Happy Friday to you all! It’s time to share things that are making me happy lately… such a great way to start the weekend! (more…)

Happy happiness report time, friends! It’s my first happiness report of the new year, and I have so much to be happy about!

The absolute first thing on my list is our new dog. I can’t tell you how happy she is making our family. When we finally decided to get a dog, and Santa decided he’d bring us one, I was really nervous about how a dog would fit into our lives. Well, I think she is the best thing that’s happened to us in a long time. Right this very moment, she’s sitting on what she has taken over as “her chair” and snoring her sweet little doggy snore. Heartwarming.

She is an absolutely wonderful dog and has instantly become an important member of our family. Every time she hops in the car to go for a ride, or sits on my lap while I’m working, I smile. She loves the kids so much too, which of course brings me joy. If you are on the fence about getting a dog, I highly recommend taking the plunge! (If you missed the story of Meg’s entry into our family, you can find my post about it here).

Your emails, private facebook messages, calls and comments on my post about the struggles we are having with our 6 year old make me happy and feel so much less alone. Thank you all for your support…it totally turned my attitude about it all around. I know it takes a village, and I’m so thankful to have you all in mine! (more…)

Happy November! I feel like I say this with each passing month, but November already? Really? Raise your hand if you think that seems impossible!

My heart has been heavy this week as I think of you all on the East Coast who have gone through so much. The pictures, stories, accounts… they all seem so surreal observing from Kansas. Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Everything else seems kind of irrelevant, but I always think there is time to focus on what’s making us happy, so I decided to share a Happiness Report. Also, as the month of being intently thankful is upon us, seems like a good time, don’t you think? (more…)

Hi friends! It’s time for another Happiness Report and this one is going to include a very special, happy giveaway!

Please take a listen, then read on…

Shannon Curtis and her music has been a part of several happiness reports of the past. As you know, I’m a big, big fan. Shannon released a live album of her 2012 Summer House Concert tour today, and it is simply amazing. We had the pleasure of inviting our friends over for a private house concert with Shannon and her husband, Jamie, this summer and it was such an amazing, one of a kind experience. It makes me so happy to be able to re-live all of that through her newest album. Please, go check out Shannon’s website and take a listen. You can listen to her music for free on Bandcamp and you can also name your own price for her 2012 Summer Concert Tour CD download. How cool is that? (more…)

It’s a rainy, stay inside with a good book and cup of coffee kind of day. A snuggly, beautiful, happy day. What better kind of day then to share a little happiness with you all?

I am bubbling over with happiness today because Nick and I had the opportunity to bring recording artist, Shannon Curtis, and her husband Jamie, into our home last night for a private concert. Shannon’s soulful voice filled the air as our friends cozied up in our living room and kitchen to listen. Shannon’s music has depth and meaning and is delivered with such raw emotion. I was definitley in my happy place, filled with joy and love last night.

You’ve seen me write about my love for Shannon’s music before, and it was so surreal to see that love of her music spill over to a love for the person she is. Genuine, kind and beautiful to her core. Her husband, Jamie, is just as wonderful.

Night turned into morning, and we shared cinnamon rolls and great conversation around our kitchen table. Again… pure happiness to personally connect with someone you’ve had an online relationship with for over a year and to be able to share such intimate time with them. Thank you, Shannon and Jamie, for sharing your talents with us. Having you join our friends in our home was beyond special to me. Thank you!

If you haven’t listened to Shannon’s music yet, stop what you are doing and head over to her website now. Her newest single, Anti-Gravity, has become one of my favorites. Other favorites of mine are Before the Sun, Boomerangs & Seesaws, Waking Up With You… actually, I love all of her music. Please go check it out. Perfect Saturday and Sunday morning, lounging around, cooking and enjoying your coffee kind of tunes. You’ll love her, I know it!

More happiness… I started pillow journals with my kids. I can’t remember where I saw or heard about this idea but I think it’s a really great one. Each kid is given a journal and the first page is filled with a journal entry from a parent, asking questions, sharing praise, talking about silly stuff. The journal is placed under the child’s pillow and they then have just a few days to fill out the next page in the journal, answering questions, asking questions and sharing general silly stuff. They then place it under your pillow. It’s a back and forth way to journal with your child, and I am excited to see how it works. I’ve already received the journal back from Ella and Kelly and am loving the sharing it’s started between us.

Other things that have made me smile…

Gretchen Rubin’s new book, Happier at Home, releases this week. I can’t wait to read it!

Finding time to read… that makes me happy. I finished The Island today and am going to start Dare Me next.

My sister and three kind friends, chatting with me about specific parenting experiences when I was struggling. Thank you!

Reading comments about your best friends over on my Hallmark post.

I’ve had fun taking really cool iPhone panoramic photos with the DMD app. Have you tried it?

And, my pretty new red Blendtec blender (stay tuned for a giveaway next week!)

Now it’s your turn to share. What’s making you happy right now?

