9 Loves

It's day 2 of the blog challenge and today is 9 loves.  Here we go!

Love #1

It has to be the obvious, my family both blood, soon to be, and furry.  My parents - who gave up a lot and did everything they could to make sure that my brother and I could do anything we wanted and have everything we wanted, within reason of course.  And also for dealing with my few years of terribleness in my teenage years.  My brother - who makes me laugh like no other and spent years putting up with me going out of my way to scare him.  And who also seems to be holding no resentment towards me for getting married on his birthday.  He's awesome.  Mike's parents - who were nothing but kind and accepting of me from the beginning and who welcomed me into their family with open arms long before Mike and I were ever engaged.  They've done so much for us, and have gone above and beyond time after time.  Bauer - who, despite what other people may think of their own pets, is the best dog in the world.  He cheers me up when I'm down, cuddles like no other dog I've met, and has so much personality.  Lastly, Mike - who more than 7 years later still gives me butterflies, knows exactly what to do or say to make me smile, makes me laugh, and puts up with me.  He truly is one of the kindest, sweetest, funniest, intelligent, and caring people I know.

Love #2

Shoes.  I'm obsessed with shoes.  Like I mentioned in a previous post, we pack bins and bins of shoes when we move, and they're all mine.  It's a struggle to walk past a shoe store.  I always glance longingly at them as I tell myself I will not go in.  If I was a millionaire, my money would go towards shoes.  At least one of every color is a necessity, multiple of each would be ideal.  I'm still working on it.  When I get new shoes I have to sneak them in and hope they're not noticed until they're already worn and not returnable.  I'm addicted.

Love #3

Animals of just about every variety.  I'd live at the zoo if I could.  I still semi-regret majoring in math instead of biology in college because now I'll never be a zookeeper/researcher/anything else that works with animals in any way.  I don't discriminate.  While I have no love for insects, and spiders creep me out, I can understand that they all have a purpose.  Big cats are beautiful, wolves are gorgeous, and I can't even make myself angry at the chipmunks digging holes under our front steps.  We had a 5 foot black rat snake in our yard, and I thought it was the coolest thing.  I spend my days watching Animal Planet and Nat Geo Wild soaking up all the information I can on all species, and I will forever advocate conservation of all.  Also, adopt pets from shelters!  They are there through no fault of their own, and deserve loving homes!  Mutts are the best dogs!

Love #4

Really bad horror movies.  The kind that SyFy puts on every weekend.  Bad special affects, bad acting, bad scripts.  All awesome.  October is one of my favorite months simply because all day every day it's just horror movie after horror movie leading up to Halloween.  I can't get enough.  They're so bad, they're hilarious.  I mean, who comes up with a vengeful swamp tree killing people building a factory?  See?  Awesome.

Love #5

Sports.  You all know by now that I grew up watching hockey, but that was hardly the only sport in our house.  Every Saturday and Sunday football was on.  My grandfather played in college, and captained the team.  The Bears wanted him, but he hadn't gone to college until after fighting in WWII, so he was nearly 30 with bad knees.  He chose to coach instead.  Every Saturday he'd have multiple TVs set up in the same room with different college games on, and the big screen was the game with the most going on.  Radios were also set up throughout the house so he could listen to non-televised games.  I played basketball into junior high, softball until 16, volleyball into college, and I was totally the gym class hero.  Go Giants!  Go Yankees!  Go whatever organization Mike is playing for!

Love #6

Sun.  Is there anything better than a sunny cloudless day?  It's so hard to be in a bad mood when the sun is out.  I do enjoy the occasional thunderstorm, but nothing beats a warm sunny day for me.  When I wake up and see that the sun is out, it automatically puts a smile on my face.

Love #7

Laughter.  If you can find a way to laugh when doing something, then it's just not worth it to me.  I like to put myself around people who generally are happy and like to laugh.  Laughter is contagious.  There are times when something happens that isn't even all that funny, but Mike and I will laugh about it forever because we can't stop laughing at the others laugh.  Laughter makes friends, cheers people up, puts people in a good mood, etc.  There really isn't anything bad about laughing.

Love #8

The color purple.  I don't care what it is, but if it's purple, odds are I'll love it.  My days of buying things simply because they are purple are over, but that doesn't mean I don't wish I still could.  I bought my hair dryer because it was purple, not because of its features.  Purple will be the main color in my wedding.  There isn't a shade of purple I don't love.  It makes me happy.

Love #9

Baking.  I may not be super creative, and I'll never have the talent to sell my desserts in a bakery, but I love it.  Cakes, cookies, breads, cupcakes, etc.  I make it all.  And I'm pretty damn good at it.  Sometimes when I'm bored I'll bake the first thing that comes to mind.  I love hosting parties at our house because then I'll get to bake multiple things.  It's fun, and I find it therapeutic.  If I'm upset about something, I'll bake something that requires me to hand mix.  I take my frustration out on the dough, and then the smell of whatever I made as it's baking puts a smile on my face.

Tomorrow, 8 fears.  I don't know how I'm going to narrow that list down to only 8, haha.