the "happy book" report

I was fortunate enough to be a part of this amazing mail-around organized by the beautiful jamie ridler. we had one week with the book and lucky me I was first on the list! the book is chock full of ideas, activities and happy thoughts. the "happy book" is a place to gather your happy moments. I really enjoyed reading through the book and adding my thoughts and art work. I shared it with complete strangers and my husband. I did some of the activities in the book. I figured the best way to share it with you was to show some pics so hear goes...

happy birthday!!!!

it's yer birthday, gonna party like it's yer birth - WHA? not yer birthday? no problem! not mine either, but I thought I would share the birthday cards I came up with for this month. enjoy!

start with some watercolor paper (I like the texture) and cut it into 4" x 5 1/4" pieces. pick out some stamps (I used a foam alphabet) and some paint colors. I picked five different colors. yummy!

stamp out happy on the card with the different letter and colors. set aside to dry.

meanwhile grab some colorful 8 1/2 x 11 card stock and chop it in half. you now have a piece that is 8 1/2 x 5 1/2. fold this in half. voila, card base!

using a fine tip black pen write "birthday" across the colored "happy". drag out the letters a bit. attach this piece to the front of your card bases and presto! happy birthday cards done!

come back tomorrow for more happy moments with "the happy book" report.

full wolf moon dreamboard

beautiful jamie has inspired me to join her in creating full moon dreamboards. january was my first dreamboard and if I "reflect" on how my month went I can truly say "well". I ate many more fresh foods and less animal products. I made choices on a daily basis of how to be kinder to myself. some of those choices included stopping and thinking about why I felt the need to beat myself up after a 90 percent healthy meal. I felt that the 10 percent was awful and how could I do that. so I stopped and asked myself why? closing the door to negative self talk! it has been a process, but one that I am moving forward with and that makes me happy.

accepting that I am not alone. ooohhhh! hard one for ME! BUT and this is a big BUT I am trying and I am reaching out. I am making connections that are healthy and leaning on people when I need to. I guess it has to do with trust. I have for a long time not been trusting myself and so in turn I guess I figured out I couldn't trust anyone.

I have been reading more. lots more. stories of women and their struggles, recipe books, art technique books. my fave read as of late - I am a woman finding my voice by janet quinn. I have it in my purse and whenever I am waiting at an appointment I pull it out and read a few pages. very inspiring and beautifully written.

being braver, getting outside, seeing the beauty and being comfortable in my own skin kind of all came together when I decided to go back to the beginning and join a learn to run clinic. last year I really neglected my body. lived with a lot of pain and ate poorly all with the excuse that the universe had handed me crap and so I might as well feel just as crappy. why should I be so friggin' happy when the whole world around me was crumbling down.

and so I began. it was scary at first. I had not run since my injury in vegas. and I am running in the cold. two strikes right off the bat! but I am doing it and I am enjoying the outdoors as it is truly beautiful in the winter.

for the month of february and the full wolf moon I want to howl out my desires:

- more love of self and others

- less guilt for putting myself first

- accepting that there is nothing wrong with me

- filling my heart with joy by making time to make stuff

- giving gifts to myself and others - just because

- continuing to be brave in my discovery of self

- gathering with friends and family to celebrate and support

what desire are you howling? create a dreamboard and join us!

my friday happy...

joey makes my day just about every day. he has such an awesome personality. he loves his toys and he loves to cuddle. and as I write this he apparently also has an affection for toilet paper. JOEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

my thursday happy...

I took a trip back to the past and made some paper. I used to love to make handmade paper and even sold it in stores and at craft sales. I forgot how relaxing it could be to dip the deckle in the water and feel the slurry between your hands. moments later you have a beautiful piece of handmade paper. fun!

my wednesday happy...

can I have two? first I braved the elements along with a couple of my crazy peeps and one beautiful dog. it truly was beautiful running in the cold. not the cold, but the company and the view. gotta love our river valley!

the other happy was our running group after christmas luncheon. this time we ended up at skinny legs and cowgirls. beautiful company and yummy eats! I love seeing us all together. we have been meeting every wednesday morning for years and their gift of friendship and support is such a treasure.

my tuesday happy...

a friend of mine who I hadn't talked to in quite a while called up asking if I wanted some broken marble to play around with. maybe make some magnificent art piece out of. and so began our chat and we both ended up in tears as she listened to me tell the story of my mom and her tell me that her mom had the same disorder. the calm that came over me after our conversation was unbelievable. I FINALLY had a real person who has lived through it to talk to about so many of my fears and ask questions to and get some real answers. what a blessing! I truly think that the marble bookend falling and breaking into pieces was no accident.

my monday happy...

dan had us over for supper. salmon steaks and rice pilaf with homemade beer. it was delicious! he has had some hurdles to jump lately, but he has done it with grace and maturity beyond his years and man can he cook! so proud of him.

and there ya have it. not just one moment of happy, but several this week. good week. very good week! so thankful for all the happy moments and the people who contributed to my happy.

wanna share your happy with us? head over to the happy book.

IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

a big bucket of happy landed in my mailbox! so excited to open it up and get started! thank you jamie!

I wanted to start off by sharing my "happy moment" from last week:

I was fortunate enough to attend a retreat this past october and one of our assignments was to write a letter to ourselves and in turn write a little note for all the group members and tuck it into their envelopes. the catch was that we were then to leave our letters with the organizer and she would mail them back to us in about three months. what a treat to receive my letter that I had written to myself and had forgot what I had written! then in turn to receive six more beautiful letters filled with love and hope, promise and support. and our amazing host angela wrote the above words on my envelope. such a unique group of women with whom I each shared special moments. this was truly "my happy" for last week.

hey YOU!

spread the love!

have ya heard?

I am part of the first ever "the next chapter mail-around"! yay ME! this time around we will be using the happy book by rachel kempster and meg leder.

jamie is someone I met while doing the "wreck this journal" as part of "the next chapter". SHE is responsible for having me take my journal in the shower! gasp!

what is she wanting me to do this time? fill a journal style book with happiness. things that make me happy, positive thoughts and fun things to do to so that I can put that negativity aside and then let it go on to the next happy contributor. perfect! just what I need.

I am not alone on this assignment. I am a member of the glee group. hee hee! go check it out! you can participate too by sharing your happy with all of us each friday.

looking forward to receiving the book and sharing my progress with you.