As part of my Happiness Project goal for February to "Be Positive" I'm going to start writing down a JOY moment each day. Every day I'm going to write down something that brought me joy during the day. Some days it may be something huge but for the most part it will be things like: giggles from the girls, eating something I really like for dinner, not having to wait in line, or the repair costing $30 not $130!
I think I will find more things during the day that bring me joy as I will have to find something to write down. Join me in recording your own Joy Moments and focusing on the positive.
xo,
Dedra
Showing posts with label happiness project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happiness project. Show all posts
Monday, February 4, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Be Positive February
My happiness goal for February is to be positive--to think positive, to act positive, and to always speak positive. To kick off the month I made a list of 28 things that make me happy and I'm going to try and do one every day. These won't MAKE me positive but I think spending a little time each day doing something for me will make me feel happier and when Momma is happy, everyone else will be too and it will be easier to think positively.
It took me a really long time to come up with my list. I'm great at coming up with lists for Christmas and birthday presents, preschool ideas, date ideas, holiday activities, menus, and endless other lists. Making one for things I like to do was so different. How often as a mom do I think about myself? Sometimes the best thing you can do for your children is learning to take care of yourself and showing them by example how to be happy.
Here's mine. Laugh all you want at what makes me happy. :)
1. Take a bath
2. Read for at least 15 minutes
3. Check out pinterest (I hardly ever get on anymore.)
4. Post pictures of the kids for Grandmas to see.
5. Make a holiday craft.
6. Go swimming or play basketball
7. Play the ukulele and sing
8. Sit and watch the birds
9. Play Rome Total War
10. Do a REAL yoga workout i.e. without children crawling under my downward dog
11. Declutter something
12. Scrapbook some pictures
13. Play golf (the card game)
14. Read lots of stories to the girls
15. Do a crossword puzzle
16. Watch HGTV
17. Design a room remodel
18. Draw/paint a picture
19. Bake something
20. Go to the library
21. Surprise the kids with something
22. Eat out
23. Text something nice to all my friends
24. Plan something super "romantical" for the hubby
25. Doodle
26. Shop or at least browse online
27. Take a nap
28. Go for a walk
Think of your own list and put it into action today. It is a great way to break up the winter boredom too. :)
Happy February!
xo,
Dedra
It took me a really long time to come up with my list. I'm great at coming up with lists for Christmas and birthday presents, preschool ideas, date ideas, holiday activities, menus, and endless other lists. Making one for things I like to do was so different. How often as a mom do I think about myself? Sometimes the best thing you can do for your children is learning to take care of yourself and showing them by example how to be happy.
Here's mine. Laugh all you want at what makes me happy. :)
1. Take a bath
2. Read for at least 15 minutes
3. Check out pinterest (I hardly ever get on anymore.)
4. Post pictures of the kids for Grandmas to see.
5. Make a holiday craft.
6. Go swimming or play basketball
7. Play the ukulele and sing
8. Sit and watch the birds
9. Play Rome Total War
10. Do a REAL yoga workout i.e. without children crawling under my downward dog
11. Declutter something
12. Scrapbook some pictures
13. Play golf (the card game)
14. Read lots of stories to the girls
15. Do a crossword puzzle
16. Watch HGTV
17. Design a room remodel
18. Draw/paint a picture
19. Bake something
20. Go to the library
21. Surprise the kids with something
22. Eat out
23. Text something nice to all my friends
24. Plan something super "romantical" for the hubby
25. Doodle
26. Shop or at least browse online
27. Take a nap
28. Go for a walk
Think of your own list and put it into action today. It is a great way to break up the winter boredom too. :)
Happy February!
xo,
Dedra
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Taking the plunge
So we finally "took the plunge" quite literally yesterday and bought a monthly pass to the local rec center. I figured we can spend time there as a family and the hubby and I can go there for dates. If it improves our happiness than it is a price definitely worth paying.
We took the kids swimming and it was a blast--other than the whole changing out of wet clothes part. We tried the big girls and I getting dressed first and then going back for the baby (who was with Daddy of course) and getting her dressed. However there is nowhere to lay her down except my lap. I realized after she was dressed that my whole lap was drenched. Luckily it was drenched so much that it looked pretty unrealistic that I could have wet myself that much. :) Ha ha. Good times. Good times.
