Happy List Saturday

It is Saturday again, and time for a happy list. It has been a few weeks since I have participated. Not because I have not had things to make me happy, just because I have not felt like doing one. I am going to keep this happy list short this week. But it is a wonderful list this week. This has been such an amazing week. I could keep coming up with words to describe this week, but maybe it is better to just share my list with you.

New blog design
Did you notice a change this week on my blog? I am so happy with how it turned out. I hope to make a few more minor changes to it in the coming months, but right now, it is right where I want it. Every time I open my blog I smile. It truly makes me happy. The design would not have been possible had it not been for the next thing on my happy list...

Franchesca at Small Bird Studio
She is an amazing woman. I have been so blessed by reading her blog. And now she has used her talents to design my blog. When I saw my blog design for the first time, my first thought was PERFECT. I am so thankful for the talent of others. There is a lot I can do, but designing a blog is not one of them. If you are interested in having your blog redesigned the waiting list at Small Bird Studio is now open. I promise you will not be sorry if you decide to use Franchesca for your design.

My dear friend Amanda
This week my best friend from childhood came for a visit. Up until 3 years ago we have lived within an hour drive of each other. Three years ago I moved 2000 miles away, and we get to see each other about once a year. It was such a wonderful visit. We spent the 5 days, getting our nails done, playing board games (one of our favorite activities), going out to lunch, seeing a movie (Bridesmaids) talking, and just spending time together.

My Husband
I have put Ron on my happy list before. But of course he always makes me happy. This week he deserves another mention because he was wonderful this week. He watched out daughter several afternoons so that Amanda and I could go have girl time...And he cooked dinner three nights in a row. It was such a nice break, and such wonderful food (Carne Asade, BBQ Chicken, & Spaghetti).

Thunder Storms
There were so incredible thunder storms this week. Where we live we can watch the storm roll in and just wait for it to make it to our part of town. The thunder storm would roll in and then be gone as quickly as it had come. I also love the smell of spring rain.

I could go on and on about this week, but I will stop there for this weeks list. I am so glad that this week turned out the way it did. Sunday was not a great day for me, but it sure turned around.

I hope you have an amazing weekend.

Happy List Saturday

It is the 10th week of Happy List Saturday with Natasha at My Angel Baby...Aiden William. I can't believe it has been 10 weeks. I have not participated every week, but I am so glad that there is a day that we can focus on things that make us happy, especially during a week that is not so great.

I don't have a long list the week, but I did want to make a list this week.

Pizza
On a night when I have no idea what to make for dinner, or really just don't want to make dinner...pizza is always there. Enough said.

Shark Tank
Have you ever watched this show? It is so much fun to watch. If you have never seen it, check it out.

My Husband
I have put him in my happy list before, but he makes me happy each day. He is so wonderful to let me take time for myself. Today, I got to go yard sale shopping for four hours while he watched our daughter.

Wet Wipes
Such a great invention. Can be used for ANYTHING...

Spring Rain
There is a smell to rain in the Spring that is just so refreshing and wonderful.

Dogwood Tree Blossoms
These are some of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen. I have decided that I would like to purchase one of these trees in memory of Emily. I don't know yet when I will be able to get one, but just seeing them around town makes me smile. (I will post a picture later, it is not uploading right now)

Happy List Saturday

It is Saturday and time for Happy List Saturday. I missed last week. Not because I had nothing to be happy about, but because we were all sick and I just really did not feel like coming up with one.

Well it was Saturday when I started this list, but now it is Sunday. But better late than never.

Warmer weather
The last few days have been beautiful. It has been windy, so being outside has been a bit chilly, but the sun is shining and it is definitely Spring

Apple Blossom Festival
Yesterday kicked off the Apple Blossom Festival here in our city. I took Maddie to the Kiddie Parade. We had so much fun. But I forgot my camera, so no pictures to share. I am going to try and remember to take my camera today to the Kids Fair in the park.

My 2 year old
I love having a child that is finally old enough to enjoy doing activities. Last year we took her to a lot of the festivities of Apple Blossom, but she was not really that into any of it. This year is much different. This is my favorite age so far (but I have said that of every age she has been so far.)

Red Tulips
My mom gave me Tulips this week in memory of Emily. They are so pretty. They are probably only going to last a few more days. But I am enjoying them for now.

