Hello, Happy.

I'm so thrilled to be posting a little something from a girl I look up to, a lot. Welcome, Shelby! She is a ray of light and I feel so blessed to know her (and even share a family with her!! :). Her writing is always so honest, uplifting and impressionable. I know you will enjoy this post as much as I did. 

Thanks, Shelby, for sharing your thoughts in "Hello, Happy."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi I am Shelby and I blog over at  Brandon and Shelby! I was so excited to be apart of this series that Jessi is putting together. It really made me reflect and think about my own happiness. With that said, here are some of my thoughts about being happy:

Happiness is something that we all yearn for, but it is something that seems to disappear quite fast, especially if we are not careful. This post is written for myself as much as it is written for all of you because it's something I always need to be working on.

There is an ugly lie that is constantly circling around us that says, "I could be happy if I had ______," or " I would be happy if I was _____."  Or we might think we'll never be happy because we feel inadequate, discouraged or weary. Whatever the case may be, I speak to all.

This lie that encircles us in a constant battle. 

Sometimes I make the mistake of choosing to be unhappy about the way I look or the way my life is going, and I lose patience. I let other influences both inside and outside sway my thoughts and outlook. 

However, the bright hope of this vicious circle is that every moment and everyday is new.  With that comes the joy of knowing that I can start over. I can make the decision the next moment to be happy. I can change my thinking and start fresh.

I may never be the size I want to be, my home may never be the magazine-cover home I want it to be, or I may never have freedom from stress or weary. 

But that doesn't mean I have to put my happiness on hold.

This doesn't mean we can't constantly improve and search after virtuous things, because that is our destiny. But we don't need to be perfect in order to be enough. 

There is immeasurable amount of power and joy that comes with deciding to be happy right now, even in our situation and surroundings. 

We each have the choice to choose between happiness and sadness. 

Choose the happiness. You are enough and you are worth it. 

What are you happy about today?

the view from up here

We took a drive on Sunday and found ourselves up here.  Bee-eau-ti-ful. The sun sparkled across the mountain tops and through the trees and flowers. The site was breathtaking. (This is another reason why Sunday was magic.)  This place is not far from where we live and it's our first time venturing up this road.  I think we have found a new favorite spot.  This glorious scene offered us a fresh perspective (how could it not).   

I tend to be a dreamer.  I love to dream about the potential of life, people, the world.  But, I have to be careful.  Sometimes that dreaming leaves little attention to the moment.  And I love my life right now.  These mountains reminded me how good things are.  They reminded me to live deeply and relish in this sojourn.

They gave me a new view.

Magic

This weekend has been dreamy.  And I really mean that.  I'm not sugar coating my life, here.  Most days are average, we do what we do, and go to bed, interwoven with both precious and challenging moments.  And then, every once in a while, you get hit with some fairy dust and you are gifted with more than just moments.  But, magical time.  This weekend was one of those experiences for me.  And the best word to describe it is dreamy.  I couldn't have dreampt up a happier experience with my little family.  It may have been due to the beautiful weather that lent itself to picnics on the back lawn, a romantic drive through the canyon, talking to my sweet mom and MIL or to my first true mother's day celebration (I'm in the club!).  I had zero expectations going into the weekend.  In fact I started a little tradition for mother's day, that I would do something special for my sweet boys, to show them how honored I am to be in their lives.  Nothing big.  Just small.  And maybe that added to the perfect weather, the celebration of mothers, and helped create this dream of a weekend.  I'm not sure.

What I know is that this magic doesn't come around everyday.  And I wanted to soak up every bit of this dream and remember it forever. (Don't gag.)  

I love these people. They are my people.  

Now, it's Monday and I have a huge mess to clean. (Is it just me or does getting dressed for church result in half your closets ending up on the floor?  Gotta work on that.)

Cheers to a great week ahead.

Hello, Happy.

Okay my friends, Samara has come to join our 'Hello, Happy' series.  Yay! I love her blog.  She is so honest and transparent in her writing it is refreshing, sometimes hilarious (she is really funny), and very inspiring.
Read what's making her happy and stop by her blog! 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm Samara from The Secret Life of Samara and I'm really excited to be sharing with you today the things in my life that bring me joy. I try to make an effort to be joyful for the 'little' things in life as well as the 'big' things, even on the days when it is hard. 

