine
68. lemonade on a hot summer day
69. dots
70. kayaking
71. shopping
72. winning
73. smell of fall
74. frogs
75. my Nathan water bottle
76. going to my hometown
77. Christmas
78. family traditions
79. not wearing pants
80. going to new places
81. the smell of pine trees
82. chocolate chip cookies
83. memories
84. making a snowman
85. driving around looking at Christmas lights
86. fields of flowers
87. receiving flowers
88. fires
89. sunsets
90. lounging around in bed
91. sexy underwear
92. clean sheets (especially when coming home from a trip)
93. singing in the shower
94. dancing
95. LOL cats
96. skipping
97. compliments
98. presents
99. my home
100. sleeping in

List in Review

With less than a year remaining I thought I would recap my unfinished tasks. I can't believe I have finished less than half! This list is going to have some big time failures!

3. Get a passport - This one really should be done. I have a coupon in my wallet for free passport photos from Walgreens... Hopefully by the end of 2009.

4. Go to Las Vegas - This has been way harder than I expected. My husband simply does not want to go. It makes me realize that I should have just put "go on a vacation" on my list instead of a specific destination.

5. Make a coffee table - This one is nearly complete. There are some finishing touches that need to be done by C before I feel I can truly cross it off.

6. Go to Costa Rica - Need a passport for this one :) We had planned to take this trip this past spring or early summer. That was before my sister got engaged and planned a summer wedding. We didn't have the time & money to do it after all. Maybe next year...

7. Pay off credit cards - Getting there. Progress is all I can hope for with this one.

8. Take a hot air balloon ride - How does one go about doing this anyways??

9. Learn to Scuba - I don't think I have enough time left on my list to actually complete this either.

11. Make wedding album - I still need photos from our photographer. I am just bummed I don't love my photos. I really want to do a photo shoot with C & I so I have photos of us that I love. sigh. I swear I will do something about this soon.

13. Lose 25 pounds (10/25) - I changed my BCP and it seems to be helping me lose weight, or at least keep it off instead of yo-yoing.

17. Buy/Make a headboard - Still don't know what I want for my headboard. Right now the body pillow against the wall is doing just fine ;)

18. Finish love seat project - Well I need C's help for this and he thinks the project is done enough. We shall see.

19. Go to Yellowstone - Again I shouldn't have picked a specific place. I should have just put "go to a new to me National Park". Then I could have counted Sequoia National Forest and Kings Canyon. I didn't do that though. I really don't think we will be able to go to all these places in the next year. It is called limited vacation time people!

20. Start house hunting - Well we kind of started this. We talked to our bank about a mortgage and they made us want to cry, so we put it on hold for now.

21. Buy a house - Overwhelmed

23. Buy a car - The more I think about it, we do just fine with one car. I don't think we need a second until our life circumstances change (baby, school, etc.).

24. Get a couples massage with the hubby - I think I will have to trick him to actually be able to complete this :)

25. Go camping - We have plans of camping once it gets cooler.

27. Make a list of 100+ things that make me happy - I started this awhile back and let me just say that coming up with a 100+ things is freaking hard!! I petered out at 30ish. I have made it all the way to 49 now though, hopefully I will complete this list soon!

28. Find a new church - There are so many factors in finding a new church that we both love. For me the sermons have to be engaging. For C they have to have great music and the minister not talk with a William Shatner cadence. For me, the congregation needs to make me feel loved. This one is super hard since I grew up with all the people at my church back home. I simply will never be able to find that anywhere, but home. sigh.

32. Get back into yoga - I am having trouble finding a class I love. I really loved my Pilates/Yoga fusion class in college, but I can't find anything like it here. I have done quite a bit of yoga on the Wii though, so at least there is that.

33. Buy expensive lingerie - This will be crossed off soon. I have booked a boudoir photo session and have plans to buy some lingerie. Keep you posted on how that shopping adventure goes!

36. Find a job I love - Still haven't figured out what that job is yet...

37. Buy a china cabinet - I haven't found one that I LOVE yet. I am beginning to think that is simply does not exist.

38. Finish buying china - I forgot about this. Maybe I need to start buying a piece a month or something...

40. Get wedding dress cleaned - Long story short, I had every intention of getting this done right after my trash the dress session, then I was told to wait to clean it. Then when nothing happened I forgot about it and have yet to get it cleaned. Need to find a cleaner in Austin to do this.

