What A Difference A Year Makes

Exactly one year ago Darik woke me up too early in the morning.  I had just arrived from virginia the day before (Ellie and I took 8 days to drive cross country).  Darik told me, my very first morning in Rexburg in our new home, that the power had gone out an hour ago and that it was -15* outside and it was probably a good idea to stay in bed.  I peeked out from under my blankets, looked at him with bleary eyes, muttered "ugh, I hate you!" and crawled back under the blankets.  The house hadn't been unpacked, I didn't know where anything was, and much unpacking and work lay ahead for me:

You see.  I wasn't happy to be here.  I accepted that this is where God wanted us to be, but that didn't mean I was happy with God's will.   It's been a beautiful, brutal year (brutiful for you Momastery fans out there).  Through hours and hours of thought, meditation, and prayer -- what has happened is a miracle.

January 16, 2014, started with a smile.  I woke up to snuggles in bed.  I played a video on youtube about a NYC street artist to wake up little L (she's a slow waker-upper like her mama), I took a shower, fed my family breakfast, made lunch, and got them out the door on their way before a friend I v.teach dropped off her 3 little girls for me to watch for a little while.  I played blocks, got some more cuddles, and in general had fun having littles in my house again.  When they left I got dinner ready in the crock pot.  I went into work to prepare the audit books for my boss' presentation tonight in Iona.  Came home and was super-productive working on my 2011 blog book, partitioning and formatting my hard drives, backing up my data, and doing the laundry.  It was an extremely productive day.  Darik got home from work and I was happy.

I figured out that it not only takes service, and changing your attitude, BUT if there are circumstances that could increase your happiness, and you can do something about it.  Do it.  And so I have.  I'm going through a learning curve at my job, but I like what I'm doing, I'm engaged and doing hard things.  I'm staying in contact with my dear friends from Virginia (and praying for a free plane to go visit to drop in my lap from the friend fairy).  I've made really good connections here with a few friends who understand my brand of crazy.  And I'm happy.  Really Happy. 
So I guess what I've learned is to appreciate and create my own brand of happy.  It's all around us, sometimes you just need to notice it.