I felt exhilarated from our hour in the pool. I love being in the water. My legs are a little sore from jumping up and down with 2 girls in my arms who were giggling with glee. So worth it! And best yet, I slept much better!
We took the kids swimming and it was a blast--other than the whole changing out of wet clothes part. We tried the big girls and I getting dressed first and then going back for the baby (who was with Daddy of course) and getting her dressed. However there is nowhere to lay her down except my lap. I realized after she was dressed that my whole lap was drenched. Luckily it was drenched so much that it looked pretty unrealistic that I could have wet myself that much. :) Ha ha. Good times. Good times.
I felt exhilarated from our hour in the pool. I love being in the water. My legs are a little sore from jumping up and down with 2 girls in my arms who were giggling with glee. So worth it! And best yet, I slept much better!
Friday, January 18, 2013
What a difference support makes!
Wow. People are commenting like crazy lately and I have to say THANK YOU! It is really hard writing a blog when you feel like you are talking to no one. I really needed the sweet comments I got today. Thank you to those who are accepting my challenges too. It motivates me knowing people are depending on me. Today's challenge is really fun and great for a Friday. I can't tell you how much this is helping and maybe you already do it.
While reading Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, I wanted to take on her first challenge of getting more energy and named my challenge Rejuvenate. I have 3 kids 5 and under so I'm not worried that my blood never gets pumping. It is nice to feel a little more fit though and I definitely like feeling like I have more energy.
So whenever I'm feeling like I'm slumping a little bit I've been turning on Pandora's 80's Cardio Channel. I always thought I hated everything 80's. I grew up in the 80's but I always remember hating the clothes, the hair, the music, everything. But this channel does something for me. I turn it on and the kids and I start dancing. The baby shuffles around on her feet and wiggles her little bummy and the other two try to break dance. We break up and do chores but whenever we meet we just kind of get our groove on. It is really nice. Right between my shoulders was actually sore yesterday from grooving a little bit too much maybe? Nah. It felt good to be sore from something so fun as dancing with the kids.
So your challenge today and forever--find some music that makes you move. Turn it on and dance like no ones watching or pretend like you're on a rock video or something if that helps. :) I find we're getting our chores done faster and they are sooo much more enjoyable. I don't feel exhausted after and I really do feel Rejuvenated. When we are ready to settle down I turn on my favorite channel on Pandora--Film Scores. Anyone else weird like me and love film scores?
Happy Friday,
Dedra
While reading Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, I wanted to take on her first challenge of getting more energy and named my challenge Rejuvenate. I have 3 kids 5 and under so I'm not worried that my blood never gets pumping. It is nice to feel a little more fit though and I definitely like feeling like I have more energy.
So whenever I'm feeling like I'm slumping a little bit I've been turning on Pandora's 80's Cardio Channel. I always thought I hated everything 80's. I grew up in the 80's but I always remember hating the clothes, the hair, the music, everything. But this channel does something for me. I turn it on and the kids and I start dancing. The baby shuffles around on her feet and wiggles her little bummy and the other two try to break dance. We break up and do chores but whenever we meet we just kind of get our groove on. It is really nice. Right between my shoulders was actually sore yesterday from grooving a little bit too much maybe? Nah. It felt good to be sore from something so fun as dancing with the kids.
So your challenge today and forever--find some music that makes you move. Turn it on and dance like no ones watching or pretend like you're on a rock video or something if that helps. :) I find we're getting our chores done faster and they are sooo much more enjoyable. I don't feel exhausted after and I really do feel Rejuvenated. When we are ready to settle down I turn on my favorite channel on Pandora--Film Scores. Anyone else weird like me and love film scores?
Happy Friday,
Dedra
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Rejuvenate: 1st Step
The first step of my Happiness Project is to Rejuvenate myself. The first part of my agenda is to get to sleep at a better time. That means I need to leave the basement by 11:00 p.m. to get ready and read before 11:45ish. It is really hard to get out of the basement at night. Going to bed each night feels kind of like failure because nothing has changed during the day and often times it seems like things are getting worse but to help correct my problem of going to sleep too late I am going to invest in a cheap alarm clock that will ring annoyingly at 11:00 and tell me to go up to bed. Here's hoping it works.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Dedra's Happiness Project.
