Snapshots of Bliss: My Happiness Journey

This is my very first 'Snapshot of Bliss'

As I mentioned last week, I am starting my own happiness journey. 

You can read about why here: Life is Perfect

I will also keep you up to date on this blog. 

I hope to get some other bloggers in on the action, as well. 

My intentions are to post a photo every day of something that makes me happy. 

I will also be adding some elements from other projects. 

Hopefully I can spread some happiness.

Or at the very least, show everyone who reads that there is always something to be thankful for. 

You can follow along here: Snapshots of Bliss

Hello 2012

I have to say, that even though there were lots of happy moments in 2011, I am so glad its over.

Ready to move on to bigger and better things. 

Believe it or not, this is the first year (EVER) that I have written New Year's resolutions. 

I know, I am so strange!

So, I am taking this a step further and sharing them with my readers. 

 

Here goes:

1. Have the prince potty trained
2. Find a job
3. Take a picture every day
4. Start my very own happiness project
5. Craft more and open an etsy store
6. Post more recipes on Cupcakes & Sweet Tea
7. Join in on Project Marriage
8. Create a landing page for all of my projects
9. MOVE into our own home
10. Start reviewing web services for my readers. 
11. Lose 100 pounds
12. Exercise 3 days a week, and eventually elevate this to 5 days a week
13. Post on at least 1 blog every day
14. Spend more time outside
15. Start writing my book
16. Create an organizing system I am satisfied with
17. Learn to bake a cake
18. Learn to decorate cookies
19. Grow my hair out
20. Post more about me as mommy! I love this life!

What a wonderful Christmas

I am so blessed to have had  such a wonderful Christmas surrounded by so much love. 

It was so much fun to see the little prince on Christmas morning

Also, because I'm still in the Christmas spirit, I am giving this blank frame for FREE!

Just click here to download!

Enjoy, and you can find more of my goodies at NIGHLON

Letters to Santa

This time of year always makes me think of all the traditions my Mother held tight to every year. These traditions will always have a warm spot in my heart. We always colored an advent calendar; took food to charities; stood outside stores ringing bells; and woke to reindeer tracks and Santa’s muddy boot prints. However, I think what stands out to me the most would be our letters to Santa.

In case you haven’t noticed, my childhood was quite different from most. We have a strict, but very loving Mama who instilled in us many important values. Most of all, she taught us responsibility, manners, respect, gratitude, and thoughtfulness. Things were no different at Christmas time.

Every year, after the tree was put up; the old world Santas were placed around the house; and the Nativity scene placed on the sidebar, it was time to write our letters to Santa. We would sit at the dining room table with homemade hot cocoa and Christmas cookies. Mama would turn on Christmas music and bring out her box of stationary. Inside this box, was the prettiest Christmas paper ever! The best part, it was only used for our letters to Santa. She even had special pencils for us to use.

Now, my mama is a bit different from most when it comes to writing to Santa. There were rules involved. Not only did we have to use our best handwriting, but we also had to actually write a letter- no lists allowed! We were only allowed to ask for one thing. Most of all, we had to show appreciation. Our letters were to include a thank you for last years gifts; a thank you for being nice to so many kids; and what we accomplished that year. I didn’t understand why we did this, but now I am so thankful that my Mama did this. After we wrote our letters, we made Santa a gift- usually an ornament.

As I sit here writing this, I wonder what made her think to do this. Also, I wonder whatever happened to those years of gifts for Santa from three children with an amazing Mother. I have my suspicions that they were either given to family members, the sick and elderly at hospitals or nursing homes, women’s shelters, or even to random charities. I will ask her one day. These are traditions that I will definitely keep going with my own son!



At the following websites, you can find areas to let your children email letters to Santa, as well as receive a letter from Santa!

http://emailsanta.com/

http://emailsanta.com/email_santa.asp

http://www.aletter4santa.com/

http://www.northpole.com/

http://www.freelettersfromsantaclaus.com/free_printable_letters_from_santa.asp

enjoy these links!

Our Latest Adventure: Potty Training

So, our little prince is now a whopping 14 months!

Wow, how time flies!

He is walking amazingly well, and has been off the bottle for a while. 

He also tries to take his diaper off when he is wet....

So I came to a conclusion:

POTTY TRAINING

time is upon us!

Here is the plan:

we take him to potty A LOT!

His potty plays music, so that's an added bonus

the really great surprise that Nana got him: Hershey's kisses after he uses the potty!

Its been 6 days, and he is doing surprisingly well.

For the past 2 days, the only accidents have been at naptime and night time.

I'm quite impressed!

Seeing how much he is growing, I cannot believe how tiny and fragile he was.

It makes me think of a paper I was given by the doctor, while I was pregnant.

This is what it said:

A Newborn's Conversation With God

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven, I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy," God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. You will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again, the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?" God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweetest words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?" God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?" God said, "Your angel will defend you , even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore." God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name!"

