What I've Been Smiling About Lately!

I think there really is always something to smile about if I take the time to notice or to think about it long enough. I have to admit that I struggle to "savor every day moments." In fact, it would probably be easier for me to write a post titled "What I've Been Stressed About Lately!" 


I tried to keep my own "one-sentence journal" a couple years ago, but I was too busy to keep up with it: ( I'm going to take a different angle and try to recap what has made me happy lately. If it works well - and makes me happy - I might just do it again next week!


What I've Been Smiling About Lately (V. 1!?!)


- Lisa (aka my older sister and current bridezilla) is getting married - and keeps us posted on...

 what she likes...

and what she doesn't like...

- Nick and I had a date Garozzo's and then met Sarah, Steve, and some other friends at The Flying Saucer for the Kozlen's plate night/Steve's going-away party!

- We had April birthday parties to celebrate Daddy (at Mom and Dad's) and Claire (at Rudy's)!

- I finished the Lawrence half-marathon with my friend, Natalie - and felt great!

(So...maybe I didn't look or feel so great 

RIGHT after I crossed the finish line and received a hug from Nick - HA!)

Colin, Natalie, Me, Nick

 My surprise supporters! (Dad, Me, Mom)

- I got a nice note from Grandmom: )


- I made Easter egg cake pops with Morgan for Easter - so cute: )

- Nick and I hosted Easter brunch!

- I shared orange jello - a family favorite - with Grandma on Easter (and saw Helen, the Arbor kitty!).

- Callie has been EXTRA sweet - and cute - lately: )

- Lisa sent us AWESOME kimonos!!

- I got to meet Erin and Matt's sweet baby boy, Brooks!

- I had dinner with my friend, Sarah!

- I grew a four-leaf clover at work - in my garden-in-a-bag from Lisa! (Do you see it? It is almost right in the middle!)

- I had fun with old friends at Katie's wedding shower!

- I had a (much-needed) night in with Natalie!


- Nick's sister was in town - SO good to see her!

- I received - and read - HUNDREDS of emails from my college friends!

WOW! Now that I've written all of that down, I feel like I have SO much to be happy about: ) I'm sure I could add SO much more, and that feels good, too: ) 

I would try to add some more, but I'm off to savor today's everyday moments - running with Natalie, eating a spinach and mushroom omelet, going to Art in the Park with Mom and Claire, visiting Grandma and Grandpa, catching up with Tiffany, watching Bones with Nick - and finally write my last two thank you notes!

I hope you savor today's everyday moments, too: )

Don't worry! Be happy!

Eleven months ago...

I quit my job.

I quit my job at a time when other people were looking for jobs and when some may have thought that I should have been grateful that I had one.

But...

I was miserable, so I decided to take action and make a positive change.

After months of searching for a new job - while also working two jobs to avoid using too much of our savings and also finishing grad school - I started a new job November 1.

With this new job, I have been determined to also try harder to be positive and to try harder to pay attention to what makes me happy.

I often feel as though I am unable to keep my head above water, and I have decided that maybe that is okay.  Maybe I will always feel that way.  Maybe what I need to do is pay attention to all of the little things that make me happy every day and take a little time to make sure I'm doing things that make me smile.


I read this - 10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy - article the other day, and I want to try to actively incorporate some of these easy ideas into my life.

I took a stab at #8...

...and finally wrote (most) of my graduation/Christmas/birthday thank you notes. 

(I also sent a St. Pat's card to Krista, 

a you-are-going-to-be-an-awesome-mom card to Erin, 

a photobook to my grandparents (finally!),  

and an I-miss-you postcard magnet [below] to Julia!)

While I was at it, I also wrote some mini-thank-you notes for my coworkers. Work was CRAZY in January and February, and some people really helped me make it through the LONG days!

Writing the notes really did make me feel good: ) I wrote the graduation/Christmas/birthday notes at the coffee shop and enjoyed every second of it! I wrote the work thank yous throughout one day at work. Whenever I needed a break, I wrote a couple notes. It made me smile that day, and I smiled all morning the day I snuck the notes and two chocolates onto people's desks at work.

I hope to write the rest of my graduation/Christmas/birthday notes soon, and I hope I can continue to remember how great writing a thank you makes me feel and how I'm sure it makes someone else smile too: )

I guess I am glad my mom used to put thank you notes in our stockings every year: ) Even if it does take me a while to write them...I'm glad I do: )

Some notes I'm lovin'...

LOVE these from www.finestationary.com!!

Cute Etsy Mini-Card 

Cute Etsy Card

Erin's Baby Shower and Inbetweenie 2011

I had some BUSY days at work in January and the beginning of February, but I had some fun to help me through it all! Our trip to TX in January was an awesome getaway, but I also had some fun in KS!

Erin's baby shower was in January! It was BEAUTIFUL, and she looked AMAZING! Erin was my first friend in elementary school! I remember some of our first days in kindergarten, and I have some of my best memories as we went through junior high and high school together. She will be one of my lifelong friends and will make a SUPER mommy. I am excited to watch her little boy grow up: )

The end of January brought 12+ of my college friends to Lawrence/Kansas City for Inbetweenie 2011! Krista's birthday is 1/31, the Inbetweenie 2/1 (yes...I capitalized it!), and my birthday is 2/2.


Krista and I have been celebrating our birthdays together since our freshmen year of college. The only one we haven't spent together since then was for our 23rd birthday! We spent 19, 20, 21, and 22 in Rolla, MO (during college), and we've spent 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 in Lawrence/Kansas City (because Krista is the BEST and flies all the way here...year after year!). That is a lot of birthdays...and even more memories! 


Love you guys - thank you SO much for coming!

Little Sis and Middle Sis

Katie, Sarah, and Becky

Sarah and Steph

Leslie and Amy

Natalie (my running partner/friend) and Me

Me and Krista

Amy

The Chungs (Kara and Steve)

Nick, David, and Sam

Claire and Nick

Krista, Leslie, and Amy

I have to say that my 28th birthday was NOT my favorite birthday! I love, love, LOVE birthdays, and I have been spoiled the last few years by having my mom at work with me! It was nice to have someone to celebrate with me, and I admittedly miss all of the "Happy birthday, Miss Wilkinson/Mrs. Adams!" shout outs and handmade cards I received throughout the day from my kiddos! 

This year I was STUCK at home because of another winter storm, and I was too busy with work stuff to relax! I did get to work in my pajamas all day, so I can't complain too much! 

 SERIOUS backyard snow drifts!!

Callie gave me the cutest card! 

She even remember to write "ruff ruff ruff," 

which means I love you if you aren't familiar with dog language!

I was a little sad because we had to reschedule my birthday party with my family, BUT the snow allowed me to celebrate my birthday a little bit longer: ) We celebrated on Friday night with some yummy soups (cheese tortilla and beef/vegetable). 

Unfortunately, I only have these (kinda ugly) pictures from the night (that I stole from Claire's facebook page). Maybe (hopefully!) Mom has other ones (that she will post to our family Shutterfly page soon...wink, wink!)!

While birthdays are not all about gifts, I did receive some little gems I would like to share...

Cup-a-Cake Single Cupcake Carrier

Banana Saver

L Tervis Tumbler

So much fun: ) Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I sure hope next February isn't as busy at work...and isn't as snowy.