52 weeks of happiness week 43

Christmas!

It is the most magical time of the year. This year, with a two year old, it was even more fun and joyful. We all went a little overboard with him this year, but we learned! More modest Christmas this year!

Leading up to Christmas was not joyful. There was a lot of stressful planning with family, but eventually I decided to just try and enjoy it all and focus totally in our little guy.

And it was a marvelous day.

Here is what Santa left for our little man!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 42

My sweet guy's SECOND birthday was Saturday!

We had friends and family celebrating with us, and it was lovely. We are so happy and lucky to have so many wonderful friends who want to celebrate our 2 year journey with our guy. Here's to the third year!

We had a circle theme-so we had circle food and decorations. Simple and sweet. And, I swear, our child turned two and he started talking in three word sentences. Wow. So big.

Happy birthday, sweet baby boy!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 41

Putting up my own tree!!

Hubby LOVES Christmas. Call him Clark Griswold.

He put up 3 trees over 5 feet tall, and in addition, we have 5 other small 2-footers. He likes trees that coordinate and are artsy. I like a tree full of years of sentimental ornaments. I'll proudly put all my son's homemade ornaments up til there is no more room. I proudly display my numerous wedding-type ornaments (since we have a Dec. anniversary, we have many from 2008!) for many years to come.

So, here is MY tree. Complete with a hodge-podge of ornaments that mean a lot to me.

NOW it's Chistmas!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 40

This past week was lovely because DECEMBER arrived!

I love December. It's when my son arrived two years ago, and three years ago when I made the promise of a lifetime to my hubby. Not to mention that there is nothing more magical than Christmas anyway!

So-you really know it's the season when you have decked the halls (at least started to!) and you have a fire going. With a two year old, this Christmas will be incredibly magical, and I look forward to everything about it! His birthday is less than 2 weeks away, and I can't wait to celebrate the season!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 39

Officially way behind. Wish i were better with keeping this up--and I still want to, I just haven't found the time to sit down with it. Even now I only have a few minutes, so here it is. Quickly. :)

Two weeks ago was Thanksgiving. But the best part of that weekend were the three days that followed. I had been sick with the stomach bug, but felt well enough to eat Thanksgiving dinner, but the final three days were spent watching Christmas movies and decorating. And a lot of sitting. We got new furniture so that felt really good, too. It was just good to be home.



Hooray for Christmas decor!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 38

This past week I had a burst of energy on Tuesday and got a ton of mundane things done. Laundry, dishwasher, cleaning, organizing, cooking, and the best part? Baking.

Betty Crocker has these mixes out right now in the holiday aisles at Target, and one was a Snickerdoodle mix. i was going to brave these anyway this year and make them, but I decided to go for the quick and easy mix, since it's still better than store-bought. They were delish!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 37

A clean closet.

I have REALLY put off changing my closet over to cold weather clothes this year. And I just am HORRIBLE at putting away clean clothes. Laundry? No problem. Folding? I got it covered. But I hate putting away laundry!

Well, mother-in-law took our sweet toddler for most of the weekend and hubby and I have come leaps and bounds in the past 4 hours. He's cleaning out a back room to make into a play room, and I'm working on the tragedy that is my closet.

I wish I had a before shot, but this actually is pretty good for me:



Procrastination leads to dread, and I have procrastinated on this for over a month. So finally, hours of work are OVER and I have a nice, winter-ready closet!

Someday I will have a big enough closet that I won't have to go through all this. :)

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 36

I have had way too many other things on my mind other than my commitment to 52 weeks of happiness, but I'm here now!

This week, I'm proud to say I don't have a picture from this past week.

I was asleep.

I've had two weekends of company (great company, but still.), and it just takes extra energy. This past weekend, with the time change, my hubby gave me the gift of that extra hour of sleep. I really, really needed it. A lot of moms of toddlers and young children don't really get that extra hour of daylight savings time.

But my husband gave it to me. It was really, really necessary, and made me really, really happy.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 35

Paul Simon.