Emily's Blanket
I may do a whole post about this, but it made me happy this week so I wanted to share it here. On Friday I got Emily's blanket in the mail. Rows for Remembrance is a wonderful ministry to families who have lost a baby at any stage in the pregnancy to birth. They knit or crochet a blanket with your child in mind. The blanket has 20 "starter" rows and then one additional row for each week your carried your child. My blanket was 43 rows and it is perfect. I don't have a picture of it, but my two year old grabbed Emily's blanket and cuddled with it yesterday. It was so cute. She knows that it is Emily's blanket.

The Cake Mix Doctor

Have you ever seen this book? If not you have to check it out. It is one of my favorite cookbooks. This woman takes a cake mix and transforms the mix into an amazing cake. That I know of she has three different books and each is so wonderful. I will probably never make a cake from scratch again.

Blog Awards
Last week I received two blog awards: The Stylish Blogger Award and The Versatile Blog Award. It was so fun to receive these awards and then to turn around and give them to other bloggers that I follow.

Happy List Saturday

While I have a few minutes I thought I would write my happy list for this Saturday. I am watching a friends two daughters; ages 2.5 and 11 months for a full 24 hours. That means I have three girls under 3 in the house. We are also going to attempt to go to church in the morning, wish us luck. We have never gotten three children ready to go any where. This should be fun.

This was a rough week, but I do have somethings to be happy about.

MOPS
Yes, often being there triggers emotional responses in me, but being able to be around so many wonderful women makes me happy.

Rainbows
The double rainbow on Wednesday really was special to see. See my post from Wednesday to see the picture.

Lady Bugs
I have always loved lady bugs, but now that they remind me of Emily I like them even more.

Garage (Yard) Sales
I love finding great deals. I don't think very many of Maddie's toys are brand new. Most of them have been found at garage sales. I love knowing that I did not pay full price for things, yet my daughter has lots of fun toys.

A Clean Kitchen
I love when all the counter tops are cleaned off and everything is in its place.

Spring
Yes, it is finally spring. As I write this I am sitting on my couch with all the windows open and the sun shinning in the window. It is WONDERFUL.

So what made you happy this week. Join me over on Natasha's blog and share your happy list.

Happy List (Not Saturday)

I am a bit late on this, but I thought I would make may happy list anyway.

This week I am happy for:

Friends
Who love me and just call to say hi

Play dates for Maddie
It is wonderful to have Maddie entertained while I am able to chat with other moms.

My sisters
I have two sisters. One who lives 5 miles away and one who lives 2000 miles away. This week my youngest sister spent sometime playing with Maddie and keeping her occupied. It was her Spring Break and she spent part of it with us. My other sister, keeps me entertained with her posts on Facebook and touches my heart when she shares how deeply the loss of Emily has touched her.

Shopping
I got to go shopping twice this week with friends, without kids or husbands. It was such a wonderful time. Yesterday my friend Melissa and I drove to Seattle and spent the day shopping.

IKEA
The fun of walking around and thinking about what you could do to your living space, and buying random things for the house.

Seafood  (specifically Salmon)
I love seafood, but no one else that I live with likes to eat it. So I rarely cook any kind of fish. But yesterday I got to go out to dinner at a Seafood restaurant and had Salmon. So Yummy!!!!

Trader Joe's
When I lived in California this was one of my favorite places to shop for food, but sadly the closest Trader Joe's is about 150 miles away. But yesterday I got to go shopping there again. So much good food. Here is a picture of a few of the yummy things I got.

New Shoes
For the first time in over 2 years I bought myself a pair of new shoes, and they are hip and sophisticated. So much better than the old Keds I had from before I got married (3 years ago).

My new shoes

Have a wonderful week.

It's Saturday Again!

This has been a good week. I have had some moments of sadness and the feeling of being unsettled, but overall, this week went well.

Having friends over for a BBQ
On Sunday we had several friends over to BBQ and just spend time together. It was very nice to enjoy the warmer weather and the fellowship of friends.

Sewing again
It has been over a year since I sat down and actually made something for Maddie and several months since I sewed for pleasure. On Thursday I finally sat down at my sewing machine and made a dress for Maddie. It turned out so cute.

 

Framed pictures of Emily

The pictures I ordered from Shutterfly came last week, and on Sunday I finally got the pictures framed.

