Busy and Buzzing

The blog was strangely silent for a long while, mostly due to many events happening in a very short time span. But we're back and ready to blog!
March 20th marked my descent into adulthood. I turned the big 2-6. I am officially closer to 30 than 20, which I thought would worry me but hasn't phased me yet. The 20th landed on a Thursday, which does not lend itself to late night partying unless you are young and carefree. And since I am now 26, neither of those adjectives seem to describe me. So, we spent a fairly quiet evening at home with plans to celebrate that weekend. During work, we celebrated with chocolate raspberry cake. Later that day, Dan brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a copy of Enchanted, which I have declared to be my new favorite movie. He then went home to make my favorite dinner, proscuitto bruschetta and lasagna.

Unfortunately, I took only this photo of him cooking. By that time, he was basically done with the appetizer. I was hungry, it smelled yummy, and my camera was quickly abandoned in favor of food. But in case you were wondering, it was delish. We filled up on appetizers and saved the lasagna for future lunches/dinners.
That weekend, we gathered with some old friends to celebrate. It was fun to see all of them again. We haven't been together like that in over 4 years. We started at TGI Fridays for dinner with. Then took a trip to Bevmo which was an amazing place. I'm not a big drinker, but even Dan and I were amazed. We returned home for drinks and had quite the little bar going, especially since only a few of us drink. I had a rather large cherry martini, which is my favorite, and nursed that all night. Oh yeah. I'm a party animal. Dan and the others had a fair amount to drink. I'd even say Dan was slightly drunk by the end of the night.


Easter was spent with the Klick side, feasting on large amounts of food and celebrating my birthday even more. They got me a mint chocolate ice cream cake, which is one of my favorite desserts. (Hersheys with almonds is my absolute favorite, in case you were wondering what goodies to surprise me with.)
That week, we left for Ohio. Amy's gymnastics team was competing in the MAC championships and we were going to do our best to yell and scream and basically distract her while she competed. Never understood why there was cheering in gymnastics. Anyway, we fell in love with the town and the house prices and I told Dan that if he didn't let me move there and live in a big Cape Cod home, it was obvious he didn't love me.
...still in AZ. So he must not love me.

It was an awesome vacation and action packed. We decorated their locker room to surprise them. Every gymnast's family decorated a posted to hang up. We found the world's best BBQ place and brought home a quart of the sauce. I tried to drink it, Dan stifled my freedom. We fell in love with Sheetz convenience stores and discovered that "warm" in Ohio was 45 degrees. It was a great break from the work week and so neat to see where Amy lives.

It also helps that they won first place. Go KSU Flashes!

The husband speaks...

So Sara decided to tag me. Don't think of it as innocent as it seems though, it's really a test. She says that I won't respond to a post on "our" blog, but not responding would bring pouting and possibly some crying down the road. You win this test of wills wife, and frankly you will probably win all of them for the rest of this marriage. It's OK though, I think that is the way it is supposed to go...

So on to my response, although I really don't think I am a very interesting person.

1.I am horribly addicted to World of Warcraft (yes WOW for all those in the know). Now before you go ostracizing me from civilization I do have some compelling arguments supporting my addiction. Hand eye coordination... everyone wants to be able to catch flies with chopsticks like Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid. Social interaction... sure I never really know who I am talking to, or if they are accurately representing themselves, but at least I'm not talking to myself. It is a lot more stimulating than watching television, or if you are really good you can do both at the same time. OK that's it, I'm out of arguments...*sigh*

2.In December of 2002 I moved to Arizona. I spent 21 years of my life in Pennsylvania, and it took me 2 weeks to decide to move out here. There is still a large percentage of people that I grew up with that have no idea what happened to me. It's been 6 years and I still haven't talked to anyone from PA...well except for my family.

3.I'm married to a Japican...that one is self explanatory.

4.I over use elipses ...

5.I use a varied assortment of obscure phrases such as : putting the cart before the horse, getting caught between a rock and a hard place, don't count your chickens before they hatch, six in one half dozen the other...and so on. Please don't ask me to explain any of them as I fail miserably at explaining them.

