Valentines & A New Project

Happy Friday Everyone....the weekend has officially began. We are off to a cold start here in Kentucky. Our temps have drastically decreased overnight and this weekend is even supposed to showcase some SNOW! Normally, this would make me very happy but I have to admit, I'm getting a little Spring fever. I'm ready for lots of sunshine and warms temperatures. I'm ready for camping, boating, swimming and so forth. This dreary weather really puts a damper on my mood after awhile.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and although we didn't do anything all to spectacular, we did have a good day. I woke to a display of cards sitting on the shelf under the television. There was one for each of the kids & one for me. Hubby had fixed them all before he had left for work. I was surprised although I shouldn't have been. He never fails to make us feel special on Valentines Day.

We had a LONG day out of town yesterday. Axle had an appointment with a speech pathologist at 11:00. It was an hours drive to the office he had to go to. The visit went well and he will now be getting speech therapy from them once a week for awhile. I really dread having to take him so far but I know he needs it. That is a big downfall to small town living, everything is so inconvenient.

We had time to kill before our next appointment which was Anika's so we went to the Mall. We had pizza from the little Mall Stand & let Axle ride the train. The mall has a train that runs the entire length of the Mall and Axle loves it. Anika insisted that Annalee and I ride too so we did. I think Annalee enjoyed it as well but definitely not as much as Axle. He smile from ear to ear the entire time while waving at everyone we passed. After the train trip, Anika took Ax to the play area while Annalee and I did our Valentine's Day Shopping. I got Axle a pounding toy that has a hammer with it. He loves it. He loves to beat on stuff anyway so I knew it would be perfect. Annalee got a new denim dress & Anika got a new neon light for her room. I usually do traditional Valentine's presents but they always just get threw in a corner so this year I wanted to get stuff they would really like and use.

We didn't get too much mall time because Anika had an appointment at 2:00 with her doctor. Anika is struggling with depression and I wanted to talk to her pediatrician about it. We came to the conclusion that she needed to see someone who was an expert in the subject so we will be going to an intake appointment on Monday morning. Hopefully they will have a plan for helping her feel better. Miss Anika is one really tough girl BUT one teenager can only handle so much and for the past 3 years she has had a lot to cope with. I'm just hoping she is receptive to some outside help and doesn't shut down. Please remember her in your prayers.

We started home around 3:30. I made a quick stop by Walmart on our way to pick up the Hubby a card. When we got home we were surprised with all sorts of goodies sitting on the bar. My Grandma had sent Hubby and I a rose in a vase for our Anniversary. She had also gotten Anika a rose in a vase for Valentines Day. She didn't forget Annalee and Ax either, Annalee got a teddy bear & Ax got a teddy bear & candy. There was also goodies my Mom & Dad brought. Anika got a new pillow for her room and some candy with a card, I got a bag of Turtle (my favorite), Annalee got another Teddy Bear, Ax got Spongebob Candy, Spongebob Toothbrushes and Spongebob Toothpaste & Hubby got candy. We definitely felt loved!

Since it was Valentine's Day and all, I decided to treat myself and NOT cook dinner. I ordered us some sandwiches from the Pizza Place & got the kids Breadsticks. It was pretty tasty :)

Hubby was exhausted from a hard day at work & I was exhausted from a full day out so we laid down & napped for about 2 hours. Miss Anika was a sweetheart and watched the little ones while we slept. She even straightened up the living room and kitchen to boot. I ended up getting up around 8 and after several attempts (failed) to wake the Hubby, I gave up. He ended up sleeping till 7:00 this morning. He must have seriously been drained.

I spent some time online last night and then after the kids when to sleep I started on reading my book "The Happiness Project". I had been doing some research on it prior to it actually coming so I am familiar with the project already. I must admit though that when I finished up Chapter 1, I thought "Wow, that is me". You all know I'm a list maker, I make goals for every occasion. Right now I have 1/2 a notebook full of goals. Really though, Is watching 100 different movies or eating at 10 new restaurants going to make me happy? The answer is NO!!!!

After careful consideration I've decided to give up those lists. Now not completely, I will still update them as I finish items but I'm NOT going to focus on items on the list nor am I going to focus on goals. I've decided that I'm going to dedicate 1 entire year of my life to trying to be a happier person. Yep, I'm starting my very own Happiness Project!

As I questioned "how" to set up my own project, I decided that I first needed to pick 12 Areas in my life that  were "crucial" to my Happiness and could use work. Between last night and this morning, this is what I've came up with.

1. My Energy Level

2. My Children

3. My Marriage

4. My Personal Time

5. Soul Searching

6. My Health

7. Friendships

8. Money

9. Leisure

10. Doing "good" works

11. Being Aware

12. Loving Myself

Truly, if I could feel fulfilled in all those areas alone, I think it would increase my happiness greatly.I am not an unhappy person at all but I do believe that I can increase my happiness but focusing on what is important. With that said, I'm no longer (for a year anyway) going to put unrealistic expectations on myself. I'm going to focus on the things that are front & center in my life and improve on them. What is the worst that can happen? 

When I looked over this list I came up with the same conclusion that Gretchen did in her book. Being happier requires energy and energy is something I DO NOT have a lot of. Energy is hard to find when you have 3 children and a husband to care for BUT I'm certain I can increase my energy with a few changes in my life. Yep, that is where I'm starting, I'm going to work towards Increasing my Energy. Stay tuned this weekend for the steps I'm going to be taking. My project will officially begin on Monday!

As for this weekend though, I'm going to use it to really THINK and PREPARE myself mentally for my project. It's not going to be easy but I truly feel it will be so worth it :)

Hubby and Anika are gone now to pick up our new side by side! I'm thinking there is going to be a lot of riding and playing going on here this weekend. 

Hope you and yours enjoy every single moment of your weekend!

Angie