Here are some things that made me smile over the past couple of weeks:

Many things in Portland, Oregon, including: the food carts, the great walking, the best farmer’s market I have been to, and lots of time with wonderful family and friends.

Getting to know my childhood pal’s adorable kids, ages 8 and 5.

Some awesome photos I took with my iPhone during our trip.

A super visit to the San Juan islands, off the coast of Washington State, including time with wonderful friends.

Seeing a Death Cab for Cutie concert with my niece was on its own great for all the obvious reasons. Additional cause for smiles: she and a guy she had been talking to this week via on-line dating realized they were both going to be at the concert and had arranged to meet for the first time at the show.

Seeing my friend Steve perform at a local open mic night with a group of other great musicians. I’m a huge music fan, but I haven’t spent many evenings like this one, and it highlighted for me how much incredible music is made in so many places, not just the places that are obvious to the masses.

My college buddy’s surprise 50th birthday party.

A pigeon walking around our gate area at Newark airport. I guess it’s faster to fly by plane (today’s featured image.)

A bunch of people have told me that my weekly “smile” post has inspired them to create the habit of  listing things that made them smile (as well as things for which they are grateful and achievements for the week.)

It’s a proven happiness strategy to list positive things. After doing this for three weeks, a wonderful by-product of this practice happened to me: Anticipating my weekly list got me thinking about it daily. It takes 21-days to form a habit and this became a habit for me.

Your turn. What are some of the things that made you smile this week? Please join in with your comments here, or privately, or on the Six Simple Rules Facebook page…