Live.

It was AMAZING.

One of my all time favorites came to Memphis for his new tour, and even though it was 45 degrees, on the Mississippi River, in an OUTDOOR amphitheater, I simply just dressed appropriately and wasn't too cold.

Oh, it was magic!! Kodachrome, 50 ways, Graceland, Here Comes the Sun, The Only Living Boy in New York, Sound of Silence, and Mother and Child Reunion to name a few...

Incredible music. Incredible experience.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 34

It's Tuesday. WAY late for the post, but I'm here.

I'm late because I haven't sat down to upload a picture for this week, so I'll publish this now, and stick a picture in later...

But for this week, it was organizing my hubby's 30th birthday weekend.

On Friday night, his best grad school friend came in from Chattanooga to visit. That was the biggest surprise of the weekend.

Saturday night was the big surprise party. We went to a new (to us) restaurant and had about 12 of his friends there. Balloons, a photo guest book, pictures spread all over the table from birth to a few months ago, a few presents here and there, the best cupcakes in Memphis, and lots of laughs.

It took up my whole week, and I loved every minute of it.



It's so easy to do something like that for someone you love so much.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 33

Hubby was inspired by the cold weather and (finally!) a free Friday night for a date in-house.

He moved the TV outside, we made a fire in the fire pit, had a bottle of wine to share and pizza. We put on a scary movie - "Paranormal Activity" -- which was fine. Not too terribly scary (yay!) but enough to whet hubby's appetite for scary movies in October.

It was so much fun! Loved cuddling under 4, yes, 4 blankets.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 32

This week's happiness is brought to you by a good ol' cup of tea.

A FUN cup of tea at that.

I LOVE tea. Iced, hot, green, black, white. Fruity, floral, spiced.

I dearly love Jasmine green tea, and this was given to me a while back from my in-laws. The tea starts out in tiny balls, as seen here...



and within about 5 minutes, expands to the freshest, most beautiful tea leaves you have ever seen in your life.



BLISS!!

Guilty Pleasures

We all have something silly that it almost like a refuge for us. An old family friend used to run a live-in home for women who were battling extremely serious cases of addiction. When she came home, all she wanted was to watch old M*A*S*H episodes or movies like “Enchanted.” Another family member I know works with children with special needs and she loves her reality TV at home later. Pure, wonderful comedies or just plain fluff.

I very much went through a quarter-life crisis. Wow, it was an awful time of my life in comparison to before and after. I was living in the town wherein I went to college. But I was NOT in college anymore. And none of my friends were there. I had a boyfriend (the reason I moved back), but really, he was pretty useless. He was still in college, and that was hard. 2 years are a world of difference in this case.
I hated my job. Not my career, but my job. I was a massage therapist then, and had a boss who cared not how she worked her staff, but that she was making a lot of money off of us.

My hours were 8-3, no break for lunch unless I had a break between massages. I didn’t get paid for being there, only just under 50% of what they made on each massage. Even after I quit for another job, I still had only one constant in my everyday life when I went home…my refuge. I was deep into it by 3:15. Are you ready for it?

A soap opera.


You’re thinking, “Wow. Did she just admit that?” You have no idea how passionately I am about to talk about Days of our Lives.

I started watching just before college in 1997 because I wanted to know what everyone else was talking about.

And, the rest, as they say, is history. I watched on and off throughout college, but once I was out, I set my VCR timer for the show daily, and looked forward to it EVERY NIGHT. I didn’t want to miss a thing. And when I was back in my college town with no real friends to speak of, I felt like they were my friends.

No, I don’t think it was a problem or anything, it was actually the opposite. I found tremendous happiness EVERY DAY in watching Sami and Lucas, John and Marlena, Bo and Hope. I loved (and still do, though I watch sporadically now) all the complete nonsense that happens in a soap opera. Come back to life after a bloody death? Of course! It was all a plot! Change of actors? Just another day at the set. And would it be a season on Days without a good “Who’s the Daddy” storyline? Nope.

