Day 6: Birthdays!

So, in addition to being Groundhog's Day, today is also the birthday of two very special people in my life.

One is my friend Gus. She has been like family to me for as long as I can remember. Growing up I enjoyed sleepovers at her home where she and her husband treated me like a princess and always made me feel very special. We shared a love for animals. I remember her letting me help her brush their German Shepherd. He was about the same size as me, so I'm sure I was more of a bother than a help, but she never made me feel that way. I just have a basket full of wonderful memories when I think of them.

And now that I'm a little older, we've been able to renew that friendship and she continues to bless my life. She seems to have information on just about every topic I'm really curious about, but never make time to research. Most recently, she sent me a prenatal yoga DVD that had a huge impact on helping me change to a more peaceful and

positive outlook as these pregnancy hormones got to me. Without that, this new version of the blog probably wouldn't have been made.

So, with today being her birthday, my thoughts are on her and those wonderful memories. And who can help but to feel joy when thinking of a fabulous friend?

And the other person is my dad.

I love watching him as a grandpa to my kids. He is so patient. And fun. They ADORE him.

So do I. That's why thoughts of him always bring me Joyful Moments.

He has taught me so much about everything that is important in my life. He teaches me about my Savior and His gospel. He teaches me about love both in the way he loves me and the way he loves my mom. He teaches me about hard work. I can't even begin to detail all the things he created or fixed by hand--and the amazing job he always did. He also taught me to love exercise, especially running. He teaches me to be humble and just keep persevering.

And mostly, he teaches me all of these things through his example. I couldn't ask for a better dad in my life. I am super di dooper homesick for him right now.

Happy Birthday, Dad & Gus! I love you both! Thanks for being the cause of so many Joyful Moments, today and every day!

Day 5: Another Love

First, Christy--We actually invited HH's couselors and their families over yesterday. So, they were friends, but not friends that we know very well. We set a goal to have two families over each month from the Elder's Quorum (HH is Elder's Quorum President for our congregation. This means that he is in charge of most of the adult men and their families). So, you could try inviting people that you don't know very well and making new friends. I don't really know. Honestly, I think that's weird for people to turn you down. I'm sorry.

The other thing we've done in the past is to find a small group with similar families (number and ages of people) and do regular pizza parties. Each couple takes a turn hosting and prepares the pizza dough, sauce, and cheese. The other couples can bring their favorite toppings and/or salads, drinks, and desserts.

If it's something you enjoy, I'd say keep trying and I'm sure you'll find people who also enjoy that sort of thing. Good luck!

So, fortunately for me, in addition to looooving food, I also have a passion for working out. I'm weird and I find enjoyment in the pain of pushing my body to work harder. So, you see, I totally have balance in my life. I am so balanced.

Anyway, that is what brought on today's Joyful Moment. I found out about a marathon that's not to far from these parts held in May. I'm pretty sure my doctor would frown on me attempting to do this year's, so I've decided I'm going to do next year's.

Running a marathon has been on my to-do list since high school. I have some joint issues, so I've kind of put it on the back burner for many years now. But I finally feel like the time is right. Like I'm wise enough to train properly (i.e. train with control to avoid injuries). And it will give me just a little over a year after the birth of this baby to get ready.

And I am SO PUMPED!!!!

I was already feeling impatient to have this baby (I know it wouldn't be good for my baby to be born yet, I'm just really not a very patient person--that is why Patience is my theme for this year), but now I can hardly wait to get started on my recovery and training. Definitely a joyous prospect.

I love having something to look forward to. I hope you all have something to look forward to that brings you joy!

Day 4: More From the Foodie

Yep. Today's Joyful Moment came from food again.

