Something Small to Smile About

"Something Small to Smile About" is a community gratitude journal of sorts.
Follow this link to join & invite your friends!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SomethingSmallToSmileAbout/

An uplifting quote or picture will be posted each day,
& members are invited to share something small (or big) that they're thankful for in that day's post.

Reflect back upon your day & find something good that happened,
something you're grateful for,
or something that made you smile.

Showing gratitude for the little things
has been one of the best ways to change my outlook & perspective on life.
Whenever I'm in a rut,
I like to look back at the things I'm grateful for
or the things that put a smile on my face
to help me cheer up & get going again.

My hope is that people will feel more excited about the little "wins" in their life,
& everything that makes them smile.
When we share positivity in a community setting,
it helps each & every one of us have a happier heart.

And on those days when we feel like everything is going wrong & we have nothing to smile about,
we can turn to this group,
feel the positive vibes,
& find something small to smile about.
♥

Just a few group rules:

<< Be Kind & Respectful >>
This is a happy place to share things that have brightened our day,
so don't say anything to bring others down.
I won't give warnings on this rule.
Be kind or be banned.
Let's work together to create a welcoming environment & treat everyone with respect.

<< Share Your Happy Moments in the Daily Thread >>
Seeing as how this is a community gratitude journal,
let's do our best to share our happy moments in the daily thread.
This helps keep the group organized.
You can share anything you're grateful for that day - big or small.

<< No Marketing, Promotions, or Spam >>
Please don't market or sell any products here.
This is a safe place for happy thoughts & community, not a place to build businesses.

If you can commit to keeping these rules,
we would LOVE to have you join our gratitude community!
Also, please invite your friends...
We want to spread happiness
- the more the merrier!

<div align="center"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/SomethingSmallToSmileAbout/" target="_blank"><img alt="Something Small to Smile About" src="https://imageshack.com/a/img921/9015/GdXKfr.png" />

xoxo

RE: You are enough.

This post started as a comment,

then a short email,

then I decided it was something that I should just share with everyone.

Because I think we can all learn from these three words.

You are enough.

Kimmie...

I've been wanting to write you this ever since your post on September 20th.

I feel like we should all read that beautiful post

every. single. day.

We all need to be reminded that we are enough

& that comparing ourselves to others is only going to make us miserable in the long run.

I find myself doing it far too often.

I find myself comparing my chaotic cluttered house to someone's not-even-a-crumb home.

I find myself comparing our budget to other people's ability to spend freely without thinking.

I find myself comparing my singing abilities to someone who sounds even more beautiful.

I find myself comparing my blog with blogs much better & more successful than mine.

I find myself comparing my life to the Pinterest-perfect ones.

I even compare myself to you from time to time.

You helped me remember that I'm not the only one doing the comparing.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Sometimes, the people we are comparing ourselves to are doing that as well.

We may not even realize that they may be comparing themselves to us.

Maybe the woman with the spotless home wishes she had kids that were still in diapers.

Maybe the person spending money carelessly wishes they weren't so far into debt.

Maybe that beautiful-sounding soprano wishes she had a mostly smooth tone rather than so much vibrato.

Maybe the successful blogger wishes that things were simple again like when they first started.

Then I realize that I am truly blessed.

I am blessed to have a wonderful family & extended family.

I am blessed to have happy, healthy little children

that someday won't be so little.

I have the chance to stay at home to help them learn & grow.

To watch them reach for the stars & follow their dreams.

To watch them become the amazing grown-ups that I know they will someday be.

I have so much to be grateful for

and when I count my blessings I feel a thousand times better.

I just wanted to say thank you, Kimmie.

You are wonderful.

You are enough.

xoxo

There are so many other inspirational posts by Kimmie at Hello M[ess]

& by other bloggers that I sometimes want to write more than a mere comment on.

I think I may do this whole commenting on their blog through my blog thing more often.

We'll see...

Thankful Thursday: Service

I started this post back in October,
but for whatever reason couldn't get myself to finish it until just now.
I feel that it is important that I still post it even though so much time has passed.

