10 more happy things!

 Dancing.  Even if you're in a crabby mood, I feel like dancing is one thing that really helps you forget your worries and troubles.

 Sleep!  There are few things as happiness inducing as a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed.

 Amusement parks.  These used to be my favourite places ever.  Now, my brain thinks more about how things could go wrong but I still force myself to go on the rides because they ARE fun and they remind me of happy times.

 A delicious backyard BBQ party with friends.

 That lovely clean feeling you get after you've just brushed your teeth.

 Hammocks.  Our backyard just begged for a hammock and I've spent many an afternoon reading for pleasure and also studying for various speech pathology exams (which sometimes turned into impromptu naps!)

 HAVAIANAS!  I have previously dedicated a whole entry to these amazing creations, and with good reason.  They are just so amazingly incredibly comfortable, durable, and all around fantastic!

 Sloths.  Just look at his face...are you smiling?  I bet you are!

 Travel and adventure!  Whether it's a short day trip or involves hours and hours of flights to get to the destination, I always like exploring new places.

The feeling you get when you arrive home after being away for awhile (home in this case meaning where most of my stuff is, where Jeremy is, and where I normally sleep...so Fairfield).

Crime!

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/man-shot-chasing-robber-from-shop-near-carole-park-southwest-of-brisbane/story-fndo45r1-1226477474735

So I was driving home from work yesterday and saw four cop cars coming from all directions and turn down a nearby road.  I was irritated, because one of them turned on their lights right as I was about to drive through an intersection and I had to stop suddenly, which gave me a fright.  I wondered what all the commotion was about, but forgot about it until this morning when I head on the news that someone had been shot during a robbery just down the road from my base school.  Pretty crazy stuff!!  Considering my base school was broken into twice in one weekend recently, I'm a little apprehensive about being there (almost) alone next week during the school holidays.  The cleaners will be there and so will another speechie, but we're kind of out in the middle of nowhere.  I'm sure it will be fine, just...yikes!

We had an end of term afternoon tea today at Katrina's house - she's another speechie who works with me at the base.  There are 4 of us in total - one other full timer (Sarah), and then two part-timers (Katrina and Di) and myself.  Di wasn't able to come, but it was nice to get together with Sarah and Katrina in a casual setting.  Katrina's 2 year old daughter was there and she is pretty hilarious.  She's a total chatterbox (daughter of a speech pathologist, not so surprising) and very friendly!  The whole time it was "Anna draw star?  Sit on Anna's lap?  Sarah paint?  Sarah make cubbyhouse?"  Tomorrow is the last day of term 3.  Made it through SLI term with flying colours (I think?!  Hope so) and into the home stretch.  Soon I will no longer be a "new grad" but instead, a "recent graduate".  Woohoo!

J on the way home!

This time tomorrow, Jeremy will have completed the long Ottawa to Brisbane flight haul and will be back in good ol' Fairfield.  I really can't believe it's been 9 whole weeks!

Markets - I love the randomness of markets.  Market purchases include a head scratcher, button earrings, and an emu apron.  I can also persuade Jeremy to join me by highlighting the food factor - markets usually have a ton of yummy meat things and dumplings and bagels...I LOVE MARKETS!

Chihuahuas - I DON'T care if it's not cool to like chihuahuas.  THEY ARE FANTASTIC!  Cheeky (top pic) and Kiki (thrilled to be in his santa suit) are my very favourites.  Such cuties.  One day I will convince Jeremy to get a chihuahua.  OR...I will just "surprise" him with one.  Heh.

Family - thanks to Skype, keeping in touch is a breeze.  It's always great to visit home, see family, and enjoy familiar surroundings.

Live music - I actually prefer the smaller, more intimate shows.  I spent much of high school going to see bands in little venues, getting super excited about seeing my favourites, and jumping around eagerly screaming my head off when the band I was there to see came on.  I also love seeing friend's bands...it really does put me in a happy mood.

Strange novelty items (e.g. flashing wine glasses, tea strainers that look like submarines, etc).  I don't really think I need to say anything more.  Clearly they are just cool.

Daily deal websites.  Haircuts, dinners, hotels, BASICALLY ANYTHING YOU COULD EVER WANT.  For a deal. 