43. Learn how to make Creme Brulee - Not even sure I like creme brulee, what was I thinking?

44. Help SMD get a new job and relocate - I have given up on this. I have made lots of effort and she seems perfectly happy being discontented.

49. Find a fabulous swimsuit - I found a bikini that I like alot, but I am still on the hunt for a one piece I love.

50. Splurge on a pair of shoes - Does $50 count?

52. Read 50 books (48/50) - Nearly there!! And with the books I have queued up to read I will be done before November!!

55. Buy a designer purse - I haven't found a purse in nearly three years that I love. That is sad my friends, sad indeed. Keeping my eyes peeled everywhere I go though.

56. Make a fountain for the patio (started) - Good lord this has been a thorn in my side. Hope to be able to finish it once the weather cools off and allows for us to be outside again.

60. Learn about investments (401k, ira, etc) - This isn't done yet because it bores me to death to listen to C drone on about it. LOL.

61. File taxes by the end of January or as soon as we have W2s if after Jan (2/3) - See no reason why this won't be finished early 2010.

67. Visit a Texas winery - I might be able to cross this off in September. I will be at one for a work related reason, but it counts right?

68. Go to Big Bend Park - Again, should have just put new park.

69. Make a new piece of stained glass - It has been too hot to work in the garage to make anything.

70. Finish dining room chair project - I'll do this soon I swear ;)

71. Take an art class - Does a scrapbooking class count?

75. Burn photos to cds - I haven't made many cds, but I have copied all files to an external hard drive. that counts, right?

78. Adopt an animal through the WWF - Maybe for Christmas I will do this.

79. Donate to American Cancer Society - I think I have done this, but failed to cross it off. I will have to look back at my records...

80. Volunteer at an animal shelter - I need to find out how to do this. Any one know?

81. Learn to play chess - Maybe when winter arrives and we have less desire to be outside...

83. Host a dinner party - Why have I not done this? I am sure I could convince some friends to dress up and come over for a fancy meal. Any takers?

84. Decorate bedroom (started) - I still need to finish the painting for over our bed before I will call this one done.

87. Go to the Texas State Fair - We have our last chance this spring. Hopefully we make it.

88. Learn how to decorate a cake - I really need someone to sign up for a class with me. It will be way more fun then!

90. Go parasailing - No opportunity for this has arisen yet...

91. Go star gazing - When we go camping we will cross this off too.

95. Scan and print wedding photos (or order prints) - See number 11

97. Write a love letter to hubby - I have one in the works.

100. Make a new list of 101 things - I have a list of things I wished I had put on this one.

101. Blog about all 101 - Working on it!

#52 Four more books down

This was another disappointment from Wickham. While it was better than the Gatecrasher, it still ended fairly abruptly. I did like the writing style and characters more in this novel, but it was still lackluster.

From Publishers Weekly:
Wickham (The Gatecrasher; also, the Shopaholic series as Sophie Kinsella) spins a delightful story of British families forced to spend their vacation together after a mutual friend promises them the same week in his Spanish villa. Chloe Harding hopes that a holiday will soothe the strain between her and longtime partner Philip Murray, who is worried that a recent takeover of his company may cost him his job. Their hopes are dashed when they arrive and find another family already settled at the villa. To Chloe's disappointment, she'll be sharing the space with Hugh Stratton, the beau who broke her heart 15 years ago. Now married to high-maintenance Amanda and with two children, Hugh apologizes, and though Chloe initially expresses nothing but hurt and disdain (all the while keeping their past a secret from Philip), she eventually considers beginning life anew with Hugh. Wickham does a bangup job of creating believable characters—even Amanda is less vapid than she at first seems. Surprises abound as the plot unfolds, and the families begin to wonder whether their mutual friend made an innocent mistake in getting them together.


This book is the prequel to Secrets of a Shoe Addict. I picked this up because I enjoyed the second book. I have to say that the first just wasn't as good as the second. The characters seemed less developed than the ones in the second book. Good news is that only one character is the same in both books. Still a good read, just not as good as its partner.

