100 Things I Love

In her book This Is About You: Amazing, Weird, Beautiful You, one of the first exercises Mary England presents is naming 100 things you love. That may sound simple on the surface, but it was actually quite the challenge. What makes me the happiest? What do I like so much that it edges over into love?

This took me a fairly long time, and I'm sure this list is subject to change over the course of my entire life, but as of this moment in 2016, here are 100 things that I love:

1. Tim
2. My few close friends
3. Good days with my family
4. Drinking hot tea
5. Praying mantises
6. Tattoos
7. My gorgeous car
8. Video games
9. Leggings as pants
10. Wearing dresses
11. The TV show Community
12. Writing
13. Baking
14. Interesting conversations
15. Starbucks coffee
16. Asiago cheese bagels
17. Watching Markiplier videos
18. William Fitzsimmons' music
19. Pizza
20. Chinese food
21. Reading poetry
22. Nonfiction books
23. Oversized sweaters
24. Belting out songs
25. Making mix CDs or playlists
26. Cooking good food
27. Restful sleep & naps
28. Health insurance & modern medicine
29. Happy memories
30. Stickers
31. Nerdy t-shirts
32. Lots of kissing
33. Bad movies
34. Pictures taken with an instant camera
35. Making people smile
36. My butt
37. Art galleries
38. Cats
39. Painting
40. Going to concerts
41. Little feminist things
42. Sex
43. Snuggling
44. Soft chocolate chip cookies
45. Conquering fears
46. Zines
47. The color green
48. The smell of fresh laundry
49. Cute mugs for hot drinks
50. Watching New Girl on bad days
51. Goldfish crackers
52. Random adventures with my friends
53. Being published, especially in print
54. My stuffed animal Charlie
55. Pickles
56. Libraries and book stores
57. Soft pillows and warm blankets
58. Inside jokes
59. Dark chocolate with sea salt & caramel
60. Rainy days
61. Florence Welch's music
62. Sexy tights
63. Plaid clothing
64. Holding hands
65. Going on drives to clear my head
66. The TV show The Office
67. Getting letters & packages in the mail
68. Laughing
69. The movie Anastasia
70. Lovely underwear
71. Sushi
72. Open mic nights and lit readings
73. Good dreams
74. Flowers
75. Making new acquaintances
76. The TV show Broad City
77. Drinking sparkling apple juice during the holidays
78. Frogs, toads, & lizards
79. The Great Gatsby (the movie & the book)
80. Peaches
81. My pretty pink glasses
82. Melanie Martinez's music
83. Going on walks
84. My fave Youtuber, Qcknd
85. Antique stores & thrift shops
86. Pugs
87. Gummy candies
88. Pokemon
89. The TV show The IT Crowd
90. Personality quizzes
91. Hosting get-togethers
92. Cute pictures of animals
93. Music by The Front Bottoms
94. Fits of sappiness
95. Coworker friendships
96. Spirituality
97. Trying new things
98. Traveling with someone I love
99. Keeping a journal
100. Being weird

25

25 Notable Memories From The Past Year
1. Celebrated a lovely 24th birthday, including Domino's food with work pals, flowers from Tim, and lasagna & lemon cake with my family. (April 16, 2015)
2. Moved in with Tim. (May 17, 2015)
3. Traveled with Tim for the first time to Liz and Mike's wedding. (May 30 & 31, 2015)
4. Started my bad movie collection. (June 3, 2015)
5. Saw William Fitzsimmons in concert. (June 17, 2015)
6. Celebrated one year of dating my soulmate. (June 23, 2015)
7. Got my first tattoo. (June 27, 2015)
8. Marked one year with the book club. (July 16, 2015)
9. Started a business. (August 1, 2015)
10. Read a poem at an open mic night. (August 11, 2015)
11. Started writing for Gaming Trend. (August 24, 2015)
12. Saw The Front Bottoms in concert. (November 4, 2015)
13. Marked two years at my first full-time job. (December 16, 2015)
14. Finished a writing project, Apartments. (December 21, 2015)
15. First Christmas living with Tim. (December 25, 2015)
16. Started freelancing. (January 1, 2016)
17. Got my first tattoo that wasn't from a flash sheet. (January 5, 2016)
18. Voted in the Missouri primary. (March 15, 2016)
19. Had two praying mantis friends. (Gully on August 16, 2015 and Cassandra on October 13, 2015)
20. Drove on the highway for Columbia trips with Tim. (August 27 to 30, 2015 and April 8 & 9, 2016)
21. Saw Melanie Martinez in concert twice. (October 10, 2015 and March 13, 2016)
22. Participated in the Gaming Trend podcast (December 16, 2015; January 8, January 30, and February 20, 2016).
23. Made some adult purchases with Tim, including a mattress (April 2015), a bed frame (October 2015), a crock pot (January 2016), a washer & dryer (March 2016), and a blender (March 2016).
24. Hosted gatherings at my apartment for my friends. (housewarming party, Mad Girls Club, Halloween party, New Year's party, viewing of The Neighbors)
25. Cooked, baked, and prepared a lot of food. (muffins, smoothies, meatloaf, pasta, casserole, slow cooker meals, and more)

25 Goals For The Next Year
1. Finally learn how to play the ukulele, dammit.
2. Less blog reading, more book reading.
3. Start chipping away at my video game library.
4. Don't get so wrapped up in social media.
5. Completely unplug more often.
6. Finish another writing project.
7. Find more writing opportunities that excite me.
8. Make great strides with my wedding planning business.
9. Step up my cooking & baking game.
10. Keep the momentum with cleaning & decluttering.
11. Start exercising with Tim.
12. Get out of the house more (traveling and in general).
13. Go to more art galleries and antique shops.
14. Create more opportunities for socialization.
15. Prioritize learning.
16. Go on more dates with Tim.
17. More tattoos (of course).
18. Finally get myself a little houseplant.
19. Take more pictures when I'm having a fantastic day.
20. Break a couple of my worst habits.
21. Figure out self-care and relaxation techniques.
22. Strive for positive self-talk.
23. Accept that some days just don't have a plan.
24. Stop getting in my own way when it comes to what I want.
25. Add a little sparkle to every day so importance doesn't get built up on one specific day, like a birthday.