6.With the exception of my current job, I have never spent more than a year at the same job.

7.Did I mention that I am addicted to World of Warcraft? Seventy-six days played and counting, and for those that don't know...that's 76 days of gameplay, that's right 1824 hours...loooooooooove you Sara.

Did Someone Say "Surprise Trip?"

I didn't keep my promise about not harrassing Dan for the entire car ride. I kept asking him random questions. He didn't leave me at the side of the road though, so...kudos to Husband for not abandoning his wife on Valentine's Day.

We stayed in Greer, AZ. It's about 20 miles from New Mexico in Northern AZ.

When we first got there, there was snow on the ground, but it was mostly just ice. The picture below is from the balcony of our cabin, taken as soon as we got there. You can see the ground and the deathly piles of ice that nearly killed me. Twice.

This was our cabin, taken the next day after it had snowed. It was beautiful, had a fireplace and a strange squirrel decor theme. Check my flickr pics for a couple squirrel shots.

"Up to a foot of snow." Heh heh.

I was not dressed appropriately. My jeans actually froze. Dan was ok with just his fleece and gloves but I have a low tolderance for temperature changes. I was cold.

There was a stream/creek/river between our cabin and the main lodge where breakfast was served. We crossed a small bridge to get over there, and I tended to spend more time slipping and sliding than walking.

When we were leaving the next day, we had to clean the snow off my car. While Dan worked, I took a variety of photos. I am helpful.On the way back, the road was closed into Payson due to the snow. The cops made us detour through Globe. We were kind of upset at first. I wanted to go through Payson again and see how it looked with snow. I was sad that we'd have to drive through Show Low again and see the grey watery sleet that they called "snow." However, we hit the mountains and some beautiful foggy scenes.
The trip home took a bit longer than we thought. Between the snow, detour and rain coming into Phoenix, the drive took an additional 2 hours. But Dan let me go to Scrapbooks Etc. since we entered the valley down in Mesa. Technically it added to the total return trip time, but it added to the overall happiness of Sara. So, kudos to Hubby again.

This last picture is on here just because I thought it was hilarious. A topless club in Heber had a cow as it's sign. Yeah, I bet the girls there are quality.

Thanks for my surprise Valentine's trip Husband! I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to many more road trips with you in the years to come!

Dear Husband...

I'm sorry I make it so difficult for you to surprise me. I'm sorry I harrass you to the point of you wanting to tear your ears off. I'm sorry I pester you with questions until you crack and tell me my presents earlier than the holidays.

However, I am not sorry that I always find out. I have no patience. You knew this before you married me, and thus it's your own fault.

Love,
Your Wife

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Dan is whisking me off on a wintery getaway as a Valentine's Day gift. He already told my boss that I'd be gone and has planned everything in advance. I don't get to know where we're going until we get there. I was considering harrassing him the entire car ride, but part of my Valentine's gift to him is that I won't ask him 4 solid hours of questions about our ending destination. You're welcome Husband. I love you.

LOLcats

1161154607937, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

There is a website called I Can Has Cheezburger. (http://www.icanhascheezburger.com) My husband, Mr. "I Play World of Warcraft and Think Mythbusters is Comic Gold," has become obsessed with this website. It has pictures of funny cats and other fluffy animals, with humorous captions. The captions are in a specific style of...I don't even know how to describe it. A specific type of talking? A specific type of slurring? Anyway, see the photo for an example.
This website addiction has gotten so bad that Dan is now speaking the same way as the captions. Last night, when my toes were cold and I shoved them under his leg to get warm, he announced "ur under the covers, stealin my body heatz." And last week, when he caught Gucci nibbling on the power cord to his computer, he shooed her and said "shes under my desk, tryin to steal my internets."

Someone please ban this website. I have started thinking in LOLcats-speak as well and it's beginning to make my brain hurt.