When I first started this blog I was looking for a place to express myself. It then turned into a place to showcase my products but I didn't discover its true purpose until I wrote this article: 7 Ways in 7 Days to Knock the Socks Off Your Spouse.
I tried combining my desire to help improve marriages with my designing/business aspirations and the random tips and ideas that just pop out of my head. With so much variation and without a clear focus I have lost a lot of interest in blogging. Plus, our life is pretty crazy and I've had the D word. *GASP* Yes folks, I've had severe depression for a little over 5 years (started after the birth of our first). I have had a hard time blogging because I wasn't telling people about my depression. Really only my husband knew and one of my visiting teachers knew. I tried to hide it from everyone else--which made me look like who knows what but I know a lot of people avoided me because they thought I was angry all the time. I was really honestly just trying to put one foot in front of the other and to do so came with a huge grimace on my face.
I recently announced my depression to the world by announcing my plight on the world's largest complaint board: Facebook. It actually was really good to get that burden off my chest--to stop pretending that everything was fine because nothing has been fine.
I know I've mentioned before that I would blog about our circumstances but I always hesitated because everyone always seems to read me wrong but at least now you know about my depression and maybe it will be clearer. I've been learning lately that writing things about my struggles and my feelings helps me to let go of them a little so here goes:
3 years ago this month my husband started to get only half paychecks. Half paychecks were enough to cover the mortgage, utilities, insurance and our student loans. Nothing more. We had been smart I thought and had a really good food storage and savings. We had just paid cash for a 10 year old (at the time) Ford Expedition, which we named Steve. Looking back we were all set to embark on this rocky journey--not that we wanted it.
We made a plan and figured we could last through June. So I learned how to make everything from scratch from laundry soap to chocolate syrup to bread and granola-- you name it. I scrimped and sewed and made do with what we had. We spent between 10-20 dollars a week on groceries for what was then 4 of us. I bought milk and yogurt, which we learned were 2 things that really helped us survive. We went almost a year without any fresh fruit or vegetables. I learned to shop at yard sales for the things we needed. For our oldest daughters birthday present I took a piece of fabric someone gave to me and sewed tiny pieces together until it turned into a "pillow pet." it was a pink pig and it was ugly but she loved it. I even sold my wedding ring to buy CS3 so I could help bring some money in. It took over a year and a half before anything came of that.
About 6 months into our dilemma I was walking with my daughters to the park when the feeling hit me that we needed to move. I called my husband when we got home (no such luxuries as a cell phone) and he agreed that it felt right. We looked around for a few months to find that we loved a small town south of us and we could actually afford the home prices in our predicament. We assumed we would be receiving full paychecks again soon anyways.
We made it longer than we thought to September and got a full paycheck. Then another in October and November but none in December. In November we put up our house for sale by owner. Realtors became my living nightmare.I was told we couldn't sell it ourselves and we needed their expertise and 6% commission. (What I wouldn't give to see their expression when we actually did sell our house by ourselves!) I figured we would be moving soon so I started packing. I am one of those people who likes to plan and not wait till the last minute.
February we got a tax return that helped us get through some more months.In June or so of 2011 I felt like we needed to go look at houses again. I asked a realtor friend and she wouldn't take us until our house sold. Another realtor acquaintance's name popped into my mind and he immediately set up some appointments. The first house we almost couldn't get into. The key wouldn't work but we managed to get into the garage. I'm pretty sure any other realtor would have stopped trying after the key incident but our realtor was such a good sport and even explored some dangerous areas with the hubby. That house was such a wreck and don't even get me started about the yard. I walked out of that house thinking "no way!" On the drive home though my husband and I started to talk. Beneath all the filth and clutter and unfinished areas and broken things there was an amazing floorplan that really had everything we wanted. A few things weren't perfect but what house is? He felt it was the right house for us and at that point I was 5 months pregnant and was ready to be done with the whole housing issue. We tried to put in an offer but there were problems on the sellers side so we waited.
