A Little Happiness

The little things. That list that comes to your mind when you think of something small that makes you happy. Whether it be a walk in the park or spending an hour or two on Pinterest, even on the worst of days there is always something on this list that can make you feel a bit better. Here's my list (In no particular order!) what's on yours?

• Watching the Duggars (19 kids and Counting!)
• Coffee
• Ice Cream
• Pinterest...don't judge! You like it too.
• Reading
• Not doing anything...at all. Preferably in my pajamas.
• MUSIC!
• A call or text form a friend
• Doin crafty things
• Baking....even though I really REALLY suck at it.
•  My church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Fuzzy Socks and my Fuzzy Penguin pants. :)
• A bouquet of flowers
• A smiling face
• A hug

Make your own list.  You not only get a little smile yourself, but you realize how thankful you should be for the little things.

'Round Here...

You can get a variety of these things in other cities, but in my personal opinion Memphis wins first place with the following:

Graceland

Mud Island

The Memphis Zoo

Beale Street

The Peabody

Elvis

BBQ
The Mississippi RiverWalk

There are countless things you can experience only in Memphis. In fact, when it comes down to it I really like our city. When you Google "Memphis" the history of the city, the tourist attractions, the most recent news, and a handful of pictures pop up. What DOESN'T show up is what I'm writing about today.

Our weather.

Only in Memphis will I find dandelions growing on our front lawn in the middle of January, will it be 60 degrees in the middle of February, and be snowing a week later. Seriously! Yesterday it was 75 degrees and today it's a little below 50. Our weather is bipolar and absolutely insane. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we come back after SPRING break in a few weeks and have a snow day in March. That's specifically because I live in Memphis. :)

Music. Tag! You're it!

There is this tag going around.  So name your top ten favorite music artists before reading the questions below.

1.) Tenth Avenue North
2.) Carrie Underwood
3.) Jesus Culture
4.) Jack Johnson
5.) Sugarland
6.) Francesca Battistelli
7.) Taylor Swift
8.) Lady Antebellum
9.) Rob Thomas
10.) Chris Daughtry

1.) What was the fist song you ever heard by 6? Free To Be Me
2.) What's your favorite song by 8?  I Run To You
3.) What impact has 1 left on your life? That I am more than the sum of my past mistakes because I've been remade by my heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally
4.) What is your favorite lyric of 5's? Ain't no rhyme or reason/No complicated meaning/Ain't no need to over think it/Let go laughing/Life don't go quite like you planned it/We try so hard to understand it/Irrefutable, indisputable/The fact is psssh it happens
5.) How many times have you seen 4 live? Zero
6.) What is your favorite song of 7? Tim McGraw
7.) Is there any song of 3 that makes you sad? Nope
8.) What is your favorite song by 9?   Little Wonders, Problem Girl, or Streetcorner Symphony
9.) How did you first get into 2? American Idol! And I got her first cd that year for Christmas
10.) How did you first get into 3? I heard a couple of them at church, my youth minister played music by that band at youth group before we started alot
11.) What is your favorite song by 4?  Upside Down
12.) How many times have you seen 9 live? zero :(
13.) What is a good memory concerning 10? American Idol and jamming out in dad's car
14.) Are there any songs from 8 that make you sad? Not that I can think of
15.) What is your favorite song of 1's?  By Your Side!!! Times, You Don't Owe Me, You Are More, and Hold My Heart are my faves too. And All the Pretty Things, Oh My Dear, and Let It Go. Ummm lets just say all of them. In love with their lyrics
16.) How did you become a fan of 10? He was dad's favorite contestant on American Idol that season, and we were just pulling for him the whole time.

A Magical World...

As much as I would love to say I wrote this, I did not. :) It's copied from page 35 of "James: Faith Under Pressure" by Pam Gibbs. (That's the Bible Study we're doing in the high school girl's focus group) I'm really enjoying it so far! Anyway, this is by far the cutest and most accurate thing I think she's talked about so far, so I thought I'd share it!

There's just something unique about visiting Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

The minute you walk into the amusement park, it's like you've stepped into another world. A world full of princesses, castles, and music. Beasts and their beauties. A silly old bear and Christopher Robin. In the Magic Kingdom, little girls become princesses, and little boys turn into pirates, It really does seem ,ie the happiest place on earth - a place were there is no mounting deficit, no wars in the Middle East, and no political lobbyists peddling their brand of truth.

(Oh, except for this paragraph...I wrote that because she talked about taking her six year old to Disney. I can't really relate to that, so I used my exp instead)
Disney World IS a magical place. I've been 3 or 4 times and each trip holds a special memory. You get to eat breakfast with Cinderella, ride "goofy" rides, and enjoy classic rides like Dumbo the Flying Elephant. When your at Disney World everything else seems distant and unreal...until you come home.