This post is about 2 different kinds of service that we experienced within the past few months.

Gram's funeral service

& also the service that has been provided to us by the community here in Northeast Indiana.

If you follow me on instagram you probably have already seen some of these pictures.

Gram's funeral was held on Friday, October 25th.
The viewing was the night before at this really cool old building in town.
It was 120 years old & had really neat architecture that she would have loved.

At the funeral,
we had an opening song,
"Nearer, My God, to Thee"
followed by an opening prayer.
My sisters gave talks on the Plan of Salvation
then sang "I Am a Child of God" with Little Dudeman & Little Princess.
Hubby read a memoir that one of Gram's friends that couldn't make it sent to him,
then he read an absolutely beautiful eulogy that he wrote.
After that, I was supposed to sing her favorite hymn,
"How Great Thou Art",
but I got tonsillitis & lost my voice a couple days before she passed away
most likely due to stress, fatigue, & such little sleep.
My singing voice hadn't fully recovered by the date of the funeral
(it took about a month to completely come back),
so we changed it from a solo to an intermediate song last second
that way everyone would get to sing it instead of me straining my voice
& sounding like a frog going through puberty.
The closing remarks were given by our bishop,
then we all sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again"
& had a closing prayer.

This entire time we were extremely blessed
to have such great support from our friends at church,
& also from some wonderful ladies from MOPS.

When Gram went into the hospital for the mystery abdominal pain,
we went as a family to visit her every single day.
But Thursday when she went into cardiac arrest & was moved over to the ICU,
the kids weren't able to go back to see her so I stayed home with them.
As things progressed, I realized that I needed to be at the hospital with Justin.
He had been there almost every second of every day since Thursday
& it was hard for him to see his mom like that.
He had so much to deal with & we both needed each other.
I called a few people from church Sunday morning
to see if I could drop the kids off that afternoon after church
(our ward at church meets from 10-1)
Nobody picked up because they were probably busy getting their kids ready.
So I called Heather, my wonderful friend/neighbor on Sunday morning
to see if there was any way that she could watch our kids.
She said that she had church obligations in the morning & other things going on that afternoon,
but that she would call around & figure something out.
A little while later she showed up at my door just to talk.
I was crying, stressed, & I must have stunk pretty bad
because she offered to stay a while to watch the kids so I could take a relaxing shower.
While I was in the shower, she played with the kids & cleaned up a bit.
She's the best.
Seriously.
We are extremely lucky to live next door to their sweet family.
She found someone from MOPS that was willing to come over & watch the kids for me,
but I also got a call back right after I got out of the shower from someone in the bishopric at church.
I had called to see if there was anyone that could swing by the hospital to give Justin a priesthood blessing.
He had found two brethren that were available to head there before church.
He was calling me to get the room number
& to see if I needed someone to watch the kids so I could be there with Justin.
He said they could stay there as late as we needed.
It's like he was reading my mind.
He was definitely being guided by the spirit.
He said if I could drop the kids off at the church building
they could go to nursery & then they could go home with a family in the ward.
Then they could give me a priesthood blessing while I was there.
I came downstairs to tell Heather the new plan & to tell her thank you.
While she helped me get the kids dressed for church,
she told me that she would talk to some people at MOPS to get meals set up on takethemameal.com.
When I mentioned that people from my church would probably want to bring meals too,
she gave me info to pass along about the site so that they could sign up if they wanted to.
That way everyone could see when meals were being brought & what meals they were bringing.
Such an awesome site!
I gave her a hug & left to drop the kids off at church.
My friend Randi was waiting by the door to help me in with the kids,
as well as two brethren that helped with the carseats
& then gave me a priesthood blessing so I could be on my way.
A couple sisters from church stopped by the hospital later that evening
to see Gram & to see how we were doing.
I spent the rest of the day at the hospital with Justin,
then picked up the kids late that night.
Monday morning I dropped them off with another friend from church,
who was willing to watch them all day as well.
That morning is when we found out Justin had to make the hardest decision of his life.
My stepmom flew into town later that night.
I stopped by the house to pick up a change of clothes for Justin before picking my mom up at the airport.
When I pulled into the driveway I noticed that our neighbors had mowed our lawn for us.
Have I mentioned that we have the best neighbors in the world?
While I was there, a member of the bishopric from church that lives near us
stopped by to check on us to see if there was anything we needed.
After talking for a few minutes & thanking him for the generosity of our ward,
I went to pick up my mom.
She was able to watch the kids Tuesday & Wednesday so I could be with Justin.
On Tuesday before I headed to the hospital,
a couple of sisters from church stopped by unannounced to bring us lunch & see how we were doing.
Our bishop came by the hospital on Tuesday night to visit Gram & see how we were holding up,
then assisted while Justin gave his mom a priesthood blessing.
After she passed away,
friends from church offered to watch the kids so we could go through some of her belongings.
Ladies from MOPS & church came by on Mon, Wed, & Fri for a few weeks to bring us dinner.
Our ward at church provided a small luncheon for family & close friends after the funeral services.
People from our ward that had never even met her attended her funeral.
Everyone's kindness and generosity warmed my heart
& brought extra comfort and peace in that time of need.
There are so many good people out there,
& I am still overwhelmed by all of the caring people in our community that I encounter each day.
I really want to be able to pay it forward someday.
My heart is full.
I feel so blessed.

