Happiness Journal – March 1-10

Posted in Happiness Journal, Personal, Yearly Bucket List by bmariephoto

I am keeping another Happiness Journal during the month of March as a part of my Yearly Bucket List for this year. It is such a great reminder to be intentional about happiness – whether that is planning for things that you know will make you happy, or consciously recognizing the little things throughout the day that bring you joy.

So here’s the first third of the month’s entries:

1st – Kolaches for breakfast from Dad (yes – food makes me happy haha)
2nd – Date night with Max. We tried a new place in town, Zouki’s, and it was great to have some alone time and eat some great food.
3rd – Yoga during my lunch break

4th – Canton trip with mom & Pumpkin. This is something that was on my bucket list for this year as well, and it was just perfect! The weather was great, it wasn’t too crowded, Pumpkin did sooooo good, and we got some cute things!

5th – Sitting in the sunshine reading a magazine
6th – Getting Pumpkin to giggle. There’s nothing quite like the sound of baby giggles.
7th – Peanut helped me give Pumpkin a bath, and it was just too cute. She took it so seriously and I could tell she loved getting to help out as the big sister!
8th – Mom texted me this picture of Pumpkin, and it brought the biggest smile to my face!

9th – Peanut singing “If all the raindrops” with me in the car on the way to school as the rain poured down
10th – Seeing some sunshine & a little blue sky on the way back to the office from yoga at lunch. A nice little break from the gray & rain!

3Nov2014

Happiness Journal – Days 29-31

Posted in Happiness Journal, Personal by bmariephoto

This is the last of the month’s Happiness Journal!! Time to cross another item off of the Yearly Bucket List!

29. An oh-so-sweet surprise gift in the mail… this necklace stands for such a great thing, and it was just what I needed on a day where I felt knocked down. So thankful for family that is family – no matter where the blood lines run. Eve & Sue – thank you, & trunks up!!!

30. I won two door prizes at the Vendor Fair at work! Gotta love gift cards/certificates for Starbucks & The Liberty Bell!

31. A surprise visit from my ‘daughter’/former Grad Assistant! It was so good to see her and catch up a little bit!!! She was such a big part of our program and my SFA experience so far, and though it’s hard to have her move on, I am so excited to see where the next step in life takes her and I know she’ll be doing great things.

In case you missed them, here’s the first few weeks of the Happiness Project:

This has seriously been such a great exercise for me – it has made me so much more intentional about recognizing and appreciating the things in my life that bring me happiness. They are so often the little things, the fleeting moments. They happen, I feel the happiness for a few moments or so, and then move on to the next part of my day. I don’t always take the time to really think about that happiness and what has caused it.

I’ve realized that this project tended to morph into a gratitude project… and I had to make the effort to really focus on the happiness itself. Maybe a gratitude project will happen to find its way into a future yearly bucket list!

29Oct2014

Happiness Journal – Days 22-28

Posted in Happiness Journal, Personal by bmariephoto

Here’s the next installment of the Happiness Journal…

22. Baby giggles & some sweet quiet 1-on-1 time with Peanut after a photoshoot

23. Lunch with a good friend and my sweet husband (bonus points for a mini shopping trip while waiting on our food to be ready!)

24. Date night at the SFA Homecoming bonfire with a Bart Crow Band concert (gotta love those low-light iPhone photos…)

25. Lots of quality time with family and friends at the Homecoming parade, the pumpkin patch & the SFA football game

26. Seeing clients’ confidence literally grow in front of my eyes & my lens during a photoshoot

27. Finalizing a date for bridal portraits for Brittany!

28. Talking with my student instructor/OL Kim & hearing her process for gauging when to get out of bed based on what show is playing on the Disney Channel.. “If it’s Doc McStuffins, girl, you better go!” Too funny!