Ten Things That Bought Me Happiness

I am a firm believer that the best things in life are free. Truly.
-The sound of my children giggling.
-The woods.
-The gift of creativity.
-Sore muscles after a hard work out.
-Cool breeze
-The way my mom answers her phone
-My dog's stupid popcorn trick

But there was another blogger (Brooke Snow - photographer extraordinaire) that recently posted ten thing that BOUGHT her happiness. And yes - there are some material things that bring me much delight. Here are my top ten...

iPhone.

I wanted it from the start and finally got a 3Gs when they went down to $49. It is worth its weight in gold and I love love love it!

HBO and HBO on Demand

Last Christmas I gave my husband the gift of HBO. But it has been entertaining for all of us!

Seasonal lattes from Starbucks.

What a treat to have a pumpkin latte or gingerbread latte. One really can not hold on to a bad mood while enjoying seasonal lattes. Impossible.

S'Mores!

My favorite food of all time. Ever.

This post cannot continue without mentioning my Canon.

While we are at it: Adobe Lightroom

I fell in love with this program so quickly. I barely use Photoshop anymore - only for working with layers.

Mitsubishi Endeavor.

It fits our family of 4 plus a great dane perfectly - with room to spare for hiking or fishing gear, photography gear (of course) or an array of sporting equipment. We've had it for 3 years and it has never lost its charm. (This pic of our actual car taken on our first trip to Big Bend - those are the Chisos Mountains.)

Jewelry!

I have a (probably unhealthy) obsession with jewelry.

Pentel RSVP pens!

Truly, the best pen on the market.

Panini Press

One of the best gifts I ever received. I am not one to indulge in kitchen gadgets. I think the basic tools are all the clutter I can take - but this has been a most useful gadget and has therefore earned its place on my counter top. Many thanks to my thoughtful MIL! I use it all the time!

What are your favorite things?

August Zoo Trip

What happened in August? Well, first of all it was 110 degrees. We are so thankful to cool off this autumn with 88 degree highs. Anyway, we got cabin fever from hiding away in the AC so we went to the zoo with a friend!

Look! It's Natalie Portman!

I had some fun with this image in Light Room.

This bird was a bad a$$. He totally stared me down. And guess where he was sitting? On the window of the crocodile enclosement.

Cheering on the Cards from TX!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Gabriel's 7th bday!

As part of my process to get back on the blogging wagon, I'm posting some dated milestones.

Here is Gabriel's 7th bday (back in August).

All in all, it was a bust. We always go so far over board for our kids bdays. This year I thought, "Hey, let's bring it down a notch and it will be great."

It wasn't. He picked avocado shrimp for his dinner. The shrimp smelled funny and the avocados - despite being newly purchased, were black on the inside. So we went out to eat. Which isn't a big deal but it didn't leave time for him to play with his friends that evening. And his dad was on a work call (true crisis) pretty much all night. Poor kid. We'll make it up next year...

The bday may have been a flop, but the cupcakes were AWESOME! Hubs and I stayed up into all hours of the morning making these fondant toppers.



waiting for daddy to open presents...



one of his presents.

serious face.

on our way out the door to the restaurant.

Hiking on the Horizon

Plans are being made for hiking and camping trips in the near future and I am getting EXCITED!!!