X Things I Love About Life

 By: Ada Z.

        I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I have found it difficult to find something to write about for the letter X.  I am going to take my father's idea (the founder of this A to Z challenge) and write about X as the Roman numeral for 10.

        I began thinking about the movie, Ten Things I Hate About You and simply changing the Ten to X.  However, I have begun to be intentionally positive about most things in my life so I did not want to use the word hate.  Instead I would like to highlight ten or X things I love.  

1.  Sunshine - No matter if it's cold outside or as hot as the Arizona desert, I love the sunshine.  If the sun is shining, my mood is high.  Even when I am stuck inside working on my computer; as long as the sun is shining it makes everything better.  If I am able to sit outside while the sun hits my face, even if just for a few minutes, I instantly feel happy. 

2.  Movie Nights - One of my favorite things to do is to have a movie night with my family.  The love for this began when I would go with my dad and my sisters to the local Blockbuster to pick out movies.  My dad would pick one and the kids would pick one.  Now my children have it easy since we simply scroll through Netflix.  I love cuddling on the couch with my husband and kids to watch a movie.  

3.  Morning Coffee - Every night I prepare my coffee maker for the next day.  I schedule it to brew bright and early the next morning.  It's a beautiful feeling to wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.  I pour my coffee, snuggle up on the couch in my cozy robe, and watch the news all alone.  It gets the day started off on the right foot when I wake up before the chaos of the morning begins.  

4.  Minivan - I love when moms see that I have a minivan.  Those moms will usually say something like, "I just couldn't bring myself to get a van.  That's such a mom thing to do."  I always reply with perplexity because, well, I am a mom.  I guess some people can't give up their single person coolness.  To that I would say, I'm cooler than you with my van because I don't care what people think.  

5.  Roadtrips - This is another favorite of mine that has stemmed from my early childhood.  From the day I was born I traveled with my parents all over the country for months at a time.  This was before smartphones and tablets.  I would simply gaze out of the window and watch the world pass by.  I remember staring up at the electrical wires or waving to cars as they passed.  My love for road trips has only grown as an adult. Being able to stuff the car and go wherever we want with the kids is truly magical.  There's nothing better than driving on the open road and stopping along the way to explore.  

6.  Day Drinking -  I don't drink often but when I do, day drinking is the best way to drink.  It may be because it's usually associated with a carefree, vacation type day but there's something about it that makes it so much better than having a drink in the evening.

7.  Game Nights -  My favorite thing to do with friends is to have game nights.  There is usually a lot of yelling, some drinking, dirty jokes being told, and above all laughter.  It's by far the best way to hang out with old friends or get to know new ones.  If they can handle me on game night, then they are my people.

8.  My Bed - I feel safe and happy when I lay in my bed at night.  It's like getting a warm hug at the end of a long day when I lay there with my comforter wrapped around me.

9.  Freedom -  I love being free and I feel truly blessed to have the ability to speak my mind and become anything that I want to become.

10.  Prayers - God should be #1 but I was saving the best for last.  Each night when I put my kids to bed we say prayers.  We started this nightly ritual over the past couple of years, during the pandemic.  I had always prayed but I would tend to forget to stress the importance of prayer with my children.  During the pandemic we began saying prayers every night and now they can't go to sleep unless I've said prayers with them.  It has given them a sense of hope and comfort which is of utmost importance to children.  No matter what kind of day we've had...no matter if we were all just yelling at one another or we've had an awful day...we always say our prayers and somehow it makes all of our troubles melt away.

My oldest had to put herself to bed a few nights ago and couldn't go to bed 

without prayers even if it was in a different form.