It's the little things in life that can sweeten a moment, or even make a day. These twenty free-to-inexpensive simple pleasures have brought me many a smile! They can elicit warm cozy feelings, wake up my sleepy soul, and sharpen my focus on God's amazing creativity!
In the midst of all the hard, painful, tragic things going on in the world, God still loves to shower us with as many "daily graces" as we have eyes to see, ears to hear, noses to smell, mouths to taste, and skin to feel.
So get ready for a five-sense mini-oasis! Open your eyes and ears, take in a deep breath, and enjoy!!!
1. LAMPS IN
UNUSUAL & COZY
PLACES
I like my lighting to be soft and cozy, and provided by lamps, wherever possible. Overhead lighting is nice if I have to actually SEE something, but I love the coziness of lamps! The top-left lamp is on my kitchen counter, the next one down is at the end of our hall, and the one on the right is in a corner of our dining room. Maybe not so usual, but it started out in life as a coffee percolator!
2. BRAND-NEW
BAR OF SOAP
Ooooh the aromatic soft-textured joy of a brand-new bar of soap!!! I love feeling the outer form of the bar, as well as the imprinted name on the soap!!! Once it has gotten wet, it's just not the same. (I still use it, of course!)
3. THE AROMA
OF
FRESH COFFEE
..."comin' down the pike," as I like to say! I know it's not original, but it's so daily, and so beloved-by-so-many, I just have to include it! Even folks who don't drink coffee say they like the smell of it! That first-sniffed aroma is just aaaahmaaaazing!
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4. CURLY-HEADED
KIDS
These three cuties just happen to be mine when they were curly-headed tots, which was around 3 decades ago!
LEFT: Sharnessa, 3 years old
MIDDLE: Tory, 2 years old
RIGHT: Carlianne, 3 years old
(also called "Curlianne" for obvious reasons!)
5. SMOKE FROM
OUTDOOR FIRES
Whenever I'm out driving and see smoke ahead, I quickly roll down my car window to allow that wonnnnderful aroma to fill my car!!!
6. HOME-MADE
BREAD BAKING
When we went to sell our home 29 years ago, our realtor told us it would be a good idea to have a home-made goody baking when she showed the house. We did. It sold very quickly. (I assume and hope the people liked the house, too.)
7. FRESH CILANTRO
I've put in a request for the room freshener in my heavenly mansion to be "Essence de Cilantro"!!! In fact, I hope I have an entire Cilantro Room!! All the plants would be cilantro; there'd be a dish of cilantro salsa (with cilantro flavored chips), and all the decor on the walls would be CILANTRO!!! In gold frames, bowls, and pots, of course!
SAD-BUT-TRUE NOTE: My sister, Julie, cannot stand the aroma or the flavor of cilantro! She says it tastes like soap or dirt! I told her I thought there must be something genetically wrong with her for that to be so. I researched it, and guess what ~ that is actually true! Scientists have found that people who do not like cilantro are missing a gene, and that, because of this missing gene, cilantro smells like dirt or soap to them! Crazy!!! But even more, it's sooo sad!!! It'll be healed in Heaven, though, or she will not want to visit my mansion!
8. SURPRISE
RAINBOWS
I love it when these happen!!! ~ which is probably much less often here in not-so-sunny Washington State than in sunnier areas, because you have to actually have sunshine coming through a window for these little beauties to occur! I'm sure we appreciate them all the more!
9. SMOOTH,
UNTOUCHED PEANUT
BUTTER SURFACE
...equalled only by getting to
be the first to dip in to it!!!
Mmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!
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10. "12:34" ON A
DIGITAL CLOCK
When Tory lived at home (he left to get married in 2000), he and I had a "thing" about noticing this time on a clock, and would bring it to the other's attention by calling out from wherever we were in the house: "1-2-3-4!!!"
On my iPhone, too:
Better yet is when you have a
clock or stopwatch that shows the
seconds or micro-seconds,
and it reads 12:34:56!
