Five Favorites (vol. 1)

I love the little things in life 🙂 So much so that for years I’ve been working on a list of every little delightful thing I encounter – coffee, people, fresh coats of paint; which is why Hallie Lord’s Five Favorites link-up sounds like a fabulous time. Just a day after her post, I’m joining 50+ bloggers simply because it’s fun. I love talking about my favorites, your favorites, having favorites, and why they’re favorites. So here goes!

1) My brand-spankin’-new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite – a gift from mes parents merveilleux, I’m thrilling in having a new toy that will lend itself to reading easily while feeding our new little one (just 2.5 weeks, guys!). I’d love some recommendations for downloads because I’ve been chomping at the bit for a great page turner. I breezed through The Help and The Guernsey Literary & Peeled Potato Pie Society. Devotional or fictional – I’d love your ideas!

2) The Biggest Loser – I’m not huge into getting attached to shows, but I tell you what, I don’t miss an episode of this. There’s no denying some of the overly scripted dialogue from time to time; but shoot, you’ll find that with any “reality” show. What I love love love about The Biggest Loser is the entire healing process. The conquering yourself process. It’s amazing what happens to these people on the inside and how that makes itself manifest on the outside. I think I like it because it’s a physical representation of what goes on in my own soul – I spend my whole life committing sins (some of them habitual) and it’s in getting up over and over again, pushing myself spiritually, allowing myself to be challenged by others, and above all by God’s mercy and grace that I’m able to overcome myself. This has been a pretty good season, too, and there are just 2 episodes left including the finale.

3) Catholic Irishness – It’s March 7th! and that means St. Patrick’s Day is just 10 days away. Boy am I ready, too! St. Patrick’s Day isn’t widely celebrated here in Northern Louisiana, but thanks to my mom, my pride in my Irish heritage (2nd generation American) is deeply rooted enough that my house is splashed with greens and golds for the day. We’ll go to Mass, blast Celtic music, read about St. Patrick, and watch the neighborhood parade a few blocks away. I can’t wait!

4) I love vinegar. It stinks, but I love it. I use it to scrub just about any and every inch of my house, the more recent being our 60-year-old tub and currently sparkling microwave. 1 part Dawn and 1 part vinegar in a dish scrubbing brush keep my whole bathroom shiny; AND did you know you can steam clean your microwave with 1/4 c vinegar and 1 cup water? 8-10 minutes on high should do it – just wipe clean. Oh, and open the windows. And light a candle. The stink doesn’t last long – don’t worry. Of course, I can’t claim these recipes as my own. I’m afraid my knowledge was Pin-spired. Gotta love Pinterest <— my Pinterest page, check it out!

5)  Aaaand last but not least, I have to post something about my favorite piece of jewelry. For over 10 years I’ve been looking for a simple rose ring and my friend Erin visited me adorned with this very one. After much admiration, I mentioned it to Andrew several months before Christmas and then completely forgot about it. I was totally surprised when, in the smallest hours of Christmas morning after midnight Mass, he presented it to me with sincerity and some very pretty words to sweeten the gift. I wear it daily out of devotion to the Blessed Mother (who appeared to St. Bernadette with roses at her feet), St. Elizabeth of Hungary (whose basket of bread turned into roses when she was interrogated about feeding the poor), St. Therese the Little Flower, and to Andrew of course 🙂 So small and simple – I just love it.

Tell me your favorites! It’s delighting in the little things in life that gives glory to God.