Because the lovin’ is past-due around here

I love a quiet morning and waking up to sunlight.  I love garage bands. I love when an entire group of people get a joke at the same time and laugh.  I love the way rain sounds on the hood of a car and the smell of someone using their grill in the middle of winter.  I love the full moon reflecting on water.  I love the feeling of a new fleece sweatshirt and how it reminds me of college.  I love when someone whispers something in my ear.  I love the way my dog will sleep in the crook of my legs and how she growls when I move and wake her up.

I love football tailgating in October, and tailgating in general.  I love the first day of the year I get to wear flip flops. I love when strangers tell me their life stories.  I love when I’m sitting in the office on a busy day and someone brings their kids in to visit.  I love stopping for ice cream on a hot day and gazing across the room at someone that knows what I’m thinking.  I love shoes with the slightest heel that I wear when I need to feel like a girl.  I love running sprints, getting kisses, and seeing views that take my breath away.

I love phone calls for no reason.  I love chopping food with sharp knives and putting a plate in front of someone I love.  I love finding sand in an old travel bag that smells like sunscreen.  I love baseball in mid-July, the Red Sox, and the fact that not everyone gets it when I say “so good! so good! so good!”  I love peanut butter and apples.  Packing a bag at a moment’s notice.  The first run in new shoes.  How my head still seems to fit on my mother’s shoulder.  I  love the hilarity that comes with sleep deprivation, and hour-long conversations about nothing.  I love dreaming alone, I love dreaming with someone.  About life.  About home.  About hitting the road.

I love the way my skin stings just a little after a day at the beach.  I love blossoms on trees and the taste of cold Coca-Cola only after a really long run.  I love biceps around my shoulders.  I love highlights in my hair.  I love beer and watermelon at barbecues.  I love getting an ‘A’ in school.  I love last-minute invites from just the right people, and tasting wine as if I know what I’m doing.  I love the driving range and how I miss five out of ten times.  I love floating in the middle of the ocean and how, if just for a moment, the entire world can go away.

I love good pens that let me sign my name like an autograph.  I love rum.  I love candle light and lazy couch days.  I love big front porches and porch swings.  Oh my gosh, do I love porch swings.  I love sugar-free chai teas.  I love when the phone rings just when I need it to.  I love being productive.  I love concerts, riding a horse, and wearing a ball cap.  I love exotic destinations and old country roads.  I love that I learned how to start a tractor.  I love having good friends in scattered places.  I love running on a hot day and the sweat drying into crusty salt on my face.  I love my hometown.

I love the sound of a water rushing over rocks.  I love good books.  I love fresh snow.  Riding my bike down an empty trail.  Leaving the screen door open.  I love sweet tea and chicken.  I love Target.  I love fireworks and blankets on the grass.  I love songs from someone’s heart and loud music.  I love good dreams.  I love picking out constellations in the sky.  And I love that I could go on and on.

Thanks to E.B., Sizzle, Brookem, and Brandy for influencing me.