xoxo

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving!
I've done the month of gratitude challenge on Facebook before
& I enjoyed remembering how many blessings I truly have.
This year I wanted to do things a little differently
by creating a somewhat vague alphabetized list on the blog.
My plan is to revisit each of these blessings at some point throughout this next year
& delve a little deeper as to why I am grateful for them in separate posts.
I will add to the list as I think of other broad topics of gratitude.
Things I'm grateful for...

- animals
- atonement
- bed
- books
- church
- clothes
- colors
- electricity
- entertainment
- extended family
- fall / autumn
- food
- friends
- health
- Heavenly Father
- Holy Ghost
- home
- Hubby
- hygiene
- imagination
- in-laws

- Jesus Christ
- knowledge 

- Little Dudeman

- Little Princess
- military
- moving
- music
- nature

- parents
- service

- siblings
- sight
- smells
- sound
- spring
- summer
- taste
- technology
- thermostat
- touch
- traditions
- transportation
- travel

- water

- weather
- winter

What are YOU grateful for?

xoxo

SoCal to the Hoosier State

You may or may not have already read that we're moving, but either way, here's the story:
Hubby recently accepted an offer for a job transfer to Northeast Indiana.
That's right...
We're moving from Sunny SoCal to the Midwest at the end of June.
Needless to say, we've been extremely busy packing & trying to get our home ready to sell.
You wouldn't happen to know anyone that wants to buy a house in the SoCal desert near Palm Springs, would you?
Didn't think so.
Drats.

We knew that we wanted to move before Little Dudeman started school, but we honestly didn't think it would be this soon, & we were planning on moving somewhere with a comfortable climate all year round...
We didn't want any more 115+ degree convection oven summers, but we weren't looking for bitter cold winters either.
So why Indiana?
Well, the schools in the Midwest are great & everything kept pulling us back that direction.

A few years ago, we found out that the LDS church was building a temple in Indianapolis & we knew we wanted to go to the dedication once it was finished.

We went to Hubby's 10 year high school reunion a couple years ago.
That was my first time visiting Indiana & seeing where he grew up.
I could see us living there,
in the distant future.

He kept seeing job postings for Indiana, but ignored them since we didn't think we would be able to move out there at the time.

This is where it starts to get interesting...
A long-time family friend that he & his mom knew mailed us something out of the blue back in December.
She happens to be a realtor in Indiana.
They hadn't stayed in touch really.
In fact, they hadn't talked in YEARS.
She had no idea we were in California or that Hubby was married with 2 kids.
She just was thinking about Hubby & his mom and decided to try to contact them.
When we got the mail she had sent we were a little confused as to how she found us & why.
It was a cute calendar from the real estate company she works for.

