Reason

Happiness is:

-choir

-a great sunday school lesson

-meeting someone new at church

-toast with cinnamon/sugar on it

-scripture study: did you know that in the Bible times that if children were stubborn or rebellious they were taken to the priests and stoned to death in the city??? I'm glad I didn't live in Bible times because I would have been stoned to death before my teens!

-emma smith the movie

-love notes

-finding purpose and reason

-friendship

-dancing (including dance class that is difficult for me because I haven't danced since jr.high but I KNOW that with repetition I will be able to be good and not make a fool of myself at the final performance in May)

-double stuffed oreo cookies

-dixie's delight

-being in the present

Can I get some Happy with that please

Friday:

Being somewhat productive. I had some specific things I wanted to do but I didn't get them done because I got distracted and did other equally important things

Mine and Matt's 11 year anniversary. It does not feel like 11 years. It feels like just a very short time ago I was anticipating the day when Matt and I would finally be married. Lots of ups and downs in the past 11 years and I know there will be plenty more ups and downs. It's a refiners fire. You learn and grow as you go through the ups and downs. No marriage ever has or ever will be perfect and that's just the way it's meant to be. If marriages were perfect then people would be perfect and let's face it, we're not. It's what makes us all unique and special.

A Tanner story: While driving Tanner and his friend to a birthday party in Lethbridge, Tanner said to his friend: this is the Collins' car. Then he paused and said well you and your sister ride in it so it could be the Collins' car and the ___'s car. I do not know where he thinks up this stuff. Then later last night he pushed his friends sister and I firmly told him it is not nice to push girls (okay, it's not nice to push boys either and I've told him that too, but it's especially not nice to push girls). So he says to me: "Well I'm 7 and I'm tough". Like that was suppose to justify the pushing. He did apologize so it ended well.

Last night he snuggled with Matt and I in bed for 20 minutes and talked about the people we love. We came up with a question that is a really good question. When we're in Heaven, will we have birthdays? And if we do, how will they be determined? Will the day we die be our birthday in heaven? Tanner is much smarter than I think.



Saturday:

Going to the Temple

Tanner telling us we didn't kiss on our anniversary so we kissed right then.

I found out that Tanner had tried to kiss a girl at school. We talked about who it was appropriate to kiss.

Making cake

Finally coming up with an idea for New Beginnings based off a quote Dawna gave me this week.

Thursday is that good

What a great day today.

Happiness= a trip to Coalhurst

timbits

pizza at susannes

glee music

the new ensign arriving

tanner and matt sleeping in until 9:45!

signing papers

new choices

a car that works

a warm coat

patience

talking to my Mom this morning

good conversation

puddles (because it means snow melting and warmer weather coming)

Wednesday Wonders

Do you ever come across something that humbles you enough to make you realize how insignificant you are??? I came across something this week that made me realize my situation in life isn't all that more special than anybody else's. I don't feel like I've gone through my life thinking or feeling that I'm any more special than anyone else but I have felt that I have grown a lot by going through certain trials in my life and in some little way, that made me feel a little bit more special in my own way...NOT in comparison to other people. This week I came to an understanding that we are all special in our own ways not matter what our lot in life is. We all go through certain things in life. Things that we agreed to in the pre-existence. I love gaining a better, clearer perspective on life and realizing that every one of us...no matter what we go through, all have one equally common thing about us. We are all children of God and we are all loved equally by Him who's plan we rejoiced in. I just think that's such an amazing gift and such a source of strength.



Wednesday Wonder:

Bubble Gum ice cream at Amelias

The melting snow due to warm weather

Tylenol 3's for my headache last night that wouldn't go away with anything else

Blue sky

Special drinks (my family knows what this is)

Tanner's random hugging and telling me he loves me lately







What made me happy on Tuesday is getting through the day without feeling sad or crying because it was the 20th anniversary of my Dad dying. Please don't read that as me being cold or heartless but some years have been harder than others and I chose this year to think about how lucky I was to have such a great example of a father in my life. And even though he's been gone for over half of my life, I know and understand the power of the priesthood and what being a good father means. That makes me REALLY happy.

