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Sunday, July 8

made me smile

i've come to the realization that happiness is a choice.  it is not something that just happens to you.  it can, of course, come without any effort on your part, but more often than not you have to make your own happiness; or rather, you have to make the decision to be happy, find reasons to be happy.  it is much easier to dwell on the negative in life, on the trials and challenges, than it is to exercise faith and have hope for the future.  the person who smiles all day is working harder than the person who frowns at everyone and everything.  i have a long way to go to becoming the former, but i like to think i'm doing the best i can.

in the past week, these are the things that have made me smile, the reasons i have found to be happy:

crossfit dfw: i still think crossfitters are insane, but now that i have finished my three elements classes, i guess i am technically just as insane as the rest.  after just a week, i can already see/feel myself getting stronger (not by much, mind you, but still).  can't wait to start up a regular routine of morning madness.

soaking up the sun: if i could live on the beach and do nothing but layout in the sun, listening to music and reading books all day, i would do so in a heartbeat.  but alas, there's this thing called real life, so i take full advantage of any opportunity to be outside and get some vitamin D.  and i've recently found the perfect place in which to partake in my favorite summertime pastime: the roof.

rearranging furniture: whenever i get really bored with life, i do one of two things - cut all my hair off, or rearrange furniture.  since i've promised myself that i wouldn't cut my hair until at least after J's wedding in august, i decided that my study needed a little makeover.  i now have a little command center set-up that faces the television, instead of away from it, and it's almost ridiculous how much i love working in my study now.

visit to my classroom: speaking of working, i made a visit to my classroom this week and i almost cried.  the familiarity of the carpet, the walls, the desks, the chairs, the hallway... it felt like going home. i will probably be spending a lot more time there in the coming weeks, organizing files and working on curriculum for next year.  never thought i would be so happy to go back to work.

french fries and mcflurry's at midnight: on friday night, some girlfriends and i went to lone star park to catch a few horse races and a country concert.  we skipped out early due to the inordinate amount of under-age inebriated concert-goers surrounding us, and on the way home we stopped at mickey-dee's for a little midnight snack.  with diet cokes, french fries and mcflurry's in hand, we drove on home, talking, laughing, quoting random movie lines, spontaneously breaking out into song.  as i listened to the happy noise filling my truck, i felt my heart expand with gratitude for friends who bring so much joy to my life.  nothing but love.

rediscovering linkin park: similar to breaking benjamin (one of my all-time favorite bands), linkin park makes music just angry enough to make me happy.  their first two albums, hybrid theory and meteora, were staples during my years at byu.  their singles for the transformer movies (what i've done, new divide and iridescent)  have been great fun, but i kind of forgot about them over the years.  and then their new album, LIVING THINGS, came out last month.  and wow.  love it.  like i said, music just angry enough to make me happy.

the hobbit teaser poster: my all-time favorite painting of gandalf (by john howe) and the new poster for the hobbit.  oh. my. goodness.


what made you smile this past week?

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