Bliss List

Credit where credit is due - I am stealing this idea from my friend Melissa. :)

These things make me blissfully happy (in no particular order):

My kids.

Quiet days or nights at home, especially when the house is clean.

Organizing.

Cooking, when I have lots of time, and am adequately prepared.

Reading a really good book.

New clothes, shoes, jackets, coats, bags, and earrings, even better if said items have come to me via sale!

Time with Shawn, no kids, no dirty house, no waiting chores. Date night or not, those times seem pretty few and far between lately.

Date night with my girlfriends.

Summer mornings.

Playing in the lake (in the summertime; not such a big fan of ice fishing).

My kids getting along and loving each other when they don't think I'm watching.

What makes you happy?

We have so much...

I came down here all fired up to write a scathing and very whiney post about how crappy it is that I have to/choose to work. Because it is Saturday night, I just finished scrubbing dishes, there are 5+ loads of laundry waiting to be folded, and I am about to start trying to catch up on a mountain of paperwork (job-related, not family-related). And that is NOT what I want to do. I WANT to eat stove-popped popcorn, drink green tea, and watch a movie!

Then I realized, it is Saturday night, and somewhere in this world, somewhere in this town, people are cold. And hungry. And children are scared. Somewhere in this world, people live in houses made of dirt and could live for a week on the amount of leftovers I just threw out. Somewhere in this world, women are desperate for the freedoms I take for granted.

But here, in my home, in my Saturday night, my kids have full tummies and warm beds. They have a mommy and a daddy who love them more than our own lives. We have a home that suits our needs and live in a country where we are afforded countless personal freedoms. We are blessed and I am grateful.

Resolutions (cringe)

I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions. I kind of feel like I hold myself to unreasonably high standards anyway, so a New Year's Resolution is just one more thing to pressure myself with. However, there are many areas of my life that are pretty messy as of late, so in an effort to tidy them up a bit, I have made just three little resolutions:

1. Exercise daily: not to lose weight specifically, but to feel good and be healthy and happy;

2. Serve dinner at 5:00 every night: so that my kiddos can have some down time and more family time after dinner/clean-up;

3. Be early for church: so that my kids and I can be settled and peaceful at the beginning, and so that I can fullfil my church responsibilities adequately.

Some other ideas floating around the back of my head in case I'm awesome and surpass these resolutions in a few months (ha!):

~ Build yoga into my daily routine: I love yoga, it is centering and peaceful. It makes me stand tall and feel beautiful.

~Become one of those people who is financially savvy: currently, not so much. I could write volumes on this topic, but will leave it at that.

~Choose wardrobe pieces wisely: things that are classic, beautiful, flattering, and me. I do okay with this, but I end up buying a few things each season that I don't need and never wear.

~Decorate my house: it's just never been a priority, and I'm not really sure what my home style is.

~Journal: despite several attempts, I have never been successful at keeping a journal. And this kind of blog really doesn't count. I always go back and forth between what I think a journal should be, an archive of family events or an honest account of emotional journeys. Probably two separate volumes would be required. Whew, that makes me tired just thinking about it.

P.S. I really love clothes (refer to future resolutions section above), but my style is pretty basic. I like classic pieces with simple details, nothing too trendy. So today, I picked up a Boden catalog that had been sitting on my counter for days. I have received this catalog before, but never even gave it a look. For Shame! So lovely! Here's just a sample of the awesomeness that is Boden:

I am saving my pennies and can't wait to indulge in a few choice pieces this spring!