I still actually text him every
so often when I see this!
11. ANYTHING
UNDER A DOME
I put flowers inside a butter dish, to go with my Mary Engelbreit kitchen! (And yes, I do also have an actual butter dish with actual butter in it too!)
And here I put a Mary Engelbreit figurine (from my sister-friend Kathi) into a jar, and then surrounded her with a colorful jungle of flowers.
12. FOAM ART
ON LATTÉS
These just amaze me! I've watched baristas do their foamy artword many times, and even asked them to show me how they do it, (which they were glad to do), but I still don't get it. I almost feel bad stirring it up and ruining the art!!! ... Almost!!
13. HOME FROM
OUTSIDE WHEN IT'S
DARK OUT & LIGHTS
ARE GLOWING INSIDE
No, I'm not a lurker! I have just always ~ even since childhood ~ loved seeing a home from the outside when the lights are on inside. It's just soooo cozy, warm and inviting!
14. CROSS-CUT
OF A HOUSE
I remember making house cross-cuts ~ or cut-aways ~ when I was in gradeschool. This was on my own; not part of an assignment. Like when I had my work done (or perhaps not) I would draw one of these! I don't know what it is about them, but I just love being able to look behind walls that should be there and see all the organized compartments of the home, (aka "rooms,") and view what's going on in the heart of the home!
Hmmm... Come to think of it, this is actually what I love about the kind of counseling I do. (Not professional or psychological; and not paid; just Holy Spirit-led ministry.) I love looking behind and inside what is seen on the outside, into the heart of the person.
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15. WHITE LIGHTS
ON
GREENERY
These are often used at weddings, and understandably so as there's just something enchanting and romantic about them! But why limit this experience to weddings?!? I brought the idea home and have white lights on greenery (or pinkery in one case!) in several rooms in our home where we can enjoy them year-round! (This pine bough is over a mirrored closet door.) I actually got this idea from Sharnessa who does this in her home!
16. FLOURY, SOFT
COOKIE DOUGH
CHUNKS
There is a very specific "perfect timing" for this! It's right after you've mixed in just a little of the flour, and then you add the next cup of flour, and before it's actually mixed in, and is still coating the chunks, this is The Time to eat a little chunk ~ when it's all soft and fluffy and coated with flour! (Am I the only one who thinks this is just divine??!)
17. WAKING UP A FEW
HOURS BEFORE IT'S TIME
TO GET UP, LOOKING AT THE
CLOCK, AND REALIZING
"I STILL HAVE MORE
TIME TO SLEEP!!!"
This joy is made complete by me actually being able to go back to sleep! It becomes very not fun (at all) when I can't get back to sleep! But this is about the fun stuff, so we'll leave it at that!
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(almost)
THE END
But not for everyone.
Read this next part
and then you decide...
There are
two types of people
in this world:
1) those who enjoy
peeling, popping, picking,
and plucking,
...and...
2) those who do NOT!
.
And neither type can understand
how the other type can... or can not ~ enjoy
this simple pleasure.
.
If you are the type
who DOES understand,
there's
ONE MORE
"treasure" for
you!!!
But if you do NOT,
I hereby solemnly give you
FAIR WARNING...
In case you're not sure,
I will start small...
18. peeling a sunburn,
19. popping a zit,
20. plucking eyebrows
I made this pic really small
in case you refused to heed my
warnings above.
However,
the full size version
as well as my thoughts
are coming next; as in
immediately next...
OK,
FULL-SIZE VERSION
COMIN' RIGHT UP!
18. pulling off sunburned skin,
19. popping zits, and
20. plucking eyebrows
Is this not a virtual PARADISE for you peeling / popping / picking / plucking addicts- I mean aficionados?!?! And in case you couldn't tell, I AM ONE!!!!!!!!!! The sunburn above is of PERFECT peeling "ripeness"!!! The zit next to it is ~ well, "perfectly ripe" too!!! And the eyebrow? ~ Tweezers, please!!!
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