Do you have a daily list? I don’t mean tasks for work or chores for home, I mean a Happy List. I have a Happy List running through my head most of the time. This list tends to be fickle and definitely changes with my mood. It is rare that something gets crossed off of it, but I get immense satisfaction from my list just the same. My list makes friends laugh and strangers think I am…stranger.

I have a lot to be happy about. My husband John and I have great fun slogging through daily life together. I get to stay home with our two beautiful daughters: Portia, two and a half, and Libby, nine months. I am healthy enough to run (very slowly), and I enjoy exploring new recipes fatty enough to keep me running! We live debt free, except for our home, and work really hard to live a richly simple life. I have a great network of friends including the Mothers & More Mamas, and I am living in a town that offers lots of interesting things to do with my time. So, I have a lot to put on my Happy List.

Today’s Happy List:
1) Mothers & More Blog
2) Bacon
3) Haiku
4) My husband, John
5) Bacon*
6) Fresh rain
7) My girls
Bacon* (Not a typo, bacon should always make the list at least twice.)

Sometimes God is first on my list. Sometimes bacon or blue cheese gets that holy and coveted spot. Many days my girls outrank my hubby, but, like today, they are sometimes in the middle. I have this kind of list in my head as a personal reminder to enjoy all the facets of daily life. There are lots of little joys to sink our teeth into and celebrate. The big hurrahs are not so plentiful. I had hard times as a young girl. I learned quickly to enjoy what was in front of me and to take charge of my own life.

Since we can never know what our lives will be like in the future, I have learned to live each day of my life to the fullest. This is why I chose “Farbrent” which means “On Fire” as a nickname for online groups and Twitter. It is also why I called my personal blog “Live Your Love Out Loud”. When we love, we are so purely optimistic, foolish, joyful and real. I want to remind others to live their love, and to do it OUT LOUD! I often need to remind myself to do this too. My Happy List helps me live well.

Early in my marriage I would get so filled up with the simple joys in life I would rattle off my happy list to my husband quite often. He would smile and shake his head. Later, after we had been married awhile and were used to each other, he told me it really bothered him that he was often outranked by food. OOPS. So nowadays, I throw him towards the top as sort of marriage insurance. (But, you and I know where bacon really belongs.)

Would you share your Happy List? Tell us the top items on your Happy List down in the comments.

Read more from Heather at Live Your Life Out Loud and follow her on Twitter.