I am happy for every moment I get to be with Matt and Tanner. I have been trying to live in the moment and be in the present rather than think about all that I need or want to get done. When we're all together, I try to fully appreciate and value that time and make the most of it.

Having a really yummy lunch...although it had lots of beans in it and we all know what beans do to our bodies...it was still so good.

Happy Monday

It was a really productive day today.

Happiness today is:

-thoroughly cleaning my stove top. I don't have cleaner for the inside otherwise I would have done that too

-laundry!

-a long awaited package came in the mail today

-getting rid of clothes that I don't want or need.

-reading a great talk in the Ensign

-wearing flip flops

-christal's blog

A little of this and that

This week went by so fast! Did it go by fast for you? What's the best thing that happened to you this week?

I discovered a new favorite treat/breakfast. It's delicious and so very yummy. I might even actually have one after this post...lol

Last week we had Pancakes for lunch and as it so happened R & B were over for lunch and B had peanut butter on her pancakes. I enjoy peanut butter as much as the next person so I decided to give it a whirl. Well, let me just say my taste buds were VERY happy. So this week I decided to try it on my chocolate chip waffles/eggos (whatever you call them). Yes, I know this is a reasonably healthy choice for a breakfast...haa haa who am I kidding...but it was even better than the pancakes.

Seriously so good!

What else made me happy this week?

not being sick. I have discovered that once every month (most of you are pretty smart and will figure out what this means) I get flu like sickness. Sometimes it's mild but this month it was really bad. I was awake from 12:30am on Friday and up until I went to bed almost 20 hours later. It wasn't the most fun I've ever had but now I know it's not really the flu.

watching movies with susanne. we watched legends of the guardians and the social network.

helping amelia clean out half of her garage and then going on a double date to b.p's with her and her husband.

watching tanner have fun with R...although there was a moment of frustration for tanner

having really great weather for the weekend

having left over b.p's for lunch today

a really great sunday school lesson

being happy

talking to my mom and 2 of my sisters over the last few days

my aunt having a good weekend

Turning point

You know when something happens in your life...you make a choice or a decision and you know there's no turning back. No changing the outcome??? That's about to happen to us as we got final approval today to build. I remember this feeling once before when I found out I was pregnant. I am beyond happy. We are ready for this and can't wait to have a house that is finally ours.

What else made me happy...

Matt is just so awesome. I really am so lucky to have him as my husband. He's so wonderful and caring and never complains about taking care of Tanner or getting him ready in the mornings that I'm not here to do it.

Visiting Teaching today.

Going to the Temple with Matt...although it was a REAL struggle to stay awake for the session.

Tanner being patient with me this morning as I couldn't find something as we were going out the door and he cooperated so well and just did what I asked him to without delay.

My dying dreams have stopped. Last week I had "dying" dreams. I dreamt that 3 people in my life died. It was not nice.

Earth. We live on this amazing place and I don't know that we fully appreciate the beauty and wonder of it all.

Having no spelling mistakes ; )

If you're happy and you know it say so

This morning I had the most delightful time getting ready for the day. Wanna know what I did??? Of course you do...otherwise you wouldn't be here...lol

I had chocolate chip waffles with peanut butter and syrup for breakfast with a glass of milk and then I sat on the heat register to warm up with my nightgown up over my knees just like my sisters and I use to do as little girls. I mean, I couldn't have had a better start to my day.

THEN...here comes the BEST part. When I got home for lunch, we had our house plans there!Can you believe it?!! I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve with butterflies in my stomach at the excitement. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G day so far!

Enjoy Yours!

Tell me Tell me

I have done a lot of looking of stuff on the computer to get ideas for what I like/want for our house. Although there are certain things that Matt and I are pretty solid/decided on, there's some other things I'm not too sure about so I am asking for your opinions/suggestions.



What are your favorite/least favorite things about your house?



My biggest debate right now is door hardware. Do I get a Gripset or a handle and separate deadbolt for the front door? What about the interior doors? Lever or knobs? In the kitchen is it better/look nicer to have all the same...like all handles or is it better/nicer to mix it up? Do you prefer a pull out spout in your kitchen? I really don't like the 1 handle faucets. I strongly prefer the 2 handle faucets. The only exception I would make would be to put this in our ensuite.