Most days I find it pretty easy to be thankful for my husband Joel. He brings joy to my life because he is very kind and caring and has a good sense of humour (as long as you can tolerate endless amounts of puns!). He is also crazy tall (6"8) and is always hitting his head on door frames, which never fails to make me laugh.

My rabbit Nibbles also brings me a huge amount of joy. She is just so gosh darn cute with her floppy ears and cotton tail. I love her companionship, her sweet nature and her quirky personality. She also gets up to lots of mischief, which always makes me laugh. Except when she chewed the cable on our fridge. That wasn't so funny.

I get a huge amount of joy and satisfaction from crafting. I can't say I am particularly gifted at it, but I love being able to be a bit creative, work hard at something and end up with a fun product at the end. My favourite (and hardest) crafting project to date has been this table and table runner. The table took me forever and made me never want to restore furniture again, but it has been totally worth it to be able to sit down for my meals and be able to enjoy my handiwork.

A huge source of joy for me is chocolate. As a young girl I never understood this whole 'comfort eating' thing; I simply didn't get joy from eating food when I was sad. Never one to feel left out, I trained myself to comfort eat.  Now here I am as a 25 year old and a self confessed chocoholic. My workmates ensure I have a steady supply on my desk at work, which always brings a smile to my face. I even ensure we have only the best hot chocolate when we are out camping; how's that for dedication?

While I obviously don't get to do this every day, I love the beach and warm weather. I love being able to go down to the beach after a long day at work and to watch the sun go down. I am so thankful to live in Australia where we have nice sandy beaches and scorching hot weather.

Last, but not least, I always go to bed with a smile on my face because of my pyjamas. This may be a slightly weird thing, but I love my pyjamas. I think I spend more on what I wear to bed than what I wear during the day...it probably doesn't surprise you that I am in my pyjamas right now, does it? I will spare the photos, no one needs to see that.

I love sharing the joy and thankfulness- if you do too I host a link up party every Thursday where I encourage my readers to write a post about the things in their life that they are thankful for that week. I would love to have you on board.

Thanks for having me Jessi,

Samara

xo

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you, Samara!!!  I loved this post! And, I am right there with you as a chocoholoic.  Mmmm.

Right now, in this moment, I'm happy knowing that it is Friday and I get a date with my man tomorrow.  I'm really excited about that.
What is making you happy right now?
Comment, tweet or instagram.
#hellohappy  

good morning

I stumbled upon a really neat site I want to share with you this morning.  It's called The Good Mornings Project: Brighten Up the World. I love what this guy is trying to do.  He realized that giving a smile and saying good morning to people along his way to work, not only brightened up his day, but had an effect on those that got to see his pearly whites as well. And the number of people that began returning the smile and 'good morning' salutations grew and grew.  Now he is expanding that circle to the world wide web.

 

I'm inspired.  I forget in my own little world how important a simple smile exchange with a stranger can be. I will smile more. And I will offer my salutations to the strangers I pass along my way.

So, for now, while we thoroughly enjoy our late morning snuggles (interpretation: lazy morning), GOOD MORNING, from us to you!

oh, this is attitude

Now that I have this adorable little bug in my arms my Sunday church experience is a little different.  I dont always catch the depth of every lesson and sometimes i miss the topic all together. But yesterday I was lucky to hear a great lesson on gratitude.  And it was such a good reminder that gratitude kicks evil in the pants. (It reminds me of this experience.)

I'm so grateful to God for these two guys ^^

Gratitude is pow-er-ful.

Thank you gratitude for being a key that unlocks the good.

Thank you for allowing me to change my perspective on the world and on others.

Gratitude helps me see the best in me and the best in the people around me and most importantly the best in the people I care about most.

Thank you gratitude for inspiring my mind, elevating my thoughts, and pulling me out of the downward spiral that negativity can pull me into.  

Thank you for being a tool I can rely on when burdens start getting heavy and life looks a little discolored.  Gratitude has a way of making the discoloration look beautiful.  

And really, gratitude helps me love myself and my life.

I have a feeling you'll see more 'thank you' posts coming your way.