Giveaway, Awards and Ten Things that Make me Happy

I am hosting my very first giveaway for $75 in Burt’s Bees products over at A Lot of Loves Reviews. To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave me a comment on that post (and have a Canadian shipping address – sorry to my American friends).

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It’s always nice to receive a blog award. This week I received two.

The first is the Happy 101 Blog Award from Staci at Just Bloggled. Thanks so much, Staci!

The rules for this award are to state 10 things that make me happy.

1. My family.I tend to complain about my husband and kids a lot, but they really are the centre of my life. In those few moments each day where everyone is happy and getting along, I feel supremely satisfied. 
2. Books. I love to read. I used to read for a few hours everyday. Now I am lucky to find 30 minutes in a day to settle in with a book. Still, those 30 minutes are fantastic minutes.
3. Sleep. I really do love my sleep. I love being in a cozy bed under a feather duvet. I love the feeling of my entire body just reeeeeeelaxing into the mattress after a long day of corralling children. I even love waking up at 3 or 4am and realizing that I still have a few more hours to sleep. I do wish I could sleep in past 7am more often but I have faith that those kidlets of mine will catch on to the art of sleeping in one day.
4. Eating what I crave. At least two or three times a week I will suddenly have a burning desire for a certain food item. What the item is changes, sometimes it’s cheese, sometimes it’s peanut butter on toast, sometimes it’s milk and today it was Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls from a local Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately for me my husband doesn’t like Chinese food, but he was willing to let me order take-out. We rarely order take-out, so not wanting to lose out on an opportunity, I compromised and we ordered Japanese. It was delicious Japanese food to be sure – but it wasn’t what I was craving and now I’ve been feeling ‘hungry’ all the rest of the night. Of course, I’m not really hungry, but since I didn’t eat what I craved I wasn’t satisfied. Eating the object of my craving makes me happy.
5. Pride and Prejudice. Book, mini-series, movie from any era. It doesn’t matter. I love Pride and Prejudice. What a gift Jane Austen gave the world when she wrote that book. I even love it enough to enjoy zombies running around with Elizabeth Bennett.
6. Disneyland (or any of the assorted Disney-themed vacation options). I know many parents lament the existence of the Disney princesses, and I may be one of them someday if the love that Em is showing for all things pink and girlie continues, but at this point I still love me some Disney. I’ve been to the Disney parks in the US many times. I almost went to Disneyland Paris when I was in France, but couldn’t quite talk myself into the logic of that decision. I railed against my husband for traveling to the gates of Hong Kong Disneyland but not going in. (C’mon he was right there! If I had stood in front of the gates of Disneyland Paris I would surely have gone inside.) I periodically measure my kids to make sure I know when they finally reach the height requirement for the majority of the Disney rides (K has half an inch to go). I have shown K countless videos on YouTube of the Disney rides and he even knows that there is a large candy shop outside the entrance to the Winnie-the-Pooh ride. We are ready to go! The day I take my kids to Disneyland will be an exciting day for me.
7. Finding pants that fit. I have yet to find pants that fit perfectly, but I know that the day that I do, I will be very happy. 
8. Geocaching. We’ve been out geocaching every weekend for the past six weeks. It’s good exercise and I really enjoy the hunt. 
9. Music. Music can soothe, it can uplift, it can energize, it can calm.
10. A day with no time-outs. This actually makes me more than happy – practically ecstatic really.

I am supposed to pass the award onto to 10 bloggers but since I have a yearning for my bed, I’ve decided that wouldn’t make me happy. In keeping with the happy theme I’m passing it onto one lovely and fantastic blogger:
 
Bibi at From Misery to Happiness

Congrats, Bibi. I love reading your blog every day. Feel free to pass the award onto as many (or as few) bloggers as you want. Do whatever makes you happy my dear!

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For my second award I received the very pretty Sunshine Award from Bibi at From Misery to Happiness.

I would love to pass this award on to Staci from Just Bloggled. Staci, feel free to keep this award or pass it on. Whatever you like!