They were my “friends” if the definition is someone or something consistent and always there for you, that brings you joy, and rarely disappoints. Above all, I loved getting lost in the web of distraction that was this show. All I needed then was SOMETHING to bring happiness (almost) every day, and this was it.

It was kinda a life saver. I’ve watched a lot since those days, but now I only do intermittently. It’s just to fun to miss for too long.

What is your refuge? Your guilty pleasure?

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 31

This week, I thought I'd post something that happens every week that makes me feel wonderful.

We have a small house, and it gets messed up pretty easily. A toddler can take a toll on a house, and even with part time work, I can't keep it straight.

So we have a little weekly present we give ourselves. A housekeeper. This is what our son's area looks like most of the time...



Messed up books, toys strewn everywhere.

But for a few moments in each week, it looks like this.



I love those few moments!

Things to live by...

Here is a forwarded email I received recently. Not the usual life lessons. A lot of good lessons and advice. Enjoy! I italicized the ones that were poignant to me.

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio. "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone.. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 30

I can't even describe the happiness I had this past Saturday night. The only wrench thrown in was that I wasn't able to have a date night with hubby, but it turned out to be exactly as it should have been. I took one of my closest friends to see my VERY favorite musical of all time...Les Miserables.

When I was 8, my parents took me and my sister to see the 3 hour long heavy musical. They wondered if I was too young.

Literally, I was on the edge of my seat and didn't want to blink to miss a moment.

The music has captured me since. I saw it again when I was 10, then 15, then 20, and not since. It had been so very influential and beautiful to me, that I cried a little more each time I saw it. By the fourth time (and this past Saturday), I cried off an on (through the entire production) as soon as I heard the first notes. It's a part of my childhood that has grown with me and I have taken in my heart for 20 plus years.

The 25th anniversary showed many set changes, but the music still rang as beautiful as the day I remember and first saw it. Song after beautiful song, I am truly entranced.

Words could never do justice to what the music does to my soul, to my heart. I burst with its with beauty and the release I feel from the tears I cry is just a bonus.

Here is the marquee for this week's picture.



THIS was bliss.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 29

This week, on Tuesday, I had a few minutes between work and picking up my little guy. As you know, I love to read, and love a bargain. There are three, yes actually THREE used bookstores I know about, and I went to check them out.

First--Goodwill books. Pretty good selection, actually. Great prices.

Then, Book Traders. A little higher prices, but still a fraction of the price. I bought 2 books here. (and snapped the photo below)

Finally, close to the preschool is a place called the Book Depot. The most expensive at about half the cover price. Best selection of all.

Oh how I loved my used bookstore excursion!

Beauty, and Needing Each Other

I look back on pictures of myself when I was a baby. WOW, was I adorable! (in all modesty. Really.) I mean, weren't we all precious when we were little?

And then comes the awkwardness of middle school and adolecence, and you try to get boys to like you, and you're not sure you're really all that pretty.

But then, college comes, you're more grown-up looking (not necessarily grown-up), and you get compliments on your looks a lot. Well, duh, of course by "you," I mean, this is how it all happened to me.

I wasn't confident at all in high school until maybe my senior year. In my sophomore year of college, I broke up with a really, really crappy boyfriend and as it turns out, a lot of people found me to be really cute. The truth serum of alcohol in college helped many a boy confess things that flattered me. And frankly, it took a while for me to really think I must actually BE pretty, since so many people were saying so. And this continued through my dating years.

Then I met the love of my life, who is the embodiment of what I dreamed of, and more.

But when you get into 5 or 6 years of being together, guys don't really see the need too much anymore to tell you that you look cute. And I can't help it. I miss it. I know for a fact that hubby thinks it, he just doesn't say it.

NO, I am not saying this because I want to feed my ego. I have been accused (not by friends, by sh*tty people) that I am acting conceited.

All I am saying, is that for years I got lots of compliments that led to some confidence and good self-esteem after years of awkwardness and no one returning my adolescent longing.

