Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

This Tuesday Ten will be a light-hearted post to balance out the recent heavy topics that have been discussed on Blue Abaya :)
I got this meme from a fellow Finnish expat blogger Heli who currently resides in Norway. Thank you Heli! Her Norwegian Diary blog (in Finnish language) can be found here: http://norjalainenpaivakirja.blogspot.com/.

So the idea is to list ten things that get you in a good mood. Pretty easy! And then pass it on to five other bloggers.
Here's my list:

1. My daughter's smile. She smiles all the time, even if I need to wake her up in the middle of the night she will smile for me. If I'm dead tired or suffering from a case of morning crankiness she manages to lighten up my mood with her sunshine smile.

2. Travel. Whenever I get the chance I want to travel! If only to a place we haven't been to in the nearby desert, travelling and exploring new places just makes me happy and elevates my mood.

3. My nieces. I miss them so much! We try to Skype as often as we can and my daughter gets so excited on the Skype she cannot control herself and wants to go kiss and hug her cousins. As much as it cheers me up it does also sometimes make me sad they are so far away though.

4. Pancakes. The Finnish kind. It's never too late or too early to have pancakes! Pancakes can totally save a crappy day. Last week my husband made me pancakes two times! Once at 5 am when I couldn't sleep and the other time was for a surprise breakfast in bed.

5. My husband. Nobody makes me laugh like my husband! He always manages to make me in a good mood no matter how bad the day was.

6. Animals. Mainly my own pets but all watching all kind of animals makes me happy as long as they are not being mistreated which is when I get EXTREMELY upset.
7. A walk in the park. Not too many options in Riyadh but my favorite is the Diplomatic Quarter's astonishing well groomed and private parks.

8. The Ocean. Whether it's swimming or diving in it or just the fresh ocean breeze, the calming sound of the waves or the salty water splashing on my face when sailing, the ocean will always make me happy and relaxed.
9. Helping someone become happy. It makes me happy to make others happy. Satisfied patients are guaranteed to put me in a good mood.  A happy husband makes a happy wife. I hope I can make my family happy although we are so far away now. I love seeing my friends enjoy their time and I love organizing parties!

10. A good night's sleep. Which used to mean 12 hours for me but now I will be ecstatic to catch more than 6 hours of undisturbed sleep at any hour of the day!

Passing this on to:
Om Lujain at Ramblings of a Saudi wife http://lostinriyadh.blogspot.com/
Carol at American Bedu http://americanbedu.com/
Noor at Little Pink Strawberries http://littlepinkstrawberries.blogspot.com/
D at the Camel and the Kangaroo http://thecamelandthekangaroo.wordpress.com/
Anne at Helvatianmoista elamaa http://helvetiassa2.blogspot.com/

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahh thanks for that post Ms. Sisu (I don't know your name).

Things that make me happy
snuggling into bed at night
drinking coffee in the morning
that post exercise feeling
(gotta love those endorphins)
people who do small, simple, good things
realizing there are many of the above people
my foster sister (we are both middle aged now)
alpaca/cashmere/silk/linen fabric or yarn

Thanks again

Farooq said...

Ahh lovely post...Now let's see how people manage to turn it into an us vs them debate. haha

Ten things I love:
My son smiling
My wife smiling
Our families hanging out together
Munnar (It's a place in Kerala)
Great food
Kindness
Honesty
Great movies (Saw Frank Capra's Its a wonderful life recently and it was lovely)
Sightseeing
Blue seas

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for sharing your positivity! I've recently discovered your blog and love reading your stories! Thanks again for sharing! Francesca, Ottawa, Canada

Affinity for Modesty said...

Even though I cannot see your daughter's face but I think she looks amazing. I am a new mommy so I swoon every time I see babies. I just want to hug them and kiss them.

Things that makes me happy

1. My almost 5 month old daughter. She is always happy mashallah and laughs at the most random things such as dangling a cloth diaper in front of her face...
2. My husband, the craziest, funniest, most casual person I have ever known. He makes me laugh, he makes me sane when I am almost bursting, he keeps me grounded and loves me through thick and thin...
3. Fresh, clean change of bedsheets...ahhh I love the smell and touch of the fabric...
4. Cream crackers dunked in hot cocoa...that reminds me, I had better pop over to TESCO...
5. Driving in the rain and storm...I am just in awe when I see the rain splattering against the wind-shield...plus seeing my husband's face when he sees the rain is just classic (the poor guy, coming from Saudi hehehe)...
6. Watching a movie while snuggling up to my husband on our sofa...
7. Brunch with my sister at Coffee Beans while gossiping about her evil boss and my husband's latest antics...
8. Chocolates and cheese, I could eat them all day long...thank God for my daughter who keeps my figure in shape...
9. Seeing my daughter sleeping peacefully...and for me some sleep also...Sleep sleep, wherefore art thou?...
10. Knowing that Allah has given me so much, a wonderful husband, a delightful daughter, living in a peaceful country, and acknowledging the fact that any dream is possible with hard work and lots of dua'a.

keep writing Laylah, your blog makes my day! ah thats on my list of happy things too :)

Anonymous said...

