Things That Make Me Smile

I realized this weekend there are some strange things that make me happy. You know what I'm talking about-- those things that make you giggle a little to yourself, or a brief smile crosses your face but you feel it in your soul. Sometimes it's a smile that encompasses your whole face and you automatically feel better from your head to your toes. And then there are those things that get to me that no one else understands so I try to hold in back but it makes me burst out laughing. Some things that cause these reactions are super obvious but others are a little more off the wall. So I thought I would share them with you all, my lovely readers.

The movie Up
Dancing-- all kinds
Eating gummy bears
When my sister and I say the same thing at the same time
Big sweat shirts
Looking at pictures from adventures my friends and I had
Seeing someone I care about who I haven't seen in too long (which can be just a couple days)
Witty comments
Hugs
"What about goodnight kisses?" -Despicable Me
The song "Happy in Bb" by Jonny Stimson
Driving with the windows down
Having a fun road trip buddy
Hobbit Holes
Quoting movies with my family
Cuties (the fruit)
Snuggle time with my girls
Daily Odd Compliments (if you don't know what I'm talking about, look here. It'll change your life) Gluten Free Cake
Being out on the lake
Punny jokes
When my sister and I match without meaning to
Pajama pants
Doctor Who
The mountains
When people put their foot in their mouth (figuratively, of course)
Drinking out of mason jars
Green grassy fields
Mustache themed things
The Little Rascals
Awkward Family Photos
When my little brother calls me "Lyss"
Gluten free/dairy free chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
Blankets
Traveling to far away places
My doggies
When my big brother comes in my room just to talk
Babies in hipster clothes
Being lifted off the ground durring a hug
Vintage suitcases
Reese's Cups
Spiny dresses
Nerdy t-shirts
The song "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" from Mulan
Putting my pajamas on as soon as the dryer finishes
Driving into Clemson after being gone for a long time and seeing the Tiger Paws on the road

And last but not least, this

Unfortunately, I can't list everything that makes me smile. The list goes on and on and on because life is just wonderful! If you can't find joy in the little things, life is way less fun. If you feel like continuing on your journey of finding what makes me happy, check out my Pinterest board "giggles" or another Pinterest board "A few of my favorite things".  Who knows, you might find that you have the same weird sense of humor as I do! 

The Time Is Drawing Near

It's hard to believe in about 2 1/2 months I'll be catching a plane for one of my favorite places on earth. Granted, I haven't see THAT much of this planet, but I've been to this area before and I LOVED my time there.

The United Kingdom.

And oh what a beautiful Kingdom it is!

In June I'll be heading across the pond with Hannah, meeting up with Jenny and Ashely, and together, the 4 of us will have wonderful adventures for 3 weeks. We'll spend a short time in London, drive down to Cornwall for a while, take a train over to Cardiff for a bit, take another train up to Yorkshire for the week, then head back down to London to catch a flight to Ireland, then fly back home (I think that's right, at least). Goodness! It's going to be somewhat exhausting and totally amazing. And slightly nerve racking. But what's an adventure without a healthy dose fear, right?

This is one of my favorite shots from when I was there 4 years ago. I have it hanging in my room so I can look at it every day. Basically I'm just ready to go back RIGHT NOW. Well, except the fact that I have to pack. And I need a little more money before I can go. And I need to buy some things. 

ALSO- if you have memory cards you wouldn't mind me borrowing while I'm gone, that would be awesome. I have a 16 GB card that I'll have in my dSLR camera but we'll also have my moms small point and shoot. It takes video and I want to do kind of like a video diary while we're there (which I will edit and share with you all once we return). So if you feel called to donate to the cause, let me know :) 

Spontaneity

Durring my lunch break today I was trying to find some new dress pants for work. I walked past Hair Masters and they had a sign on the door saying "walk-ins welcome." So what did I do?

I walked in and had 6 inches of my hair cut off.

I mean really, what would you have done?! In all fairness, I have been saying I was going to do this for the past 2 months, but I was going to wait untill I had enough to donate. When I went in today, we measured my hair with donating in mind but I was going to have to wait untill July or August before the majority of my hair was long enough. Ain't nobody got time for that! So off came my hair.

Have you ever just had one of those kinda crappy weeks that just needed a drastic change? It's been one of those weeks. Now that I say that is sounds really negitive. It not a bad week. Over all this has been a great couple days! But sucky things have happened like my car breaking down and just feeling exhausted.

So in my worn out state of mind I paied someone to wack my hair off.

Sounds smart, right?

Yeah...you might not want to follow in my footseps if you don't handle spontaneous things like that well. It doesn't phase me. In fact it kind of gives me a little spunk in my step. I feed off spontaneity.

