Smile and Be Happy!

This week was my first week back to school with my 30 new cherubs. I find this time of year to be particularly daunting, and know that you can easily become an angry elf. To prevent this I've decided to come up with a list (because lists are my favorite) of the top 10 things that make me unfailingly happy. Hopefully something on here will be enough to lift your spirits too!

10. Happiness is nature. I'm like a crazy person when I go hiking and camping. Ask any of my friends, I'll talk about how I love flowers, mountains, rivers, and fresh air. I take 20 pictures of the same landscape because it's so amazing. I twirl and sing about how the hills are filled with the sound of music and I wish on every shooting star. I may move at a grandma's pace up the mountain, but I love it.

9. Happiness is acapella. If you have not seen the movie "Pitch Perfect" you need to stop reading this and get on Netflix right this instant. In a nutshell: I do mermaid dancing, that's not a good enough reason to use the word penetrate, it fuels my hate fire, I do close up magic, you have juice pouches and Rocky, and you are awesome...ly horrible, I hate you.

8. Happiness is baseball pants. Yes. Thank you Lord for baseball pants.

7. Happiness is everyone's favorite news correspondent. I don't frequently watch SNL, but when I do, I always wait for Weekend Update. My favorites are when Stefon comes on to talk about New York's hottest clubs. Watch it, and fall in love with it. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...

6. Happiness is my Popo blanket. My Popo is my grandma, she alone makes me happy. But then one day when I was just a wee one, she made me a blanket. My Popo blanket is soft, warm, and comforting. I will crank my AC just so I can lay under my Popo blanket. I don't even care how ridiculous I look all snuggled up in 98 degree heat, that blanket is heaven.

5. Happiness is Hugh Grant. I know he makes bad life choices, but he warms my heart in "Love Actually" which is one of my all-time favorite movies. Here is one of my favorite scenes from the movie, I can't help but smile every time I watch it!

4. Happiness is music. Every morning on my drive to work, you will hear the Prius coming before you see it. This is because I like to crank my music and sing at the top of my lungs for the entire 25 minutes. This usually leads to the awesome head bob and finger drums on the steering wheel.  To all of my fellow commuters that watch this go down at stoplights: You are welcome.

3. Happiness is Christmas. Today I had my iPod on shuffle and every third song was a Christmas carol. Did I skip them? No, I did not. Why? Because Christmas is my favorite time of year. I like to deck the halls and make my apartment look like a holiday bomb went off. I enjoy intricately wrapping each gift that I give with coordinating ribbon and tags. And I love watching the snow fall as the lights on my tree twinkle whilst drinking hot chocolate. Sadness is December 26th.

2. Happiness is Disneyland. I can't even count how many times I've been, but each time has been purely magical. Below is a picture of the headboard in my hotel room the last time I went. Why did I take a picture of this you say? Well, when your headboard lights up and sings "When You Wish Upon a Star" to you, you take a picture.

1. Happiness is love. Okay, so I'm picking another scene from "Love Actually," (I told you it was my favorite, right?). I'm just going to say that any man that does this would have my heart in a second. It makes me overflow with happiness!