...John Mayer. (#12)

NUMBER TWELVE: John Mayer in the early morning hours of the night. Or, John Mayer if you’re longing for a nap. Or, John Mayer if you need to write an essay.

Now, before you fuh-reak out, let me just explain myself. I know many people aren't the biggest JMay fans, but can I just borrow your attention for a couple minutes while I try to describe to you why he's a good guy? Kthanks.

So first of all, you have to give it to him that he can rock a guitar. And all the stuff he plays, isn't super crazy and thus it makes great napping or great essay writing music or I could even go as far as to say great spider solitaire playing music! It's just something about the way his voice goes with the music, you just can't say no. Or I mean, maybe you can, but I can't.

And just for the record, so we're all clear, I wasn't really a big JMay fan before he released his latest Battle Studies album, but now I'm really feelin' all of it. So that's all, thank you for listening.

...The Last Slice (#11).

NUMBER ELEVEN: Walking into the kitchen and seeing the last slice. DIBS!

You know when you wake up in the morning, especially after some major holiday (i.e. Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving) and you're SO HUNGRY. And the whole walk to the kitchen you're trying to think of what it is exactly you're going to snag to eat, and then you round the corner into the kitchen and you see it sitting there. It doesn't even really matter what it is, if it's the last slice, chances are you're going to want it 10 times more.

There's just something about grabbing that last slice that is so comforting and victorious, you can't help but do a victory dance inside.

Ponder another situation: You're in line at a pizza place and you approach the counter and ask for one slice of cheese pizza. You see him open the place where they keep the pizzas warm and you see him snag that last piece of cheese pizza and toss it on a plate for you. It's like it was meant for you. That last, beautiful slice.

...Overtime (#10).

NUMBER TEN: One word: Overtime.

...Guacamole. (#9)

NUMBER NINE: Guacamole; God’s gift to mankind.

You know, deep down, you like it. I like to say, "Don't knock it, 'til ya try it."

Seriously, I actually despised guacamole until February 2009. It just so happened that Christina and I were wandering through the Sehome Haggen in Bellingham, picking up some last minute food items for the Superbowl. We stumbled upon a sampling of guacamole. We just had to try it. Low and behold, it was absolutely fabulous! Christina took a picture of the ingredients with her phone and we managed to whip it up quite a few times this past summer and fall season.

Oh, what are the ingredients you ask?

Well, 4 avocados. 1 red onion. 1 jalapeno. 1 lime. 2 tomatoes. 1 thing of cilantro (yes, thing).

Basically chop it up, throw it a bowl and then squeeze the lime over it. Ta-dah. Masterpiece, it will change your life.

...Long Walks. (#8)

NUMBER EIGHT: Long walks for no reason. Serious bonus points if it’s raining.

I'm quite partial to long walks. However, I'm only partial to them if a) I have no where to be later in the day (I don't like feeling rushed on a walk), and b) if it's a little bit chilly outside.

I like to be able to take my time on walks, especially if I'm walking with someone. Who knows what we're going to talk about, but if I think of something important then I need time to bring it up. You can't just force something important on someone within 10 minutes of your walking. Also, it helps if it's colder because that means you can walk farther. If it's super hot you're not going to want to continue walking, you're going to want to park it in the shade and not move until the temperature drops. If it's at least a little cool, you can go longer.

And the bonus points about raining? Definitely. I know a lot of people are probably like gross a walk in the rain, but it's actually super peaceful because there's usually not a lot of people out and something about the rain helps me clear my mind and think more clearly (sorry for the excessive clear-ness of the sentence).

...Relating to Song Lyrics. (#7)

NUMBER SEVEN: Being able to relate to song lyrics. Especially when you hear the ONE line, and you’re like, “How did they know? How the heck did they know!?”

Okay, you know it's true. How many times has it happened to you, I'm not sure, but personally I've had some really, really, really great lyrical correlations. Just today, in fact.

So, you're sitting (laying, standing, jumping, insert action verb here) and you're listening to your iPod or iTunes (because lets face it, that's the mode of musical listening choice these days)...or maybe even the radio. Regardless, you're sitting (or other action verb) and you hear a song you've never heard before and you're listening and you're listening and slowly you start nodding your head. A light bulb clicks over your head and you realize, suddenly, that this band (or artist) HAD TO HAVE WRITTEN THIS SONG FOR YOU.

