Happiness Award? Me?

I'd like to thank Shelli for nominating me and some other new bloggers for a Happiness Award.

The rules:
1.)When you have received this award you must thank the person that awarded you this in the new post.
2.) Name 10 things that make you happy
3.) Pass this award onto other bloggers and inform the winners.

It's been a hectic weekend, so sitting down alone with my computer and thinking about things that make me happy sounds pretty good right now.

1. Books! - Hit TV shows, popular music , I'm really out of the loop, but if you want to strike up a conversation about a Bestseller, I'm totally up for it. I used to go to Borders or Barnes and Noble at least twice a month just to browse around and check out what was on display, what was new in hardcover, new in paperback, and what percentage of the books for sale on the Buy Two Get One Free table I'd already read. Lately I've been into memoirs. I seem to always be buying cookbooks. I have to force myself to read novels for some reason, but it's always more than worth it. When I'm too brain fogged to really read I like graphic novels, easier than regular books and not as stimulating as television.

2. Yoga! - The first time I did yoga was at the school fitness center my freshman year in college and it was pretty unimpressive. Just a lot of stretching, like a dance class but without the dancing. My first Kundalini yoga class was a completely different experience. Huge, high-ceilinged studio, live drumming and a gong, and an intense workout where every posture felt incredibly effective and incredibly right. I walked out thinking, "This is what exercise should be!" and wishing we had done Kundalini instead of the boring calisthenics we did in gym class in school. I don't go to the classes anymore because it really gets your heart rate up, which is bad for CFS, but I bought a book and sometimes do poses at home by myself. I've just lately gotten into restorative yoga, which is really relaxing and supposed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. I know I sleep better on the nights I go to class.

3. Travel - Or even just dreaming about travel. Mostly road trips. I love driving so much, one of my dream jobs would be trucking. "It's a tough job, but you can't beat the view." (I heard a trucker say that in the Big Rig documentary) I've been to 46 states, I still need Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. When they build the Trans-Hawaii Highway (doesn't that just roll off the tongue?) I'll be the first to drive across. I'm not really in road-trip condition right now, but I've recently discovered the train and sleeper cars. It's like a road trip but you don't have to drive, you just lie down and read books or look out the window.

4. Music - No matter how bad it gets, there will always be good music.

5. Dougal! - My dog. Actually, my mom's dog. He doesn't live with me, unfortunately. In the words of my boyfriend, he's a "high-quality dog."

6. Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - I am so excited about this show. Getting off S.A.D. (that's what vegans and raw foodists call the "Standard American Diet) is one of the greatest things I've ever done. It's just too bad I sound like a tool when I try and talk about it to my friends and family. Thank god there's Jamie Oliver to get out there and be a tool for me.

And on that note:

7. Finding New Healthy Restaurants - When it comes to restaurants, the world is not my oyster, but my venus fly trap. Are there vegan options? Are there wheat-free vegan options? Is there sugar in this dressing? Is there agave in this soup? You don't cook in vegetable oil, do you?? So when I find a restaurant that is truly committed to serving healthy food, it's very exciting. My latest find was today in Lakewood, Ohio, the Good 'N Raw Cafe. I got a green juice, and a green tea iced latte, something I love and haven't had in a very long time. Theirs had matcha, almond milk, coconut, date, vanilla bean, and a little nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. They didn't have many food options, but Jim got the "tuna" salad made from walnuts and sunflower seeds instead of tuna. I had a bite and it was amazing, and I've had a lot of mediocre "tuna" salads at raw food restaurants. Completely forgot green tea has caffeine though and I couldn't figure out why I felt so buzzed after I drank it. It was a good buzz though.

8. Different languages and accents - I get a thrill out of pronunciation. I watched six action packed episodes of 24 this week with my dad and brother, and the biggest rush for me might have been anticipating Anil Kapoor pronouncing his W's. I have a couple books and tapes on "acting with an accent." I took German in high school, Spanish in college, and I've dabbled in French, Russian, and Portuguese. I know about half of the Cyrillic alphabet. It'd be awesome to learn fluency in one of these languages, but I've pretty much given up on trying to actually learn and just do it for fun. I think the most beautiful languages are Hawaiian, Finnish, and Russian. There are no ugly languages. My dream is to learn to pronounce every sound in the IPA. (International Phonetic Alphabet)

9. Blogs - I love it when people write. I think everyone should have a blog. Really! Everyone!

10. TV - Mostly anticipating new episodes of my favorite shows. It was so much fun anticipating the Breaking Bad season premiere on Sunday! Or TV on DVD, watching like six episodes in a row, especially with someone. Actually, it's pretty fun alone too.

Well, that's ten, I guess I won't be mentioning my friends and family. Sorry guys, you're great, but I had to talk about Breaking Bad.

This is where I'm supposed to nominate other blogs, but I think by now everyone's already been nominated, so I'm just going to say, anyone who reads this and wants to do it, consider yourself nominated by me.