Oooh..shiny!

from The Noisy Plume, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Because Dan is a sucker for puppy dog eyes, I got part of my Valentine's Day gift early. It also helps that I already knew he was buying it for me. I don't do subtle hints, I practically moved his hand on the mouse to order it myself.
The Noisy Plume does some lovely work with gorgeous stones and silver. I had my eye on this necklace from a previous post on her blog and begged her to put one up for sale. Lucky me, she did and she gave me notice that it was available! I immediately told Dan that I needed it. It arrived in a small white box inked with a pattern on the top, a small bit of twine wrapped around it and a tiny pink feather. I would have taken a photo of my wearing it, but my mom took my camera with her to Ohio this week. Thus, you see a stolen photo from The Noisy Plume's Etsy shop.
Thank you Jillian for this fabulous necklace! And thank you husband for not ignoring my whining for presents!

Jazz Hands!

Hairspray, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Dan gave me a pair of tickets to Hairspray for Christmas. We went to see the show last night and I am still recovering from my ADD attack. So many shiny things...
(The picture above was from the Paybill website. Not only are pictures not allowed in the theater, but my parents took my camera to Ohio with them. So, the picture is from a different cast than the tour cast we saw.)
I was a costume design major and as you can probably guess, flamboyant musicals were much more fun to design than a stereotypical period drama. As a result, I practically drool over the idea of going to see a musical with "jazz hands" and "happy toes" and all sorts of cheesy grins.
Dan and I are planning to get season tickets to the Orpheum for the upcoming season. Chicago, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Spelling Bee are planned for the 2008-2009 season. I've seen Joseph many times, so that one's not that big a draw to me. But I'm excited to see the other three! And it was nice to do something different from our normal date nights.
When I asked Dan if he enjoyed it, he said he would prefer if he didn't have to give up his last Man Card by answering that. Too late dear husband, too late.

Love Him

Sara: Dan!
Dan: No.
Sara: You don't even know what I was going to say!
Dan: OK, fair enough. What were you going to say?
Sara: Can I order lobsters at Red Lobster and then take them home as pets?
Dan: Original answer stands.

Dan: This song doesn't make sense.
Sara: What doesn't make sense?
Dan: "Been to the year 3000. Not much has changed but they live underwater. And you great-great-great granddaughter is doing fine." It would be more than great-great-great granddaughter. Because even if all of them lived to be 100, it wouldn't be more than 500 years in total. Argue that.
Sara: So you're saying that there's no possible way for there to be medical and technological advances in the next century that would extend the lifespan of human beings? Or take into consideration how many people have artificial organs and body parts nowadays. By then, it would be that we are 99% artificial and can live to be 500.
Dan: No.
Sara: That's it? "No" is your rebuttal?
Dan: Yes, "no" is my rebuttal.
Sara: You have to have something more eloquent to say.
Dan: Ok. You're a turd.

Sara: We have an awful lot of silly conversations.
Dan: *pouts*
Sara: OK, we'd have a lot of silly conversations if you actually said something.
Dan: You're a turd.
Sara: Way to prove my point babe.

Sara: It's our one year anniversary from the day we left for our honeymoon. We should go back to Disneyworld to celebrate. And so I can take better pictures with my new camera.
Dan: We are not going to Disneyworld.
Sara: That's what you'd say if it was a surprise trip!
Dan: We are really not going to Disneyworld. Surprise trip or not.
Sara: Also what you'd say if it was a surprise trip!!
Dan: Please, PLEASE go to sleep now....why are you wiggling?
Sara: I'm excited for my surprise trip to Disneyworld.
Dan: You're lucky you're cute.