Everything he (she?) is singing is exactly what is going on in your life RIGHT NOW! How the heck did they know!? And then since you've had this extraordinary epiphany, you need to share it with someone. Like right now. So usually that same day you'll go alert some person about your discovery.

Talk about excitement. I mean, I can hardly contain myself over here just thinking about it. I need to take a deep breath or something because I'm getting all worked up!

Today, it was "Hey Stephen" by Taylor Swift...only, I don't know any guys named Stephen, so that part didn't apply of course. But I mean, a lot of the rest of it did? Ah, I just love song lyric relations. Love. Like the guy in the picture, he's obviously listening to "Hey Stephen" and relating...

...Scoring a Header Goal. (#6)

NUMBER SIX: 6. Scoring a goal in one of the following aspects: with a body part other than your foot or just a beautiful shot into one of the corners, preferably one of the upper corners. But mainly scoring a goal with your head..

No one will truly appreciate this or understand it unless a) it has actually happened to them or b) they have seen this happen live (aka, not on the TV).

Scoring a goal in soccer is a rush. Your heart is pounding as you approach the goal, you shoot, there's the moment of anticipation when you're waiting to find out if your shot is going to be victorious or if it's going to fall short. If you're lucky or just plain skillful, your ball is going to sail into the back of that net. And although that feeling is truly awesome and awe-inspiring, there is nothing better than scoring said goal with your head.

The crowd absolutely goes wild. Your teammates go wild. Chances are you're going to go wild.

Actually, one of two things will happen to you. One: You will positively freak out, jumping around, cheering wildly, fist pumping, etc. Two: You will play it cool like it's no big deal...you do that errrrday. Now personally when I scored a goal with my head (off a corner kick, so perfect), I went with option two, although I was freaking out inside. Guaranteed if the goal scorer isn't freakin' out on the outside, they're freakin on the inside.

Moral of the post is: if you ever have an opportunity to score a goal with your head. Do it. Like this guy in the red. Get some #15.

...Finding Money in Your Pocket. (#5)

NUMBER FIVE: Finding money in your pocket.

It doesn't matter if it's one dollar or a wad of cash, the feeling is still the exact same right at the beginning. You push your hands into your jean or coat pockets, ready to face the day, and you feel something...You feel something paper-y and something with the consistency of money. No, it's not, you tell yourself, not wanting to get your own hopes up. Oh, but it is.

Of course, finding a wad of assorted bills is going to be the most thrilling. You're going to flip through it wondering what bill is coming next. Is it another $1? $5? $10? Dare I say, a $20? Or maybe even a $50? Lets be honest with each other though, has anyone ever found a $100 bill in their pocket before? Besides this dude in the picture. I'm just sayin'. Heck, I'm stoked if it's anything higher than a $1. Although, I'm still pretty stoked for anything, being the college student that I am.

And then the possibilities surface. Now you have enough money for a 6'' sub from Subway. You have enough money to buy John Mayer's new album. You have enough money to gas up your car. You have enough money to pay your cell phone bill! Of course, the possibilities are usually pretty endless. But still, you stand there with your mouth partly hanging open because you can't for the life of you remember WHY you left this money in your pocket.

You know, when I was younger I'd leave money in my pockets all the time precisely for this reason: It's so AWESOME to find money in your pockets later! Firstly, bad decision. I lost a lot of money because I lost a lot of stuff as a small child. Secondly, bad decision. I washed many a dollar in my time, and finders keepers. But of course it was very rewarding (and still is) to find money in my pockets. Can I just get an amen?

...Unread Texts in the Morning. (#4)

NUMBER FOUR: Waking up and seeing that you have an unread text. And then clicking on your screen and seeing that it’s from the EXACT person you wanted it to be from.

Getting a text is an exciting thing, situation pending of course. Let me rephrase. In general, getting a text is an exciting thing. Ah! Someone is talking to me! YES! As you go to check your message you can't help but wonder who could this possibly be from? Even if you're in the middle of a text conversation with someone, you still wonder for a second if it could possibly be someone else. So that in itself is an awesome thing.