Here is a little visual for you all

this was about 2 1/2 months ago. My hair has grown about an inch since then

aaaaaand what I've got now :)

Well That Was Humiliating

"Refuse To Worry! In this world there wil always be something enticing you to worry. That is the nature of a fallen, fractured planet: Things are not as they should be. So the temptation to be anxious is constantly with you, trying to worm its way into your mind. The best defense is continual communication with Me, richly seasoned with thanksgiving. Awareness of My Presence fills your mind with Light and Peace, leaving no room for fear. This awareness lifts you up above your circumstances, enabling you to see problems from My perspective. Live close to Me! Together we can keep the wolves of worry at bay." -Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Those are the words from my devotional this morning. Being the stupid-head that I am, I decided to lay in my warm bed and not do my devo before heading to work. I rationalized it in my head saying that I'll do it when I get there. My grandma is normally still asleep when I get to her house so I'll have lots of time.

My heart is so prone to wander.

So I laid in bed a while longer, got up, got dressed, and left for work. About a mile away from my house the clutch in my car started to feel a little weird. It does that sometimes, though, so I didn't think much of it. I got in the left turn lane in front of Sonic and waited for the light to turn green. When the little green arrow appeared, my heart sunk. No matter what I did, I couldn't get my car into gear. I turned on my hazard lights and called my mom. She said to call my dad. I called my dad and was trying to explain to him what the car was doing (or not doing) while the guy behind me wouldn't stop honking his horn.

Yes, pumpkin, I realize I should be moving. Believe me. I would be driving away from this terribly awkward and embarrassing situation if I could. Thank you for honking and making me feel 100x better about myself. Really. I appreciate you letting me know my car should be moving in a horizontal direction. Now drive off and leave me to wallow in my puddle of humiliation.

Long story short, I called the Clemson Police to help with traffic control because I didn't know what to do and traffic was pretty bad. A cop showed up and talked to me for minute and got me to try a couple things to get my car to work. After he realized nothing was going to help, he (and Philip Brawner who was passing by and stopped to help) pushed my car backwards, sort of up under the train trestle so it was out of the way of most of the traffic. He called a tow truck and I sat in my car waiting.

My mom showed up and waited with me. She didn't do a whole lot but just having your mommy there makes everything better all of a sudden. 2 other guys came to ask me if I needed help. Seriously, if you're a girl with car trouble in a small town, everyone and their brother will offer help you.

As we were waiting for the tow truck, my flustered and fidgety hands pulled out my iPod and opened up my Jesus Calling app to read my devotional. What was the title of it?

Refuse to Worry

Refuse to worry as I'm holding up traffic, late for work, in my broken down car. Really, Jesus?! REALLY?! Don't I have a right to worry in this situation? Don't I have a right to be flustered and stressed?

Refuse to worry.

"The best defense is continual communication with Me, richly seasoned with thanksgiving. Awareness of My Presence fills your mind with Light and Peace, leaving no room for fear."

Fine. I hear ya, Jesus. I'm listening.

I continued reading to find 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." So not only am I not supposed to worry, but I'm supposed to be giving thanks while holding up traffic and people are honking at me? Dang.

The weirdest combination of peace and conviction hit me. Peace because I knew that God was watching over me and he was taking care of me through the whole thing. Peace because I knew I didn't need to worry. And the wave of conviction hit me just as hard. I'm really good at worrying. Like, really good. I read somewhere that worry is the absence of prayer. "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances" Pray continually. If you're continually in prayer, it's harder to worry because you're telling God what's going on and giving Him the control. Obviously, I wasn't in continuous prayer this morning. I was in freak out mode.

Right when my car stopped working, the first thing that came to mind was my favorite older brother, Ryan. If you're looking for someone to stay calm in a crazy situation, it's him. This same car used to stall out and not turn back on for a couple minutes. On his way to school one day, he stalled out in an intersection and just had to sit and wait, blocking traffic, before the car would start again. I've always been amazed at how things like that don't phase him. As I was stuck today, I remember thinking "Stay calm like Ryan. There is nothing you can do to fix it. Stay calm like Ryan. It'll be ok." So I guess I've got a little bit of worry-fight in me.

So yeah. That happened. I don't particularly want to go through it again and I wouldn't wish it on anybody. 45 minutes of humiliatingly blocking traffic isn't my idea of fun, but it could have been a lot worse.
My daddy helped me out over the phone.
My mommy came and sat with me.
The police man helped with traffic and moving my car somewhat out of the way.
3 different guys stopped to see if I needed help.
The tow truck man literally pulled my car out of the situation.
God was in control of the whole thing.
And I should have my car back by tomorrow afternoon. HOLLAAAAA!