One of my favourite books is The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. After having read it I've come to appreciate the little things even more. Over the past week during an amazing vacation, here are my top "awesome" moments:
1) Jumping into the perfect wave. I love big waves not far from shore. Some are too high with their white caps, and you basically have to dive under them or you'll be swept along their path. But if you're lucky, you get the most perfect high wave, just high enough to barely jump over; your feet lift from the sandy bottom and you just ride over that wave - hopefully without having lost part of your bikini (which yes, happened quite a lot to me). Awesome.
2) Laying your beach towel on the sand and having it actually be comfortable. We were too cheap to rent beach lounge chairs and so we went old school and laid our towels on the sand. We're also very cleaver so we dug little ditches in the sand with headrests and made a "built-it" sand chair so we could lay comfortably and still see the ocean. Awesome.
3) The feeling of a cool/warm shower after a long day on the beach. On day 1 I came back from the room with seashells in my bikini. I seriously don't know how I brought them back with me, but my suit was full of sand and shells. Washing all the sand off and cooling my sun-bronzed skin... awesome.
4) When you're stuck with American change and actually get a chance to get rid of it at a toll booth. Awesome. Equally awesome: knowing I get to go back to my Canadian "monopoly" money and not having to worry about $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills all looking the exact same!
5) Biking 40km along the coast and feeling amazing afterwards. Our muscles may have been super warm and tired (actually I would say that my quads were burning and my butt was so effing sore from the bike seat), but biking along the ocean and coming back with a "runner's high" made it all worth it. Awesome.
6) When your flights are all on time. And they board early. And there is very little turbulance. And the screaming children are sitting nowhere near you. Awesome.
7) Getting upgraded on the plane to a seat with more leg room. Awesome
8) Remembering that you have "Finding Nemo" on your laptop and your plane has power outlets so you can watch your own movie during the flight. Awesome.
9) When you're trying to do a self-portrait photo of you and your boyfriend and someone walking by you just offers to take the photo for you. Thank you to the man at SailFish marina for taking some beautiful pics of us without me having to figure out where my finger needs to be to push the "camera" button... while trying not to cover the lens... and trying to make sure we're both in the shot... Awesome
10) Coming back to the room after a very long day out in the sun to the most incredible pillow-top (king-size) mattress with fluffy pillows!! and because it's so comfy, you have the most amazing sleep ever. Awesome. (Not awesome: getting back home to reality and realzing how terrible your real mattress is. And small. Any mattress is small compared to a King-size one. And my pillows aren't as fluffy...)
11) Going to bed and realizing that you didn't burn out in the sun at all! Yay sunscreen! Double awesome: you actually got an pretty nice tan and actually look like you were on vacation.
12) Finding out that the airport sells gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. And eating that delicious 200-calorie chewy cookie. And it's delicious. Awesome.
I'm so grateful to have had the chance to go to Florida again this year with my Honey. It was a well-needed break and our next adventure (clinic) starts this week. Back to the real world!