God said, "You will simply call her MOMMY."

This was the most amazing thing for a young lady who was so unsure of how successful of a Mother she would be to hear. I knew nothing about kids, but this helped me know that I would always figure it out.

Even if I couldn't, our angels would help us!

FALL LOVE

FALL: Noun; 1. Also known as Autumn;  2.  The season between Summer and Winter; 3. The months of September, October, and November; 4. Back to school,  Halloween, and Thanksgiving; 5. The best time of Year.

This is not the actual definition of Fall, but It is how I would describe it!

So many wonderful things in life happen in the fall. My husbands birthday, my little prince's birthday, HALLOWEeN, Thanksgiving, apples, PUMPKINS, the leaves change, trips to cherokee. The list just goes on!

Family seems to become more important to everyone, people get nicer (then winter comes, and the world is bitter again).

One of the true treasures of fall is being able to be outside in the crisp autumn air and enjoy everything. Just the other day, The LP and I were walking around picking red leaves for his Nana!

Sitting on the pourch enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee is pure joy!

My Favorite Fall Activities:

Picking colorful leaves and inventing crafts for them

Decorating for Halloween

Bonfires

Trips to Cherokee

Trick-or-Treating

Watching Horror Movies

Watching Christmas Movies

Enjoying Family

Baking

Making Pumpkin Butter

THANKSGIVING DINNER

This year is special-- I'm carving a pumpkin for the first time EVER


What do you do to embrace all the wonder of FALL?

The Beauty My Mother Taught Me

“Audrey Hepburns Beauty Tips”

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. 

Never throw out anybody.

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

This poem was not actually written by Audrey Hepburn, it was one of her favorites, and happens to be one of the last ones she read to her children before she passed away.




I look all around me and see what the world is, BEAUTIFUL is not always how I would describe it. I see all the violence and greed and it makes me wonder what kind of a world my son has been born into. I hear stories about children being murdered and justice never comes. People are beaten to death and justice never comes. Then, a disaster strikes and the world bans together. I'm glad to see this happens, just wish it didn't take a disaster to accomplish this.




I will strive to teach my son and any future children that this is true beauty. The most beautiful person is one who puts others first.

My First TOP 10

I will now begin a new theme for myself. I will share a different TOP 10 every weekend!!! SO EXCITING

here goes:

Top 10 Moments as a MOM

1. Finding out I was going to be a mom

2. Holding my son for the first time

3. The little prince's first smile

4. Seeing him for the first time after being away 

and in the hospital for a week when he was only a week old

5. His first laugh

6. The first time he said "mama"

7. When he grabbed his dad's xbox controller for the first time

8.  The first time I woke up to him smiling at me over the bars of his crib

9. The first time he gave me a kiss

10. Every single time he gets excited as I walk into his room

Update on Supermomdom

*update to a previous post*

I have just been reflecting on how lucky I have been to be a stay at home mom, even if only for a year. My husband and I have recently made the decision for me to go back to work. It's quite bittersweet, but I know that it is for the best! Maybe it will enable me to become a better mother and wife.

My Journey to SuperMomDom

When my little prince was just a couple months old, I had a particular day where i didn't think I was ever going to get it all done. I had laundry that needed to be finished, a room that needed to be cleaned, a husband who needed attention, and a baby who just wanted mommy. I said to my husband, I'm supposed to be good at this, I'm a mom, shouldn't it come naturally. I said I'm the multi-tasker, the one who thrives on stress, and now it just makes me crazy. I told him that I am supposed to be supermom. He very sweetly told me that I wasn't and we moved on. I still had a nagging feeling that I wasn't doing enough. This feeling stuck with me, and I never have really moved on from feeling like I should be supermom.

My amazing husband brought me Mother's Day surprises home from work friday, and with it was something I will forever cherish. This card means the world to me, and I don't think I will ever forget it, and I will forever cherish it! It was just what I needed in my beautifully imperfect life!

It said: 

For My Wife

conquering a heaping pile of laundry...

whipping up a meal in the blink of an eye...

being in two or more places at once (well, almost)...

remembering all the important stuff in our lives...

and still finding the time for a little one-on-one.. 

she's... SUPERMOM

I'm so lucky to be married to a real life superhero like you

this was just amazing!!!

JUNE

June is always so crazy for me. It was the start of summer for so many years, but as I've grown older, it has begun to entail so much more. Working at the bookstore, it was time to rearrange students' schedules and work up promotions for summertime travelers. Now, it entails so much more.

For some reason, as if June wasn't crazy enough, it tends to be when all the chaos piles in. We run around like crazy trying to accomplish things. Trips to Cherokee and to the lake are the norm, but this year it has been a bit different. 

June starts off with MY BIRTHDAY! Yay- I turned 27! Being the first weekend, it also includes our tradition of visiting Cherokee, NC on the first weekend. This was fun, the Little Prince enjoyed getting feathers, pictures with indians, and playing in the fountain. 

