Hump day happiness

Welcome to Wednesday! One of the best days of the week, if only because it reminds you that you're halfway through it, haha. I'm loving what I did last week on Wednesday, taking a breather, so let's get to it!

This week has been such an odd one with my schedule being all weird, but hey - I've got plenty to smile about and as my grandfather always says when I ask how he's doing: "I could complain, but what's the point of that?"

For now, here are the things bringing some major joy into my life right now.

1. If you follow me on Instagram, then you've seen this little beauty of mine! Yesterday I got my Crosley USB turntable and as excited as I was to get it, it also came with a twinge of disappointment since the needle was broken. Thankfully, Crosley has nice customer service and blahblahblah so I will be listening to that lovely record next week! Until then, I'll just bask in the wonderfulness of having the record player and a couple good things to look forward to next week.

2. This kinda ties in with the first one - I mean, duh - but Donna Summer was everything and a half. I'm so excited to finally be able to play this and after getting off the phone with my grandmother, I should be able to snag a few more awesome records for myself sooner than later.

3. Okay. This CD isn't new...but I recently got addicted to Two Door Cinema Club and Tourist History is honestly summer in audio form for me. I'm not even playing. I won't say how many times I've listened to this or how loud...but it would suffice to say that I'm sure my neighbors want to hit me. And I'm okay with that.

4. Look at that sunset. No seriously. Whenever my week is going sour, the best thing to do is just look at the sky because things like this blow my mind every time. The colors are just...I can't even tell you how happy I was to just snag this with my iPhone. I smile just looking at it.

5. Everyone has their favorite apps on the iPhone and personally, Solar is my favorite weather app because it's just so pretty. Really, it's all about aesthetics with this and just having it on my phone takes me to a calm place. Doesn't hurt that I got it for free either - normally it's paid! - so check it out if you're tired of the same ol' same weather apps.

6. On a limb I tried this Sambazon acai with blueberry and pomegranate. Umm, HELLO JOY. I need to grab more of this stuff so I can use it in my smoothies. I was sick the latter part of last week and I'm not saying this had anything to do with it, but I'm sure this combined with Mucinex and OJ certainly helped my cause since the workplace wasn't letting me have any extra days off!

So there you have it, my happy hump day! What's bringing smiles to your face this week? Share the joy! ;)

Taking a breather

There are many topics that I would like to approach today, good and bad. From the 10 and 11 year old that planned to murder and rape a classmate to the Maverick's owner saying he would consider putting Brittney Griner on his team to even the most basic subject matter, like why I can't stand self-proclaimed "nice" guys.

Those will be discussed later...because today I need to breathe. Today, I would like to relax and pretend there aren't so many bad things happening, pretend that this accomplishment doesn't come on the heels of so much criticism of a young lady who is incredibly talented, and pretend that guys that are nice don't actually act nice to get things they don't deserve in return.

Today, I'm taking a selfish moment to be happy about a small investment I made that has given me peace, a new way to look at things, and a new appreciation of time and priorities.

Bella, sweet, sweet, lovely, Bella.

Bella is a Canon AE-1 that I got last week at a random garage sale type deal that was held in the building we've been having church. For $20 I got the camera body + 3 lens + 3 filters + a nifty bag + an attachable flash.

TWENTY DOLLARS. And it ALL works.

After blowing through my first roll of film, I realized that this camera taught me a very important lesson that digital photography made easy to forget: capture memorable moments. It seems dumb, but with a digital camera you have a million chances to get the right shot, to pick it apart and try again over and over and over, with a film camera, you don't have that same chance.

It's funny, with 24 exposures, it's like being given a full day and you have only those 24 hours to fill with whatever it is, but once that time is up - it's done. I don't know, sometimes it's the little random things like that that really rattle you, make you take the time to really take your time. 

All that being said, I hope you have a productive day...that you're able to see past all the bad in the world and try to contribute some good rather then simply focusing on your own good...because the world can always use some more of that.