Photos - Digital cameras are wonderful.  I like taking pictures.  I like that you can even take pictures underwater!  The next camera I buy will have this feature.  But really, just having memories preserved in photo form is something that makes me very happy.

Cider - Cider is delicious.  I love that the cider market in Brisbane has EXPLODED since we've been here and now there are a ton of varieties available.  Old Mout boysencider is a NZ cider that is yummmmmmmmmmmmy!

October birthdays - October is a great month for a birthday.  I always feel a kinship and connection with other October birthday-ites, particularly if they are in the first week :)

Beanbag chairs - they're comfy, inexpensive, and you can throw them anywhere. 

** Max (gets an honourable mention even though I've ALREADY mentioned cats...but I didn't put a picture of him in.  So here he is!)

In other news, I've been to see the movie "Kath and Kimderella".  We actually had the whole theatre to ourselves, which was pretty funny.  Jess and I did our best to dress up as the main characters and get in the spirit of things.  I seriously loved the show - Jeremy and I watched all of the seasons, and then Ronan and I watched them all again when he was visiting.  I think it appeals to a certain kind of person - and I just adore it!  The movie has gotten terrible reviews, but I say...if you liked the show, you'll appreciate the movie :)

Hervey Bay and 100 more things!

This weekend was non-stop busy and non-stop fun!  After a really interesting professional development seminar run by a speechie who is also an infant mental health specialist, I got in my car for the 4 hour trip to Hervey Bay!  The plan: awesome times with Lisa and Kim, whale watching adventure, and Partini!  I arrived to Thai food dinner waiting for me.  It was an early night, since we had to be up in the morning for our boat trip out to see the whales...and conveniently, Lisa and Kim happen to live RIGHT on the marina.  I am completely serious - we had a two minute walk to our whale watching boat.  this is the view from their patio:

We were on a catamaran which had these cool "trampoline' things that you could sit on and see the water rushing by underneath you.  A group of Lisa's friends joined us as well - Megan and Kirsty (occupational therapists) and Mel (does admin at Lisa's work). We spent most of our time out on the trampoline things (I got a slight sunburn on my scalp...forgot a hat...oops!

It took about 3 hours to get out to where the whales were, and then by the time we got there, the water had gotten rough and the captain said we had to turn around because conditions weren't good and it would take a long time to get back.  He also said the whales tend to stay below the surface when it's rough.  We were a bit disappointed, but this is how these things go sometimes!  What happened next: an old man throwing up his lunch, a lot of grossed out people, and then - WHALES!  On our way back, it calmed down and three humpback whales came to check out the boat.  It was really cool :)  We also saw a couple of big sea turtles and a dolphin.  for most of the way back, I snoozed on the front of the boat...ah, a life of luxury.

100 things - part 3

Picnics!  And doesn't this look like the ideal one??  I love a picnic on a sunny day.  Jeremy and I ride our bikes out to a nice grassy spot and spend the afternoon lounging and eating delicious picnic food.  I even talked about picnics in our wedding vows!

Being a speech pathologist.  A lot of things had to fall into place for this to happen and I am so lucky that it did!  Sometimes I might seem less than enthusiastic about my job, but it really is pretty cool and it does make me happy.

Chocolate peanut butter ice cream.  Or anything that combines chocolate and peanut butter, really.

Random acts of kindness.  When people (strangers or otherwise) surprise you by doing something unexpected and nice, it just makes you feel better about the world.

Bad (but awesomely amazing) reality tv shows!!!  Jeremy can vouch for this.  I am fairly picky about my trashy reality tv, and the ones I watch...I LOVE. 

Lip gloss.  This may be more of an addiction/necessity...but it DOES make me happy!

My car.  A good old 1997 Subaru Outback.  Now we can go on weekend trips and just zip over to see friends!  I also have to use it every day for work and have become very attached :)

Camping.  Especially at a location like this - absolutely gorgeous.  I actually quite like roughing it!

Foot rubs.  Seriously.  So good.

Jeremy - had to figure he'd be in there somewhere, right?

(I guess I should take this time to mention that these are in no particular order)

I can't believe it's another Monday already!  Well, I've committed to 10 Mondays of 10 favourite things, and this is only the second one, so I guess I better get on with it.  At the very least, along with making me reflect on just what makes me happy, this will also ensure that I post at least once a week!

