June: Just Do IT!

Lovely friends and I have recently been motivated by a worthy book: "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. Like man of the books I read, it is giving me ideas of how to continue progressing and changing. The premise of this one is to organize and prioritize elements of your life to better enjoy them and feel more happy. Thus, we have created our own individual happiness projects. Each month we tackle a new area/topic/subject that can increase or happiness and focus on a few important goals in that area. As the months roll along, you snowball the goals assuming that mastery (or near mastery) had occured in the one month on a few goals. Then, by the end of a maginficient month, we are to feel happier and more in control. Commited I am. Totally prepared I am not. But, the goal was to start on June 1st, so I got my first duck in the line and will work on the row as we go.

JUNE: JUST DO IT.

A lot of the elements I consider essential to my happiness day to day have to day with physical order, clealiness and organization. As Rubin suggested, clearing out the clutter in my physical surroundings I feel more relaxed in other areas of my life. So why not give a full month to getting all that frustrating nagging things made so beautiful it truly brings you happiness to do laundry and clean your pretty bathroom. I started right away with our master closet. We were just returning from a vacation and I much rather put clothes back finally the right way than shove them in the wrong. I let the suitcases sit and I tore apart our closet. All those shelves that had annoyed me in their placement for over a year were moved. Clothes were evaluated and moved. I was going to garage sale a lot but made a compromise with hoarder Josh that I would just set them in bins with the agreement that if they were not opened in a full years time for use then I could garage sale them. Thus, overhead bins rather than total de-clutter.

And Viola!!!!

Before (my side) After

Before (Josh's side) After

looking in Before and After

The last view was my favorite change. Josh was a bit less patient with the process as I was going through it, it did make a bigger mess before it got better, but once I was finished I got the beautiful gold star comment "This is now my favorite spot in the house, it seems like we got a whole new upgraded room!" Hooray indeed!

Daily Goals

1=Keep moving: even when tired, or percieved tired, move through it and I will get more done and more energy in the process

2=Early to bed, Early to rise; the rest of the rhyme says it makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise, which I could use. But for now I will focus on a 9:30pm bedtime and a pre-6am rising.

3=Tackle that Task!!: this includes wiping out some major projects around the house that I have been lazy about and being less lazy about the daily shining of the place.

4=40min Fat Burner: I am pretty good about exersicing but realized I need to be doing 40mins or more to be in the fat burn zone, which is where I need to be to get in those goal jeans.

5=Here comes the sun! = (a Beatles song) despite it being Arizona and approaching the hottest months, I need to be outside at least 10minutes a day, if not for just hanging laundry, then gardening and best of all, playing in the hose with the kids!!

Super Day

We have finally fallen into a family groove. Despite radical work schedules, we have found that golden moment when a day off is a day to be celebrated at a family. Well, at least we did yesterday. The weather just highlighted the light breezy nature of the family. Wake, eat, run together, tinker in the garage together, make salsa, clean the car, go to the zoo, have dinner out, play in the backyard, sing songs together, bike rides, smores, family, bedtime. Can't think of anything we missed that could have made it better. I married a splendid man and we have made goreous babies and then added some more lovelies into the mix. Now, we just enjoy the days. This, I am certain, is what love feels like.

Boy

I was playing with the camera settings while my boys were playing football in the backyard. Do you see that studdly kinda-paused look on Danny's face as he has just tackled his dad and is now going for the touch down? Give him some 13 years and the girls will be falling at his feet. I nearly do already (and Josh obviously does).

I like to ride my Bicycle

On May 7th a love affair began. My kids found out that bikes are very cool. Since then, they have been inseperable. It still strikes me as amazing that just a day before that I couldn't coerce them to ride on bikes. They did their first long ride this morning - after doing their first out of backyard ride last night. The keep asking for more, like a drug. Thank heavens this drug will not shorten their life, rather prolong it. Yahoo for family bike rides coming up! No more carrying scooters half way to the park. They want to ride, Ride, RIDE!

