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!

Run. Dance. Run.

Well, it must be spring. The tennis shoes are hitting the pavement again. :)

Brian ran his first half marathon of the year getting ready for his 6th full marathon this summer. He decided to run this a couple weeks before the race...got sick the week of the race...and still completed it in great time!

 Brian and his buddy Alan...Alan will be running the full marathon with Brian in June as well.

 Nick had his first nighttime dance at the school a couple weeks ago. Not the kind of dance that you take a date to, but where all the ninth graders dress up in their Sunday best and meet at the school for a couple hours. He had a blast! Apparently he was was busting quite the move on the dance floor and danced with lots of ladies...as he put it. :)

 Today, Hailey had her first track meet ever and had her worst nightmare ever happen (and learned that life goes on) along with a confidence boosting event as well. This is her way across the field getting ready for her leg of the 4x100 relay. As she was trying to pass the baton to the next runner, the runner ahead of her took off faster than she could get to her and then stopped suddenly when she was coming to the end of the passing zone and Hailey ran into her and the baton went flying...DQ'd. Bummer!!!! This is what she was most afraid of happening, but it has now happened and life went on!

Her other event was the 4x400 relay and what a confidence boost this was! She ran 2nd and her team was in 2nd place when she was handed the baton.

 She kept up a strong pace and even started closing the gap between her and the person in front of her.

 Coming down the stretch she managed to close the gap even more...

 Exhausted at the end, she caught her breathe then went up and cheered her team on to VICTORY! First place finish for these awesome girls.

I love that she is willing to try something new!!!! She rocks!!!

The Gift of an Ordinary Day...

I have been noticing a theme lately from some of the posts on different social media I follow...and that is the thankfulness for the ordinary days. We all know life can be hard and some people around me are facing great trials that are testing them to their very core. When these trials hit, whether it's cancer, a hospitalized child, unemployment, or losing a loved one, the longing is simply for an ordinary day, where you get up,  make your kids breakfast, pack their lunches and send them off to school. It's driving carpool, attending sports games or recitals, doing the laundry and making dinner. So on this Thankful Thursday, I am very grateful for the ordinary days. I am thankful that today I DID get to get up, make my kids breakfast, pack their lunches and send them off to school. I am thankful Hailey can text me during lunch at school to ask if she can go home with a friend after school and if I can pick her up later tonight. I am thankful I can pick Nick up from school and take him down to meet with a counselor at UVU to talk about concurrent enrollment during his high school years and I'm thankful I can come home afterwards and make dinner for my family. I'm thankful I am sitting right now in front of my portable heater writing this post and that I have a stack of resumes sitting beside my computer for positions I have to fill at work and that I can read them and set up phone interviews from home. My days are not glamorous, they are filled with laundry and cleaning and grocery shopping and getting in and out of the car 50 times a day (I can't wait for Nick to get his license) but I love these days and I am thankful for them.

I'm also thankful for some of the sweet surprises life has to offer. Like Nick walking to the store to buy me flowers for Valentine's day and making me a heart shaped egg in toast Sunday morning. I was also thankful for the opportunity I had to surprise my kids with heart shaped red velvet pancakes Valentine's morning and sending them to school on a sugar high. :)

 I'm also thankful that we got to celebrate Bryson's 20th birthday with a family lunch at Kneader's on Monday. I LOVE this kid and am thankful he has moved back in with us so we get a little more time with him these days.

I am thankful for every ordinary day that life has to offer!

Thankful Thursday

Today's Thankful Thursday is a hard one for me to write...because what I am most thankful for today is what another family is missing most. I am thankful that I can walk downstairs this very minute and hug my son if I want to. I can also walk down the hall this very minute and hug my daughter and my step-son. I was able to hug all three of them before they went to bed and I was able to get the low-down on their days when they walked through the door after school/work today. I am thankful that Brian and I could have a fun conversation with Nick and Hailey tonight at dinner about normal, everyday life as junior high students.

On New Years Eve we went to dinner with some friends and their kids. One of their daughters brought a friend named Madison with her to the dinner. She was an outgoing, smart college student who had no idea her world was about to be rocked. (Madison is on the right in the picture below.)

Some of you might have heard on the news recently about the 16 year old boy named Parker Allred who was a healthy, football playing teenage boy. He came down with the flu, was hospitalized, found out he had a serious staph infection, and passed away from the complications within a week of the first sign of illness. Parker is Madison's brother. My heart just aches for this family. (You can read the blog Madison started when Parker went into the hospital at http://www.sweetblueeyedboy.blogspot.com)

Everyday since this boy passed away I've hugged my kids tighter and longer and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do that. I also know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of our lives and we don't know when our time on this earth is done. I do know that our hearts can be healed from the pain of this brief separation from our loved ones through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am thankful for this knowledge!

Thankful Thursday

It's back! I haven't kept up on my Thankful Thursdays but I've decided to bring them back. I definitely have a need to have a more grateful attitude in life and this is one way to focus on those little things that make life good!

So, today I am thankful for a warm home. We have had SO MUCH SNOW this last week and before that we had sub zero temperatures so I have become a hermit inside my own home...only going out when I absolutely have to. A couple days ago I was working from home, sitting at my kitchen table watching the snow falling out in my backyard. I am not a big fan of driving in the snow but at that moment, all tucked in my nice warm house, it was beautiful!

I am grateful to live in a climate that has four seasons even though I would definitely vote for Spring to start right after Christmas...but obviously that is not something that is actually open for a vote. :) So for now, I'll enjoy the beauty of it from my nice warm home!