I was 8 1/2 months pregnant in the fall of 2011 when we finally sold our house to some awesome investors who let us rent the home from them as I was ready to have the baby any time. Once the house sold we put in an offer for the house we saw during the summer. The baby was born healthy and in January of 2012 the bank accepted our offer. I was so excited and started packing more....not a good idea because it is now January of 2013. I have packed and unpacked various times over the last year. Each time I have gotten rid of more stuff so that is good right? We are still waiting on that house and still renting the home we previously owned at a really high rate. We got 1 full paycheck in 2012. My digital designing (all thanks to my wedding ring) has finally been generating income and we are still surviving. I now buy fruit and vegetables as a mandatory part of our diet but we are still waiting. The tenants in that house were supposed to be out by the 1st. Then they were given more time (I guess 2 years wasn't enough) and they had till Saturday. Saturday we drove by and they are still there. We are supposed to meet with the realtors tomorrow but who knows. It has been one thing after another.
If just one thing had been eliminated this "trial" would have been so much easier to endure. If my husband had been getting paychecks or if we had been able to move or if my depression hadn't been there or so severe or if our daughter wasn't having psychological problems and phobias.
I'm trying to be good and figure out what I need to learn from all this. #1. don't sell a house by yourself for a year while being pregnant and having 2 little ones messing up the house right before every showing. #2 don't pack your house until you have an official moving date. #3. Don't expect anything to change in order to be happy. #4. Remember to enjoy the little moments because sometimes that is all you have.
What is the moral of this story? I'm not sure yet. I hope it is something like, "Good things come to those who wait," but its still not over. We have hung on this long. Maybe good things will come. That is obviously why we have held on because we have hope.
I've been reading a lot to try and help with my depression. I have been simply inspired by "The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun" by Gretchen Rubin. I am only 3 chapters in but I am creating my own Happiness Project. I love getting books from the library or borrowing from friends but this is one book you will want to own!
I hope you will stop by and check out my journey this year as I embark on my own Happiness Project.
My year is now divided into these sections:
January: Rejuvenate
February: Think Positive
March: Loosen Up
April: Take Time to Love
May: Guiltless Parenting
June: Take it Outside
July: Let the Music Lead
August: Let bygones be bygones
September: Speak nice or better yet don't say anything at all!
October: Be serious about play (I took this title from Gretchen. I haven't read the chapter yet but I know I need it)
November: Uplift Others
December: Wrap it up.
I'm hoping to post more as I learn to advance in these areas over the next year. Go get that book and join me in your own happiness project.
xo,
Dedra
I tried combining my desire to help improve marriages with my designing/business aspirations and the random tips and ideas that just pop out of my head. With so much variation and without a clear focus I have lost a lot of interest in blogging. Plus, our life is pretty crazy and I've had the D word. *GASP* Yes folks, I've had severe depression for a little over 5 years (started after the birth of our first). I have had a hard time blogging because I wasn't telling people about my depression. Really only my husband knew and one of my visiting teachers knew. I tried to hide it from everyone else--which made me look like who knows what but I know a lot of people avoided me because they thought I was angry all the time. I was really honestly just trying to put one foot in front of the other and to do so came with a huge grimace on my face.
I recently announced my depression to the world by announcing my plight on the world's largest complaint board: Facebook. It actually was really good to get that burden off my chest--to stop pretending that everything was fine because nothing has been fine.
I know I've mentioned before that I would blog about our circumstances but I always hesitated because everyone always seems to read me wrong but at least now you know about my depression and maybe it will be clearer. I've been learning lately that writing things about my struggles and my feelings helps me to let go of them a little so here goes:
3 years ago this month my husband started to get only half paychecks. Half paychecks were enough to cover the mortgage, utilities, insurance and our student loans. Nothing more. We had been smart I thought and had a really good food storage and savings. We had just paid cash for a 10 year old (at the time) Ford Expedition, which we named Steve. Looking back we were all set to embark on this rocky journey--not that we wanted it.
We made a plan and figured we could last through June. So I learned how to make everything from scratch from laundry soap to chocolate syrup to bread and granola-- you name it. I scrimped and sewed and made do with what we had. We spent between 10-20 dollars a week on groceries for what was then 4 of us. I bought milk and yogurt, which we learned were 2 things that really helped us survive. We went almost a year without any fresh fruit or vegetables. I learned to shop at yard sales for the things we needed. For our oldest daughters birthday present I took a piece of fabric someone gave to me and sewed tiny pieces together until it turned into a "pillow pet." it was a pink pig and it was ugly but she loved it. I even sold my wedding ring to buy CS3 so I could help bring some money in. It took over a year and a half before anything came of that.