When he heard that they were building a regional office for his work out in Indianapolis we thought to ourselves yet again, "Why have we seen so many things about Indiana lately?"

We received yet another real estate related letter in the mail from our realtor friend in Indiana.
We started thinking either she wants us to call her or she is desperate for business.
Turns out she didn't know if it was really us & was hoping we would contact her so they could catch up.
We still didn't get around to calling her, because things had been a little busy over here.

Then the job post opened up yet again, & we started piecing things together.
Maybe we were supposed to move there...
So we prayed.
Everything felt right even though we were confused.
So we started looking at houses online & got in contact with our realtor friend.
She's wonderful. (:
Then the company decided they wanted us in a different part of Indiana a couple hours away.
It was hard hearing that at first since we wanted to be near people we knew.
We wanted to be in a more familiar area.
But this would be a new adventure for all of us.
Although it was not where we had originally thought we would be,
we started feeling more & more right about where we were going.

Throughout this moving process, we've noticed a lot of hidden blessings:
Our Disneyland annual passes expired at the beginning of May.
We knew we weren't going to renew them because the prices had gone up $170/person
and we would have to pay for Little Dudeman from now on as well.
If Disneyland hadn't raised their prices that much,
we probably would have continued getting our annual passes every year & never moved away from SoCal.
Bittersweet.
So we set aside money to do Legoland, Knotts, & San Diego Zoo passes instead.

When we found out about the move, we already had that money set aside that we could now put towards moving expenses.

We found YNAB back in December.
It has helped us budget better & save more money for moving expenses
rather than going further into credit card debt because of the move.

We received a check from our insurance company out of the blue.
Apparently we paid too much when my wisdom teeth were removed back in 2011...
More money to help with moving expenses.

We have a bunch of wonderful Young Women in our ward at church.
We have been extremely blessed to have the help from a couple of them that are graduating this year.
One of them needed service hours to graduate early,
and both of them needed service hours to receive their Honor Bee charm.
I get their help & get to see their smiling faces multiple times each week,
they get service hours for watching my kids and helping me pack & clean.
Win-win. (:

I won't miss the excruciatingly hot summers or the high gas prices,
but I will miss a lot of things...

Disneyland

the ocean

warm winters
our big kitchen
DHS mineral water
In-N-Out
Costco

Nani
our ward family
the office staff of our pediatrician & other doctors

all the other wonderful people I've met out here

Although I'm super stressed about how little time we have to get everything done,
and how we don't have a buyer for our house yet,
and how we don't know where we will live when we get there,
and so many other stressful little details about the move,
I truly am excited about our new adventure.

I'm looking forward to...

Culvers
grass
seasons
better schools

making new friends
Hubby being less stressed after work

I know it looks like I will miss more than I'm looking forward to,
but that's part of the adventure that comes with moving.

You never know all the great things in store for your future.
You learn them as you go,
enjoy them while they last,
and embrace them once they're past.
xoxo

Update: We moved

Kuzco Rafiki

Gratitude Journal - Little Dudeman

11/2/11 (fb) - "Day 2: I am thankful for Little Dudeman & for all the joy he brings to my life! He's so stinkin' adorable & always puts a smile on my face! He's gonna be one awesome big broha (:"

__________________________________________________♥__________________________________________________

4/17/13 - Let me rephrase that... He IS one awesome big broha!

He knew his little sister's name before she was born.
He would hug my tummy & give her kisses all the time.
It was absolutely precious.
When our Little Princess was born he would run to her when she was crying to make sure she was okay.
When he's sick, he asks me what she is doing, & wants her to stay where he can see her.
He reads to her, sings with her, & dances with her.
He loves to play with her and make her laugh & smile.
She wants to be just like him.
Sure, they get on each other's nerves every now & then;
but they love each other.
A lot.

He's absolutely adorable.
So is Little Princess, but I'll save that for another post...

Some of his signature sayings when he was younger:

"Goygoygoy."
"Oh yes."

Other fun tidbits about Little Dudeman:
He was born right on his due date.
Hubby reeeally wanted to name him Kuzco Rafiki, but I felt like the name just didn't suit him.
He knows his ABCs & CBAs.
He's small for his age - almost 3 & he wears 18 month clothes.
He is the sweetest & smartest little boy I know.