Sunday was an old friend's birthday, so I sent a quick message saying "Happy birthday! Hope you're well." I get a response. "Hi gorgeous! Thank you!" That was it. But it made me feel so good. I guess I needed to hear from someone else that I was still pretty.

Then I thought, wow. That's pathetic. Shouldn't I be enough? Shouldn't it be enough that I think I'm still cute? Shouldn't I not ever need anyone to tell me such things, because I know it anyway?

NO, NO, and NO. It is OKAY to need to hear something external. We need people communication. WE NEED to hear that we look nice, act nice, or are appreciated. WE are NOT enough for ourselves. WE NEED EACH OTHER. We do NOT have to be alone. AND I AM OKAY WITH THAT.

I am okay with needing someone to tell me I look okay, particularly since I don't hear it very often anymore. It sounds stronger to say, "I don't need that!" but I think I'm stronger for admitting I DO need it. From anyone I think highly of. When someone says I love you or compliments me, I like to think they mean it. They don't have to see it. My old friend could have just responded with a thank you, or not at all.

It meant a lot, and it's okay that I need that. I know I am not alone in this thought. We all need that. We all need each other.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 28

This past Thursday (and all week, actually), Memphis encountered an incredible snap of fall weather.

It gave us a tiny preview into the season of orange, yellow, and red leaves, pumpkin spiced goodies, Halloween, and Thanksgiving! What a lovely preview it was.

I'm working on training for my fourth 1/2 marathon benefiting St. Jude in December. I can't handle running in hot temps outside. My lungs don't like it, and I don't like being far away from water. I love the treadmill when I can run in the cool inside and have water at any given moment.

But I do love running outside when I can handle it. Thursday, I ran after school (which happens to be 12:30 for me!) and it was lovely. I did 3 miles, and enjoyed being outside with the trees, sun, and breeze again. I take my phone so I can see how long I have gone (GPS on phone), so somewhere in the middle I decided to snap a pic of this great moment.

9/11

Do you know what happiness I find in remembering 9/11 and I find because of it? Because people who knew they had only a few minutes to live called to express love. And those who did not fall this day were reminded by those fallen how important every moment is, and how much love came pouring out.

It reminded all of Americans to take time and remember those who really, really matter. To remember WHAT really matters in life, and I say with confidence that many people learned to stop taking many things for granted.

I know I did. I am grateful daily for the many blessings in my life. For my family, my parents, my husband, my child, my happiness, my friends, my dog, my home, my community, my job, my bed, the roof over my head, good food, good health, and more. I do say prayers of thanks everyday for them. Being just out of college, I think I was at a good part of my life as I began adulthood, and really took time to think of what is really important, and how lucky I am.

Bless you, and bless America.

Laughter

I finished the Happiness Project book! Started in March, took my time perusing and underlining, and I finished up this weekend. I usually don't make it through non-fiction completely, but this one was linear enough for me to do just that. I have many notes and ! marks in the margins for future blog posts...so stay tuned.

BUT FIRST...

I was reading her November chapter, and I realized I really do not laugh enough. Children laugh more times a day than we do in a week, and it's just time I found a reason to do it. Remember the column in Reader's Digest, "Laughter, the best medicine?" I loved it. As a kid, I'd find my grandparents' copy of the magazine so I could learn some new jokes. My son's giggles should be inspiration enough, but I do forget.

Certain comedians make me laugh so hard I cry. Why don't I download it and listen to it in the car? I have no good answer to this. This swept the news for a day or two...and I love it. Seeing someone who is usually so serious be so tickled makes me giggle.

Seriously, click here. I can't embed on blog, but it's. so. funny.

Maybe it could be a good laugh for you today, too.



Who/what makes you laugh?

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 27

Late again, but I was on vacay in Hardy. So that's my excuse this time.

I'm trying to find little things that are new to this blog that make me happy, but the truth is, the same things that make me happy before make me happy this time.

