What makes you happy?

There are a lot of little things that make me happy, even (especially) minor things cheer me up on a bad day. It's the daily sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and experiences that show me how amazing this world is and how just appreciating the little things makes life better.

So, what makes me happy?

-A loving note from a friend (even just a comment on facebook or an @reply on twitter)

-Cooking, especially the smell of it. There is just something special about the aroma that a little garlic sizzling in extra-virgin olive oil creates, or how the entire house can smell like chocolate when baking a cake.

-Also, eating. I really like trying new things and even though I love to cook at home, I also love going out to eat. Favorite restaurants: Buffalo Wild Wings, Chipotle, and Noodles and Company.

-Traveling, and planning for traveling. Just imagining myself in another place and another country and all the opportunities for new experiences, makes me smile.

-Listening to my favorite music and also discovering new music (and new, great covers of my favorite songs).

-Watching a movie for the 100th time and realizing that I still love it just as much as when I first saw it.

-Reading a good book and getting completely immersed in it. Also, rereading my favorite books.

-Following a TV show that allows me to connect to and fall in love with the characters and get completely caught up in the story (such as Glee or Bones).

-Along those lines, fandoms (for the most part)! The connection you can make with people over something as simple as a television show, a movie, or a book. I've gotten excited meeting people on sites like tumblr or livejournal that are fans of the same things, and then we find out we also have other things in common (such as other interests or being at the same/similar stages in life).

-Movie trailers. Sometimes I want to watch trailers more than I want to watch a movie. Also, sometimes the trailer is a lot better than the movie.

-Temperate weather! Michigan summers are great, but I think moving to California would make me a lot happier because it would be temperate all year round.

-Spending time with family and friends, just hanging out, doing nothing in particular, talking, eating, enjoying each other's company.

-Seeing MSU/Spartan insignia on cars (etc) outside of East Lansing, especially when it's outside of Michigan (Quick story: when I was at Mont St. Michel in France, wearing a Michigan State shirt, someone told me "go green." It made my day to come across a Spartan alumnus in France.)

-Speaking and learning other languages, and along with that, learning about those cultures. (I can now say "let's go" in 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean.)

-Reminiscing about and remembering past moments and experiences, looking at old pictures or watching home movies, while still being grateful for the here and now. This is one of the reasons I love to scrapbook.

-Photography. I'm not a photographer myself, but I really love finding/seeing new and interesting photographs and graphics online. (This is one of the reasons I joined tumblr in the first place.)

These are just some of the little things that make me happy, they may seem inconsequential at times, but this is what makes up the amazing world around me. This is what makes me who I am, and I am so grateful for it.