A little bloggy love thrown my way

Steph over at Problem Solvin' Mom gave me this blog award:


Steph's blog is über creative, with tons of ideas for family fun and projects for kids, and also lots of great recipes (I just tried her Million $ Spaghetti and it was fabulous!). Steph often posts great pictures of her adorable kids, and they're guaranteed to make you smile :) She also often takes the time to reflect on the good things in her life, the things that make her happy, and that inspires me to think positively.

For this award, I have to list six things that make me happy, and pass the award on to six bloggers. Steph mentioned on her blog that she was feeling a bit blue this week, and that listing those six things was a helpful thing to be doing. I agree. I've felt a bit blue this week as well, so I'm looking forward to thinking about what brings joy to my life.

1. My husband. I am truly blessed with a wonderful man. Hubs is kind, open, affectionate, understanding, responsible, and so funny.
2. My family. I have a great family (albeit a bit of a non-nuclear mess). I have people I trust to catch me if I fall, and people I enjoy spending time with to boot.
3. Writing. I love to write. It's like my favorite thing in the world, and always has been.
4. Setting down roots. It's been a real challenge as of late, trying to find a job and make new friends and build a support network here in Minnesota. But it's working.
   
5. Sunny days. We have a ton of huge windows in the house, and especially when it was still warm outside we'd gotten into the habit of keeping the blinds at least half closed to keep the house cool. Now that it's winter weather, I've taken to opening all the blinds as far as they'll go and letting the sunlight pour into the house. It makes me happy.
   
6. Starbucks. Sorry, but it does. It's the one thing (particularly food-wise) that I LOVE and that I make time for every day. Since I have a habit of skipping meals, this is meaningful.

Now I'm going to pass this blog award on to six others bloggers:

1. Alison over at (un)complicate me. She's just a terrificly fun blogger with great ideas who always has creative and genuine comments for others bloggers.
   
2. Sprite's Keeper created the Spin Cycle (which I've missed out on twice recently), posted every Friday. She provides the topic, and we all spin off of it on our own blogs and then report back to her.
3. DeeMarie at My Life in a Nutshell has the most creative icon, a little cookie head! Her posts are also always creative and fun.
4. Trish at The Coffee Shop is one of the first blogs I ever started reading, and her design is fun, homey, inviting, and very creative!
5. Deb at From From Stilettos to Sneakers has a great blog title. She's was an über successful New York banker and is now a full time mom! (And, she just ran a marathon!)
   
6. Cat over at Sealed for Freshness: Zipbag of Bones who is always funny, creative, and honest in her posts. Plus I love the name of her blog!