What makes me happy

Like lots of others on social media, I took on the #100HappyDays project in March. At the time, 100 days felt like a really long time, but I thought it would help me find the good in every day.

And I wasn't wrong.

Was I happy for 100 consecutive days?  Absolutely not.  A lot has happened in that time --- good and bad --- and this project made me pause on the bad days to find something that kept the day from being a total bust. You have no idea how much that helped me on some of the really down days.

I won't share all 100 photos here because that's a lot of uploading, but I did look through them to see if I could find some patterns.  I'm sure you're not surprised that I did.  There were definitely some repeats and themes. Here's a list of things I took photos of

>>> Beer
>>>> Nights out with friends
>>> Rangers baseball
>>> Books and reading
>>> Eye candy
>>> My cats
>>> Concerts
>>> Cupcakes and baked goods
>>> Races, workouts, and running

Obviously, I'm not surprised that these things were featured.  I know these things make me happy.  But when I really study the list, I realize they're all very simple things.  Things I can sometimes take for granted. I think I need to work on that -- not just finding the joy in every day but really celebrating it.

Here are just a few of my favorites from the project:

Clockwise from upper left:

My friend, Rachel, happened to be in town from Texas, so we got to hang out.

My Red and Blue opened for Matt Wertz and it was love at first listen for me.

I love the city in which I live.

My first outdoor run of the spring was slow, but still felt good.

Clockwise from upper left:

George Strait. The man.

Zumba party!

Baseball, wine, and reading = perfect evening.

While I was home sick one weekend, I caught up on TV and enjoyed eye candy.

Clockwise from upper left:

Wedding party shenanigans.

Cleo.

Patio beers with Savannah and Justin.

Casey.

Another positive side effect of this project is that it's made me more active on Instagram.  I'm trying to continue to capture these moments of happiness, even if my 100 days are done.