At the end of every trip you have to return to real life - where friends say hurtful things, dogs run away, and mean people sometimes go to jail. No one can stay in Magic Kingdom forever. Life isn't perfect; most of the time it's just hard. Tough stuff happens. People will hurt you. Your life will get turned upside down by situations you never expected.

While the kings in the fairy tales are just imaginary, the King who rules over the world is real, and He rules over every circumstance and trial you'll ever face. Jesus meant it when He said that He would be with you "always." (Matt. 28:20)

The Superbowl

I don't understand football. For the most part I don't understand any sport when it comes down to it, but I ESPECIALLY don't understand football.
My father adores football. He can pretty much tell you anything about any team, who won any Superbowl, who coaches a team, etc. For the past few years around football season I've said the same thing. "This is the year where I'll actually sit down and watch a game." Just. One. Game.
Well, once again this did not happen. Sometimes I'd make it through a half a quarter though. I did that at least twice this season. I even watched the entire first quarter of the Superbowl....but that was just because I wanted to see the new m&m commercial. Don't judge.
I did learn what a "down" was, that some of those helmets have visor things, and I did actually cheer when the team scored a point..I just cheered for the "wrong team." (I still think the Patriots and the Giants kind of look alike...) Hey, I knew what a touchdown was! You should be proud of me.

Well, there's always next year! :)

Had to share...

If you know me at all, you know how much I love reading blogs. Writing is fun but I love love love reading them! "Penny Thoughts" by Jessica Nabakowski is one of my favorites! (I posted a link at the bottom of this post.) I copied and pasted her most recent post because it is one of the most true and accurate things I have ever read. :) Hope you like it!

He's not real.

Just this second, I was watching a music video for a country song, and found myself wondering, "Why don't I have that kind of relationship?"

Movies, books, songs, tv- they make us long for something that isn't real. Nicholas Sparks makes even the best guys look like jerks. When I read Dear John, I cried for John Tyree. I thought how stupid that girl was for not waiting on him. I said I would have waiting for him. If that's the case, I'm going to be waiting a long time.

There are good guys out there, lots of them. I'm dating on right now, but even he doesn't live up to the standard our books and movies put in place. Even he doesn't live up to the standards of my "dream boy."

Girls, we can't change bad boy. We can't make him right and good and honorable. Guys don't walk around and write love songs for us, they don't hold boom boxes outside our windows. They don't remodel houses in our honor and then say "it was never over," when we return to them. They don't sit beside our bed all night just to make sure we sleep okay. They don't do that. That's. Not. Real.

It's like this- we are not "dream girl" material. Well, I'm not anyways. That good guy I'm dating will be the first to tell you how much I complain. He'll tell you how irrational I can be, how nothing is EVER my fault, how difficult I sometimes am. If I'm not the girl in one of those songs/ books/ movies, how can I expect him to be the guy in one of those movies? If I'm not perfect size, perfect attitude, perfect girl, why would he be that version of guy?

Next time you find yourself wondering where your Noah, John, Chuck, Edward, Jacob, the list goes on, is, think about what guy, any guy, you actually know in real life that acts the way those characters do. I'd bet you can't find an answer.

Don't ask what's missing in your relationship. Don't ask where your dream guy is at. Really think about the things you do have in a relationship, or think about the things that are actually really important. Ask yourself what's going to matter in 10 years when you're waking up beside him every morning. It'll make you thankful for what you have instead of ungrateful for what you can't seem to find. It'll make you realize the difference in a movie character and a real-life guy. It'll make you realize where your expectations are and where they should be.

Give the guys a chance. There's no such thing as a real Edward.

-Jessica Nabakowski

http://jessicanab.blogspot.com/

Let's pretend....

...my alarm would set itself, so that I don't forget to. 

I would be able to sleep in until at least 8:00 every day.

I would be on time for everything.

I wouldn't spend 15 minutes on most mornings looking for my other shoe.

I would have time for a REAL breakfast in the morning. (not a pack of mini muffins on the way to school.)

I made Straight As in all of my classes without even trying.

I spoke Spanish fluently...that way Spanish II would be a breeze.

I could completely ignore drama going on around me...believe me, that would be nice.

I would stick up for myself.

I was 20lbs lighter.

I had more free time.

I made better use of my free time.

Facebook wasn't an addicting site...that way, I might actually do something productive DURING my free time.

That I had a job to pay for the fun things to do when I have free time.

That I do not ever procrastinate. (HA!)

That I finished every project a week before they were actually due.

That stresses about my future did not exist.

That all my ducks were in a perfectly straight row, and that I knew exactly what to expect when I woke up in the mornings.

Like I said though, we're only pretending. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you had a nice day!