10 Things I Love

*I would like to qualify that this is purely a superficial list.  Of course, I love Jesus and my family, but this ain't that kind of list!

1. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having a cleaning service. I love everything about it. My house has never, ever been this clean, even when I stayed home BEFORE we had kids. If you can in any way afford it, you should do it.  You should take money from your grocery budget or not get the expanded cable service or something.  It is just that good. If you are looking for a gift for a new (or not so new) mommy, gift certificates to a maid service are a great idea!
(Incidentally, your husband will most likely not notice the difference.  Mine doesn't.  But he notices the difference in me and that matters a great deal! You know, when momma is happy...)

2. I love to read.  I'm halfway through book 6 of the Harry Potter series.  I read the whole series once every year starting on New Years Day.  It is one of my most favorite traditions.  I took a quick break to read the Twilight series.  I had resisted reading the series because I saw the movie and thought it was ridiculous.  But Amber from work insisted and I caved.  I'm so glad.  They were great.  They should NEVER, EVER be compared to Harry Potter-it is no where close to as good.  But I enjoyed them. A lot.

3. I love my haircut. And my highlights.  Over the years, as my body has betrayed me in many, many ways, my hair has had the decency to remain fantastic.  The same girl has been cutting my hair for over 5 years now.  She was the one who mentioned that my haircut and color is the perfect reflection of my personality.  I'm very conservative in almost everything, but I have to have a little funk.  That's me!

4. I love my job.  I have been ridiculously busy these last few months and have more work than I can do.  But I have never had a day when I didn't want to go to work.  I am exactly where I want to be doing exactly what I want to be doing.  And they pay me for it!

5. I love the sponge I have in my kitchen.  It is made by Ocelo.  One side is microfiber cloth that nothing sticks to (even eggs and cheese!-according to the packaging) and the other is gentle scrubby material.  Plus it comes in cool designs.  While we're on the subject, I love the Dawn foamy stuff.

6.  I love Dove chocolate.  I'm actually not a huge chocolates fan. I would rather have a brownie or a cookie or ice cream, mmm.  But if I'm going to have just good old plain chocolate, I'd like it to be Dove. So smooth.

7. I love Mexican food.  I'm fairly certain I could eat chips and salsa every day for the rest of my life. And guacamole.  Mmmmm, guacamole.

8. I love Pampered Chef stoneware.  I have had my pieces (I have a square and rectangular baker, a bar pan and a deep dish baker) for over 5 years.  I use at least one piece every week, but usually use a couple of pieces every week.  They bake so evenly and keep the food warm for a long time after removing it from the oven.  I have a lot of Pampered Chef stuff and I love it all, but my stoneware are my favorites.

9.  I love Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  I have two dogs and two children.  It gets a lot of use in my house and has saved my children from mortal peril after they colored on the ceiling and the walls.

10.  Lastly, I still love our new house.  In July, it will be two years that we've lived here.  I'm so, so glad we were able to escape our old neighborhood.  I was over on that side of town last week and I drove through the old neighborhood for nostalgic purposes.  Right before we moved (2 years ago!), our neighbor pulled the siding off the front of his house and built on a little front porch.  As of last Wednesday, the front of his house still has NO siding and the front porch roof still has no shingles.  It made me even more thankful for our neighborhood full of like-minded home owners and our house that is just our size with a flat driveway and a basement.