And You Wonder If You’re In Heaven…

1. When my sister came home and told me she won the Padre Pio full-tuition scholarship. God is so good. Of all the saints in the world, we’d picked Padre Pio this year, almost randomly. And now here she was, announcing she’d won a scholarship in his name.
2. My limbs are like jelly after two hours on the tennis court, sun sinking low and sweat still clinging to my shirt. But then, coming home, getting wafts of home cooking, thinking about that wonderful cold shower, and then to top it all off, I get a big smile and hug from mama
3. Having those super interesting financial/business discussions with dad on the way to school on Mondays and Thursdays. He tells me about what the market is doing or something as we mozy along down the highway. I always forget to eat until we’re turning into the school parking lot. Oops 😅
4. Receiving new tech from DJI and that overwhelming excitement of just walking up and down my room, staring at the box, almost thinking if I blink, it’ll disappear. I ordered it the night before, went to bed, and I woke up the next morning to find it* on our front porch. Delivery these days…man. Then opening the package is like Christmas morning; you can never unwrap fast enough! *yesterday I got the DJI Mic Mini’s THEYRE SO COOOL!! YARHOOOOO…okay im done
5. The atmosphere of Calvin’s parties; parents talking, kids diving through the groups of parents playing tag, hide’n’seek, or balancing 6 warm, bacon-wrapped dates on one plate. Then you go outside and there’s people in the pool trying to clamber onto floats, someone backflips off the rocks, and the one kid who seems to be basking like a turtle randomly yells, “I wage a squirt-gun war!” Everyone is just having a grand time. There’s tamales, Izzy soft drinks, and everything else. It’s also so fun to “broadcast live” with microphones and walk around talking to people. That’s a good thing to do.
6. Going to Nana and Papa’s apartment and talking with them. Papa and I would prepare a game of pool, chalking, putting the balls in order, sometimes talking so much we forgot we were playing pool! We’d chat about everything and nothing. The clock didn’t matter there. We’d glance at the clock once and suddenly, Nana says, “Oh my! It's a quarter past 8!” Then at the conclusion of the visit, getting a hug from Nana. There’s something wonderful about grandma hugs. It’s the kind of hug that the warmth you get stays with you—long after you let go. 
7. There was once a time in Yellowstone national park where we came across a lookout with green sides, a small island in the middle, and the serene blue water reaching out as far as the eye could see. Sitting there on a cool rock, you could hear the slow lap…lap…lap of the water below. A mist was on the entire basin that gently pushed the trees around. It was almost like a breath of God’s peace that had left this whole crevice untouched by anything. In one respect, it was as simple as sweet smelling soap. But in another, it was as majestic as the final scene in Lord Of The Ring’s. 
8. Saturday mornings of creativity while mom and dad are talking downstairs. I sit upstairs and write or draw or think. Their voices are soft vibrations through the floorboards—I’m never quite able to hear what they’re saying. It's like a heartbeat for the whole house; the coziest feeling in the world.
9. Hanging out with Kacky and Poppy, especially when I’m sleeping over (P&K Camp!). Outside, a chill in the air, street lamps glowing yellow and low. But inside, Leo rests on my lap, Poppy’s computer with its endless slow, calm hum, and Kacky giving little internet fun facts every once and a while from her comfy chair in the back. Then waking up in the morning to the smell of fresh bacon and coffee, and going into the kitchen, Poppy asks something like, “hey Simey I’m thinking we'll head to a friend’s house at 11 and park the car. Then walk over to the duck pond for the grand reopening.” He says between a bite of egg and a sip of milk, “Maybe you can take the drone along, and we can get some cool shots from the air.” As he motions to the air with his hand. And you wonder if you’re in heaven.
10. Singing Christmas carols out the window with sis on Christmas morning. We look out the window and at each other and just smile and sing, not a thing in the world in our minds but the happiness of the moment.
11. The cozy feeling of a late night, I in my bean bag and she on the blue couch, around the TV, each with a bowl of frozen fruit, watching Donna Reed or I Love Lucy. After we finish one, we tip-toe into the “parental unit’s” room, and ask if we can watch another one. But it's a win either way because even if they say no, we get to go to bed!
12. During Spring break, as it's bloomed so that the sun can only peek through the trees now and again, and an occasional water-droplet falls from above, Calvin comes and we film maybe a Vosher podcast or a Taffy Treachery, then Colin comes, and we walk about. These are the prime times for content creation. It's that amazing tingling you get in the outdoor air, friends crowded around, talking into a mic, frolicking in the misty, fresh air. Those are the moments it feels like every next spot you hop to in the creek area, you couldn’t find a better place to be in all the world. I just say to myself, “God…thank you for everything. This beautiful creation, wonderful friends, and knowing home is not far away.” And you wonder if you’re in heaven.

I ran out of space in the column I wrote this article for, but here are some others that make me cozy:

1. Sissy and I’s crazy awesome discussions
2. Being at my church serving at God’s altar, then the Penny Platoon after mass
3. Tristan and I hanging out at the Timarron Country Club, country music playing…