Sweet Sweet Friendship...

I just Love an Award... And today I got just that...

"The Sweet Friend Award"

Thank you Kayce !! Coming from you, this touches my heart. Although we have never "inreallife" met... your friendship is one that I treasure. This whole blogging thing can bring the most amazing people into one's life and you are just that. I don't even remember when we first "met" but throughout the years your kindness has been more than loved and appreciated by this sometimes skeptical, hard to crack girl. You never cease to amaze me with your steadfast love of the written word, be it on your blog or in my mailbox... the latter of which I adore. Seeing your return address on things in my mailbox makes me smile during the best and sometimes worst of times... your thoughtfulness is never-ending. I heart you for that!

So with this gracious award, I must tell you all about ten things I find Sweet Happiness in... so here is my list:

The first and foremost is my family... My Mom & Dad.
Their absolute love and support in everything I do is the greatest gift that carries me through this life. Believe me when I tell you that I have often given them a run for their money... Between college, graduate school, moving a gazillion times, and my "C'est La Vie" approach to life... I'm sure I have left them with heads shaking a number of times in my 36 years. I definitely get my laid back view of the world from my dad, and my sass and profound loyalty to those I love from my mother. They are some pretty cool folks that I just adore and are proud to call my parents.

Number 2 on my list would be my friends, my "inreallife" BFF's. They Rock... And I love them fiercely. I would do anything for each one of them, and I assure you they would do the same for me. They have. So many times over. Including most recently, when I lost one of the most important loves in my life, My Nan. All of them were there for me every second I needed them. It was nothing short of overwhelming and humbling. And during the rest of the time... we have fun like no one could imagine... I just Love them.

Number 3 would be my job. I love to teach. I love to learn. It is a passion. Even through all of the rough times throughout the years, I have always had a reason to smile each and every day when I am at work. I love talking about my kids, even when the talk is about topics that are hard for most to swallow. The last 11 years I have spent working with what most consider "the toughest" kids to reach and I have so many great memories, and not so great ones too, but those are the ones where I feel like I've grown the most, learned to reach beyond my limits to meet their needs. I'm going to miss them next year as I transition to a new job, but I am excited for what the future may hold.

Number 4 would be my love love love of all things travel. I am a girl who likes to "get-away" and that I do. As. Much. As. Possible. Anyone who knows me, knows I always have the "next" vacation planned and there-after. It's what makes me happy. I have a love/hate relationship with airports. I love that I am in one no less than 4/5 times a year, heading towards something spectacular... I hate how poorly run they tend to be and the length of time they take away from my period of bliss. C'est la Vie... My next vacation is in 2.5 weeks and i am nothing short of thrilled that I will be "away" again!

Number 5 is my blog. I also have a love/hate relationship here. I absolutely love the outlet of it, the amazing people that have come into my life because of it, and the things I have learned from the rest of my blog world. The lives of people that have touched mine in ways that I could never begin to explain. The happiness, and the absolute sadness I have encountered within this slice of the internets is a vast compilation of stories that could never be portrayed elsewhere, with the raw honesty that I have found here. I hate that it sometimes feels like a chore, a homework assignment, a place where I sometimes feel the need to censor myself in regards to not always "knowing" my audience. I constantly toy with an address change or a password protect space where I can be even more authentically me.  Because I'd be lying if I told you I don't censor how much information I put out there. I have control issues... and the lack of controlling the audience is sometimes unnerving.

Number 6 is my love of all things music. The Ip@d was the greatest invention ever....I don't even want to tell you how much money I spend on my it-unes account. I couldn't live without it. It is attached to me at all times... It goes with me in the car for my commute to work, and comes right back into the house to be plugged in and turned on when I walk in the door. I ALWAYS have music playing and my taste is very eclectic. I listen to just about every genre of music and have an uncanny ability to memorize lyrics of everything I listen to... drives my mother nuts! I can burst into song at any given time (just ask my students) although I can't carry a tune to save my life. :-(

Number 6 is my passion for books. I LOVE to read. I LOVE books. I have issues with parting with books. It is the one thing I DO NOT like to share. I am always ready to offer a reading suggestion, but not to lend out a title. I have a terrible fear of my books not being returned. And an even worse habit of not returning ones lent... hint... don't give me a book you want back, I just may keep it. Imjustsayin. I love old books, I frequent library sales... those are my favorite. I love imagining who before me has read the book I am holding. I covet first editions. Used ones especially. Nothing is more special to me then the gift of a loved book. The written word to me is a piece of someones soul that has been given away... I could never have too many.

Number 7 is my home. I love my home, all of it's pretty things, the coziness of it, the little details that I have carefully picked out. I am a closet decorator at heart. I am all about finding the right "pieces" that fit my personal style and make my home pretty. I am OCD about everything having a place and being in it. I HATE clutter, knickknacks, and disorganized mess. My co-workers scoff at my ability to color-code and reorganize anything and everything. I just think they are jealous!!! I am fully aware that this will most likely all go to crap once a little person has entered my world. But I assure you... I will find a happy medium of organized chaos. Either that or I will most likely scar my kid for life with a neatness "tick".

Number 8 is the place that I currently reside. Note that I said currently. Note previous bullet about the fact that I move frequently.  So it is important to note that I am STILL in like with where live. Which is a record for me. of sorts. I usually have about a 3 to 4 year shelf life on neighborhoods. I get bored rather quickly and find a need for the "newness" of moving. Though, here I am, 3.5 years in and I STILL like where I am. And have no desire to leave (with the exception that I want my neighbor's house... but that's a whole other post!!) I love that I am blocks from the ocean. I need the salt air in my lungs in order to breathe. I love the "smallness" of my town, the quiet in the off-season, the island that is within arms reach. The refuge of "my" lighthouse. The fact that my parents are for the first time in ten years, just across town. That one of my BF's is just around the corner. That I can "get-away" right in my own backyard. I don't think I'm going anywhere, anytime soon... well at least no further than maybe next-door... Lol!

Number 9 would be the decision I made 4 years ago to adopt a child. That was by far, the most important, thought out, scary, definitive, wonderful decision I have made in my life thus far. I can't wait to be a mother. I hate that it has taken so long. But I love that I have had this time. But I still long for it every day. Some days, it's hard to see other people live it. And live it so many times since I began this process, journey, whatever you want to call it. But I am grateful that I have had the time to learn, to experience through others, what it might take to parent my own child and the struggles that she will face. Grateful for the honesty of those that have been there before me and talked about the reality of it. Happy that I have been able to share the joy of families being made through the path that I am on.

And lastly...
A soft serve vanilla ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles... :o)

And with that I will now pass on this award to some friends that I think are pretty darn special, and sweet!

Shannon at LE*N*ME 
Julie at Wishing for Lia
Deb at The Cuteness and Chaos of Cadence
Joannah at Beauty for Ashes
Kris at Tell her This

~ Love love love.....