Animals, all of them

Just as it begins to be summer (aka unbearably hot) we decided to get a zoo pass. We hadn't realized what a wise choice a zoo pass would be until after the first 10 minutes of our paid entrance into the zoo. Like good parents we coated our children in sunblock. It is the spray on kind, super convenient. Josh, however, forgot that although you tell little people to cover their eyes it is best not to spray chemicals right into their faces. Spray on your hand then wipe on the face. Josh directly applies the spray to Faith's face and we paid for it for the next hour. Not even the distraction of wild animals could get her screeches to stop. I did wonder if the peacocks were starting to answer her cries as I hear d the echo across the lake. Even a well built water adventure park could distract her (skip the animals which is really the point of a zoo straight to the water park).

So, we just let her scream intermittently why we tried to see a few more animals around the loop, including the baboon which was the incentivizing animal for this adventure (Josh tells stories to the kids about different animals and Danny was most interested in the baboon). Near the front exit/entrance is a nice, quiet little splash pad. Finally, Faith stopped crying.

The kids were enjoying themselves and we had a moment to just be there. Until Josh started to complain and want to go home. Poor guy, even waking up feeling a bit fluish he still manned the expidition, but when it was all said and done, so was he. Total time spent in the zoo: maybe 2 hours. Glad all the money spent will help for the next 2 hour stint we are there.

Easter and Renewal

Easter time was deliciously lush. I was struck as we had our neighbors over again for an egg hunt how much has changed since last year. It has been quite awhile since I could compare holidays in the same location. One whole year in one place has been pretty rare for the Button family. Yet, here we are, in our own home, celebrating in our backyard that his most certainly improved!

coloring homemade eggs (thank you hens) on the back porch, which you can see is extended beyond what it was last year.
That is Danny sitting in basically the same spot last year as we colored eggs this year. Still and extra cute little boy.
The naturally brown eggs would have blended in better last year. Whereas, this year the colors has plenty of places to hide in the renewed backyard!


Oh how I love this backyard and it just keeps getting better.

Garage Sale book review

I just finished "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodie Picoult.

Honestly, a well written book. Most people have heard of the movie, and I think I saw parts of it once as well. The movie may have been better in only one aspect - language and sexual content. Otherwise, I am certain the book tops it. There was nothing graphic in the book, which was nice. Whereas I try not to use potty language myself that is the only reason it is striking to read it sometimes. Just didn't want to give a high recommendation out without a fair warning for very particular readers.

I loved the hypothetical situation of this book - genetically creating a sibling to help one with cancer. This has not been done, yet, to my knowledge but I don't think it is too far off. The main struggle in this family is not, necessarily, the court struggle of medical emancipation, but how each of the people and how they deal with decision making. Picoult narrates the 7 days leading from filing the petition to actual court day closing through the first person of 7 different people. It is a unique way to stay present time while utilizing the personal thoughts of each person in the situation that tie into past memories. That also meant taking on the voice of age ranges from 13 to 54, and it was well done at that. Each character was strong and realistic. There was only a little stretch of relationship reality with two of the characters that probably would not of factored in naturally, but it did play out as enticing to follow despite it's unbelievable quality (gotta have some romantic drama sometimes).

Because the plot was compelled forward in such a short time frame by so many voices it really pulls you through the book rapidly. I appreciated the research done by Picoult to really bring truth to the story, she has to be quite the jack of several trades in this one: arsonist, firefighter, oncologist, attorney, guardian at litem, astronomer, yacht sailor. Enough little facts to make you feel as though you were learning something at the same time as being well entertained. And, as a bit of a cherry on top, she artfully introduces each day/chapter with an excerpt from classic poetry or literature. Well done.

A good find for a garage sale book of $.50. I probably won't keep it in my house, not that classical, so, if you want it, you can have a good read too.