From Publishers Weekly:
Arriving just in time for beach-read season, the effervescent hardcover fiction debut of cookbook author and romance novelist Harbison features four D.C.-area women who meet weekly to swap and chat about... shoes. Trying to get a handle on her massive consumer debt, Lorna Rafferty posts an Internet ad looking to trade footwear with women who have good taste and wear size seven-and-a-half. A senator's trophy wife, Helene Zaharis, is dreaming of escaping her loveless marriage when she stumbles upon Lorna's post. Overweight phone sex operator Sandra Vanderslice struggles to overcome her agoraphobia long enough to attend the shoe meetings. After a few funny missteps, the threesome finds a fourth member, Joss Bowen, the nanny of a shrewish socialite's hellion boys. Joss couldn't care less about shoes, but uses the group as a reason to get out of the house. Harbison does a fine job of showcasing how each woman is trapped—Lorna by her debt, Helene by her marriage, Sandra by her self-image, Joss by her employment contract—and how the fresh eyes of the group allow them to see themselves in a new light. Harbison creates vivid, convincing characters and handles them well. Reading this novel is like eating a slice of cake.


I needed a couple of books to read while on my three plane rides recently. I decided to check this one out at the library because I have liked a few of the other books by Wickham (Kinsella as well). This book was a good read up until the end. It was kind of abrupt and left me wondering what happened. It was a good time kill on the plane, but not a great book.

From Publishers Weekly:
"Money is safety, darling," the delightfully wicked funeral crasher Fleur Daxeny advises her 13-year-old daughter after an almost perfect execution of her best skill: swindling wealthy widowers. In this modern-day novel of manners, Wickham's lively prose needles the British upper class with a mixture of suspense and wit. Armed with a closet full of designer black suits, the daily obituaries and a face that never betrays her 40 years, Fleur invades the funerals of the wealthy, enchantingly rich, grieving new widowers in need of a shoulder to cry on. She attends the memorial service of Emily Favour, whom she pretends was a long-lost acquaintance, and promptly lures the good-hearted Richard Favour into her web. Although his troubled daughter, Phillipa, and her crafty husband, Lambert, suspect serious gold digging, Fleur's beauty and charm dazzle them, and soon she's invited to live at the family estate in Surrey. What Fleur finds there is a gate-crasher's dream--a welcoming family, an accessible Gold Card and, after some snooping, a bank account worth millions. Even when Fleur's daughter, Zara, whom Fleur has neglected to mention, arrives unexpectedly from boarding school, the Favours make no fuss, welcoming the teen into the fold. As Fleur and Zara become comfortable with country club life, Fleur learns that she's not the only one scheming for Richard's money, and that Richard might not be as gullible as she thinks. But with Zara finally enjoying the stability of a real home, can Fleur leave so easily this time? Wickham (Swimming Pool Sunday) creates memorable characters who are as unpredictable and multifaceted as they are stylish. While the quick wrapup misses a cue, this novel is still jolly fun.



I have wanted to read this book for awhile since I loved The Devil Wears Prada. I was waiting for it to come out in paperback though. The recession will do that to you :) I really liked the book. The characters are hilarious. I would recommend it for a fun summer read. Below is the back cover:

Emmy is newly single, and not by choice. She was this close to the ring and the baby she's wanted her whole life when her boyfriend left her for his twenty-three-year-old personal trainer -- whose fees are paid by Emmy. With her plans for the perfect white wedding in the trash, Emmy is now ordering takeout for one. Her friends insist an around-the-world sex-fueled adventure will solve all her problems -- could they be right?

Leigh, a young star in the publishing business, is within striking distance of landing her dream job as senior editor and marrying her dream guy. And to top it all off, she has just purchased her dream apartment. Only when Leigh begins to edit the enfant terrible of the literary world, the brilliant and brooding Jesse Chapman, does she start to notice some cracks in her perfect life...

Adriana is the drop-dead-gorgeous daughter of a famous supermodel. She possesses the kind of feminine wiles made only in Brazil, and she never hesitates to use them. But she's about to turn thirty and -- as her mother keeps reminding her -- she won't have her pick of the men forever. Everyone knows beauty is ephemeral and there's always someone younger and prettier right around the corner. Suddenly she's wondering...does Mother know best?

These three very different girls have been best friends for a decade in the greatest city on earth. As they near thirty, they're looking toward their future...but despite all they've earned -- first-class travel, career promotions, invites to all the right parties, and luxuries small and large -- they're not quite sure they like what they see...

One Saturday night at the Waverly Inn, Adriana and Emmy make a pact: within a single year, each will drastically change her life. Leigh watches from the sidelines, not making any promises, but she'll soon discover she has the most to lose. Their friendship is forever, but everything else is on the table. Three best friends. Two resolutions. One year to pull it off.