A Very Lucky Girl

I danced around my home yesterday morning, torn between laughing hysterically and crying of pure joy.  Why? The direction of my life was so fantastically validated.  When I first started researching the Internet for information regarding teaching English as a second language, I signed up for emails from a job listings site. Just for kicks. I felt sure I would regret the enormous influx of spam, but instead I found something wonderful.  One morning, when I was taking that damn Ancient Art of War in June, I scrolled through the options of the day in my email and found a listing for online volunteers needed for a program in Rio de Janeiro.  Considering I have high hopes and crossed fingers to get into the Fulbright program, destination Brazil, I jumped at the chance to become more involved in this pursuit.  I sent the woman my resume and a short blurb about me and why I was interested.  She responded quickly and set up a Skype chat with me for Thursday,...

Lo and behold, April has brought some smiles to my face this year. Let me count the ways. Pedicures. Strawberry Surfriders from Jamba Juice. Good tippers and their good tips. Falling into bed after an 11 hour late night shift. Cry Baby snowcones with extra sour. Songs on repeat. Egg white omelets with bacon. Encouraging emails from MapMyRun Laughing with my dad Checking things off of my task app Writing without abandon Group texts Beating a new level on Candy Crush. Running in the rain. Effortlessly excellent hair days. The post-Easter Peep sale. Wedges (pizza and shoes). But the number one joy-inducer for A Very Lucky Girl this month is the dwindling of the day count to summer. It's so close, I can taste it. And it tastes like snowcones and sleep.

I discovered an incredibly inspiring exercise through my friend Kelky's instagram. I asked her about it and learned that it's her way of recognizing all the good and happy things in life, no matter how small, especially when she feels like the world is pummeling her with hard experiences.  I've decided to follow her example and create my own list of happiness that I can update consistently. Because as cliche as I sound right now, and as much as I'm making myself cringe, there's little sparkly bits of happiness in a lot of minute details of life.  Without further ado, My Experiment in Happiness: used books with a stranger's thoughts in the margin random texts when someone is thinking of you Fat Amy days with no plans rainy afternoon naps tie blankets sparkles old pictures handwritten notes mail brown paper packages tied up with string Troy Bolton flawless cinema romance quick wit bold colors the euphoria after finishing a morning run putt...