100 things

I love watching the first green shoots of spring poke their heads bravely through the earth. I love Easter church services and old hymns and toddlers clutching brightly colored plastic eggs. I love brunch with scrambled eggs and crispy bacon and cold orange juice. I love looking at the weather app and seeing an entire week of tiny suns. I love bouquets bursting with pink lilies.

I love a full tank of gas, the needle pointing just past “F.” I love when my boys sit still on my lap while I read to them, and when they spontaneously kiss me on the cheek. I love the sweet smell of ice cream shops and the tinkle of the bell as you walk in the door. I love when you let someone merge in front of you and they wave in their rearview mirror.

I love peeling an orange on the first try. I love chubby cheeks and footie pajamas and the way my kids smell after a bath. I love drinking sparkling water in glass bottles and eating pizza outside with friends. I love when our house is quiet except for the hum of the dishwasher and the muffled whooshing of sound machines.

I love grilled corn and fat, juicy blackberries in the summertime. I love terra cotta pots full of basil and dill growing on the porch. I love that happy exhausted feeling in your body after swimming, and the deep sleep that comes after a day at the beach. I love floating in the ocean and looking up to see only sky. I love showering the salt and sand off afterwards.

I love the burbling sound of the coffee maker in the morning. I love looking through old journals and photographs. I love when I think I forgot to defrost something for dinner but I actually didn’t. I love getting a haircut and having a few good hair days afterward. I love the warm weight of a sleeping child on my chest. I love getting texts from my grandma.

I love leaving a gift on someone’s porch just because. I love slicing into a perfectly ripe avocado. I love Australian accents. I love starting a delicious new book and knowing there are so many chapters left to go. I love rereading Harry Potter. I love the dinner party episode of The Office, and rewinding the part where Jim says, “What is that, chestnut?”

I love when the power flickers during a storm but ultimately stays on. I love dancing to throwback songs from college. I love the leg press machine at the gym, and when my favorite treadmill is free. I love shorts and long-sleeved shirt weather. I love watching my kids wave to everyone we meet, regardless of age or race or class. I love the hushed quiet of a library.

I love worship songs that make me cry and eating snacks on the kitchen floor with my boys. I love when Josh buys me the chocolate hazelnut Perfect Bars from ALDI because he knows they’re my favorite and I can’t find them anywhere else. I love when I leave a patient’s room at the hospital and they say, “Thanks for stopping by!”

I love going to the state fair at night, when it’s all lit up and the smell of funnel cake permeates the air. I love eating bags of sweet and salty kettle corn and riding the swings. I love seeing the giant pumpkins with their bright blue first place ribbons and wondering how on earth they made it into the building.

I love watching orange and yellow leaves drift slowly to the ground. I love when the smell of a bonfire lingers on your jacket. I love watching horses gallop in their pasture. I love drinking a warm beverage when it’s cold outside. I love overcast days that don’t expect too much from you, and bright sunny days that fill you with a feeling of hope and possibility.

I love finding the perfect gift for someone and buying it months ahead of their birthday. I love drinking coffee while eating dark chocolate, and drinking milk while eating a peanut butter sandwich. I love jars of honey with the honeycomb inside. I love reading birth stories and watching videos of military men meeting their babies for the first time. I love that perfectly relaxed feeling in between wake and sleep.

I love when kids mispronounce words, and when my boys voluntarily share with each other. I love hugging Eiden after I haven’t seen him in awhile. I love when we’re out in the front yard and a neighbor stops by just to chat. I love knowing a friend’s favorite drink and ordering it before she arrives. I love the sizzle of onions and garlic in a pan full of olive oil. I love having a glass of wine while making dinner.

I love waking up and realizing both kids slept through the night after a stretch of rough sleep. I love the smell of lavender. I love when my friends send me recipes and book recommendations. I love when the boys sign “more” and “thank you.” I love when Josh raves about what I made for dinner, even though it’s usually something simple.

I love candlelight services where you have to light the next person’s candle. I love wrapping gifts while listening to Christmas music. I love Isaiah 9:2. I love how the holidays bring out everyone’s best cinnamon roll recipes. I love eating appetizers on New Year’s Eve and going to bed before midnight, but still kissing my husband. I love dry, bubbly champagne and Auld Lang Syne.

I love starting a new journal. I love when the church nursery volunteers remember the names of my children. I love the pork carnitas bowl from Chipotle, always with guac. I love when the boys make each other laugh uncontrollably and when they point at the moon and when they kick a soccer ball into the net and yell, “Goooaaal!”

I love randomly getting the Wordle on the second try. I love playing Bananagrams. I love when I tear off the exact amount of aluminum foil needed to cover the baking sheet. I love crying at weddings and standing when the bride walks down the aisle. I love the smell of blooming jasmine.

I love the sound of laughter and splashing water when Josh gives the kids a bath. I love singing happy birthday to someone and watching them blow out candles while everyone says, “Make a wish!” I love doing crossword puzzles in the backs of magazines. I love when the sun hits my wedding ring at just the right angle and sends off dozens of tiny beams of rainbow light.

[Inspired by this blog post from Katie Blackburn. I had so much fun writing it that I think I went a little over 100!]