It's the Little Things...

{This post is 5% information, 95% therapeutic}

I have to admit. Lately life has been a little hard. Well, rather, I'm making life a little hard. I always tend to get the winter blahs, but this year it just been...a little more than that. I have just felt a little unsettled and unsatisfied with me.

At a low point, recently, a very wise person (who I just happen to be married to) said something to the effect that sometimes you just have to play the cards that are dealt to you.

So I have been trying to do just that.

I am making myself keep up on my goals I set:

• I've read four books in two months.
• I've been getting myself prepared to start my outdoor morning runs again (I'm not at all hardcore. I refuse to run outside in the cold. That's what treadmills in the basement are for.) I even went and bought this DVD to increase my strength and endurance (it works!! Try it!!)
• I've found that I can actually follow a pattern and sew a dress. I put the elastic in the back of this dress last night and I was unbelievably proud of myself!
• I randomly found myself with S at a peewee hockey game on date night (when we realized open skate didn't begin until 8:00--way too close to Bean's bedtime) and we had a lot of fun cheering on kids we didn't even know.

I am finding the things at work that make work fun. Read my work friend's post on our random parties we've had lately. I've also discovered I really, really love working weekends. I actually really look forward to it.

I am getting to know people in my ward and neighborhood and feel that they are actually going to be a real part of my life, as opposed to people I just see on Sunday. I never ever had that feeling in my old neighborhood. Maybe because I always knew in the back of my mind it was temporary (which, looking back, is no excuse.) Also, I have always struggled really hard with wanting to be a social person. My idea of a great night is being home absolutely alone and working on some stichery (S lovingly calls me a senior citizen at heart.) However, I realize it isn't exactly the healthiest ideology--and let's face it, I'm never absolutely alone anymore, so I am finding myself stepping out of my inner shell and wanting to get to know people on my own.

I am making concrete plans to travel this year. And it is very liberating. I love my home but sometimes I just need to get away. We are going far away on a few occasions and staying close to home on several occasions. We have a camping trailer that just sits in our driveway. This year we are going to use it often. I am very excited.

And I am going to give myself a break. I know in my heart that nothing comes without a challenge every once in awhile, as much as I wish it wouldn't. S is right. These are the opportunities that I have in front of me. It's time to start being mindful and living with gratitude in my heart for the good life I've been given.

Now That's a bad day...

We had a warranty guy come out to our house a few weeks ago to replace our defective smoke detector. S was home with Bean; I was at work. The guy respectfully removed his shoes and left them outside on our porch. Unfortunately, the door hadn't been closed all the way and S caught a strange dog trying to come into our house. He shooed (shoo'd? shoed?) the dog away and closed the door. When the guy went to leave, one of his shoes was missing! Just as they were scratching their heads trying to figure out what had happened, another guy drove by, must have noticed the puzzled looks on their faces, and told them that there was a dog running up the street with a shoe in his mouth! S, who couldn't just leave sleeping Bean home alone, was, like, well, Good luck with that! S told me later how bad he felt because, previous to this misfortune, the guy was telling him that he had already had one of the worst days.

We found out that there are some irresponsible contractors that bring their dogs to work with them.

We don't know if the guy ever got his shoes back. We just hope that Walmart isn't too strict on their "no shoes" policy if he didn't.

We don't leave our shoes outside on the porch.

I sure love these two...

Happy Valentines Day!