Take a Seat-It's Been 2 Weeks and I've Got a Lot to Say

I've been MIA for 2 weeks from this blog. Every time I asked Dan to update for me, he'd say no. Guess the honeymoon is officially over.
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Dan and I have been married for over a year. October 21st marked our one year anniversary. I originally intended to sit down on the 20th and write a long sappy blog about how much I love him. I wanted to tell everyone that he means the world to me, that I've learned so much about him. I wanted to tell everyone that I had found my soul mate. But I knew that no matter what words I used, they could never convey the deep emotions I felt. No blog, no story or poem, could ever make you readers feel the intense emotions I feel for my dear husband.
Ok ok. Truth be told, I was too lazy to write the blog.
That doesn't mean that I don't love him or view him as my soul mate. It just means that I know he won't love me any less for not being as PDA-friendly on my blog as we are in person. Yes, we are the couple that everyone hates. We kiss in public. We hold hands non stop. We tickle each other in mixed company. Not only do we not care, we love it. So deal.
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We celebrated our anniversary by going to Vegas. Because what better way to celebrate the one year mark of making our union legal in the eyes of church and state, than by going to the city of sin.
We were supposed to go with both sets of parents, but Dan's mom had some doctor stuff she couldn't miss. So we went with just my parents, which in the long run was probably better since they paid for almost everything.
We didn't win money, but we definitely didn't lose as much as we thought we would. I view that as a win.
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Elinor and Dave also celebrated their one year dating anniversary. They marked the occasion by getting engaged!! I am very happy and excited for them! And I am so excited to throw Elle a bridal shower and/or bachelorette party. I get to be a bridesmatron. (Not a bridesmaid since I'm married, right?) Anyway, she has picked gorgeous fall colors and is letting us wear whatever black dress we want to. Now this just means I have to diet for a year and find a perfect black dress that compliments her wedding style. I also can't get pregnant this year because I do not want to be the pregnant chick in all the photos. And I need new shoes.
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Halloween was fun-we (and by "we" I mean "I" since Dan was at work) handed out candy. Only about 5 groups showed up, so we have a lot of candy leftover. It will slowly be funneled over to the candy dish at work. I have some cool pictures of a spider egg sack thing that I made, but I am going to save it for a blog next Halloween season.
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I recently went to the doctor after much nagging from Dear Hubby. It was merely for a physical and to see why I was so tired all the time. When I showed up, they were running an hour behind so I did a lot of reading. Mostly Highlights for Children.
I got into the exam room and the doctor came to introduce herself. Then she started asking me questions about whether I had been previously pregnant or not, or how my cycle was. A little uncomfortable but I answered them all the same. Then she stood up, told me to change into the paper robe and that she'd be back in a few minutes. When I asked her why I needed to change, she looked at her notes and said "you're here for a well-woman exam, aren't you?" Nope, in fact I'd rather prefer it if I didn't have to do it right then. That's the sort of thing you have to mentally prepare yourself for. She basically told me too bad, since the general practitioner had gone home. There had been a mistake when they booked my appointment and they scheduled me with the OB-GYN instead.
Crappy.
Good news, I don't have cervical cancer. Bad news, I feel violated. And I have to schedule another appointment for the general practitioner. This is a perfect example of why I don't go to doctors.
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Because of my doctor event, Dan bought me a penguin Christmas welcome mat for our apartment. We still have the Halloween decorations up, and now we have a Christmas mat out there as well. Our neighbors think we're insane.
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Speaking of neighbors, our psycho neighbors moved. The husband enjoyed sitting outside his front door in nothing but boxers, prodding food on a tiny grill. Neither the boxers nor the grill covered enough. The wife would go outside in her nightgown, calling for her cats. Her screaming was so high pitched, I originally thought it was a cat howling. And they blared country music at 6:00am on Saturday mornings. I like country music, but come on.
You are welcome to join us for a "Adios Neighbors" party. Refreshments of cocktail wienies and warm beer will be provided.
---
I have an eye infection, which is curable by steroids. My eyes are going to be the buffest eyes ever. I put the steroid drops in 3 times a day and other eye drops every 2 hours. My eyes sting, but at least it'll all be over in a few days. Then I will walk around saying things like "have any tape? Cuz my eyes are ripped."
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And, last but not least, I only have to buy Dan's Christmas gift and his dad's Christmas gift in order to finish my holiday shopping. Enjoy Black Friday, suckers. I'll think of you from my warm bed.

Cuteness Squared

I've done a lot of posts about cars and driving. I figured it was time for something more fun.

Dan bought me part of my Christmas gift early. It's a giant stuffed penguin holding a baby penguin and stands about 2 feet high. My husband knows me too well.