Speaking of weeks, Jeremy will be home in just over two of them.  At times it has seemed very long...but now that it's getting closer to his return, it kind of like the time has flown by.  I've been trying to keep busy, but not excessively so.  This weekend ended up pretty jam packed and very fun.  Friday night I went over to Jules' place for curry and wine.  I was feeling a bit down in the dumps last week and she said curry and wine on a Friday would be sure to cheer me up, and it did :)  I had a little play with Billy T before he went off to bed, and then we stuffed ourselves with deliciousness!  Saturday morning, I met up with my friend Leanne (a physio student from Edmonton who stayed with J and I for a couple of weeks in 2010) and we packed up our bikes and drove out to the coast for an ocean side bike ride.  So awesome!  It was a beautiful day and we biked along the Wynnum-Manly foreshore.  We got fish and chips and sat by the water and watched all the yachts and sailboats heading out.  We also realized we must immediately make friends with someone who owns a boat!  Friday night I went for teppanyaki dinner with my friend Marion.  I worked at SpeechNet with Marion when she was a new grad and I hadn't even started doing speech pathology yet, and now she owns her own practice.  She is incredibly smart and business savvy and it's cool to have a friend like that who I can talk to about work - but who is also a fun and enjoyable person as well!  We wrapped up the evening with a cuppa at her place.  I was planning to head out to Jess' afterwards, since her cousin Kim was up on a surprise visit from Woolongong, but I got too absorbed in my tea drinking and conversation with Marion and it was past 10 pm when I left her place.  So, instead I went home and had a very comfortable sleep!!  That's not where the excitement ends, though!  Sunday was nice and lazy, except for when my housemate and I went to thy gym together and he worked me like a crazy fool!  In the afternoon, we hopped on a bus to the Gabba and met Alastair, his mother, Hannah, Kayleigh, and Jess to watch the last Brisbane Lion's game of the series.  It was fabulous as usual - but the Brisbane Lions absolutely TROUNCED the Western Bulldogs, so there wasn't as much yelling as I would have liked since Brisbane was leading by a huge amount for the entire game.  We then finished the evening with a Mexican dinner and a free game of foosball!!!

Alright, now that I've rambled on sufficiently (and made you jealous...come on, admit it - that is a pretty sweet weekend!!) I will move on to the task at hand:

Dresses - I am partial to polka dotted ones, but also enjoy a wide variety of other patterns and styles!

Jeremy's cooking - and I know quite a few other people who would say the same :)

Friends - and I even found good group pictures from both sides of the world!  Exhibit A - my 27th birthday party - Murder Mystery, to be exact (see previous 10 things that make me happy - "theme/costume parties").  Exhibit B - White water rafting on the Ottawa River...a good mix of friends and family.

 

Pub trivia!!  Jeremy and I used to play the electronic version at Whispers in Ottawa...and now our team, The Beavers, are the reigning champions at the Muddy Farmer in Brisbane (thanks to Sean and Louise turning up last week!!)  Soon, Jeremy will be back and I'm excited for trivia fun with him!

Karaoke, but only in trashy hilarious bars where people don't take themselves seriously.  Such as Puzzles, the place pictured above (RIP Puzzles)

Books!!!  Ever since I can remember, I have always enjoyed a good book.  I am lucky enough that I can read in vehicles so I've spent many hours doing that.  I made it through a whole English degree, which involved a lot of books.  But my favourite thing is really just to go to a library and take out a stack of books and read my way through them all.

A nice cup of tea (even better if there's a chat with a friend to go along with it!)

Waterfalls.  But seriously - who doesn't like waterfalls?

Shopping till I drop - literally!  This was after a successful Syracuse bargain shopping trip with some very fun girls - Tracee, Crystal and Kim (we even rode a mechanical bull).

Pinball.  If I go to a bar and there is a pinball machine inside, it is pretty much guaranteed that at some point I will make my way to it and then there will be a commotion - loud screaming and making faces similar to the one above.  Foosball is another game that is included in the same vein as this.

Now isn't that rewarding - thinking of all the things that make me happy and going down memory lane as I try and find pictures to capture the essence of these things!