On to the next, its the Royal Couple's ANNIVERSARY! What a fun weekend, we grilled out, spent time together, and laughed so much. The interesting part was eating our wedding cake, as is tradition on a first anniversary! We ended up pretending to eat it, just for the pictures!
Then, came Father's Day. Just a weekend of relaxing, and eating buffalo chicken sandwiches, with my mother-in-law's special recipe! What a good weekend, hanging out with the family and relaxing. What could be better.
Our wonderful month of June ended with a fabulous visit with family from Canada. They only get to visit every few years, so it was a nice treat. I finally got to meet the Canada family, somehow I have always missed them. The Little Prince enjoyed playing with his cousins, and It was a wonderful visit.
To sum it all up, June was a crazy month, but we made amazing memories. Now, I can get to blogging regularly. June is so crazy 

Unpredictable

With everything going on this week; trying to get organized, doing my everyday stuff, and getting ready from the reveal from Carolina Paranormal Investigators, I had absolutely no intentions of washing our comforter until at least Monday. The Little Prince had other plans!
I was changing his diaper and then putting him down for his nap. He decided that instead of lying there and letting me change it without a problem, he would rather crawl around! The LP wriggled out of my grip and crawled around on my bed, stinky butt and all....
Looks like I will be washing a comforter after all! At least I know that the Knight will get a laugh out of this while he is eating his spaghetti tonight!

My Crazy Beautiful Life

Well, to put it mildly, life has been crazy. I have so many things on my to do list, and I just can't seem to get it knocked down any. So, I have decided that my first priority (besides the knight in shining armor and the little prince) is to GET ORGANIZED!
I'm slowly getting this done, and organizing my goals [one of which is to update my blog more often], and creating MY ULTIMATE PLANNER. YAY!!!!
This is very important because I was always the most organized person I knew, until I got pregnant. Pregnant brain or LAZINESS? probably laziness! I promise to share my progress!

Time to Get Crackin

My LITTLE PRINCE will be 9 months in 10 days. This means that I have less than 3 months to plan his AMAZING 1st birthday party. Of course, the theme will be prince! I'm thinking he should recieve a copy of THE LITTLE PRINCE as his special gift. There is so much to do. Step 1, find a party planning website. Step 2, learn to bake a lemon cake. Step 3, send invitations. and so it begins... wish me luck!

Procrastination: My Favorite Past-time

SO.... I've always been the world's greatest procrastinator. This is not a theory, It is a fact. If there is anything whatsoever that I need to do, I will find anything possible to do instead, until the very last moment. With this comes my worst enemy: THE INTERNET!
For example, my Little Prince's first birthday is four months from today! I know, It seems like a lot of time, but given how fast the last eight have gone, I really dont think that four months is really going to be all that long. The only thing that i'm realy worried about is that I DON"T KNOW HOW TO BAKE! I know, I know, I could just buy a cake, but I'd rather not. I'd rather make myself go crazy and stick to what my mother and mil have done, and make the LP's first birthday cake. Not only am I going to make his cake, but decorate it as well (nothing but the best for my Little Prince). AND THATS NOT ALL... It has to be a lemon cake!!!! WTF am I thinking.

Back to the procrastination part:...
What I should be doing: Learning to bake
What I am actually doing: Blogging

The worst part about this is that not only am I blogging, but I wasn't sure how to spell procrastinating, so I decide to go to GOOGLE and look it up... and I can't just stop at finding the spelling, I have to click on PROCRASTINATION SITES... and find "my favorite procrastination sites" ... and I click to see these... I'm DOOMED...

I'M NEVER GOING TO LEARN TO BAKE IF I DON'T IGNORE THE INTERNET....

EVIL...EVIL...EVIL... INTERNET

Everyday Life

Sometimes everyday life gets to me, it seems like i get up and run. By the time i am caught up with everything i have to do, something else comes along that i have forgotten to do, or its a new issue. Today, i overslept, finally got us out of the house to go to the store, did the shopping, get home, unpack everything and sit down. Just then the little prince wants to be played with. I play with him, lay him in his bed, and sit down. My husband brings me a soda. The throat sighs! It may be hectic at times, but I LOVE MY LIFE.

FED UP

Today I had a breakthrough... being a new mom and a new wife, life has definately changed in the last year. The thing that annoys me the most is that no one seems to care what i think these days. No one seems to care if I'm hurt, or mad, or sad, or happy, or in a daze. I cannot stand this change in life. I hate to be ignored; so, I decided that it is time for a BLOG!!! I can say what i want, and i'm sure someone will listen. Even if no one does, it's still an outlet. So... to my wonderful family that i adore, I'm doing this because I LOVE YOU!

**note: i know that my husband and in-laws, mom, and other family care, sometimes it just feels like no one does**

♥ another note: thank you my wonderful mother-in-law for letting me vent to you and for giving me this idea ♥



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