They do make this with 2 handles, but it costs MUCH more...not just $20-30 but more like $70-90 more. We might not even be able to afford this particular faucet, but don't you think it's fun? I sure do!

Anyways, I am having some minor dilemmas so I would really LOVE your ideas/opinions/advice/suggestions on anything and everything. I'm new at this so those of you who have built have some experience and I need it...lol.

What made me happy on this fine Monday???

Dance Class. We are learning a new dance in addition to our acapella routine.

Making sweet potato and regular fries for lunch. They were oh so yummy!

Snuggling with Matt this morning because papers were super late and he crawled back into bed before I had to get up.

Dancing in the living room with Tanner and R after dinner tonight. We had a "dance party". My sister Amy would be proud ; )

My awesomely, amazing friends.

Seeing that Sharon finally looks pregnant. She does not show until pretty late and it didn't seem all that real until lately when she has started showing. She's a very cute pregnant woman.

Not having my car stolen. My sister and brother in law had their Jeep stolen today! I feel so sick for them. I can't even fathom the frustration and upset.

Being one step closer every day to getting into a house!!!! Breaking ground day is going to be really soon from what we understand. We are hoping that we'll be in as early as the end of October but by Tanner's 8th b-day (Nov 21) or Christmas would be great too. We haven't been told yet when the projected finish date is. We're just waiting to be able to sign all the needed paper work. Do you want me to post pictures of the process or is that boring for most people??? I love seeing when the inside of the house is being built. The framing isn't all that exciting to me but some people might really like that. Just let me know. AHHHH!!! So exciting!

Having lunch with Tanner.

Having a body that works pretty good.

What made YOU happy today???

Joyful Simple Things

Tanner has had his baby (aka his monkey or dangles or happy baby)since he was only 4 weeks old. My cousin Cindy gave it to him and it has gone in to every surgery he has had, nearly every doctor's appointment (even now that he's 7 he still accompanies us) and ALWAYS to Grandma's house. He has gone to school a few times and almost jumped out the window while driving to Calgary once. He has had mouth surgery twice and his tail has had to have a hole sewn up in it. This little monkey was lost for nearly a year, and we bought 3 more just like it when we finally gave up hope that the original was going to be found. Well, as luck would have it, about 1 week after we bought the other 3, we found the original one. If you place all 4 in front of him, he know EVERY time which one is the original one.

Tanner has lots of stuffies, which I don't mind because he plays imaginatively with them which is good for him. Well, his friend R has a lamb from Scentsy and Tanner wanted one too. So for Christmas, Santa got him Lenny the Lamb and now Happy Baby has a friend that comes everywhere he does. It's the sweetest thing to watch Tanner interact with these cute stuffies and it makes me smile that he loves these 2 so much.

Just this simple thing makes me smile

Just click below if you want to learn more about Rebecca's weekly Challenge










We have had quite a busy couple of days. I haven't really even been home except to have a 10 minute lunch and then go again. We had a Family Fun Day on Saturday...which was a bit of a let down initially. Here's the story

Last year Tanner won 4 passes to the swimming pool in the Ramada Hotel. 2 of them expired at the end of last year...which we didn't notice until it was too late. The other 2 expire at the end of April of this year. Since we are trying to stay on a budget, free swimming was on the top of the list. First mistake: I didn't call ahead to find out if it was open and/or available to the public (which it is on certain days). We had to grocery shop anyways so it wasn't a wasted trip. We went in and they told us that the pool is only open to people that have reservations at the hotel...that is, until, they said, "February or March". So we'll swim then. Tanner was upset and then suggested "a really fun family fun day activity". Guess what it was????

Slurpee's.









Yup, in -25 weather, we got Slurpee's and a small treat (all under $8) and then went looking at show homes for ideas for our house.

Then we had a post Christmas/new years dinner with Aunty Elaine and Doug which was SOOOO fun.

So my happy thought for Saturday is:

I'm thankful for families and for making quality time for them.

