Simple pleasures

Last night I read that if you could no longer look forward to the small delights of everyday life, like waking up to a cup of hot coffee or cuddling up with a book after a long day, you were in trouble. That it's not always the grand, huge things that get us up in the morning; it's the mundane joys. Today I'm looking for those simple pleasures. Here are a few I found:

1. The smell of fall in the air. Yellow leaves swirling, blue skies, chilly nights, a new bag of loose-leaf black tea, the crunch of leaves under your feet, thick cozy socks, the first fire in the fireplace, pumpkin everything. The other day I made this autumn mood board on Pinterest and it perked me up. My dear friend Jonalee used to call me Nymph of Autumn and I called her Spring Maiden (from Anne of Green Gables). It's good to remember that sweet innocent girl I once was, starry-eyed and silly, and how much she loved every changing season, but especially autumn.

2. No school today. I was kind of dreading it because I have so much work to do, but it's been a wonderful day. The boys and I walked to breakfast at Snooze. I had to do some online work for my new teaching job at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, which starts this week. I had high hopes of driving out to a pumpkin patch or a corn maze this afternoon, but all the boys wanted to do was hang out in the backyard and play in the mud-box. (Let's not even pretend it's a sandbox these days.) Fine by me!

3. Our hilarious hens. They're so fun to watch. The horrid squirrels destroyed my pumpkin porch decor, so we let the chickens enjoy the remains.

4. Watching my boys read so happily. I love that they know how to find comfort in a good book. If only I could convince Owen to move beyond comic-book-style Ninjago books....

5. Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin. Here's a picture of a pumpkin cake I made in a fancy Bundt mold a few weeks ago.

6. Miami-pink fingernails. And my ring. Daniel designed it himself, using his Grandma's diamond. I feel so honored to be wearing the diamond Persis wore all the years of her beautiful marriage to Les. It's amazing to think she wore this diamond as a bride heading off to Angola to be a missionary doctor's wife.

7. This wonderful book called Hands-on Home.

8. Bright lipstick. I'm loving this Aveda lipstick in Cana and Wild Fuchsia.

9. Fair-trade Guatemalan coffee. That woven fabric floods me with Antigua memories.

10. The sound of the boys practicing the piano with their teacher.

I highly recommend this little practice of noticing the simple pleasures--especially when you feel overwhelmed. As Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote: