Ten Things......

I have this sweet friend who I met on Instagram.  Funny huh? She sucked me in with her amazing, sassy, easy, fashion sense, but kept me coming back for more with her open and honest posts about her life and the experiences she's had.  One day, after I posted something, she emailed me and shared with me even more of her story. A story that was so different from mine, yet so similar in many ways.   She is an incredible example of strength, perseverance, and vulnerability.  I have learned from her that we learn from others, and why it's important to share our stories, weaknesses, faults, and be honest about them. I hope one day to be able to be as honest with you as she is with me and the people who follow her page.  

Anywhoooo.....she asked me to share ten things that make me happy.  So, here goes.  

• My babies.  I have two. They are my everything. That is all. Oh, and can I add, the relationship that I have with my husband who often times has to suffer pre-reading these posts, although I spared him this one.  
• A good book.  My favorites from the past year are: (Don't laugh)
• "Excuses Be Gone- Wayne Dyer, the first time I read this book I didn't get it. The second time I read it, it knocked my socks off and changed my life.
• "The Placebo Effect"-Dr. Joe Dispenza, if you are trying to change or heal any aspect of your life this is your book.
• "Untethered Soul"-Michael Singer, speaking of souls, this one spoke to mine.
• "Daring Greatly and "The Gifts of Imperfection"-Brené Brown,  I mean.....just read them. 
• "Awaken The Giant Within"-Anthony Robbins, it has taken me over a month to get through a couple chapters in this book because it is so filled with amazing, life changing, holy awesome tidbits of information on how to live your dreams.  And people, I'm living the dream.......well, I am starting to anyway. 
• "The Giver"-Lois Lowry, such a good, easy read.  
• Thunderstorms in the middle of the night. We've had a lot of those lately.  And let's add the sounds of rain, rivers, and waterfalls. 
• My siblings.  I have three.  
• My oldest sister has been going through almost the exact same  pain as me except 100 times worse.  I have depended on her throughout the last year. We have cried together, laughed together, gotten angry together, given up together, and pushed each other to "keep on truckin" as my Grampa used to say.  And in the process we have grown more than we have ever expected.  Most people have to go through things alone in their lives, I have been blessed (is that the right word?) to have been able to experience my struggles with someone who understands exactly what I am going through. We have a goal of walking down our favorite path to get to the beach in our favorite spot in Maui.  And by walk I mean run, skip, jump, and cartwheel.  We will get through this, just FYI, and we will bask in the sun and shout our gratitude from the wave tops.  
• My younger sister has always been my protector, well, when she wasn't beating me with barbie dolls and hairbrushes-let's just say I knew how to push her buttons.  Being the shortest of the family, I stand at a whopping 5'2''. Whereas,  all my siblings stand well over 5'11''.  My tough, sweet sister would threaten to beat up anyone who messed with me. Never you fear, she was always there to attack or stare down anyone who dare come after her little runt of a sister.  To this day, she is my protector.  She sticks up for me, gets mad for me, and encourages me to be tough when I gotta be tough.  I'm pretty lucky to have such an amazing bodyguard. Oh, and did I mention we are 13 months apart? Practically twins and always mistaken as such (except for the whole height issue....oh and the major difference in our athletic ability. I will let you guess which of us is more athletic.....and remember she will beat you up if you choose wrong.)    
• My little 6'3'' brother.  What can I say about my brother? He's smart (like graduated from Yale smart), funny, sarcastic (I love me some good sarcasm), easy to annoy (the funnest part about being his sister), and  honest.  If I need an opinion about anything, he's my man.  
• Conversations with my Gramma, who also happens to be one of my heroes. 
• Friends. New friends, old friends, Instagram friends, friends who live close, friends who live far.  Friends who laugh with me, cry with me, laugh AT me, point out when I am being a hypochondriac or over dramatic (wait, whaaaaa?), and just plain know me, sometimes, better than I know myself.  I have AMAZING friends. And I thank my lucky stars for them every single day.  
• Mis padres (that means "my parents" in español) What can I say? I have the best.  
• Cats. Cats make me so happy. Just kidding, that's a lie.  I hate cats. HATE them.  And yes, hate is a very strong word....but I mean it.  I had a cat growing up. I think we doomed her to be a miserable beast when we named her Misery.  She would sit on top of the couch that backed up to the banister and as you walked down the stairs she would swat at you.  Nothing like a kitty claw to the eye to wake you up in the morning.  She was a brat.   (And I may have loved her a little, but all other cats be damned). 
• Chocolate, sugar, donuts, cookies, cakes, lasagna, bread, ice cream, did I mention chocolate?    
• Meditation. Meditation makes my grey skies blue and my blue skies even bluer. I don't go a day without meditating, even if it is just closing my eyes and envisioning my goals becoming reality or just opening up my heart and focusing on the inside.  Sounds silly, I know, but I can't deny the clarity that comes from becoming one with my soul.  (Don't you roll your eyes at me.)

And there ya have it.  Just nine of the millions of things that make me happy (and one thing I hate just for good measure).  I would like to hear what ten things make my blogger friends happy.  If you are my friend, and you have a blog (you know who you are....and don't you dare ignore me, or I will send my sister after you) I challenge you to write ten things that make you happy. Now go!