Tuesday, May 1

Day 122: Bicycling, Giveaway & Castle Adventure... Oh My!

List of things that made me smile before 8am:

1. Head butts from my kitty at 5am that then morphed into purr-snuggling.

2. Sleeping. Soundly.

3. Waking up to a completely cloudless, clear, blue sky.

4. Drinking coffee out of our new mugs while lying in bed reading.

5. Not having to go to work.

6. Knowing that today is my Random Giveaway in honor of making it through (writing something positive or happy) one third of the year to my 365 day goal.

I think that is a pretty darn good list of smiles. And all before 8am. Then there was having a leisure brunch with my husband and using our new egg cups that I found yesterday:




But best of all was watching my kitty sleeping in her comfy, coochy, cozy positions. I cannot even fathom how she finds these positions comfortable but there she is dozing lazily without a care in the world. Ah, to be a cat.



In about thirty minutes we will be setting out on a bicycling adventure. The original plan was to do an eighteen kilometer ride out to a place called Eksviken. We would have taken the pendeltåg (commuter train) to an area just north of the city and then ride from there back toward the city, along water and historical sites, possibly stopping at a castle in the area for lunch, before making our way back to a different pendeltåg stop to catch the train back home. Our new plan is to take the pendeltåg to a closer stop and ride out to the castle in the ride above, Ulriksdals Slott, and have fika (coffee) or lunch at the Wärdshus (Inn) before taking the train, or riding back.

So we'll see. Riding my bike always makes me happy and the minute my husband's bum hits the seat of his bicycle it is as if he is transformed into a new person. When we had engagement photos taken back in Dallas we started out in a cute, little, downtown area called the Bishop Arts district. Our photographer tried her best to help him relax for the photo session and he did start to relax and have fun with it but the minute we pulled out the bicycle his entire demeanor changed. He was happy and smiling and had a brightness to his eyes that was playful and childlike. We had a blast from that point on.



Bicycles will always be a part of our lives in some form or fashion. It is just the way it is and I am glad. There is a sense of freedom I feel when I am flying down the street on my bicycle. One day when we were heading back to our apartment here in Stockholm after a ride around the city, we were on an uphill part of the ride and an older woman with grey hair, on a bicycle that had only one gear and squeaked as she road, passed us. At a pretty fast clip too. I hope that will be me one day.

You are probably wondering about the Random Giveaway I keep talking about. I am so excited about it, I can hardly stand it. In honor of today being Day 122, or one third of the way to my 365 day goal, I will be holding a drawing for a Happy Package giveaway for a person, randomly selected from a drawing, who comments on today's post. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me something that makes you happy! Because of time zone differences of my readership the drawing will be held and winner announced tomorrow (photos to be included). Once the winner is announced I will mail a Happy Package out to the lucky person! Part of the package is below. The rest is a secret :-).



Psst... I will give you a hint: The items were made in Sweden. Happy Commenting!!!! And as always...

BE HAPPY!

13 comments:

  1. Reading your blog makes me happy... as do fresh cut flowers, the smell of a grill fired up, waking up at first light while camping, and catching up with longtime (not old) friends!
    How's that for a random list?? kmc

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  2. Grace Ann,
    I have appreciated your daily blogs as it makes me feel like we are still part of your lives even though you are miles away. It also reminds me our visit last year and the fun we had living in your country for 10 days.
    So what makes me happy is seeing my two wonderful friends happy and healthy together.

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  3. in honor of your bike happy day, I escorted lisa (on the bikes) to her workplace. her first day of bike commuting to work and it was really nice. blue skies and kitty head butts here too. :-)

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  4. Hello Grace!
    It makes me happy to see you and Carl living a happy an healthy life. It also makes me happy when I read your blog as it brings me back to our visit last year and how much we enjoyed our time with our friends. Yvonne and I hope to return someday for a visit!
    Take care
    Wayne

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  5. I like green presents!

    Lisa commuted to work on her bike today. I escorted her to make sure it was safe.

    Blue skies and kitty head butts here too. It is a great day.

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  6. So fun to see your comments and what makes you happy! I updated my comment moderation so that all comments post immediately now. That is why a couple of you did not see your posts show up right away.
    I love fresh cut flowers and waking up at first light while camping too, as well as commuting to work by bike and visits from friends ;-).

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  7. Grace Ann!!

    I love your blog. It makes me so happy! I have been biking a lot lately, it is such a freeing feeling. I love to get on my bike and all of the "musts" and "shoulds" go away. I love that I can do a 10-15k ride in the city in less than an hour and I feel like a new person. I hope that we can get together and do some bike rides soon. I can't wait to see you next week at book club!!

    I hope you also are giving yourself a reward on this day 122, because you deserve it for lifting our hopes day by day... =)

    Greta

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  8. GA - You're the one that deserves a present! Congratulations on 122 days of writing your happiness blog. Thanks for sharing your wonderfully written stories!!

    -LL

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  9. Thanks Greta! :-D Your sweet words made me feel so good! I would love to go for some bike rides with you! Looking forward to seeing you at book club next week!

    LL - Thank you for your compliments! The best present to me is knowing that my little stories bring a few smiles to all of your faces!

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  10. Grace Ann, Congratulations on making it 1/3 of the way through the year with your blog! A fantastic feat. :-).
    What makes me happy is seeing your KIK message to me just about every day, letting me know what you're up to. I miss you tremendously!!! Also, I absolutely LOVE the pic of you and Carl on the bike w/the flowers (above). Your smiles make me smile.
    -Becky

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  11. Thanks Becky! KIK is awesome - it also makes me happy when I see your KIK messages! :-D That photo that you like is one of my favorites of us. We used it for our Save The Date postcard when we got married. It still makes me smile every time I see it!

    Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and comment on my blog today! It is officially after midnight in the US so the drawing will be taking place shortly! Photos and the winner will be posted today! Stay tuned and thanks too for sharing your Happy with me!

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  12. That photo of the two of you is so cute!!! Congratulations on everything!!!

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  13. Thank you Danny! I love this photo too. It always makes me happy to see it. :-D

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