Project 31: Day 17: Three Things

Day 17. Write about 3 things that make you happy.
This question is hard mostly because I am having trouble coming up with only three, so forgive me for turning this into nine things.

Three things that make me happy:
1. Quality Time. Spending quality time with my husband, friends, and family. Traveling, shopping, visiting new places. Makes me feel so happy.
2. Creativity. Using my right brain for anything creative makes me happy.

3. Encouragement. Giving other people encouragement is almost more exciting for me than getting encouraged. I do like to be encouraged. I cherish every word of affirmation given to me. But giving encouragement is a much bigger blessing to me. It makes me happy.

Those are the big ones, but there are a few other categories I wanted to add, just for fun.

Three places that make me happy:
1. Mackinac Island, Michigan. The best trip Nate and I have ever taken, so far. We loved it in Mackinac. It was way too cold when we went (in May 2009), but the rich history, the lack of cars on the island, the abundance of horses, gorgeous scenery, etc. It's just beautiful and relaxing and totally up our alley. If we had the money, we'd rent a house there and visit every summer.
2. Dallas, Texas. My college friends teased me when I returned to college after the summer of 2005. I had an awesome summer. Probably the best summer I've ever had. The first month was spent in England and Scotland (see place #3). The second month was spent in Dallas, Texas with my brother. The third month was spent at camp with horses. All I talked about were Dallas, England, Scotland, and horses. They called it DESH. I loved the cultural experiences I had that summer. I really had a blast and made lots of memories. I really learned about independence that summer. And now I live in Dallas. And for now, it is a place that makes me happy.
3. England and Scotland. I went on my cross-cultural trip to England and Scotland in the summer of 2005. It was amazing. I love the truly deep history of the countries, how proud they are of their heritage, and the lovely landscapes there. And London was amazing. The most exciting city I've ever visited. With Tube (the subway) passes, we felt like we could go anywhere we wanted.

Three movies that make me happy:

1. Anne of Green Gables (and the sequel). My favorite movie of all time. Certainly not a movie for everyone, but it is near and dear to my heart. It always puts me in a good mood.

2. Tie between The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. Both are truly epic film series filled with moral themes that are applicable spiritually. I have so much respect for the creativity of both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. The films are long but exciting to watch and very well made. The quality is worth the length, to me.

3. The Holiday. It has pretty much everything a light-hearted, romantic comedy should have, in my opinion. The four main characters are hilarious and easy-to-relate-to and fun-to-watch. Even though it is technically a Christmas movie, I can watch it any time. Favorite scene: Jack Black and Kate Winslet in Blockbuster. Love that entire scene from Jack Black saying, "Well, hello Big Dollup" to Dustin Hoffman's cameo. It doesn't hurt that Jude Law is a looker and that he and Kate Winslett have awesome British accents.