About 6 months into our dilemma I was walking with my daughters to the park when the feeling hit me that we needed to move. I called my husband when we got home (no such luxuries as a cell phone) and he agreed that it felt right. We looked around for a few months to find that we loved a small town south of us and we could actually afford the home prices in our predicament. We assumed we would be receiving full paychecks again soon anyways.
We made it longer than we thought to September and got a full paycheck. Then another in October and November but none in December. In November we put up our house for sale by owner. Realtors became my living nightmare.I was told we couldn't sell it ourselves and we needed their expertise and 6% commission. (What I wouldn't give to see their expression when we actually did sell our house by ourselves!) I figured we would be moving soon so I started packing. I am one of those people who likes to plan and not wait till the last minute.
February we got a tax return that helped us get through some more months.In June or so of 2011 I felt like we needed to go look at houses again. I asked a realtor friend and she wouldn't take us until our house sold. Another realtor acquaintance's name popped into my mind and he immediately set up some appointments. The first house we almost couldn't get into. The key wouldn't work but we managed to get into the garage. I'm pretty sure any other realtor would have stopped trying after the key incident but our realtor was such a good sport and even explored some dangerous areas with the hubby. That house was such a wreck and don't even get me started about the yard. I walked out of that house thinking "no way!" On the drive home though my husband and I started to talk. Beneath all the filth and clutter and unfinished areas and broken things there was an amazing floorplan that really had everything we wanted. A few things weren't perfect but what house is? He felt it was the right house for us and at that point I was 5 months pregnant and was ready to be done with the whole housing issue. We tried to put in an offer but there were problems on the sellers side so we waited.
I was 8 1/2 months pregnant in the fall of 2011 when we finally sold our house to some awesome investors who let us rent the home from them as I was ready to have the baby any time. Once the house sold we put in an offer for the house we saw during the summer. The baby was born healthy and in January of 2012 the bank accepted our offer. I was so excited and started packing more....not a good idea because it is now January of 2013. I have packed and unpacked various times over the last year. Each time I have gotten rid of more stuff so that is good right? We are still waiting on that house and still renting the home we previously owned at a really high rate. We got 1 full paycheck in 2012. My digital designing (all thanks to my wedding ring) has finally been generating income and we are still surviving. I now buy fruit and vegetables as a mandatory part of our diet but we are still waiting. The tenants in that house were supposed to be out by the 1st. Then they were given more time (I guess 2 years wasn't enough) and they had till Saturday. Saturday we drove by and they are still there. We are supposed to meet with the realtors tomorrow but who knows. It has been one thing after another.
If just one thing had been eliminated this "trial" would have been so much easier to endure. If my husband had been getting paychecks or if we had been able to move or if my depression hadn't been there or so severe or if our daughter wasn't having psychological problems and phobias.
I'm trying to be good and figure out what I need to learn from all this. #1. don't sell a house by yourself for a year while being pregnant and having 2 little ones messing up the house right before every showing. #2 don't pack your house until you have an official moving date. #3. Don't expect anything to change in order to be happy. #4. Remember to enjoy the little moments because sometimes that is all you have.
What is the moral of this story? I'm not sure yet. I hope it is something like, "Good things come to those who wait," but its still not over. We have hung on this long. Maybe good things will come. That is obviously why we have held on because we have hope.
I've been reading a lot to try and help with my depression. I have been simply inspired by "The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun" by Gretchen Rubin. I am only 3 chapters in but I am creating my own Happiness Project. I love getting books from the library or borrowing from friends but this is one book you will want to own!
I hope you will stop by and check out my journey this year as I embark on my own Happiness Project.
My year is now divided into these sections:
January: Rejuvenate
February: Think Positive
March: Loosen Up
April: Take Time to Love
May: Guiltless Parenting
June: Take it Outside
July: Let the Music Lead
August: Let bygones be bygones
September: Speak nice or better yet don't say anything at all!
October: Be serious about play (I took this title from Gretchen. I haven't read the chapter yet but I know I need it)
November: Uplift Others
December: Wrap it up.
I'm hoping to post more as I learn to advance in these areas over the next year. Go get that book and join me in your own happiness project.
xo,
Dedra
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