5 Happy Things

A couple of weeks ago, I was awarded the Happy 101 Blog Award.


I didn't get any cupcakes.

Yes, there are awards in blogging...that's why I'm in it....to rake 'em in.

Victoria, of the Art House Design blog, so kindly sent this award my way. Victoria is from Germany, but has lived in the U.S. with her husband and 4 children for about 15 years now. I'm not sure how we found each other, but we occasionally e-mail and she helps me with my German. She's always so encouraging, telling me what a good job I'm doing even if she is fibbing a bit! She's an interior designer (jealous) and blogs about all the things she loves (design, fashion, flowers, family) with lots of wondey Anthropologie items in there! No Anthro here :(.

So, my job is to list 10 things that make me happy. Since I already sorta did that here, I'm changing it up a bit and listing 5 things I started doing since moving to Graz that make me happy. (Not sure I can think of 10 new things.) Brace yourselves, I'm exciting.


1. Cooking
I never really cooked before moving, and that's partly because it's no fun cooking for yourself after a long day at work, and partly because I used to go the short mile over to my parents' house a lot and eat my mama's wondey meals. I really, really enjoy cookin' up a meal now. Art enjoys that I enjoy it too. He's very easy to cook for..not picky, always hungry and easily impressed. (Don't be feisty feministas...I cook because I like it and I don't work...if I did work, we'd probably have to start splittin' the job..it does take time to plan the meal, go shopping and prepare and I think if I was working full-time I might not definitely wouldn't have the energy to do it all the time.)


2. Flowers
Of course, I've always liked flowers, but now I notice them more, want to know the names of the unfamiliar ones and try to keep some fresh flowers in my house when I can. They go a long way in brightening up a sparse room of 3 pieces of Ikea furni. I even have a couple of plants that I haven't yet killed (some almost). When my wondey orchid blooms all fell off, I was so upset..what did I do? I didn't know this was normal and that it will rebloom in 6 mos. or more (way too long!)...see, I'm new at this.


3. Coffee
I never really drank coffee before moving here, besides the occassional frappuccino or iced latte from Starbucks, because I was addicted (yes, I consider it an actual physical addiction) to Diet Crack Coke. Ever noticed that nobody is addicted to regular Coke? That most people that drink Diet drink like 3 or more cans a day? Well, I used to start my morning with a DC...so I didn't need no coffee. Now that I've become sober, I LOVE me my mornin' coffee. It does way more to perk me up (and help me write blog posts that drone on and on) than Coke ever did. And I couldn't come to Austria and not be a coffee snob! When in Rome...


4. Blogging
I've said it before and I'll say it again...blogging has been great. I don't ever really throw my arms up for it, but we're glad she's portraying some happiness. I'm a bit nosy and like getting a sneak peek into other people's lives, seeing how they decorate their home, what recipes they like or how their expat life is going.


5. Going on walks
Walking is not necessarily a new undertaking, but we do it WAY more here than I ever did back home. Mostly because this is a walking-friendly city and we have a brown-reddish thing that needs it to keep her sanity. We did it often, though, before she arrived on the scene. It's such a great time to really talk to your spouse, get your exercise, de-stress and let your pup run wild through the park.


I sorta consider these 'mom things'. I literally got married and started enjoying all things Hausfrau. It was bound to happen. And in an effort to keep this real and not portray that my life is a one happy bomb of love, something I am hating right now is that since it is technically spring, our heaters don't ever come on...even when it is cold outside like it is now. Our house is freezing, I'm walking around in my fleece and a scarf and well...that just makes me unhappy. Glad I could end on a positive note!

Happy Friday friends!