Love, Hugs, and Coffee Mugs

I love:

• the smell of campfires
• teddy bears
• cereal and milk
• swinging on a playset
• having long conversations
• pasta
• cleaning
• Disney
• running
• cooking/baking
• thunderstorms
• coloring in coloring books (crayons preferred)
• rearranging rooms
• dark chocolate
• diagonal lines
• trains and airplanes
• organizing
• salt and vinegar chips
• squirrels
• thrifting
• giving gifts
• sitting on people
• my dad's special cookies with butterscotch chips
• long drives in the car
• writing letters
• wine
• puppy dogs
• breakfast
• Precious Moment figurines
• photo frames
• country music
• lemon poppy seed muffins
• Nativity sets
• the smell of cedar 
• watching movies and reruns of TV shows
• cheese
• colors! particularly magenta, teal, seafoam green, coral, and navy
• taking walks with friends
• laying in the sun
• reading a good book
• getting my hair cut
• hugs
• and coffee mugs!
• (and that was the short list)

The title of the blog was not hard for me to come up with, granted there are lots of titles that would fit, because it sums me up well and I like the way it sounds. It kinda has a jingle to it if you say it multiple times in a row "love, hugs, and coffee mugs...love, hugs, and coffee mugs...love, hugs, and coffee mugs". hehe 

     There are three important pieces of this title though that I would like to explain.

     FIRST, I love LOVE! I do not believe I have ever been "in love" as some distinguish but that has not stopped me from loving love! I am very passionate about working with people, about exploring my faith, about challenging myself and learning from mistakes. I believe we are made for relationships, relationships built on love and a desire to be our truest selves with other people. I say "I love you" more often than most people but each time I mean it with my whole heart. And yes, there are times when I need to tell myself that I love me because life isn't always the greatest. Loving is one of the things I (hopefully) do best. 

Loving love is lovely.

     SECOND, for those of you that know me well, I am a "touchy feely" kinda person, aka my personal bubble is rather small and I love holding hands, sitting real closely on the couch, and most importantly HUGS! I had a rather rough transition to SLU and upon relfecting on it one of the moments where SLU started to feel like an OK place to be was when I was given a hug by someone who quickly became a lifelong friend. Until that moment I could have told you that I love hugging, and have honestly been told that I am a pretty good hugger, but looking back and reflecting on that moment made me realize the importance hugs have in my life. Hugs make me feel safe, loved, and cared for. (Yes, I know that is probably true for many people.) In a time that I was very sad, lonely, lost, confused, and to put simply very homesick, a hug from someone brought a little bit of home to me. The embrace of a hug told me that everything was going to be okay and that SLU would become a place that I felt comfortable, safe, appreciated, and loved. (Newsflash, I am beyond sad that now my time at SLU is over because it did become a place of all the above mentioned and so much more!) Now I have that feeling again, that I am going to be moving away from home, away from where it is safe and comfortable and although I believe I will be alright, I believe that this is the BEST thing for me to do right now with my life, it is definitely still scary! I have my fingers crossed that my housemates will be open to hugging, open to showing each other that we matter in whatever ways are best. I am looking forward to that last hug goodbye and the first hug hello that tells me I am in a new home.

     THIRD, I LOVE coffee! And I LOVE coffee mugs!!!! Most mornings I have coffee in hand in less than 30 minutes of being awake. I like coffee with a generous amount of french vanilla creamer, just until it turns a soft brown color and tastes delicious! Occasionally I will allow my taste buds to venture and I like the vanilla caramel flavored creamer and peppermint mocha for wintertime but french vanilla takes the cake for sure! Grabbing coffee is a great way to get to some someone, to have a conversation that warms your heart while you warm your insides too. And a coffee mug is a great conversation starter! I started collecting coffee mugs years ago, and I started drinking coffee even before that (sometime around 7th or 8th grade it became a regular thing). I have a few favorite mugs and I even painted a ceramic one of my own that had it's own little funeral when it broke. I am hoping that some of the blog posts in the future will be written in some cute little cozy coffee corner with the delicious beverage in hand, contained in a delightful and inspiring mug that warms my heart, soul, and belly. :)