Typical Day for Sara and Dan

Dan and I leave fairly typical lives... This was Saturday's events:
8:30am - Sara has a volunteer meeting with Friends for Life.
9:30am - Sara picks up breakfast for Dan.
10:00am - Sara wakes up Dan and forces him to eat breakfast before noon.
10:30am- Dan needs a prescription filled. They grab keys and IDs, but Sara leaves her purse behind and Dan doesn't grab his phone. They'll only be gone a few minutes.
11:00am - Prescription is filled. They go buy a car.


That's right, we have a shiny new Nissan Rogue. It is pretty. It has a nice stereo. Radio Disney is my #1 preset.
When we were done picking up the prescription, Dan asked if I wanted to go car shopping. I told him no, because I didn't want to fall in love with a car and then be forced to wait until January, when we were actually planning on buying. He told me it would be good for me-it would teach me patience and the value of thoroughly researching something before making a major purchase. Since he drove, I had no choice but to go with him. He suggested Nissan, and I told him no because I thought the Rogue looked too much like a hatchback. We went anyway and it was love at first sight. I loved how sleek it was and how pretty it was. I loved how luxurious it felt. (That's what she said.)
So, Dan's little lesson on patience backfired. Bam. My awesomeness is unparallelled.

Photographic Evidence

This is proof that Dan went to the scrapbook convention with me. The ticket lady was nice and didn't charge him to get in the building. Dan probably would have been ticked that not only did he have to fight off pushy middle aged women, but he had to pay for that honor as well.

Sierah has learned that when someone says "high five" to her, she gives them a high five and then says "pound it" and holds her hand out in a fist. I tried to get Dan to do that for this picture. No go.

I should mention that this picture was taken after we got lunch and also after we picked up Max from the vet.

Today's Lesson

Today's Lesson: Dropping not-so-subtle hints gets you presents.

Case Study, a.k.a. "Victim" - Daniel Klick

As some of you may have noticed, although I doubt it since I was very subtle, I needed a new camera. I dropped a hint or two in this blog, randomly mentioned it in conversation and may or may not have played a tape stating this fact to Dan while he was asleep.

What did dear hubby do? He bought me an early anniversary gift! His logic was that I could learn to use it before we went on our anniversary trip. And it would keep me from whining about it for the next month and a half.

A picture a took from my comfy position on the couch. This frame is sitting on the fireplace mantle across the room.

Pudge was impressed with the color accent feature. You can see his excitement in his eyes.

Oscar didn't get excited at first. He seemed more interested in the blinds banging back and forth because of the AC.

Here he is at his favorite perch. We have to fix the blinds every night so our creepy neighbors don't look into our apartment.

Gucci, at her favorite spot. She really didn't care that I have a new camera.

Once it was dark outside, Oscar decided that maybe my new camera was neat afterall.

Quick Pics

This is how Dan and I act when we are in public.



I prefer to harrass him though. This is us in our natural state. I think Dan has terror in his eyes as I attempt to give him a Wet Willy. Yes, I am over the age of 13 and I still do those.

Blogging is a Learning Process

Erica is going to yell at me. I did lots of stuff this weekend, all without my camera. So, no pictures. But consider this my way of helping you expand your imaginations.



On Friday night, Elinor and I went to visit an old friend, who was having a housewarming/birthday party. It was fun to catch up and meet her new friends. Plus, her place is so freakin' adorable. You enter the living/great room area. On your right is a small office/den and a bathroom. The living room has a small dining area off to the left as well as the kitchen. They have the island set at an angle, which really makes the place look bigger! I only know because I took an info sheet from the place next door and saw that their island makes the kitchen look like a tiny box. Upstairs are 2 huge bedrooms with vaulted ceilings, a guest bathroom, 2 linen closets with built in shelving and the master bed/bath. I loved it. Elinor said it was the perfect size for her and Dave, once they move in together. I think Dan and I would be happy renting a place like it. I'm just too worried about the resale potential.



And I'm sad to know that I think of things like resale potential.



Saturday was the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo. It was a learning experience. I am giving myself kudos for going by myself, meeting new people who were interested in scrapbooking like I am and for generally putting myself into an entirely unknown situation. I am upset with myself for not doing more research about it.