But this time we had a couple families over for dinner. Part of the joy came from cooking and baking--I LOVE being in the kitchen! We had lasagna, bread sticks, and a fruit salad, with Fudge Jumbles for dessert. Of course, the joy was aided by my preparing the lasagna yesterday and delegating the fruit salad and drinks to our friends. And HH got home from meetings just in time to help with the final preparations of cleaning up my mess, setting up the high chairs for the babies, and setting the table. Cultivating daily joy can take a little preparation and planning. And a little help from your friends.

So, tonight was a big success. The food actually all turned out pretty well. Generally speaking, what I make is pretty tasty, but if we're having people over for dinner something always goes wrong and it looks weird. But tonight it all tasted yummy and looked good to boot. Forgive me for bragging--but it was my Joyful Moment. And then the second part of the joy came from getting to share it with our friends. I also really love entertaining. So, tonight was pretty much a win-win-win for me.

And my tummy is going to bed happy two nights in a row!

Thanks again for sharing your joys with me! Keep on spreading the joy!

Day 3: Yum

Have I ever told you that I absolutely adore food? Well, I do.

I've been craving French toast for a while now and this morning I realized that conditions were finally perfect for a French toast dinner.

So, we had French toast with whipped cream and strawberries for dinner. Along with edamame and applesauce. We are SO healthy around here.

And that was my Joyful Moment.

It helped that everyone else loves French toast, whipped cream, strawberries, edamame, and applesauce. So, I didn't hear, "I don't like this!". Not even once. Instead I heard, "Yahoo!" and "This smells good!" and "Sommore please!"

Music to my ears.

Actually, my ears were treated with real music at the end of the meal when the kids spontaneously burst into a rousing rendition of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Thus making my Joyful Moment 110% complete.

It was wonderful. May each of your bellies and ears be as satisfied as mine were tonight. That is my wish.

Day 2: Good Mommy

Yay! I'm so excited that some of you have decided to join in my challenge. It's so much more fun to have others along for the ride.

So, today's Joyful Moment actually stemmed from me. As if I didn't seem egocentric already, right? But it happened this morning when I realized that even though Little M was persisting in being very whiny and trying for the 50 millionth day in a row (okay, maybe a little less than that), I was remaining calm, patient, and--most importantly--loving.

And in addition to being proud of myself for completely kicking yesterday's bad attitude, I felt true joy over the realization that I was doing exactly that. And I had sort of a zen moment while Little M sat on the potty chair crying because there was something about the chair that was bothering him today.

I may be on my way to becoming a Joy Master after all.

Although, after what happened the rest of the day, I'm pretty sure that calm and peace were a gift from Someone. Because Little M has been screaming bloody murder ever since 4 PM. That included while I finished making dinner, while I rocked him in the rocking chair, while

I snuggled next to him in his bed, while I painted his toes (this normally distracts him from anything that is bothering him), while we sat in the doctor's office at the urgent care, while we waited at the pharmacy, while I tried to get him to eat a little more dinner, while I got him ready for bed... you get the picture. He finally stopped about 15 minutes ago when he slipped off to a peaceful, medicated slumber while I sang to him. Poor Little M has bee

n sick with one thing after another for two weeks now.

Even under the best of circumstances he is a very needy child. And when he's sick, it's magnified by a zillion. So, sorry for the long post tonight. I just needed to complain. A great thing to do on a blog with the focus of JOY, huh? I'm just so thankful this didn't happen yesterday. I wouldn't have handled it.

Thanks again for reading. Keep on sharing!

Day 1: Bright & Early

Well, today will go down as one of those disaster days. And I was definitely not Mother of the Year material.

But, despite all of its troubles, the day actually provided a few Joyful Moments. I will probably just stick to one in the future, but I feel like sharing two of them today.

The first was the pretty sunrise I saw when I opened the blinds in the front of our house today. I have always had an obsession with sunrises or sunsets, so anytime I see a beautiful one I count it as a gift. But this morning was especially joyful because we have had near constant cloud coverage for the last few weeks. Seeing that pretty pink sky surrounding the sun brought so much peace to my heart. At least the day started off well.