Happy weekend, friends! What better time to share a happiness report than the beginning of a weekend. I’m sure there will be lots more happiness happening over the weekend, but for now, here is what’s making me happy lately…

The older three kids all got started off to school without a hitch. I was the only emotional one, as I tend to be. They all have had a great first few days and are happy to be back in school!

My wild sidekick and I are getting to spend more one on one time together than ever before. Also known as – Leah’s getting into everything under the sun and I’m chasing around behind her cleaning up her trail. She’s helping me in the kitchen and with cleaning and all of that though. And who wouldn’t be happy looking at that sweet smile all day? She makes me laugh, and that makes me happy!

Guess what I spied being carried by Green Mountain Coffee in their online store? It’s that time of year again, and that makes me happy!

Getting creative with friends and making Hotel Sangria makes me happy. (For the inside story, visit Heidi’s recipe and recap here).

Just a few more random things…

I’ve fallen head over heels in love with this blog, especially this post…

I’m headed here on a date night with my hubby this weekend…

I listened to Tina Fay’s Bossypants via audiobook and laughed out loud over and over…

Shannon Curtis is releasing a new single next week AND is having a private concert at my house! Woo-hoo! (Listen to her new single, Anti-Gravity, HERE).

And I had some great conversations with friends who just “get it”… all that makes me happy!

Now it’s your turn to spill the happiness. What’s brought a smile to your face this week?

My husband and I have been chatting about Michael Phelps and some of his interviews at the beginning of the Olympics. I don’t know if you saw what we saw, but at the start he seemed completely checked out… like he wasn’t excited to be there. As the week went on and he started winning more medals, his attitude seemed to change. Of course, winning will do that to you, but do you want to know what he said his turning point was? He told Bob Costas in an interview that he decided he just needed to “smile more” and once he started doing that he became more relaxed and started taking in the moments around him. Simply by putting a smile on his face, he was able to begin to fully appreciate where he was and what he accomplished. And wow… has he accomplished a lot or what?

Put a smile on your face… giving the perception that you are a happy person even if you aren’t can actually turn you into a happy person. I don’t mean to be fake and hide your problems from others. I’m talking about how making the choice to focus on the positive and all the good in your life versus what isn’t going right can make a huge difference in how things turn out, don’t you think?

Which brings me to my poorly neglected Happiness Reports. I’m embarrassed to say my last Happiness Report was back in November. That is unacceptable! It’s time to focus on some happy, so here we go.

I recently purchased and fell in love with my new Erin Condren Life Planner. Have you seen these? Finding a paper planner that not only inspires but also is organized like my brain thinks planners should be organized makes me happy! Erin thought of everything when she created these planners… they are beautiful, functional and durable. Don’t worry, I still use Cozi for our online family calendar system, but I am loving my Erin Condren planner for my pen and paper planning!

Family vacation makes me happy! We just returned from a week in Estes Park, CO. I’ll be sharing a post with you soon about all that we did in this wonderful, family vacation spot, but I couldn’t do a happiness report this week without at least mentioning it!

My friend and photography idol, Tracey Clark just released a new book, and it is amazing. If you are into photography, capturing the everyday moments, taking the best pictures with the camera you have, etc. Tracey’s book, Elevate the Everyday, is for you. Her promo trailer makes me happy too… you can’t help but watch it and smile!

Elevate The Everyday from A Life Photographic on Vimeo.

A few more things that make me happy…

This August Food Bloggers calendar from Foodie Crush….

Watching The Curiosity Rover land on Mars… how cool was that?

All of the beautiful sunset pictures on Instagram…

My new favorite Sharpie pens to use with my Erin Condren planner (they don’t bleed through at all!)…

and finally, these ladies…

I would love it if you’d share with me what’s been making you happy lately! Let’s focus on the positive and head out into the world smiling like Michael Phelps!

I just realized I haven’t done a Happiness Report since the first part of September. Eeeks! Well I have a lot to be happy for right now, so I’m going to share some of that with you!

My first baby girl is celebrating her 8th birthday today! Kelly really is one of those kids who is so sweet and loving. I nickname her “second mama” because she has such a loving and nurturing nature about her. I am so proud to be her mom! Her one request for her birthday was an Easy-Bake Oven. The Easy-Bake Oven was my favorite toy growing up so I was excited to get her one! We are going to have loads of fun with her new toy.

Traditions make me happy. Last year, inspired by my friend, Amy, of Inspiring Moms, we started putting streamers up to celebrate birthdays. While the kids are sleeping, Nick and I start at the kids rooms and wind streamers throughout the house, leading down the stairs and to the present on the kitchen table. The simple joy this brings the kids in the morning is pretty special. It’s one of those things that takes 10 minutes, costs a couple of dollars, but is priceless when you see the smiles and hear their giggles as they work their way through the maze of streamers!

