With the Holiday season upon us and the atrocious election behind us, I am left feeling…well, happy :).

And loved. And in love.

So what better way to title this post than with a quote from arguably THEEEE best Christmas movie of all time?!

Here are some things that invoke all the loveliness there is:

Handwritten Notes:

As someone who loves to write, I have always appreciated the gesture of a handwritten note or letter. David’s daughter is in that stage where she is learning to write and of course, she is coloring up the wazoo so I get plenty of adorable pictures from her. And then there’s the sweet notes I am surprised with from David…HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY!?

My baby nephew Taterbug:

Nobody could possibly love this human more than me. Tate has learned to sign “please” recently and both Nan and Meg have yet to get it on camera. He is also WALKING NOW and I could literally die. My Mom gets to watch him in the AM each day while Meg is at work and I get very jealous. I want to squeeze him and kiss him and bite his cheeks and hold him forever.

In-Town Family!

 

Being away from my family is really hard for me. Nan, Gare, Meg, Bin, Taterbug, Amy, Shannon — I miss them all so much and it is SO great that David’s family is close by. We get to see them all the time and everyone is so awesome. P.S I made the above pictured lasagna and people had seconds. #justsayin

Accidental cool hair styles I make up:

Nothing is better than a nice thrown-together hairstyle on dirty hair AMIRIGHT!? I fashioned this little dazzler one afternoon and was very pleased that I attained it using only 3 bobby pins. If you’re interested in a tutorial, do let me know.

These healthy frozen food choices at Walmart:

Hahahhaa. ‘murica right? The Twinkies sound disgusting but the Doritos…yeah I might give ’em a whirl.

Fresh flowers:

David and E brought these home last weekend and they have been so lovely to look at everyday. If I had all the money, I would have fresh flowers at my house all. the. time. Also plenty of razor cartridges and things from Lush.

Running

I have a love-hate relationship with running. At one time in m’life, running was not such a good thing for me. I got hooked on it and heaped loads of guilt on myself for not running far enough, fast enough or for long enough. What started as a good way to blow off steam, or decompress quickly became an unhealthy obsession. So for years now, I have tucked away my running shoes and really haven’t done much of anything in the way of consistent exercise. Bayd.

But over the past few months, running has come back into my life in the best way possible. Working downtown Portland has afforded me the chance to run along the waterfront on all kinds of great little loops. I also have a running pal at work who takes it about as seriously as I do…We run at a slow, leisurely pace and stop when we need to. Typically, we do 2-3 mile loops and take breaks as needed. When I run alone, I have gradually been getting faster and usually don’t run anymore than 4-5 miles. If I can get out 3 times a week I am happy with myself. Running has once again become my favorite outlet for stress release, alone time and my time to blast Drake 🙂

What has made YOU happy lately?