The other joyful moment came a few hours later. Sweet P was in preschool and I had just picked Little M up from the child watch center at our gym (I got to workout for the first time this week!). We were heading to the library to go play for a little while until it was time to pick up Sweet P. The library isn't far from the gym, so I was considering walking. But then the cold sunk in and I was reconsidering when for some reason, I asked Little M what he wanted to do. He wanted to walk. I reminded him of the cold, but he persisted. So, we walked over to the library.

I was freezing before we were halfway there, but it was still a precious moment. Little M has to compete with Sweet P to get a word in most of the time. So, sometimes, when it's just the two of us, he opens up and really starts to chatter. And it's so sweet and fun to listen to his thoughts. He's very articulate for a 2 1/2 year old. What we talked about was far from profound, but there was still a lot of joy in that moment to have some calm time to just listen to him as we walked and held hands.

And I think this blog just might work after all. I came down here in the worst of moods (because after those moments, the rest of the day pretty much just stunk!) and now I have a smile on my face.

So, thank you for reading. And to those of you who have already shared your Joyful Moments! I'm so excited about this!

More of Me

Okay, so what is the big change?

Basically, even though I've been doing this blog to help others, I've been drawing on my own experiences, so it's been quite a bit about me.

Now, it's pretty much going to be all about me.

I know that's just what you were all hoping for!

Okay, just a little bit of a serious note here to explain why. The thing is, I'm pregnant. When I get pregnant, I get depressed. It's just sort of a simple cause and effect equation. I can't handle the hormones. I've been doing really well this time around, but over the past month or so, I could tell I was kind of slipping. Mostly, I was really angry a lot of the time.

I don't like being angry. Or depressed. And as a part of all of that, I just wasn't really feeling it when I tried to type posts for this blog. So, that's why I decided to put it on the back burner for a while.

But then my brain started rolling and I got some inspiration and I felt like that wasn't actually what I was supposed to do.

So, the new plan is for me to post every day. Only the posts will be much much shorter. I'm going to post a daily Joyful Moment. A big commitment for a Commit-O-Phobe such as myself.

As I've been preparing for this over the past week or so, I've been really surprised at how difficult that can be. Because I'm not talking about moments that make me feel happy or glad or grateful. I'm talking about feeling real joy.

The first day, it never actually happened. Another day, it was so fleeting I couldn't even put my finger on what exactly it was that caused it. I just knew it had something to do with Little M.

But Sweet P and Little M have been pretty sick all week, so hopefully this is just an off week. And I'm expecting that as I work on this, I'll be able to learn how to create more joy in my life. So, the purpose of the blog hasn't really changed, just my method. And my motivation is a little more selfish.

But I am still hoping to benefit others. I'd like to challenge anyone who wants to join me and sharing your daily Joyful Moment. I would love to know the things that bring you joy day-to-day. And it will probably help the rest of us think of ways to find joy in our own lives. You can share it here, or on your own blog--just leave a link for the rest of us to follow! Or you can just support me in my quest to maintain my sanity this time around.

I'm committing to doing this every day for a year. I still have a few more months of pregnancy and then the postpartum phase usually hits my emotional state even harder. So, I figure by the time this baby is 9 months old, I should be in the clear. And by forcing myself to experience joy every day, how bad can things ever get?

"Forcing myself to experience joy"--that sounds really sad. Is it even possible to force joy? Anyway, I really am okay. I'm just trying to prevent things from getting as bad as they did with the other two babies. I want to enjoy this one!

Fortunately, those other two babies are pretty helpful in creating Joyful Moments for me now.

Here was my moment yesterday:

Meet Sweet P and Little M

I don't encourage Little M to dress that way. He just likes to copy his big sister. Good thing we're having another boy. We obviously need a little more testosterone around here! They danced the funniest dance for me. It was so priceless.

Now keep your fingers crossed that we'll have a few less tears around here for the remainder of the day, so I can actually have a Moment to post for tonight.