Plus, right now, I am tremendously stressed about a lot of upcoming things. And I've tried half of my life (literally) to really find ways to calm down. I'm not sure why, but nothing has TRULY, TRULY worked.

Sigh. ANYWAY, even if it didn't create complete serenity in me, I will always be moved and more serene than before when I am near water.

This weekend we took a family trip to Hardy, AR, to my MIL's house. We took a pontoon boat ride once, and I snapped a picture of all the moving water behind it. The sound, smell, feel, and sight of water seems to speak to me. I'm not always sure what it says, but it reminds me of a place I can find within me that, well, maybe helps me go with the flow a little more.



May you have peace like a river, too.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 26

This week, I tried to find a seemingly tiny pleasure. It's something I did that made me very grateful for my life and very happy.

Hubby left his lunch at home. I leave after he does, so I grabbed it.

I texted him, "Have your lunch, will bring it to you around 12:15."

BECAUSE I CAN.

Because with my new part-time job, (same job, new to part-time) I have the ability to leave at noon each day. I got my stuff together, headed over to hubby's work and was able to have 20 minutes with him while he ate.

So here's my pic. Before I left my work, car is in Park, time (5 minutes fast), and the lunch. Small pleasure that meant a whole lot more.



What small pleasures are there in your life?

b

Inner thoughts that need to escape

I do a lot of things with optimism. If I want something, I act as though I already have it to the best of my ability. I tell myself I have it.

I don't understand why I want it to happen now.

Dear Lawdy! Grant me patience.

I don't know why I still doubt that I can really do this. I have a lot of layers of optimism over a tiny, nagging, won't-go-away bit of fear.

If the optimism is so big, why does it not stomp out the fear?

All I know to do is to keep going. And keep dreaming. Because the things I dream can come true, I just have to be open to receiving them, WITHOUT fear.

And all I can do daily is try to focus on the optimism so I may stomp out that damn fear.

But some days I am so impatient I want to explode.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 25

This week, my sweet little guy started pre-pre-school. Well, that’s what we like to call his 2 day a week toddler class, anyway.

I have to say, I was very excited about it. I think my husband had a harder time than I did, considering I was nothing but excited.

I had perhaps the busiest four hours between four classes and a quick trip to his school to be there when he was dropped off for his first day.

My mother in law and her best friend were there too, and let hubby and me go ahead down the hall to his room. This week was tough, long, and up and down, but this moment was captured and it is something that happens quite often and always brings me tremendous joy.



I can't express how much this makes me feel like a million dollars. A simple thing like asking to be picked up...I know I'm his mama, he knows it, and I really feel it. A very simple, very real, very true joy.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 24

This past week, my happiness came from a little me time. First week of inservice and part time, and I still found I didn't have enought time.

I did, however, make it to the gym for a swim one day. And get this? I had the ENTIRE indoor pool to myself.....for a good 20 minutes. It was so nice, so quiet, so fluid in my strokes, so wakeful. All the stretching I do underwater in between strokes is really amazing. When I was pregnant, this was my chosen form of exercise. I often went after a work day, and the extreme change from dressy clothes, little kids voices and long meetings to quiet, weightless body lifting of water, and slow stretching could not have been a more separate feeling. I felt like I was in a COMPLETELY different place, and it always shifted my attitude from a stressful day to a quiet, mellow night.

Behold, my people-less pool.

No happiness right now...

Yin and Yang, love and indifference, rain and sun. If you don't have one, you can't have the other. And if you've had one, you certainly appreciate (or depreciate) the other.

For me, I know what sadness is, so I dearly grasp onto and continually search for happiness. It's much better.

I'm very sad today. I have one measly little day left of summer vacation. This may very well have been the best summer of my life.

I'm going back to work part-time, and I know when I get there my sweet students and wonderful teachers I work with will make me feel welcomed and at home again. But I have spent 10 amazing weeks with my flesh and blood. I've watched him grow leaps and bounds, and I want to be there all the time for this. It's killing me knowing I am even leaving him for a little bit.

