happy

All posts tagged happy

When You Are Not Happy With Where You Are At In Your Life…

Published June 14, 2014 by Angela

…it is up to you to change it. No one can do it for you. Change can be scary, no matter how old you get and how much life experience you have. You need to do what is going to make you happy. Others may get hurt along the way. If you are making the choices you need to make to live a happy life, the ones who truly love you will not be upset with your decisions.

Sometimes it is nice to get advice and support from others, instead of being the one to give advice and support. Even the strongest people on the outside have a weak spot on the inside.

As another of my girls moves into the “teenage” years (Happy 13th Birthday Erin Elizabeth!), I am really starting to examine where I want my life to go, where I want to end up, and what I need to do to get there.

Sometimes behind every strong woman is no one to give them the support and encouragement they want and need. Feeling like you are really, truly alone of this journey called life can be painful for even the strongest of people.

Hoping For A Change!

Published June 2, 2014 by Angela

Knowing that I absolutely love my job, and absolutely love my children, anyone who knows me knows that I could not be a stay-at-home Mom. Yes, some may think “Well, you never should of had kids then!”, but I was more than willing to support a stay-at-home husband and father to my kids. He was incapable of even doing that…
So, I have a new hope that a rumor I heard is true, and I will be having a change in my life sometime soon! I have something else to add to my daily list of prayers. I have had this hope before, but also know with absolute certainty that there is a reason things did not go the way I had hoped and wanted. Maybe it was because this time is going to be my moment!
So here’s to focusing on my family, my job, my church, and being happy. Because even though I tend to get blue now and again, things are really pretty great 🙂

How Am I Doing On My 2014 To-Do List?

Published March 24, 2014 by Angela

Do you remember my 2014 to-do list? I certainly do! I have been thinking about it for the past almost 3 months, and I have definitely made some improvements! Here’s my list if you want to check out my some-what lofty goals. https://parenthoodandotherhorrorstories.com/2014/01/02/my-2014-to-do-list/

So, what have I worked on, and what do I still need to do?

1) I am going to church a lot more than I did last year. And not just because Erin’s confirmation classes moved from Wednesday night’s during WOW to Sunday mornings between services 🙂 I have went when Erin has decided to skip her classes. I actually read the verses this weekend which is the first time I have done this and I loved it! I can’t participate in activities as much as I would like to, but I do what I can.

2) Of course the more I am going to church, the more I am tithing. It feels good, but I have yet to reach that “give-till-it-hurts” level. Honestly, that is a scary thing for me! But, I have more than doubled my weekly tithing from what I was doing (I am not saying that for bragging rights of any kind, and I find it kind of rude that I am mentioning it, but it was on my list, and I got better! So I will not be bringing this one up again!)

3) Stop swearing. OK, this has gotten a LOT better. Really. But I wonder if the fact that I am still often thinking the words in my head means I have gotten no where? Taste your words before you speak them, right? I am still working on this, but I can say that my swearing is down to maybe a couple times a week; HUGE improvement. I’ll deal with the thinking-the-words issue later.  

4) Stop yelling. Yep, much better as well. I do not yell at my kids when they get me frustrated or don’t listen to me. I tend to just yell when I am upstairs, and they are in the living room or kitchen trying to have a conversation with me. What do I yell? “I can’t hear you. Come here so I know what you are saying!” Kind of ironic, huh?

5) Make and take some “me” time. Nope, not yet. Not really, anyways. I did have one weekend away without my kids this year, and am trying to plan another one. Generally I work 7 days a week if I can, and my college classes keep me busy. But I do still get my recreational reading in. And as soon as it gets above 40 degrees here in Michigan, I am going to the greenhouse for plants.

6) Patience. Yeah. I can say I have gotten nowhere with this one. I pray a lot. For patience. And forgiveness for my lack of patience. Really.

