...I simply remember my favourite things...

After a week of being sick and still making my way to school every morning through snow and bitter cold (ok, maybe I am dramatizing a little), life is finally picking up. And this morning I was thinking about all the things that I love about it. So here they are, in no particular order, and by no means exhaustive:

1 God, my Creator and Saviour
2 my family
3 The Word of God
4 the Church
5 surprises
6 camping trips when you go so far from everything familiar that you wonder if civilization and all its ‘achievements’ are just a product of your imagination
7 night conversations
8 fog (here comes the mystery)
9 jazz, especially live
10 books that keep you up till morning
11 pictures (here’s to all the good times!)
12 hugs
13 dogs, the big ones
14 cellos (and all other string instruments)
15 worship, the kind that pleases our Lord
16 chocolate
17 black coffee in the morning
18 cozy and fun socks
19 TRAVELING – anywhere, anytime!
20 foreign languages
21 being a student
22 random adventures
23 choral music performed in beautiful churches
24 baths after a long day
25 butterflies
26 maps
27 sleeping outside
28 teddy bears
29 candles and incense
30 beaches, preferably with no people
31 angels
32 handwritten letters
33 old cathedrals when there is nobody else there (or at any time, really)
34 singing
35 take-off and lending in an airplane
36 sushi and other sea food
37 rollercoasters
38 lilies of the valley
39 the color green
40 pomegranates
41 finding perfect gifts for people
42 huge windows
43 folklore
44 open spaces
45 listening – to God, people, music, nature...
46 mountains – declaring the glory of the Lord!
47 chivalry, the dying art
48 cognac
49 understanding (having that moment of epiphany when a light bulb goes on in my head and world starts to make sense)
50 waking up to bright sunlight or sunrise and hearing the birds sing
51 musicals (The hills are alive with the sound… hmm, ok, I’m done)
52 formal attire, especially evening dresses
53 elegance in things and people
54 honesty, even if I don’t want to hear it
55 chamber music
56 orthodox churches and iconography
57 the sound of falling water
58 fast motion (driving, flying, etc.)
59 encouraging and uplifting my friends
60 being able to express myself
61 strawberries
62 new beginnings – starting a book, a semester, a friendship
63 the moments of perfect peace – they are worth waiting for
64 receiving mail
65 walks in the pouring rain and watching the lightnings
66 ”silver white winter that melts into spring” – if somebody already said it better…
67 my grandmother’s baking
68 oriental cultures, as little as I know about them
69 wise advice
70 finishing something that I worked hard on and am satisfied with
71 having plants or pets where I live. People are not meant to be the only living form. This applies to only to the zoos and Canadian North
72 green tea with jasmine
73 small towns in Europe – it sometimes seems that time is not a dimension of life there
74 thoughtful art
75 horses
76 feeling whole; like after communion or a nice chat with God
77 daydreaming