Happy Friday!

Hey all! I'm sorry I kind of dropped off the face of the Earth for a while there. End of internship and holidays had me kind of crazy. But I hope this is the first in a multitude of regular posts. Time to link up with Amanda again to discuss what made us happy. I have a whole list of things, not just from this week. Here are some things that brightened up my life in the last little while.

- Christmas Baking! It's lots of fun and helps to spread Christmas Cheer! :)

Here are the results of my first day of Christmas Baking.

- Kids saying the darndest things. One of the famous last quotes in my classroom: "I know what epiphany means... I watched the Simpsons Movie!"Really?! That is where you learned the definition of the word epiphany?!

"Spider Pig, Spider Pig. Does whatever a Spider Pig does!" That is the
only part of the movie I am aware of - I've never actually seen it myself.

- Ten minute hugs from students who keep telling you how much they will miss you. I'm going to miss them too!

- Having the most amazing supervising teacher who helps the most amazing students plan the most amazing surprise party. Look at all the decorations they put up! I felt so special. And spoiled!

They also wrote lots of fun things on the boards.

- Christmas Spirit! This is what my youngest cousin ask for on her Christmas list (well she had more but these were very important): a baby jesus cross (e.g. a wooden cross on a necklace - which she wore around the house and out everywhere) and christmas decorations. This is a 5-year-old's list. How sweet and thoughtful is that list? So Christmas appropriate! This same child came to visit my elderly grandmother (who is not her elderly grandma) and cheered her up on Christmas day.

Here she is - after she helped me with  my makeup Christmas Eve.

- Funky aprons! They are so much fun and help you cover your fancy clothes (see below for an example with my cousins).

The one in the middle is wearing my apron. Love Anthro!

- Cheesy puppy Christmas things. Like antlers, for example.

Christmas Guinny!

- Impromptu visits to my mommy. She got me a ticket right before Christmas so that I could drive back home with her and then fly back home. It was so nice; relaxing and fun! We got to use the hot tub in the snow!

Ta-Da! I love his hands... "No! Snow! Please don't attack me!"

- New books. They are so exciting and I just can't wait to read them; like many things in life, anticipation just makes it better. I went shopping with my mom and got two new books.

Same person who wrote some books I read recently.
Heard this one was great!

This book came highly recommended by a good friend.

- Fun and cheesy Christmas movies. For example, I watched both Santa Baby movies. Santa Baby 2 didn't have the same male actors in it which decreased it's quality greatly.

Starring Jim Carey's ex-wife whom I have dubbed
The Queen of Cheesy Chick Flicks.

- My wonderful, wonderful grandma taking on big challenges to help people and animals. She recently adopted a miniature poodle from a puppy mill who hadn't been socialized by humans. Ever. At all. We looked up the best way to person train her and she is slowly getting used to having humans around her. That means we had four dogs at my grandparents' house this Christmas. That's practically a zoo!

All the puppies in the kitchen, throw your paws up at me!
(Sing this to the Beyonce song and it sounds much cooler...) 

Number four eventually came in...

All the little things combine to create such a beautiful life. What made you happy lately?