Things I love

I just saw a picture of a kids bedroom with a map on the wall and I thought, I love maps. I've been looking for a good large simple map of the world and haven't found a cheap one yet, but I've still bought some cheap ones that I don't love just to have the map. I decided to tell you all that because then I started to think of other things I love.

I love maps.

I love tours.

I love giving tours.

I love factories (I know, all related).

I love good smells, like the coconut rolls I just pulled out of the oven.

I love textures, both to look and touch, but probably more touch. I've been known to reach out unknowingly and rub people's shirt sleeves between my fingers if it looked interesting.

I love colored walls and a well decorated or designed room, even if it's not my taste at all, I just appreciate the thought and skill that went into it. And the care.

I love written letters, but rarely write them, mostly just to my grandmas these days.

I love the feeling I get after doing something I don't want to, like after I run or after I clean out the horse stall (growing up--but not unlike cleaning up my house now. Maybe my parents knew that was the only way to prepare me to be domestic), or getting into bed. I love sleeping, I just can't stand the process of getting to the point of actually head hitting the pillow. Know what I mean?

I love reading. Usually prefer it to be something good or great, but just reading gives me a little brain workout even if it's dumb, because then I think of how it should have been written or a counter-argument or it just helps me to remember how to spell things like Francisco. Wait, nope, that's still annoying. Oh, and I like reading because sometimes on dates when Josh and I try to not talk about kids or after we cover work, if I'm reading something, it gives us conversation material and it's fun.

I love having friends over.

I love discussing. It works my brain and helps me web the world together inside my head.

I love sitting after a good hard day's work in a clean house with resting children and turning on the tube and watching a show with my man.

I love being productive.

I love animals. I'm no PETA member and I wouldn't have minded killing the evil dog that tried to attack me in Ohio last year, but I think that means I have a very fair and real understanding that animals are not people. And I still love them and love the comfort of a cuddly dog on my lap and their non-judgmental listening ears--as long as they're fed.

I love technology (break into song Napoleon fans). I so wish it was easier for me to understand, thankfully I have Josh for my diplomat with our computer. But I love that I can keep in touch with friends and family around the world. I love that I can jump online if I have a question about the frozen yogurt address down the road or about explaining "The History of Love" (just finished it yesterday) or looking up parenting and decorating ideas. I love the internet.

I LOVE cars. I love that I can put my kids in the car and drive to the grocery store. Living in NYC helped me to realize what a gift cars are.

I love the AC and Heating in cars, it's the only place I can get totally comfortable with my funny body temps since it gets working in a few minutes. I'm usually cold or hot in our house, but not a happy medium, but that's really anywhere. And mostly cold. I love blasting that air out and I shove myself as close to the vents as I can. It feels a little like heaven.

I love having my doors and windows open in our house. During the day, at night--well not the doors at night, unless I could guarantee safety, then that would be awesome. I love those open space fancy houses without walls in some decorating emails I get. I love the sounds and I love the fresh air.

I love speed. The game, the irregular verb (used the net to look that up too, see why I love it?), doing it. I love to run fast, drive fast, ride horses and 4-wheelers fast, play the game "Speed" fast--you'd think that was the reason, but trust me, I've played people who acted like it was a thinking game.

I love pretty displays.

I love having things in order.

I love having options as a girl/woman (woman will sound old to me until the day I die, so I try to not call myself that much). Like, I can wear whatever I want and it could pass, mostly anyway. I can die my hair, put make up on, get all dressed up and it's appropriate. I can dress in scrubby clothes, no make-up, hair back, and it passes. I love that I have so many options for how to look. I don't think guys, straight ones anyway, have anywhere near the same freedoms. Bummer for them.

I love decorating, but not when I'm supposed to do a whole house at once.

I love that presentation can make about a 70% difference in how something looks or tastes. That means I can fake a lot if I get out pretty plates:).

I love that I can read and count and that I get things now and don't have to go through all that frustrating learning like my kids are experiencing. They don't seem frustrated, but I love knowing what being able to read does for me. I think it's just all that learning that makes me not want to learn another language, yuck, been there, done that. Thank goodness I can speak English.

I love sounds, mostly nature sounds like wind in trees or bugs on a summer night--as long as they're outside. Otherwise, I'll get out my spray, and my indoor traps, and my outdoor traps and I'll make it my purpose to rid you of life little ant herds. Apparently they decided they liked our house too this week.

I love reading brochures, mostly about anything. It's often useless, but often not. I figure if someone was interested in writing this, I'm a little interested in why.

I also love reading books about somewhere I'm going and getting all nerdily ready to know the history of everywhere I'm going.

I love happy children and I just heard one of mine, and she sounds happily rested. I'm going to go get her before she finds my coconut rolls and gets really temporarily happy.

Q: what's something you love that isn't obvious? Okay, in case you were wondering, which you're not, I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, I love my husband and I love my children and other family members.