I'm thankful for a great husband who loves me and his family

What makes me Happy today (Sunday) is Tanner feeling better. He was sick in the night but seems to have recovered very quickly...phew.

Making and enjoying Cafe Rio.

Watching 'Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration'

Sleeping until 9:30 after having to do 2 loads of laundry at 11:30pm last night (as a result of Tanner puking)

Having Family Home Evening and learning about prayer

Gleeful

Here is a really good, happy thing...

We have been approved for a mortgage to build a house starting in a few months and we actually saw the exact house we are going to build yesterday!!! I'm not sure anything can beat that. We are really excited and looking forward to new changes.

We attended the Robert Munch reading at the high school and it was really good.

Watching Grey's with Susanne was awesome.

A quick dinner of nachos and then actually in bed by 9pm. This whole week I've been trying to get to bed by 9:30/10 but it hasn't happened at all. Last night was better and I made my goal.

If it makes you happy

I am going to look up in a thesaurus other alternative words for happy. THAT makes me happy...LOL


THURSDAY JANUARY 13

-KEEPING STEADY GOING

-CLEANING AND HAVING A GOOD VISIT WITH ONE OF MY "THURSDAY" LADIES

-A SURPRISE, LATE CHRISTMAS GIFT

-HAVING A REALLY NICE, REFRESHING, MUCH NEEDED SHOWER

-MY VISITING TEACHERS COMING





Wednesday January 12

-a really great day at work

-sticking to our menu plan (i can't BEGIN to tell you how much money we've saved doing this. it's amazing!)

-a funny tanner story: when i went to pick tanner up from amelia's, we had dinner with her family and afterwards while she was upstairs, i was helping by loading the dishwasher and wiping the counters and tanner said to me:

why do you always clean up amelia's when we have dinner here?
M:because that's what friends do. they help each other
T: I KNOW! that's called kindness! (they are learning about kindness at school as a theme this month)
M: you're right. that's called kindness

-watching toy story 3 while laying in bed having some trail mix and hot chocolate



Tuesday January 11


-nervousness turning into sheer, jumping on the bed (literally), excitement!!

do you wanna know what made me happy today???

JUST DANCE!

after 3 VERY long weeks away from dancing (christmas break) dancing has begun again and my heart is very happy

a delicious dinner at amelia's. i love that amelia is our neighbor and that we just hang out like we've always been friends. she's a really happy person to be around and i'm glad that we've become friends. we had a neighbor growing up that reminds me of her. they lived across the street from us and megan and i ALWAYS played at their house or k was at our house. our moms were and still are really good friends. when my sister was hit by a van crossing the street from their house to ours, we spent the night (maybe it was even 2) at their house while my mom and dad were at the hospital. they have always remained good family friends of ours. i hope that our family's friendship with amelia's family will be like that too.

watching hannah! she is so cute and we just love her. i remember after susanne had her, i couldn't wait to go over there every week (it was 2x a week then, i think) and hold her and rock her.

cleaning for my "monday" lady. i love being able to help people by cleaning their house. i love the end result and the shiny-ness that follows.

finding tanner's school blessing from kindergarten (last year). in all honesty, it will always be a worry for me as his mother that he'll get teased and "bullied" because of the way he looks...but in his blessing last year it said that his friends would look out for him and i KNOW that still holds true today. his friends DO look out for him and so that made my heart happy knowing that he is blessed with such good people in his life that love him for him no matter what the outward appearance is. he is such a joy and miracle in our lives. i truly see the Lord's hand blessing him and his life in ways that i just didn't think were possible and for that i am deeply and profoundly grateful.

so that's my day in a nutshell...until tomorrow.

Simple and Joy

Simple things Challenge:

I have been playing around with my camera this week and although I still am not very good, I feel like I'm learning a bit as a play.

This may look like an ordinary picture but it has a really good story behind it.

