Just about a month ago, I published a post with the same title as today's post. For that post, I decided to mix things up and make my presentation more visual than usual.
I really enjoyed creating that post, so much so that it was already time for another post with the same theme! This type of post may become a semi-regular thing, we'll see!
As I mentioned last month, we absolutely deserve a gold star any time that we feel joyful! And experiencing joy will without a doubt put us into the mood to bring joy to others by giving out some gold stars!
It's so much fun to examine our lives for things that make us feel joyful, whether they are big or small! Here are a few of the things that have brought me joy since last month's post:
Tom and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary back in May! We had a low-key, but joyful celebration! Our friend Susan (a former Star of the Week award winner!) came over to help us celebrate, and Tom and I went out to brunch for the first time since the pandemic started! And Tom got me roses -- how much more joyful can you get?!
As you probably know by now, I absolutely adore my cat Tiki! Tom and I adopted her from the SPCA when she was 5 years old, and she had been a feral cat prior to the time we adopted her. The SPCA wasn't sure that she would be able to be domesticated, but she transitioned to her life as an indoor cat living with humans quite easily. She is such a happy, joyful creature!
Tiki is a bit different from many other cats that I have known. She's funny in that she doesn't like to sit directly on you (like in your lap), and she doesn't like to be held. But she's not aloof in any way – in fact, she wants to be near Tom and me the vast majority of the time. She truly does love being close to us, and she will sometimes put her tail or her paw(s) on us. It's so cute!!!
It's pretty warm here right now, and a few days ago she was in full on "otter" pose, as we like to call it, and she put her back paws on my feet. So super adorable!!! I was psyched that I had my phone next to me and that I was able to snap a pic without disrupting her.
Now I know this one may seem a bit odd, but I am also appreciating my car these days! Her name is DD, which is short for Daisy Dixie (a very southern name!), and she is 27!!! years old.
She just hit the 150,000 mile mark when I was driving home a couple of days ago! I couldn't get the exact 150,000 because I was driving, but I did manage to get a pic of 149,999! She has been a fabulous car over the years, and believe it or not, she actually has daisies on her! Is that joyful or what???
And, finally, just this past Sunday, I had a very joyful outing with my dear friend and recent Star of the Week, Laura! She will be celebrating a milestone birthday in a few days, and we got together to celebrate with some fancy cocktails! We had an awesome time!
Laura recently published a list of fun things that she wants to do during her birthday month, and it gave me some ideas for creating future joy! If you are in need of some fun inspiration, you can check it out here! Happy Birthday Laura!!
Oh my goodness, writing these photo posts makes me SO happy! I will definitely be doing more of them! What is bringing you joy these days?? Please let us know in the comments!