7) Exercise. LOL

8) Read the Bible. Not good here either. I have started 2 different plans, and the reminders daily that I have not got my reading done yet irritated me, so I deleted the plans. However, I do a bible study every Tuesday and with what we read in Church on Sundays and at WOW on Wednesdays, I’m getting some reading in. Yeah, I’m stretching that one.

9) Improve my photography skills. Hmm. Haven’t had my camera out of the camera bag for months. NEXT…..

10) Allow myself to be happy! Yes, I am feeling good, great in fact. College is going good, work is going good, life is going good. Of course there are still numerous bumps in the road, but I am for the most part; Happy!

How are you doing on your to-do list?

On To A New Week!

Published February 10, 2014 by Angela

I feel like I have been falling behind on several things since 2014 began. I would like to blame college but that 1st class was only 3 weeks long, and it ended a couple weeks ago.

I really think the lack of sunshine is making me so tired (and yes, bitchy! Remember that last post?) I have stocked up on some Vitamin D, hoping this helps. Normally I would go tanning, or fake-and-bake as we say here in Michigan. As much as I love the look of a nice tan, I have stopped doing this a couple years ago due to concern about the safety of it, as well as skin cancer. Being red-headed, fair-skinned, and full of freckles, I should have never had a tan, ever 🙂

I feel like I have been getting off-track on the homeschooling. If Erin is getting behind, it is because I am not pushing her hard enough. And I am not talking about making her do school 8 hours a day (although I wish she would!) I am talking about making the time I need to in order to make sure she is understanding everything, and what she has questions on. Checking her work every day is just not enough, and what used to be hours a day discussing her work feels like less and less.

So as each day here in West Michigan gets a bit longer with more sunshine (even though we don’t see it), I am refocusing on staying on task, and keeping Erin on task. I would like to wrap up her 1st year of homeschooling on a positive note, having accomplished everything we planned out last August. My intention for her 8th grade year is to enroll her in online school. I think that will help keep her on task and more focused. She sure gets distracted easily! And yes, she gets it from me 🙂 Online schooling takes a special kind of discipline, and since I have been going to college like this for more years than I’ll tell you, I think this is definitely going to help both of us with homeschooling.

 

What The Hell Is Wrong With Me?

Published February 7, 2014 by Angela

No, this isn’t a hypothetical question. I have seriously been asking myself this question pretty much since the beginning of 2014.

I would like to blame the non-stop snow that has been gracing Michigan since the end of October/beginning of November. OK, so maybe that can take some of the blame. I really do not like being cold. At all. But I have been very, very grouchy. And angry. And bitchy. the small things that I have shrugged off for the past several months are suddenly huge boulders of problems that I am carrying around on my shoulders. No, it isn’t that these small things are just happening over-and-over again and I have finally had enough. It is the little things that would not bother any normal-mood person (including me) are now enough to set me on edge.

 

I have been feeling incredible for the past several months: I have made some positive changes in my life that have really been a huge improvement on my quality of life, for myself and my 4 girls. I have a wonderful job (no, really, it IS wonderful) that allows me to take care of my girls without any help from anyone, a nice home, my health, 4 healthy girls, a wonderful group of friends and co-workers, and a church family that help me stay grounded.

So why can’t I shake the bad mood? Is it really SAD? You know, seasonal affective disorder? It shouldn’t be. I just know this, without going into all the details 🙂

So why don’t I feel as great now as I have been for the past several months? Believe me, I am not sitting around saying “Poor Me”. I truly know how lucky and blessed I am, and I say thanks for that every, single, day.

I am just tired of the little stuff feeling like huge things. It’s not. It isn’t any bigger than it would have been if it happened last November.

So since I have only lost about the first week of February (we won’t even discuss January), I really need to get it back in perspective, and quit sweating the small stuff.

I know I need some “me” time. My girls and I have been stuck in the house together due to -20 wind chills and non-stop snow. Along with too many snow days to even count. No house is big enough for that much estrogen for that many days without some space.

So here’s to February, and hopefully melting snow in March, and flower buds in April, and a better attitude than I have had. Here’s to being happy, just because I should be!