life is good.

My dad loved the shirts and hats and items with the brand "Life is Good" printed on them. Towards the end of his life, it became the theme of his life. Life is good. And we should cherish it. When God was in the process of creating, he labeled his creation as "good." On his last day of creating, He looked at everything He had made, all of it, and decided once again that it was good. This earth, the land, the water, the sky, the air, the plants & animals, and most of all, living, breathing human beings.

Life.

It was good.

It is good.

I have been noticing a few simple things in my life lately that are just plain good. And while they're small, insignificant things, I don't recognize their goodness nearly enough. I always see the things I want to change, the negatives, the "what ifs" and "what could bes" and just don't spend time thanking God for all that is good in this life. As Oprah-esque as it is, I am enjoying these simple things and smiling when I see them or think of them. These are on my list, in no particular order:

• fresh lemons in my kitchen in a red antique-ish enamelware pot. I just smile every time I look at it. I don't know why. They just make me happy.
• And on that note, making fresh lemonade/lemon shake-ups with the lemons...
• sitting in my windowsill in the evenings...uncomfortable as it is, I love it.
• the sunshine on my back through my office window in the mornings at work
• big, juicy, fresh strawberries...by themselves, with sugar, made into pies, over ice cream, in fruit dip, blended in smoothies, any way they're prepared...love them. They are a staple.
• sitting outside and doing absolutely nothing...I wish I had a front porch so I could enjoy this more, but I could sit outside for hours on end in the summertime. Evenings are just perfect.
• the smells of freshly cut grass...I try to inhale as much as possible whenever I smell grass on my walks or while I'm running. If I could bottle it up, I would. I've thought about writing the Gap to see if they'll bring back the old Grass perfume just for me.
• weddings...I just love them. Summer is just wedding season. And this year, my best friend Amanda is getting married, and my good friend Steph just got married this past Friday. Both of them are so in love, and I love seeing their futures unfold with this exciting new part of life.
• Sunny mornings. I rarely enjoy mornings, but in the summertime, it's just different. It doesn't mean I wake up any easier, but once I am up and outside, I love it. I want to create more time to just sit, breathe in, and enjoy it while I can.

While there are dozens of other things I could share, I'll stick to this for now.

Looking over your life, what simple things would you say are just plain "good" right now?