He is supposed to have eye muscle surgery for strabismic amblyopia in the morning.
The surgery will be about 45 minutes & he will be completely out for it.
Although I'm sure he will be fine, I still worry.
I hate seeing him miserable.
I am hoping for a quick recovery & that he won't be in a lot of pain.
I want him to be back to his normal, chipper, cheerful self as soon as possible.
Thoughts & prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Gazpacho

Gratitude Journal - My Hubby

11/2/11 (fb) - I am thankful for Justin & for all that he does for our family! He is such a wonderful daddy, & an amazing husband! I'm so lucky to have him for eternity!!!

__________________________________________________♥__________________________________________________

1/15/13 - Once upon a time, back when I was in high school, my Dad & I would have Daddy/Daughter counsel dates from time to time. Sometimes we would just chat at home, & sometimes we would go out for ice cream or something else. During one of our stay-at-home chats when we were talking about boys, I distinctly remember him telling me that the name of my future husband would be Gazpacho.

Yep...
Cold tomato-vegetable soup.

I, being a teenage girl at the time laughed off the idea that I would ever meet anyone with the name of Gazpacho or anyone that would even want to go by the nickname of Gazpacho for the sake of marrying me. Besides, I had other plans. I had my silly teenage infatuations & had no intentions of marrying young anyway. (When I was still in elementary school I had once said that I wasn't going to start dating until I was 30. That was caught on tape & it makes me laugh every time I think about it since here I am in my mid-20's & I'm married with 2 kids.) I didn't even like Gazpacho, so I wouldn't be attracted to anyone named Gazpacho. But things changed. I grew up. I went to college & met the love of my life.

Don't be fooled by that last statement though, I didn't meet him at college. I met him online.

But I didn't meet him on an online dating service. We met on MySpace. He was bored & flipping through random profiles one day when he saw this pic of me drinking this energy drink called Bawls...

He sent me a message on Valentine's Day 2006 (which I have framed in our hallway) asking where I found them (since my profile said that we were both in Tucson & he hadn't seen them since he had lived in the midwest). I explained to him that I was going to college at BYU-Idaho & that I found them at one of the gas stations out there. From that first message he sent I had no idea that we would get married or that our friendship would really go anywhere. After all, it was a long distance relationship, we had never met, & he wasn't my ideal husband either since I wanted to be married in the temple and he wasn't a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That didn't stop me from dating him because I was truly in love with him; but somewhere deep, down inside I knew that I wouldn't feel quite right about marrying him knowing that we wouldn't be able to be sealed for time & all eternity in the temple and that I wouldn't have a priesthood holder in the home. We continued talking, eventually met, fell in love, I invited him to church, he started taking discussions with the missionaries and got baptized, & the rest is history! I'm really grateful that he took the time to pray about his decision to join the church and that he gained his own testimony instead of just getting baptized for me. He actually helped me strengthen my testimony and grow closer to our Heavenly Father through his example, & we've been helping each other do that ever since. Once we were engaged, I told him about Gazpacho & I guess he was in love with me enough to take upon him the nickname.

One of the best days of my life was September 7th, 2007.
That was the day we were sealed in the San Diego temple for time & all eternity.
I simply cannot express the joy I felt that day when I saw him across the altar knowing that we would be together forever!

I have yet to try gazpacho (the soup), but I think my Dad was right in a sense.
You see, I used to be an extremely picky eater & never thought I would like gazpacho. I'm still not much of a soup person so I like to think that my hubby is more like this Raspberry Kiwi Gazpacho dessert (;
In all seriousness though, I married someone that I never thought I would marry & am growing to love him more and more every day! He's better than I ever imagined my hubby would be!
I'm so grateful that he sent me that MySpace message almost seven years ago, because whether he realized it at the time or not, he has made a huge impact on my life and I definitely would not be the person I am today without him. I love him with all my heart & feel extremely blessed to be his eternal companion.

xoxo