Happiness 101

Thanks, Slamdunk!



To accept this award I have to name ten things that make me happy. Easy!

1. My kids: seeing them smile, make sweet and random comments about life, make their presence known in the womb by kicking and moving (to a limit, of course!), watching them sleep, playing with friends and working things out.


2. Basking in the sunshine on a windless day during the summer, where I can lounge in a hammock and be at peace with the world.


3. Yoga, especially prenatal yoga combined with hypnobabies.


4. Presentation of and eating well-made food, from homemade comfort dishes to 5 Star dining.


5. Being able to converse with fellow cop wives and knowing that they totally get where I'm coming from.


6. Accessorizing outfits with jewelry, shoes, and handbags; basically just being a girly-girl.


7. Make-up, especially when I find just the right shade of lipstick and liner, or the miracle mascara that makes my eyelashes look longer than the stumpies they are (still on the search for the perfect brand that doesn't break bank!)


8. The satisfaction of getting household tasks accomplished, though I'm not always happy while in the process of doing them!


9. Babywearing and the upcoming event of the International Babywearing Conference that I helped make possible, in my own little way!


10. When Chris dotes on me by getting or doing things that he knows I'd like, even if he thinks it's silly.

And now to share the happiness; I chose the following cop wives because it makes me happy (refer back to #5) to read their blogs, feel privileged to know them personally or in blogland, and have become a better person because of them through one way or the other.

Momma Val

Simply Dori

Kimber at The Tower Blargh

Mrs. Fuzz at A Police Wife

Mrs. Officer2U

Lynne at The Sickinger Fam

Stephanie at Because of Love

2nd Award

Here is my second award from Stephanie, and I thought that it was particularly fitting for a slightly crummy weather day.

Here are the rules first since I like to shake things up like that:

1. Copy the award image into a post



2. List 10 things that make you happy



3. Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day



4. Put a link to their blogs



5. Notify the award receivers



6. Recipients should link back to the sender's blog {this is totally optional!}

10 things that make me happy:

1. Listening to my babies laugh, especially the hearty chuckles while being tickled by Daddy.

2. Having girl weekends or girl talk with my gals.

3. Eating good food, especially if I don't have to cook it, clean up after it, OR pay for it!

4. Making good food for my loved ones (and sneaking in vegetables, unbeknownst to them)

5. Laying in a hammock on a warm, summer day with a good book

6. Intimate time with the hubby

7. Visiting museums and being able to see the actual artifact(s) I've only seen in pictures or read about

8. Teaching in my own classroom and seeing the "ah, ha!" moment cross on a student's face

9. Getting a chance to watch my favorite TV shows uninterrupted where I can cheer, cry, or "talk" to the screen without being scrutinized by anyone else (on-line full episodes were truly invented for moms and busy, busy people!)

10. Family!

So, there you go.

Without further ado, here are my 10 bloggers that brighten my day:

1. Mrs. Officer
2. Stephanie (but you don't have to do another one...it's just fun to read your blog!)
3. Meadowlark
4. Mindy
5. Jamie
6. Slamdunk (sorry it's kinda girly)
7. Becca
8. Kimber (but you don't have to do both of them unless you want to!)
9. Monica (" ")
10. Mrs. Fuzz

It was tough to just pick 10 since I just love keeping updated with others through blogland! Well, hope this brightens your day like it did mine!

Yet Something Else of Interest

I discovered that I became a recipient of a fun blog award. Some may think these are silly, but they just make my day when I'm given one in blogland, so there you go. Don't rain on my parade.

Thanks for the award Stephanie! Seriously, most of my "cute" posts are usually gleaned from her in the first place. :)

I'll share the rules momentarily, but let me just go ahead and share the 7 things of interest about me:

1. Though pretty well-known, I'm the only girl out of six children. One would just assume that I would naturally be a tom-boy because of this, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm ALL GIRL, ALL THE TIME. It's quite a demanding job to be the only female representative of the siblings but somebody's got to do it!
2. I really like food, from carhop diners (yay, Scotty's!) to gourmet, five course restaurants which have dress requirements such as Jenny Lake Lodge (don't be fooled by the woodsy dining; the meals are AMAZING, where I had tempura squash blossoms filled with sweet potato, the banana and black bean soup, Jenny Lake Signature salad, grilled ostrich fillet with rosemary jus and yukon gold potatoes, and dessert that I can't for the life of me remember what it was...it was delicious though!). I've been blessed with high metabolism, otherwise I'd probably be a blimp.
3. I can pick up things with my toes, which REALLY comes in handy towards the latter-stages of pregnancy.
4. Speaking of which, I can't hear the decibel level of Chris's voice while I'm pregnant. High-pitched voices are amplified though, but most of the time I have no clue what Chris is saying.
5. I developed a severe kidney infection while touring the Lake District with Chris after visiting the Wordsworth House in Cockermouth (hee, hee, funny name, real place), resulting in a trip to hospital in Dumfries, Scotland. My doctor was Indian with a Scottish accent. Yeah, ask if I know what "lost in translation" means.
6. I don't like to play sports because the ball always tends to hit me in the face, no matter what. It's given me some pretty big complexes for my already large nose.
7. I dream of being an archeologist digging up the next great find in Egypt or uncovering a lost city in Europe. Like a female version of Indiana Jones minus the fedora, whip, and people trying to kill me.

Hope you found it interesting!

So, here's the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award
2. Copy the award and place it on your blog
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award
4. Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself
5. Nominate 7 bloggers
6. Post links to the 7 blogs I nominate


Since I've already completed 1-4 of the rules, let me finish it up by nominating (drumroll please!):

1. Kimber
2. Marie
3. Ashley
4. Gennelle
5. Mandi
6. Monica
7. MommaVal

And if you don't want to do this because of the aforementioned notion that blog awards are silly, I totally get it. You probably have other sources of happiness in your life that bring you a bit of sunshine during the winter. These awards are mine!

Can't wait to find out some interesting things about my blog buddies!