For the first time in my life (exception: maternity leave), I really understand that people can say how much they love getting up in the morning...that they love the anticipation of another wonderful day. They truly are excited about waking up and getting up, and enjoy their days because of this. And you know what this leads me to believe and know about myself?

I am meant to be a mom.

NOT because I am perfect at it. No ma'am! I am only human. I know this because it is the only thing I have ever done consistently that leaves me aching for more. More days, overtime, and no need of benefits other than love and kisses. Yep, I know the frustrations so far of motherhood, but it's worth every.single.minute. It's pure joy.

I can only hope and pray that the man upstairs has it in his plan for me to be a mom twice over, but only time will tell.

I am thankful, not daily, but hourly, for the blessing of motherhood. I have never felt love like I feel for my child. I am in love with my husband in a way I had never felt it before him. In both these cases the love is pure, and different everytime I feel it. Love is far and away the most powerful force in the universe.

Tomorrow I intend on enjoying of course. I know I will. But I can't help but dread those first days of inservice before the students get there. The real reason I teach won't be there for another week and a half...let's just get there. Then maybe I will begin to find some balance. Who knows.

I want to be with my son to watch his eyes open up to new things. I want to be there daily. But I won't be the one opening his eyes up everytime. So maybe this is God's way of teaching me to let go.

But I won't ever let go all the way. No mom ever can, I am convinced.

if you made it this far, thank you...

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 23

I have tried to enjoy every moment of this week, but the fact is, it is tainted. Tainted with being the LAST week of summer vacation.

Where the hell did the time go? I was JUST sitting in the big room with the entire faculty saying goodbye for the summer...

I've done my best to have a good final week. I have one more day. But as for Week 23, I had a VERY handsome date for lunch one day. Wednesday, my friend Morgan and her baby (2 months younger than my guy) accompanied us to lunch at McAlisters, which you can never go wrong with.

Because we are a picky toddler, we hadn't been eating all that well...but this day, he ate his macaroni and applesauce very heartily and well, and I was pretty happy to have him as my lunch date. Not to mention, it was just as wonderful to have someone around who could take our picture, so mommy got to be in a shot for once!!

What can you do every day?

Gretchen Rubin wrote this wonderful post about ten things that she knows she WILL do everyday, even if nothing else gets done. Please please read it! I thought, of course, about what my list would look like. Here's what I know I do everyday. (with of course, the normal exceptions, whatever they may be. I can't kiss my husband if he's out of town, but you know what I mean.)

1. Kiss my husband.

2. Love on my son.

3. Pet my beagle.

4. Wear my seatbelt.

5. Have a cup of coffee, and relish the taste.

6. Straighten something up.

7. Stretch thoughtfully, and stretch with no rush.

8. Enjoy the pitter patter of the shower water on my back.

9. Breathe in and out, thoughtfully, at least one time slowly.

10. Take a picture, for a creative outlet or to capture a moment.

11. Hear some sort of music.

And all these things make me happy....all of which I do DAILY. Take pleasure in the small things, for in the small things lie great happiness and fulfillment.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 22

A bit late again. Whatever, at least I'm not skipping!!

This past week has been full of great things again--Mommy & Me, swim lessons, a doctor's appointment, and much more. BUT, Friday night, when my mother-in-law's brother and wife came in from California to meet my little guy for the first time, we got some adult time in.

A wonderful Memphis restaurant, Paulette's, just recently moved from it's Midtown location to Harbor Town down by the river. We went there for appetizers and I got some wonderful shots of the river and the sunset. The blue cheese chips were amazing, and so was the Savignon Blanc.

Then we went east again to go to a new restaurant called "The Elegant Farmer." All of their veggies and food are all locally grown. It was an amazing meal! I tasted every bit of the flavors in my chicken and sausage etouffee, which happened to be placed upon cheese grits instead of rice. Oh. My. God. YUM! And as we left, I had to snap their sweet bit of southern charm!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 21

Yes, you are supposed to have a picture to go with your happiness post.

