These Are a Few of My Favorite Things - 2011 edition

Well, it's time for my yearly list of my favorite things...not quite as exciting as Oprah's...nor as expensive:

- Smart Mouth - It's a two-bottle mouthwash system that is awesome.  You mix the two, and it is SO refreshing and not nasty like Listerine.  It'll take away onion or garlic.  Kind of pricey but does the job.
 - Lee jeans - The ad is correct; they are SO comfortable and not mom-jeans-like at all.  Give them a try.
 - Good Housekeeping Magazine - I hadn't read one in years, but I've really enjoyed some of the tips there.  Pretty good publication.  I got a free subscription and am glad I did.  Southern Living is my first love still, but GH is A-ok.
 - Foothills Milling Company - outstanding restaurant, in Maryville...wonderful menu, great ambiance, superb service.  An altogether great place for a special occasion.
 - The Centurymen and TN Baptist Chorales (Mens and Womens) - Wonderful music; try to find a concert and sit back and enjoy...or a CD if you can't go in person.  Available online.
 - Robeez shoes - If there's a baby or toddler in your life, check out these shoes.  TOO CUTE! and so comfty for the little one.
 - Greek yogurt...yummy and good for you.
 - Tru Moo chocolate milk by Mayfield.  Less sweet and caloric than traditional...very good!  My bedsnack indulgence :)
 - Pottery Barn - A classic store with so many great things.  Hope they never go out of business.
 - d365 - my favorite online devotional site.  A joint effort of the Episcopal Church, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and Presbyterian Church (USA)  Check it out!  Outstanding and very meaningful, with beautiful music to boot
 - Charleston, SC - Just about my favorite city.  LOVE the food, weather, locale, people, architecture, the Inn at Middleton Place..and adjoining plantation..It's all interstate from Knoxville, so very convenient to get to~  Love the flowers and gardens and churches...great place!
- Autumn and everything about it:  soup, hot chocolate, cool and crisp weather, no humidity, a fire in the fireplace, pumpkins and gourds and colorful leaves on the trees, mums, football...EVERYTHING!  Just about my favorite season,
- Getting mail!  I still like the old-fashioned kind, in the mailbox with a stamp!  Just about a lost art.  I for one hope it never goes away.
 - Books, with pages...or in a Kindle or Nook...whatever form the words take...Reading is good for the soul.
 - Babies and children...especially little 19 month old boys, with blonde hair and big blue eyes...maybe named Barrett Christopher!  SOO glad to get to be his grandmommy.  LOVE, love, love that child.
 - Lentil Stew:  so good and good for you.  Easy to make.  Scrumptious.
 - Sweet smelling stuff for the bath:  salts, bubbles, almond-scented soap, or pink Dove...smells so good!
 - Moon-lit boat rides on Norris Lake with my sweetie
 - Grilling out - pork chops, steaks, hamburgers, hotdogs...doesn't matter what we eat...just love grilling out!
 - Conversations with our adult children...love sharing their interests and their days :)
 - Having surrogate parents and surrogate grandchildren - just being a part of multi-generational things...good!
 - Catching up with old friends
 - Taking rides around the countryside with my sweetie and my doggy; nothing finer!
 - Clean sheets
 - Alice.com - wonderful website.  Free shipping for 6 or more items...great prices and service
 - Sunday School and church - the best place in the world to spend Sunday mornings:  learning, praying, fellowshipping, worshiping, singing, listening, praising...nothing better in this world.
 - A-ha! moments
 - God's still, small voice speaking to me - and a listening ear for me to hear
 - Counting my blessings - what a privilege - we are graced and blessed beyond measure, if we only look up and out
 - Looking forward, another word for "hope."
 - The upcoming holidays:  Thanksgiving, this year in FL with our little family - and the Christmas season, from Advent, to Christmas Day, then the 12 days of Christmas, Epiphany, and the Lenten season leading up to Easter.  Holy days and so meaningful for Christians everywhere
- Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, where millions of children in Third World countries get shoeboxes packed with the only Christmas gifts they will receive.  Such a great thing, for those who give as well as those who receive
 - Mission of Hope, the ToyStore, Angel Tree, Salvation Army bell-ringing...too many worthwhile ministries to mention. 
 - Roses...in the garden, on the roadside, from the florist or the grocery store...doesn't matter!  Love me some roses...sunflowers, alstomeria, daisies...any flower is wonderful!
 - The smell of fresh-baking bread...or rolls...or brownies.  Homemade goodness!  No better perfume.

Well, that's a sampling of the 2011 edition...any additions from you?  Let me know, and I'll pass them along!  Happy Fall, y'all!  God's richest blessings to you and yours on this beautiful, breezy day in autumn from beautiful East Tennessee, one of the prettiest places on earth in the fall of the year.