Things that I find extremely enjoyable

So I was thinking about all the bitching I do, and decided to think of things I have really enjoyed as of late, here is a list of some of those things. Now you should make a list so you can appreciate life a little bit more.

1. Sunny Day Real Estate. If you have never listened to Sunny Day Real Estate I highly recommend it. I often find myself putting one of their CDs into my CD Player in my car and leaving it there for about a week. The vocals are amazing, I love the intricate guitar riffs, they have great basslines. It really makes me wish I was in a band again so I could try and create something half as amazing. And each CD is like listening to a whole new band. I think The Rising Tide is the CD I play the most, but I put in Diary today and my boyfriend asked who I was listening to (He was surprised to learn it was the same band that released The Rising Tide).

2. Running. A lot. So about a year and a half ago I was told that I had osteoarthritis and some weird disorder where the rest of my leg was stronger than my quad and my knee cap was sliding off. So I took a year and a half off, but I really really missed running so one day on a whim I decided to go. I've been running a lot, for about a month now and my knee feels better than the entire time that I wasn't running. I don't know if this is something that is going to come back to bite me, but I've done a lot of research and there are a lot of people with a shared experience. Nothing really beats running. I love bicycling, but I enjoy it when the weather's perfect or I'm on some sweet mountain bike trails, but I like long rides and it's not really practical for it to be my exercise of choice as I work full time.

3. Speaking of bicycling, I really enjoy mountain biking. I know, I live in Iowa, we don't have mountains, but there are some sweet trails in the midwest. In my youth I was quite the adrenaline junkie (I skateboarded for 5 years, a lot of vert, and did a lot of really really stupid things). But when my body really couldn't take skateboarding I discovered mountain biking. Not only do you get to be out in nature but you get an amazing rush. Not a lot compares to looking over the edge of a hill you're about to go down, or wondering how you are going to make it through a muddy trail with a lot of tree branches down. I love it, I dream about it. Really. It is truly an amazing experience.

4. The Toyota Yaris. Not to sound like a blogging advertisement, but I bought one of these. I was skeptical at first, as it was the most inexpensive car in the Toyota line. I drive around forty miles a day, and I have seriously saved so much money. It's rated at 36 mpg, but even in mixed driving I get closer to 40. And it does well in the snow (which is especially important after this last winter) Prior to this car I drove a giant Chrysler Sebring, it looked cooler, but ate gas and it was the worst car I have ever driven in the snow. As soon as you touched the brake the car just slid and went wherever it wanted. I would spin out on flat in an inch of snow. I got stuck on a two foot incline with about an inch of snow. It really sucked. So yeah, the Toyota is fun, and it was really affordable. And don't worry, I got the four door one, it's slightly less weird looking than the liftback.

5. Waking up early. I really enjoy waking up early and going running, cooking a big breakfast, or running errands. It makes me feel so much better about my day. I love waking up in the early morning and going outside because the air is so cool, crisp, and fresh. I love going to the grocery store early in the morning because it is so quiet. I just wish I could fall asleep easier so I would wake up earlier.

6. Ubuntu. I have had an interest in Linux since middle school. My first experience though, was not a good one, I had an older version of Mandrake and partitioned my computer. It was rather cryptic. Today I dual boot with Ubuntu and.. unfortunately, Vista. Using Ubuntu has really made me think about how inefficient Windows is. Things load so much quicker now and I really don't have any problems with freezing. The only downfall is some things aren't compatible. About the only time I load Windows is to use Rhapsody. I definitely recommend Linux, the best part about Ubuntu is that it's all open source and completely free. I use open office which is compatible with Microsoft Office and it was free. My operating System was free, my photo editing program was free, it's amazing.

7. Grilling. Lately my boyfriend and I have discovered the joy of grilling. All we have is this tiny Weber that sits low to the ground, but we've had so much fun. It's so fun to sit on the back patio and grill food. And it tastes great. There's really not much more to say about it.

8. Dogs. Dogs may be one of the coolest animals in existence. Dogs are great, they all have different personalities and different interests. My parents have a fox terrier, it's the coolest dog I have ever met. He's so smart, he behaves extremely well, and he really understands me (I swear). When I go home, he's my running buddy, we have so much fun, and he behaves himself and doesn't stop at all. He's so energetic, he loves car rides, pretending stuffed animals are alive, and lounging on top of the couch. Oh, and he loves being cuddled. And it's amazing because when we got the dog he had been badly abused and wouldn't even let you pet his head.

9. Mp3 Players. Twelve years ago, if you told me that I could have something super tiny that would hold all my music, I would think you were nuts. But it's so amazing, they're so tiny and hold so much music. My car has an mp3 player jack and now I don't have to carry around a ton of CDs. And I use Rhapsody, which is like 14.99 a month for unlimited music on my mp3 player.

So I'm getting tired of the long explanations, if you've made it this far, you probably think I'm super lame. But if I still have any of your attention, here is a list of other random things that make me happy, word finds, canvas grocery bags, spring jackets, pointy toed shoes, new balance shoes, laptops, biking/running trails, random animals in my yard, brightly painted houses, buses, home made blankets, paintings, charcoal and paper, photography, walking, sending/receiving cards, furniture, my bed, and of course, my boyfriend :).