But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about rolling over in the morning and groggily reaching for your phone to say, check the time or turn off your alarm, and you see this: 1 New message. YES! YES! YES! So then you're really wondering who it's from. Who could this possibly be from? Your mind flutters away to try and think who it could be from, because the suspense of it is half the awesome-ness.

So then you open it and see who it's from. You read the name and you see that it is EXACTLY who you wanted it to be from! May it be your secret crush, or perhaps your boyfriend or girlfriend, or perhaps your best friend, or perhaps your husband or wife, or perhaps your mother. It is exactly who you wanted to talk to. YES!

...The Sound of a Golf Club. (#3)

NUMBER THREE: The sound my golf club makes when it hits the grass and the ball for the absolute perfect shot.

No, you're definitely not going to understand if you yourself are not a golfer. But when the above happens, especially on a fairway shot, you can't help but exhale and feel absolutely amazing. If it was proper form to leap through the air and fist pump excessively in the sport of golf, I would, when the above happens.

The sound is indescribable. It's like a swoosh, but with more vigor. But at the same time, it's a clean sound that is very soothing and pleasing to the ear. And the thing that makes it even more awesome is when the shot goes exactly where you intended for it to go. YES! YES! YES! Awesome.

...Positive People (#2)

NUMBER TWO: People who can find the silver lining in anything.

You know when you've had a bad day and there's just one person you'd love to talk to because you know they'll cheer you up? Or, maybe you know someone who can turn a bad situation 180 degrees and make everything seem good? Those types of people are the kind of people who really get life, I think.

Bad things happen to everyone, but not everyone is capable of finding something good in something bad. It's important to be able to find something positive, because in a world that's abused by negativity, if you aren't positive you're going to get sucked under like so many people!

Positiveness (that's a word, right?) is most important to me because if I didn't have the ability to remain positive, first of all I'd be boring. Second of all I'd get super annoying. Thirdly, well...no one likes a negative person anyway. You've got to smile and take it. Whatever that it might be. Take it and turn it into something AWESOME. Give it two thumbs up instead of one thumb up!

If you have a hard time trying to find something positive in a situation, like if you're upset or sad...take three minute to yourself and be negative. Be as negative as you can possibly be. Cry about it, little baby. But only cry about it for three minutes. You're a big kid now, you can handle what life is throwing at you. You CAN! Yes, you. You can do it. It might be hard, but you can do it. I know you can!

Just be like good old Jim.

...Rain. (#1)

First of all, let it be known that these are entirely from my perspective and you may or may not agree with me. That's not my problem. My problem is trying to express how awesome each and every thing I list is. I know that you're not going to agree 100% with everything I list, but I'm going to try and persuade you. Really, I am.

Okay, NUMBER ONE. Rain, in it's entirety.

I can surely say that most people will immediately oppose this one, but then I also know that there are a few people who share this same love with me. Thank you if you are one of those few. You will know exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about that feeling you get (well, I get), when you wake up in the morning and you can hear the rain outside. Yes! Automatically means it's going to be a good day. There's nothing I like more...well there isn't really anything I like much more than walking in the rain. I'm not talking miles upon miles of walking in the rain, you're just asking for hypothermia then. I'm saying how nice is a walk in your raincoat, especially if you're with a good friend? Some of my favorite memories involve walking and rain.

In addition to rain's beauty, how awesome does it smell?! The answer is simply this: really awesome. Seriously I actually can't think of any time I've been unhappy that it's raining. Yeah, it's a little cold sometimes but it's pretty easy to get warm. And what about the sound rain makes when it hits a tin roof!? If you are a rain-hater then you need to go to Koa Tao, Thailand in the middle of July and just chill out. Go sit on a bungalow deck during a rain storm and just watch it (see photo, that is on location Thailand). Then, and maybe only then, will you truly grasp the beauty that rain really is.

So many people associate rain with dismal and depressing things. Maybe what you need is a new outlook! Sure, you get a little wet if you get caught in the rain. But hey, you get a little wet when you get caught in the shower. There really is no difference. I mean, besides temperature, but that's something you can get over. You lived in water for 9 months and you liked it then. Bet you never thought about that did you? Yes, you actually lived and survived purely in water for 9 whole months (well, close enough). What's wrong with rain? Absolutely nothing.

Some awesome songs that involve rain: Raining on Sunday by Keith Urban, Rainin' You by Brad Paisley & Forget About The Rain by Trapt.