When I was a little girl, my Mom made the BEST peanut butter cookies EVER! I mean, they were better than anything else in the world (they're from Betty Crocker if you were wondering). Anyways, my Aunt got this squirrel cookie jar for my Mom when she was on her mission in france and this is the cookie jar my Mom always put the peanut butter cookies in. It holds special memories of deliciousness. When I got married, my Mom said I could pick ANY cookie jar I wanted to take with me and it only took me a millisecond to say that I wanted this particular one. And although I have since acquired a couple more of her more "pretty" cookie jars, this one is and always be my favorite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It makes me Happy

Sunday January 9th

-having hot chocolate on a cold wintery, snow blowing day

-discovering more about the "nativity" story

-going to church

-listening to good music

SATURDAY JANUARY 8

I made a new recipe yesterday. It was okay. Not as flavorful as I thought it would be, but good nevertheless







We told Tanner that on Friday night that he would have to clean his room up the next day before he did anything else. So on Saturday morning while Matt was out doing papers and I was still sleeping, he quietly cleaned his room and when he saw I was awake, he proudly showed me what he had done.

cleaning the house and getting some much needed things sorted through and thrown out

staying warm in my house


Friday January 7th

I've been playing around with my camera settings and I like how this picture turned out. It's my wedding bouquet

having a dance party with Tanner and Matt

playing wheel of fortune with Tanner

I'm happy that I have time. Time to grow, time to learn, time to love, time to raise a family, time to mature, time to appreciate, time to be healthy, time to LIVE. Life can be so fragile and not everyone gets to have the time here on earth that they want.

What makes YOU happy?

January 6th:

driving to calgary and home again safely. the roads were really bad the night before and so i'm glad they were good the next day


good news at tanners appointment

seeing my mom and her treating us to lunch

my mom's shortbread cookies she brought for me. she forgot to tell me about them when we were up there at christmas so she brought me some (they were in the freezer)

the beautiful sun setting as we were driving

huge sky and open fields




JANUARY 7TH

laying on the verteflex at work for 20 minutes at the end of my day (if you know what this machine is or have ever been on it...you know what i'm talking about)

spending time with suzie

playing scrabble with my scrabble friend

wearing no socks

the color red

being daring and wearing something i wouldn't normally put together.

daily dose of happiness

It's only 12:40 and I'm posting happy already! It's going to be a great day!

HAPPINESS IS:

-eggs on perfectly toasted toast with melted butter and ketchup (i know, some of you may think that's gross but it was delightful)

-finally having my iPod touch back...leaving it at worked was not the best thing since i use the alarm on it for waking up

-reading my scriptures this morning AND last night when i was reading, i couldn't stop. i was aiming to go to bed at 9:30 but i didn't put the scriptures down until 10:15.

-reading a great article in the ensign this morning

-having a home

-having clothes

-the sound of laundry

-predictability

January 4th happiness

Happiness is:

-a good, busy, productive day at work

-eating home made broccli and cheese soup that was made by my husband

-having some candy popcorn and a good chat with amelia

-feeling like a daughter

-snuggling with tanner at bedtime

-feeling 'girlie'

3 days late

I posted in an earlier post that in 2011, I wanted to do a daily Happiness post. I know this is late, but still, here it is.

HAPPINESS IS:

Jan 1. being back at home with Matt and in my own bed after 2 nights on the love seat at my Aunts

Jan 2. wearing a dress I LOVE, seeing Susanne at church, and having quality time with just Matt to talk about finances, life, goals etc.

Jan 3. FHE with Tanner (we talked about families), building his crazy fort, being super productive and getting an adjustment (as a result of sleeping on the love seat, I was in desperate need of one).

Christmas Post

We had a very quiet Christmas this year. My Mom and older sister were in Utah visiting my Aunt for her 60th and that left my younger and little sister and other Aunt and I. We didn't do too much which was a really nice break. We went swimming, to the Festival of Lights and to Cross Iron Mills Mall for a little shopping (really, we just went to check out the boxing week sales...we only got a calendar and a Tanner bought a toy at the Disney outlet).

Here are a few pictures:

















This and the next picture are things that I made for people. Easy and really inexpensive.





UPDATE: if you want the link to the ho ho ho art, it's HERE

and the Christmas tree HERE

The Simple Things

Rebecca is doing a weekly photo challenge and I thought I'd give it a try. We'll see how long I can do it : )

If you want to check it out, go HERE