This is such a nice post I love it! I can relate to so many of those points especially the animals, I love them and when I see them getting mistreated it just ruins my mood and my day.

Layla said...

Thank you for posting your list! Are you from South America by any chance? I love alpaca too!Do you know of vicuna? I bought a vicuna shawl from Peru and it's amazingly soft!!

Layla said...

Farooq-haha I hope not!
Lovely list thanks for sharing, makes me smile :)

Layla said...

Fransesca-thank you! I'm glad you like my blog :)

Anonymous said...

Hey,
I dont't know what happens to my comments when I send by iphone but those dont't seem to appear here and no text to confirm that comment has been sent for...Anyway I wrote to you private message re the cats also. Maybe you never received it either? Now I wanted to thank you of recommending that pet clinic. My husband took the cats there and he was very impressed of that clinic. The cats are now staying there for antibiotics (and maybe i.v. also) for 5 days (so bad flu). They are going to look after the cats also when ever needed which is great.
You have cute looking baby. Has she got brown/blue eyes and do you speak finnish to her?
Are there good beauty-/hair saloons in Riyadh to recommend?

Layla said...

mrsbawazir-thank you and Congrats for your little one!Our babies sound very much alike! It must be the nice mix of genes that makes them so happy and content ;)

I love all the things on your list! May I ask where you live?
All the best to you and your family!

Layla said...

Huda-thank you! You will be having a bad moos soon I have to warn you about a serious issue I'm working on right now :(

Layla said...

HI there! Sorry I did get your email but I didn't get a chance to reply yet!Been very busy last few days, but I will reply within next few days! So are all the cats at the clinic now? Good to hear they on their way to recovery! I am so worried of the ones at the farm and hoping he goes get them out asap because the farms are only for mass breeding of cats until they die :(
My baby has brown eyes and was born with a mop of black hair but now it's already pretty light colored brown :) I always speak Finnish to her ans she has started to say things in Finnish already, she's 11 months now.
There are few good ones like AlManahiil and AlMultaka have good hair stylists!

Anonymous said...

No I'm from the US but I have spent time in Bolivia and Peru. Vicuna and alpaca are just amazing.

Your blog was the last thing I read last night before a lovely snuggle into sleep so . . .er . . . oops I forgot to sign my.

Many apologies,

Annie

Affinity for Modesty said...

thank you Laylah. yes, I could just see our babies playing together :) I live in Kuala Lumpur, the beautiful capital city of Malaysia. If you ever decide to come here, do let me know and I'd be delighted to show you around while our kiddies play , inshaAllah :) I could just imagine them babbling Arabic with a dash of Finish, English and Malay hehehe!!!

Thank you, Allah gv you and your family rezik always and keep writing, you do it so well mashaAllah!

Jean said...

Very cute kittie. What's Finnish pancakes like?

Here in Calgary, we call them flapjacks.

My 10 favourite:
1. A lovely bike ride when it's warm, not too hot and there's Nature budding green and scent of flowering buds. For several hrs.

2. A bike ride at night during the summer --but no mosquitoes please. On quiet paths and streets.

3. A lovely smoked salmon sandwich with cheese, tomato, Dijon mustard.

4. Travelling, cycling with my partner

5. Sharing a lovely home-cooked meal with my partner.

6. Exploring new artisan bakeries. :)

7. Blogging on topics that particularily inspire me.

8. Chatting up with friends and family.

9. Walking on residential streets at night with snow falling gently. So peaceful.

10.Snowshoeing up in the mountains through thick snow-draped areas. Magic.

Layla said...

Jean- That's one of our cats :) Finnish pancakes are more like crepes, thin and the batter is different than the american one.

Thanks for posting your list!I love all of them! Especially #9

Noor said...

I just saw this I will do it now :) <3 love your things

Unknown said...

Just read this post, it made me smile... :)
Pretty much all of the things that make me happy make you happy too...