Twenty-two things that make me happy :)

‎"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life." -John Lennon

I love this quote...I love it alot!

HAPPINESS.

It's a pretty awesome thing, huh?  

So, what makes you happy?

What makes you smile? 

What makes you laugh until your stomach hurts? 

There are about a BILLION things that make me happy...

But hey, since I will be turning 22 this year, how about I just tell you TWENTY-TWO things that make me happy!

Welp, here goes nothing:

(1) My pretty dog Meisje (pronounced "Maysha").  That's Dutch for "little girl".  I love how she will just set her head on your lap until you pet her.  And how she stalks the squirrels in our backyard.  And how she patiently lets my little nieces climb all over her.

(2) Riding my bike (that I've had since the 9th grade).  I love riding my bike up Provo Canyon on warm days...when it's not too warm but it's just warm enough.

(3) Banana Bread (Grandma Hofman's recipe).

(4) A clean apartment.  Now, this doesn't happen very often...but when it does happen, I am a real happy camper!

(5) Talking to my little brother Sterling on the phone.  Not gonna lie, I miss that kid.  And I love how he's like 3 times my size.  And I love our late night conversations about anything and everything.

(6) Summer's Eve (thank you Lexi "Lurkel" Adams)

(7) Taking naps.  Naps are a precious thing in my life.  I never get enough sleep, so I take advantage of any extra minutes in the day.  And believe me, I can fall asleep ANYWHERE (that is not an exaggeration)! Naps make me happy :)

(8) Brigham Young University.

(9) Sophie Catharina Hofman. My best friend and my little sister.    

(10) Awkward moments. haha :)

(11) My roommate Katherine's cooking.  But seriously...best Cook EVER! 

(12) Laying on the sun warmed sidewalk after swimming.  One of my happy memories of childhood summers at the Raquet Club.

(13) Playing the piano.

(14) Skiing with my siblings.  As much as I love skiing with friends and stuff, skiing with my siblings will always make me the happiest!  I love riding the chairlift with them and eating pretzels and chocolate and laughing about things that only a Hofman would laugh at!

(15) John Denver.  His music brings back bucket loads of memories from building the cabin and spending the summers up there with my family!  And these memories make me really happy :)

(16) Shredstin Anderson. His wolf shirts make me really happy.  So do his dream catchers.  Oh, and his singing makes me happy too!

(17) Free stuff.  I have a confession, I'm addicted to free stuff.  It makes me really happy.  It's such a cool feeling to walk away with something that you didn't even pay for.  Yesterday I got a free highlighter and a free mechanical pencil.  Today I got a free thumb drive and a free t-shirt.  Call me a freeloader?  

(18) My Dutch heritage.  Being one-fourth Dutch makes me happy.  Thanks Grandpa (Cornelius Adrianus Hofman) for passing on your Dutch gene to all of us :)

(19) Cheese.  I would literally die without cheese in my life.  

(20) The Valley Crew.  They are a group of handicapped adults that work at the MTC with me.  And they make me SO happy!  "Beep Beep...Honk Honk" -Nila 

(21) My parents.  I have the world's BEST parents (and that is NOT an extreme exaggeration).  They make me happy.  Really happy.  Like the happiest.  Ever. 

(22) The gospel.  This is definitely the one thing that makes me the MOST happy!  I am so blessed to have the gospel in my life and I just want to shout it to the world!  

Cheers to HAPPINESS :)

Valentine's Day

As I'm sure you're all aware...Tuesday was Valentine's Day.  

Now before I go any further, I just want to clear things up:

I am NOT one of those humans who hates on love and hates on couples and hates on all that is good in the world.  I also do NOT refer to Valentine's Day as "Singles Awareness Day". 

Actually, I LOVE Valentine's Day! 

 

I love it for a few reasons:

(1) Because it brings me back to my elementary school days when we had Valentine's parties and everyone had a little box or a paper sack that they decorated and everyone brought Valentine's cards for everyone else.  And we frosted heart shaped cookies and drank fruit punch and played games.  

I loved that...I loved that a lot.

(2) Because I know that ONE DAY I might actually have someone to celebrate this glorious day with...