It was the 2nd year they did the Mesa convention. The one in Glendale is HUGE every year. 75+ vendors. Tons of classes and crops. Crowds so large that even the most stereotypical city dweller would have a claustrophobia attack. The Mesa one? Not so much. I think there were about 25 vendors. 10 of them were for rubber stamps. 5 of them were scrapbook things that you could either find in stores, or were the home party type vendors, like Stampin Up and Creative Memories. Another 5 were things like AZ Laser Center and Tastefully Yours, which is a food product. 2 had unique products and/or stuff that was so outrageously discounted. These places now have my money. The final few were beads and jewelry. The expo was being billed as a bead and jewelry expo too. Needless to say, I heard a lot of people complaining that they had to pay $5 and only saw 3 bead vendors. If I was a beader, I'd be ticked too.

This was the Glendale one in April. Look at how big it was, and I'm sure this was only a small area of the hall! Crop out half the photo and you have the entire Mesa one.

The good part was that I was paid for 5 hours of work. This paid for the stuff I bought, lunch that day for Dan and myself and 2 fountain sodas on Sunday. Mmm...fountain soda.

The bad part of working was that I stood for 5 hours. They didn't have a key to the room where the chairs were locked up. We all stood. And for 3 of those 5 hours, I did very little, which made me fidgety.

I spent the rest of Saturday taking a nap because my feet hurt so much. And playing my game, Atelier Iris.

Sunday was a day of errands, which was entertaining because I made Dan go with me. We went shopping for jeans, new shirts for him and bras. It was fun to make him carry the bras while I pretended to look at other stuff. I also had a major productivity spurt and reorganized my craft desk. I did the dishes and most of the laundry. I felt like a typical little housewife. I did the grocery shopping online, which then made me feel like a typical little spoiled wife.

The only bad part of the day was our AC started leaking water. It didn't do much damage, but it made our apartment very humid. Most of you probably know that I have a 2 degree comfort range. 115 and humid is not in that range. I was whiny, so Dan let me have Diet Pepsi late at night. Sometimes I think he gives me soda just to keep me quiet.

I Fail as a Blogger

I told myself over and over that we would post everyday. Since it has been almost 4 days since my last post, I have come to the realization that I lie to myself. It could be the fact that Dan and I are not exciting people. But I'll place all the blame on him.
We saw Die Hardest and Die Forever, or whatever the new Die Hard movie is called. I should preface this by saying that I greatly dislike Bruce Willis. It could be his acting, it could be his monotone voice, or it could just be his face. I'm not sure which is the culprit. I am convinced he knows this since he called the Disney tour line once while I was working and paid me a compliment to my supervisors. Bastard.
Anyway, the movie gets 4 stars. It would have been 3 because of Mr. Willis but Justin Long was in it, which gave it a bonus star. I like Justin Long so much that I stop fast forwarding Tivo whenever I see a Mac commercial. His panic makes me laugh.
The movie I am most excited to see is Hairspray. My friends are either stereotypical males or not into flamboyant musicals, so no one else wants to see it. Since Dan has the privilege of being married to me, he has no choice. Jason and David told him he was "taking one for the team" since I told them that if I saw it on Friday, I would not make them go with me on Saturday. Needless to say, Dan is now their hero.
My next blog will be better, I promise. I have an exciting paper mosaic project planned for this weekend and I'm making Dan make me a headboard. He doesn't know it yet, so don't ruin the surprise.

Vegas, baby!

I enjoy saving money. (See my list of favorite things.) I also enjoy Vegas. This could be a conflict of interests, but not if you go with Dan.
While browsing the different hotel options in Vegas for the 4th of July, we had sticker-shock. Most of the rooms doubled in price because of the 4th of July and because of 7-7-07. We couldn't even Priceline a cheap rate. We could have gotten The Golden Nugget for $100 a night...I don't think I've ever stepped foot into The Golden Nugget. I am a Vegas hotel snob. If it doesn't have an outlandish theme, I don't want to even bother.
Anyway, just when we had resigned ourselves to spending $130 a night for the cheapest room at MGM (yeesh!) Dan managed to find some super duper promo code online.

$70 a night. Boo-yah!

My husband's money saving ways make me happy.