Last night I attended a cookie decorate class at Sweet Baking Supply Store in Lawrence. The folks at Best Buy and Cindy teamed up to give a few bloggers the chance to learn how to decorate cookies like the pros and we also learned about the Dell All In One computer. The cookie decorating was fun, Cindy’s shop is amazing, but the highlight of the night was hanging out with my #BlogKC friends. They are truly the sweetest group of people around.

Finally, a good friend of mine posted on her Facebook wall that she was doing 30 Acts of Kindness in 30 days. I decided to join her in doing simple acts of kindness for others over the next few weeks. I started a couple days ago and as selfish as it may seem, doing kind things for others is a huge happiness boost. You should try it!

That’s it for now for me. Make sure to leave a comment on this post letting me know what’s been making you happy lately! Have a great weekend!

It’s time for another happiness report. I’m going to be honest here… I haven’t had a completely happy time of things lately. I guess I’ve never had a close family member die before, other than a grandparent, and I am surprised at how hard the grief from losing my brother is hitting me. My heart aches in a way that I haven’t experienced in a really long time (which means I am so blessed, right? It has been many, many years since I’ve felt this kind of heartache.)

Through this experience, I am trying even harder to find happiness in the little things. What’s listed here today may not seem like much, but even the smallest of joys in times like these can make a huge impact.

Leah, my 2 year old, is slightly obsessed with herself. Recently, she has taken to carrying this mirror around, looking into it, and saying “Leah pretty”. It makes my heart melt to see her loving herself so much. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had that kind of positive attitude about ourselves?

Thanks to Pandora (which I love) I recently discovered music artist, Shannon Curtis. If you like soulful, beautiful music that really makes you feel, then you will love Shannon Curtis. Her album Boomerang & Seesaws is amazing and I love every song on it. Make sure to check her out!

Speaking of music, I got so tired of being without music in my bedroom / bathroom that I got rid of my clock radio that I’ve had since high school (which was a looooonnnnggg time ago) and finally got a docking station for our bedroom. It’s funny how such a simple change can bring daily happiness!

Don’t tell my Keurig, but I had a one day love affair today with Starbucks. I had to get my annual Pumpkin Spice Latte fix… nothing says Fall like the first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season and fall makes me very happy!

That’s it for now, my friends. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll let me know what’s been making you happy lately. Take care!

I learned something today. When you think you aren’t happy… when you are in a funk… and you sit down and decide to write down recent things that have made you happy words seem to take over and you can’t stop writing. Little did you know, there is so much around you making you happy! Try it, seriously. Start writing down the things that make you happy and I bet you’ll have a hard time coming to a stopping point.

This week I didn’t think my happiness list would include all that much. I’m not going to lie… I’ve been in a “mood” – trying to get out of this funk I have been in. Trying to get a handle on life and what it is dealing us right now has not been so easy. So, I sat down and I looked around me and started writing. This is the shortlist of things currently making me happy, because little did I realize, when you focus on happy you will find an overabundance of happiness.

These roses were from this past winter. My aunt was here visiting when I was getting ready to throw them out because they were dying. She snatched them up, put some butchers twine around them and hung them out in our garage to dry. I totally forgot about them until I was getting our wagon out of the garage, looked up and noticed them hanging there. I would not have kept these roses, but now that I see how beautiful they are perfectly dried out, I am so glad my aunt had the foresight to do so.

Short and simple… Biscoff. If you haven’t had the chance to become addicted to these cookies and this spread, I recently found out you can order both online (and it is in many grocery stores too!) Incredible, addicting, happy stuff!

Moleskine notebooks – all sizes and all colors – make me happy. The perfect pen and a little notebook to jot my thoughts, grocery lists, to-do lists, happiness lists in make me very, very happy!

If you are a child of the, ahem, 70′s and 80′s, like I happen to be, you will find yourself laughing so much when you read the book Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops. I accidentally discovered it when I searched Google using the search terms for the title of the book… because I really did want to know whatever happened to pudding pops! Very funny, lighthearted book about the culture and trends of the 70′s and 80′s.

As a brand ambassador for Keurig, I have had the opportunity to drink a lot of coffee this summer. For the first time I’ve tasted Iced Coffee and much to my surprise, I’m totally loving it. Actually the other day I was up until 2am because I love drinking my iced coffee (and the Keurig makes it too easy) a little too much! My current fave is just a light roast K-Cup with a little caramel syrup and a splash of cream. I love the flavor the cream adds, but do you want to know why I really add the cream? It just looks so cool right after its poured in! It’s like coffee cream art.

Oh – and I’m happy to share a discount code for Tully’s K-Cup portion packs with you! This month (through August 20th) you can get 15% off all Tully’s K-Cup portion packs when you order through their website. (www.Tullys.com). The discount code specific to Dine & Dish readers is AM0003-3571. Make sure to like Tully’s on Facebook too so you can receive additional discounts directly from them.

Forcing myself to stop – but I really do have a lot to be happy with! Hope you will share what has made you happy lately too. Thanks!