Goodnight! Or Good Morning...?

Some nights I lay in bed, those last few minutes of the day before I drift off to sleep, in total disbelief of how happy I am... Of how blessed I am; of how content and at peace I am.

Do you ever have those? I certainly hope you do...

I seem to have them a lot lately. A week or two ago I could not sleep because of how stressed and anxious I was. Now I cannot sleep because I am just too darn happy.

I never would have thought that a person could be as happy as I am. And it is not a fleeting kind of happy that will be gone when I wake up in the morning, with any slight kink in a plan, or with a wrong word from a loved (or not so loved) one. It is a feeling that has been with me for quite a while.

Amidst the trials and uncertainties that characterize life these days (or maybe they just characterize life period), I feel totally, unbelievably, and indescribably blessed. I feel loved; I feel cherished and valued; I feel liked; I feel known. In short, I feel great!

I feel secure in the knowledge that there is a God who loves me. In addition to that, I have a wonderful family that loves me, and I am about the begin a NEW wonderful family with someone else who loves me... and with whom I love completely.

from here

While I am on a roll, here are some other things that make me happy...

I will especially need this in a few hours, after being up WAY past my bedtime tonight.

Oh, Audrey. One of the most beautiful people who has ever lived (in my opinion). And if she can learn to cook, then, by golly, so can I! And I have exactly 100 days to do just that! I started tonight by cooking dinner for Andrew and me. It was really easy, actually. Granted, I did have my mother's help. And granted, the meal was from a crock-pot (Is that cheating?), so it was not incredibly work intensive. It did taste a lot better than I feared it would; however, it was not much to look at... But what crock-pot recipe is?

All of her pictures make me happy, but this one especially does. It embodies two of my favorite things: the color purple (a lifelong favorite of mine) and cupcakes (heavy on the icing, please). The purple flowers are just a nice little added bonus. Speaking of purple flowers, I have a story about them. About Andrew and purple flowers, actually. Remind me later, and I will tell you.

Maybe I should tell you now, before it slips my mind (since I do seem to be extra forgetful and scatterbrained lately for some strange reason... I think graduating from college, finding a job, and getting married all contribute to my fading memory and lack of organization as of late).

A few days ago, Andrew and I were driving down a country road, and I noticed a patch of purple flowers on the side of the road. (I have not a clue what kind of flowers they were. I just know they were pretty.) Each time we passed said flowers, I commented on how pretty they were, and remarked that I would like to stop and pick one.

The day got away from us, and I never stopped to pick the flowers (One contributing factor to my not picking the flowers was that I was not sure if maybe there is some sort of rule against picking flowers that are technically not yours for the picking).

The time came for Andrew and I to part ways, so we did just that. Moments after he left my house, I heard a knock on the door. I opened the door to a bundle of big, purple, side-of -the-road, not mine for the picking, flowers, with Andrew's face hidden behind them.

Precious.

One more picture of her. I just can't resist. Something about her inspires me... Such a lovely person. I hope she had someone in her life who loved her enough to pick side-of-the-road flowers for her. She probably deserved it much more than I. At least, that is what I choose to believe.