6 Things That Make Me Feel Happy All The Time

1. My animals - What can I say, I really love cats. I was raised with cats. I might have spent a whole year of my life without a cat or 2. Speaking of, we have 5 kitties currently. Yep, I'm a little nutty. I clean a lot of litter boxes, and I foster as well. They really make me happy though. I love to play with them, and they just sleep wherever they fit. Most of them I've had since they were very young, so we have very strong bonds. They're my family.

2. All the animals - Most people would probably put one and 2 together, but they're

different for me! I love lions, tarantulas, and lizards; oh my! Seeing a fox run through

the woods out back, praying mantis that lives on the AC unit (cool guy, might be a girl,

still cool), the little lizards that like to hang out in the azaleas, I love them all. Speaking

of flowers.....

3. I absolutely adore flowers. You'd never really expect it, because I live that "messy hair,

don't care, I am trash, these jeans are from high school" kind of life, but flowers are

just pretty. It's also just so interesting that they're pretty so they can reproduce! Those

beautiful colors are to suck in insects, but they really draw my eye, and bring me joy.

Flowers make me smile.

4. Photography - I have been obsessed with capturing a moment, making a perfect photo,

getting the shot for as long as I can remember. I think I was born that way. I'm pretty

sure my first camera experience was with a polaroid (showing my age here). That sort

of camera though, it made me understand photography at a very young age. It was

like some sort of magic, and it's never lost that appeal to me. There IS magic in a

photograph, even if it's just how it makes you feel. I'm talking 3 or 4; I know there are

pictures of me with the polaroid around my neck and the string is so long that it's

down to my knees.

I got a little point and shoot around 7 and I just never stopped. If she didn't toss them

away there must be thousands of pictures packed away in my mother's closet.

Flowers, cats, trees, planes, the hot air balloon that flew over our house, staged

scenes with action figures, rust up close, things in motion; I had pictures of everything.

It was a photographic biography, chaotic and always changing directions, kind of like

my mind..........

5. Editing my photos - That would come later, but oh boy, another obsession! I've been

accused of working for pixel perfect, and I really am. Like one and 2, most people

would probably put this in with photography, but the editing process is something else

entirely. I say photography is brain off. I just do it. It's not that there isn't a lot that

goes into photography, there is, but I'm not thinking about it. I just do. Editing is

cerebral.

When I edit, I sit and I think. Should this picture be warmer, cooler? Is it too dark? I

hope my subject is clear. My mind prattles on while my fingers slide and click. Is that

right? No, not yet. Maybe this one is ABSTRACT. Nope, nope, undo. Suddenly it's

the right thing. It's exactly what I wished it was when I took it. I enjoy the hunt, and I

enjoy the find.

6. Winter - True, honest to God, it's gonna snow guys, winter. I live in a place much further

south than where I was raised. There is no real winter here, only a rainy season. I do

make the most of that, and I have quite the collection of rain boots, but it's not quite

the same. I love jackets, and coats! Cropped ones, and trench coats, and sweaters,

and scarves; I love being bundled up. Also, I still love the snow. No matter how much

of a giant mess it is, I absolutely love it. I'm pale and red haired, maybe I'm a little

winter biased.