Thankful for New Perspectives

I downloaded this book quite awhile ago because it sounded interesting to me and then promptly forgot about it in the busy-ness of everyday life. :) So, when I was looking through my downloads recently I came upon it again and could not stop reading...I LOVED it! I knew it was a book I would reference often so I also went out and bought it so I could easily flip through the pages and find the sections I wanted to read again. AND I even emailed the author to see if she would share her resolutions chart with me and heard back from her the next day with the resolutions chart attached. I have since found out that I'm not as special as I thought I was when she sent it to me, because it is available to all the world on her blog. :)

This author of this book, Gretchen Rubin, although already "happy", spent a year testing the wisdom of the ages around what makes people happy and then wrote this book to share her year and what improved her life or made no difference. She repeatedly states that everyone's own happiness project would be different from hers because we are all uniquely "us" but it was so fun for me to see different perspectives on what can boost our happiness in our everyday life...nothing in here is extreme like moving to another country but it was about becoming more aware of how things affect us. She wrote this book a few years ago and more recently wrote the sequel called, "Happier at Home" which I also loved. It was so inspiring to me about being conscious about everything we do that I have created my own year long happiness project...that is somewhat different from hers and uniquely "me". 

There are a couple of key learnings for me so far in my first month of my happiness project that I am thankful for:

1. The idea of "It is easier to do something everyday than every once in awhile." For me this applied to reading the scriptures. (The book is not a religious book, but this is a big part of who I am so it obviously needed to be part of my project.) The idea is that if we do something everyday we will not use the excuse of, "I can do that tomorrow...or next week...etc." and ultimately it never happens because you can always put it off. Because I have made this a daily resolution, it gets done everyday...no putting it off until tomorrow. What's amazing to me is that I had a hard time always fitting this into my day in the past and it truly only happened every once in awhile. Now, it happens everyday and it's easier.

2. The idea of "Making the Positive Argument". This will come in even more handy when it's actually on my resolutions chart during my marriage-focused month, but I've noticed I've started incorporating it into my thinking ever since reading about it. Most times when someone upsets us or makes us angry we start rationalizing in our brains all the reasons why we're justified in feeling upset or angry. (I am a PRO at doing this.) "Making the positive argument" however, is about thinking of the reasons (from the offending persons perspective) why they did what they did. For example, if our spouses aren't home when they say they're going to be from work, instead of thinking about the inconvenience it is on us, think about the project they must be involved in at work, or the traffic they're having to deal with, or their willingness to go off to work each day to provide for the family, etc. Making the positive argument in our own minds beforehand allows us to never have to regret what comes out of our mouths before we know the situation...along with not wasting time stewing over a situation. This can obviously be applied in MANY situations with spouses, kids, friends, co-workers, bosses, etc.

I am thankful I came across this book! I have always considered myself a generally happy person but I love the difference some of these things are making in my life.

*My heart is also heavy for those in Boston and Texas and the events that have taken place in both areas this week. Those people are in my prayers everyday!

Thankful for Time Spent Together

We headed up to the Homestead this weekend to have a little fun before the kids go back to school after spring break. Unfortunately, Bryson couldn't get off work to join us. :(

We headed out for a walk after we got settled into the room (and by settling in, I mean Nick dumping his entire contents of his suitcase into a drawer and we were good to go.) :) We hiked the 72 steps up to the top of the crater we would be swimming in the next day. It's natural spring water that is consistently 95 degrees...heavenly. 

 Of course Nick was very interested in feeding the goats that were on the sister property across the street. We were told we could buy "goat food" at the front desk and come to find out, goat food is actually the same dog treats we give Rocko. Haha

 I believe Hailey was mocking Nick's excitement over the cows behind them in the picture below...

 The next morning we started off the day at Chick's Diner in Heber. It was just as General Conference was starting and even though we were DVRing it at home, Brian always likes to hear the first 15 minutes because it seems that's when all the big announcements are made. So he and Hailey watched it on my iPhone with an ear bud each.

 Nick ordered the biggest breakfast I've ever seen...oh to be a teenage boy...3 LARGE pancakes, a stack of syrup, an entire plate of hashbrowns and a salad plate full of bacon. He ended up eating all but a sliver of the pancakes and a few pieces of bacon.

Unfortunately, our horseback ride got canceled Saturday morning because of the rains the day before so we gave the kids the money we would've spent on that ride and headed to Park City for a little outlet shopping. I was not allowed to shop with Nick because he said he wanted to buy my birthday and Mother's Day presents up there...SWEET BOY!!!! (I was not allowed to see what Hailey bought at the Homestead Gift Shop for the same reason...SWEET GIRL!!)

We then headed back to the Homestead for our reservation to swim/soak in the Crater. You go in through a door in the side of the crater and you walk down this tunnel to the water. It's deep enough that they do scuba certifications there so they make you wear a life jacket when you're in the water. It's beautiful blue water and so relaxing just to lay back on your life jacket and float around in the warm water.

 This view is looking up out of the crater from where the water is inside.

 That night Brian and Nick headed off to the Priesthood Session of General Conference at a church in Heber.

 When they got back we went to an awesome pizza place called Cafe Galleria. Hailey and I ordered the personal pizza and salad and I thought it was so clever how they served it with the salad in the middle. Very yummy too...Brian and I decided it was worth driving back up there just for a date night.

 ...and this is what you get when you ask your kids to smile for a picture while they're eating yummy pizza.

 This is Hailey's little room off our main room...it was the tiniest little room you've ever seen with two bunk beds.

I am so thankful for a weekend together as a family to hang out, play games in the room, laugh and even just sit and TALK together. With all the pulls of daily life it's nice to have some uninterrupted time with our kids where they can't go off with their friends or off to their rooms or the basement with just a passing waive. :) I love my family and the kids are growing up WAY TOO FAST!!!!

Thankful Thursday - Signs of Spring

I am VERY thankful for all the signs of Spring around us. Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons and each year as the weather warms up I have renewed energy and a desire to keep the house a little cleaner and more organized, spend more time outside, and there's just a general skip in my step (maybe that's more figurative than literal). :) Even as I pull out some of the Spring decorations, I just feel happier. :)

There's the "Spring" letters...

 The yellow flowers...

 The green apples I found at Hobby Lobby this year that look very real...

 The bright yellow chalkboard I also found at Hobby Lobby that Hailey and I put new quotes on every couple of weeks...

 The bright yellow placemats...(do you see a theme here...I'm obviously loving bright yellow this year)

 Week 2 of the chalkboard quote...Hailey drew that darling princess...

 And would it really be Spring at the Morrow house without new little chicks? Yep, they're back! This time we're keeping it to manageable number of 4 chickens. Nick is thrilled to have them back!!!

I am grateful for the sense of renewal Spring brings. I was grateful to celebrate Easter last weekend and spend a day reflecting on my Savior...his life, his atonement, and his resurrection. I'm grateful I could take a walk outside with Brian last night and not have to be bundled up. I am simply thankful for Spring!