Emily Faith's photo book
Emily's photo book also came in the mail this week. It is perfect. Now we have a book with all her pictures in one place.

Emily's Butterfly
Created and sent to me by Raquel over at Hopping to a New Normal... I have not taken a picture of the butterfly yet, but it is perfect, and pink.

Going to Seattle for the weekend
We are going to visit some friends and do lots of shopping.

A lot of this week was centered around getting things that remind us of Emily. I am so glad that it was this week, since last Saturday was two months since she died. It made for a much better week, this week, getting special reminders of her.

Happy List Saturday

Today is March 26th, it is so hard to believe that it has already been two months. Where has the time gone? The day we left the hospital I posted on my Facebook page, "Seems kind of strange to me right now how life keeps moving on when mine seems to have stopped." Well it is so true life just keeps going on, no matter what we go through. While in those first few days I wondered how I was going to keep going with life. But I have found a way and I am so glad for the support and love of family and friends.

It is Saturday and time for my happy list. Last night I actually thought about not doing a happy list this week, not because I don't have things to be happy about, but because I did not really want to. No other reason than that. But this morning, when I realized it had been two months, I thought what a better way to remember Emily than with my happy thoughts for the week.

Things that made me happy this week:

* Crock pot meals.
I love to get up in the morning and get dinner started and then not have to think about it for the next 5 to 10 hours (depending on what I am making). This week I made three meals in the crock pot.
My inspiration was A Year of Slow Cooking, Stephanie spent one year using her crock pot each day. She still uses her crock pot on a regular basis, though not every day.

* A clean kitchen.
There is nothing better than standing back and admiring clean, clutter free counter tops and shinny appliances.

* Warmer days.
We have not seen snow in about two weeks now and it has been at least 50 degrees everyday this week. Once upon a time, when I lived in CA, 50 was a cold day. Here in WA 50 is a very nice day. Funny how ones perspective changes with where you live. Maddie and I have spent several hours outside each day, it has been wonderful.

* Love & Logic.
I have been reading the book Love & Logic Magic for Early Childhood. We have only started to implement some of the concepts and ideas from the book, but already I have noticed a difference in our two year old. I can't wait to finish the book and then share it with my husband.

* All-Star Chopped (Food Network) 
I know I already used reality television once, but now I am more specific. Chopped is on the Food Network, it is a cooking competition, that only gives contestants a specific time to cook something with some required ingredients. If you have the Food Network and have never check out this show you really should, it airs on Sunday evenings.

What has made you happy this week? If you would like to share your happy list too, hop on over to My Angel Baby ...Aiden and link up.

Happy List Saturday

Finding happiness in the midst of grief is so important. For me, finding things to make me happy has made each day a bit more pleasant and helps me to see past the sadness I feel.

I have decided to do my happy list with pictures today.

1. Finding a good great deal. Good deals are okay too, but I am even happier when I find a great deal. For instance this $24.99 frame for only $5.00 and the $34.99 frame for only $10.00. So excited to get pictures in the frame.

2. Seeing my angel baby's name written down. Thank you to Katy for doing this for me.

3. Getting my coupons organized. This picture is of all the coupons that had expired, but were still inside my coupon binder until I finally spent an afternoon cleaning it out. I have found that when I am not actively couponing things tend to get a bit out of control. Seeing everything back under some kind of control and order makes me feel much better.

4. Child Safety locks. This lock in particular makes me happy. It keeps my two year old out of her closet and as a result keeps all her clothes on the hangers unless it is time to get dressed for the day.

That is my happy list for this week. What makes you happy? Make your list and then go on over here and link up too.

My Happy List

It is Saturday, another day and another post. Natasha over at My Angel Baby ...Aiden has this great idea to make a Happy List every Saturday.

I think it is so important to focus on things that make me happy especially when I am feeling sad or having a particularly bad day.

I am not promising to make a happy list every week, but here is my happy list for today

Happy List:

Saturdays

watching my husband read a book to our daughter

getting unsolicited kisses and hugs from my 2 year old

clean laundry

watching reality TV: happiness is Survivor, Amazing Race and even The Bachelor

anything chocolate

a really good white wine

good conversation with a close friend

the warmer days showing that Spring really is right around the corner

This is my happy list for today. Maybe next week I will have pictures of things that make me happy.

What makes you happy?