(3) Because it makes me laugh!  It is almost humorous to see what kind of crap people will actually spend their money on.  Big balloons, giant teddy bears, boxes of tasteless chocolate, dozens of roses = a HUGE waste of money.  But seriously.  I know these things are meant to be an expression of love...but I just don't buy it.  It's just not my thing.  Maybe I'm weird...call me crazy...but if you really loved me, you would  buy me a hamburger and fries (now that's what I call TRUE LOVE).  

(4) Because it's nice to see people show a little love for one day, in a world that is full of anger and hate and jealousy and sarcasm.  Valentine's Day doesn't have to be only for romantic relationships.  It's a great day for expressing your love for any person in your life who you care about and love!

So people...the moral of the story is this:

Don't be hatin' on Valentine's Day...it's okay to laugh at some of the silly things about it, but there is no need to hate on it!

Cheers to Valentine's Day :)

A morning in the life of a rock star (aka me)...

4:00 am- Cell phone alarm goes off ("Party people put it up, take it down and turn it up...").  I turn it off and relish in the fact that I still have 1 hour and 15 minutes to sleep.

5:15 am- Regular alarm goes off (beep...Beeep....BEeeep...BEEEeepp....BEEEEEEPPPPP).  I jump out of bed and turn it off as fast as I can.  Then I kneel down on the floor, with my head on my orange pillow, and say my morning prayers, going in and out of sleep.

5:17 am- Pull on my black pants that smell of bacon.  Slip on some socks.  Shove on my Keens covered in liquid egg.  Put my MTC Dining hat on.

5:20 am- Put in my contacts and brush my teeth.

5:23 am- Throw on my ski jacket. Grab my BYU ID card.  Grab my car keys.  Head out the door.

5:29 am- Arrive at the MTC and clock in.  Throw on a gross white button-up shirt.  Tie an apron on.  

5:33 am- Wait for Francisca to order me around.

5:34 am- Start pulling biscuits out of the ovens.  Or start throwing frozen french toast sticks in the deep fryer.  Or start cooking rice for dinner that night.  

6:00 am- Avoid Francisca--at all costs-- so she doesn't tell me to start cooking bacon (I HATE cooking bacon.  It makes my whole body smell.  The smell literally infuses into my skin.)

7:00 am- Still listening to Francisca order me around in her thick spanish accent

7:17 am- Go grab myself an old fashioned cake doughnut.  Or a bagel.  Or both.

7:30 am- Take a break to go chat with Sophie and Mary.  Then I threaten to push Mary into the pulper.

7:32 am- Francisca comes over and yells at me again.  I go back to work.

7:34 am- I start doing some menial task, such as folding 1,000 pieces of pastrami and placing them in pans for the pastrami sandwiches they will serve at lunch.

8:00 am- Oh, Francisca is still telling me what to do...and re-doing everything I have done...and hip-checking me

8:09 am- Francisca starts throwing vinegar all over the counters and water all over the floors

8:30 am- Things start to slow down...Francisca is chilling out and I just putz around and find stuff to do.  

8:53 am- I look up at the clock and rejoice that I get to leave in T minus 7 minutes...

9:00 am- I tell Francisca goodbye...go clock out...take off the nasty white button-up shirt...grab my coat and keys and...BLITZ.

An ode to Skiing.

                                                            

Skiing.

Snow skiing.

Downhill snow skiing.

aka HEAVEN 

But seriously, I am in love with skiing.

It's a beautiful kind of love that I share with skiing.  

This love has existed ever since my stellar parents first took me night skiing on the bunny hill at Pebble Creek in Inkom, Idaho when I was 10 years old...

There is something about waking up early in the morning...putting on your ski gear...making a sandwich...driving to the ski hill...putting on your ski boots...clipping into your skis...jumping on the chairlift...and then cruising down a big open bowl...covered in freshly fallen snow...surrounded by snow covered pine tree...on a beautiful winter day...with nothing in front of you...nothing behind you.  

Only you.

 And the mountain.  

And occasionally another skier or snowboarder.  

But mostly just you and the mountain.  

It is:

EXHILARATING

Sometimes your toes freeze.  Sometimes your fingers freeze.  Sometimes your face freezes. 

But dude...that's what the LODGE is for. 

 Trust me.

Go sit in there for 5 or 6 minutes and you’ll be GOLDEN.  

Ready to hit the slopes again with more force than ever before.

Cheers.  To skiing.

:)