I don't this week.

I just didn't think to do it! Hubby and I had a great date last Friday. We had matinee tickets for the final Harry Potter film, and we had a lovely dinner afterwards. I guess though we see each other a lot in passing, a little in the mornings, more at night, and even more on weekends, there is not a lot of real date time. Men think all time is quality time, but women really want a little something more...

We watched Harry Potter in 3D, mostly because we could, but it wasn't all that necessary. I loved watching it with him because we read the book when we were (very briefly) broken up (the second time). There is one certain character that dies, and back then when the book was new, he said to me as we got back together, "all I wanted to do during that part was call you. I knew you would understand how sad it was!" So seeing the movie together was more than just a movie.

We had dinner at Bonefish, which we love since it's not too pricey but has a very date-like atmosphere. When we got home, our little guy was fast asleep, and we soon were too.

Lovely, lovely date!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 20

Wow! Week 20! It's been another wonderful one.

This week, 6 weeks into the summer, I finally got an afternoon for me. I had a million possibilities...pedicure, pool, movie...?? I had a movie girl night scheduled for Thursday, and Friday hubby and I were planning for Harry Potter 7.2, so three hours at the pool it was.

And it was a PERFECT pool day. I got a little pink, but it turns to tan on me pretty quickly. I took a book, dipped in the pool when it got too hot, and guzzled ice cold water.

Then I met a friend for a happy hour drink and appetizers. She was a little late, so I brought out my book and ordered my wine. I was warm from the sun, and reading and sipping Pinot Grigio, light and cold.



It was an awesome afternoon. Me time. Pool time, girl time. It was really, really wonderful, and the Margherita Pizza appetizer was DIVINE. Thank you, Carrabba's.

Season of Summer and Books

Each season brings new promise, farewells, and hellos. My summer has surely been a change from spring, and I welcome it all. Since I never really had me time in the spring, winter, or fall either, I don't think much about devoting my day 100% to my little guy. It is a tremendous pleasure.

When the school year comes around again, I will be there from 8-12. Not 7:30 to 4. Yes, my salary is gravely affected, but my life will be tremendously enriched. I am so happy to greet this new routine, though I am NOT rushing through the one my son and I have now.

As far as me time goes for this mama, I have almost made it through two books this summer. That's NOTHING to so many people, yet for me, it's pretty darn good. I'm a slow reader anyway, and with a toddler, you just never know when you'll want to pick it up.

I have found myself quietly slipping into a nap (even 15 minutes) after reading during his nap time. It's pretty nice, actually. And though I wish I could plow through more books, I also enjoy napping when he does, catching up on my favorite shows, and blogging.


I have enjoyed Heart of the Matter this summer, and Vision in White.
I dearly love Emily Giffin, and I love the feel of paperbacks. Not the tiny mass market ones, but the bigger ones. No other type of books feels better in my hands. So even though this one was out LAST summer, I waited for the paperback. I had plenty other books to read, anyway!

When I was about 8 weeks pregnant, my mother-in-law took me to her river house in Hardy, AR. She bought me food that would not turn my stomach, fed me well, and bought me silly, mindless books and magazines to read. It was for me to relax, and hubby to stay home to pack our house, since we were a week away from buying our first place.


Vision in White was the book she bought, and I didn't read it then because I was in the middle of another one, but I wanted so much to read it. I read all the bride fiction that looked decent when I was engaged, and this looked like plain, simple fun. Nora Roberts likes to write four books in a series, maybe three, and this was a "Bride Quartet" book. This was two years ago, and now all the books are out. I am just finishing up this one, and it's simple, plain, joyful fun.

My next book won't be the second in the Bride Quartet, as I rarely go back to back with the same author.

I AM still reading The Happiness Project book but am going slowly, since I can. And summer has turned things upside down, but hey, even that makes me happy. I needed a little shaking up at the end of May...time for a relaxing routine. Looks like the prescription that worked was mommy/toddler time and reading.

Happiness indeed.