52 Weeks of Happiness :: Week 9

Last weekend I had the honor of speaking at the
the La Leche League of Georgia Breastfeeding Parenting Conference.
It was awesome for a hundred reasons.

I felt like I was seeing my name in bright lights.
Even if it was a local conference,
I felt pretty special that I was a part of it.



After years of bearing my soul on this blog,
it felt fantastic to be recognized.

As I gathered my materials
and prepared for my session,
it became clear to me
that I might actually have something of value to say.

It was so much fun to open
the Conference booklet and see the description of my talk.
This little ol' stay at home mom
managed to write her way into something pretty amazing.



I pushed myself to stand in front of complete strangers
and talk for an hour and fifteen minutes.

It was thrilling and terrifying.
The ladies in the room and I really connected.
They laughed and some ladies
even got a little misty when I shared my perspective on motherhood.

A few ladies told me that I had inspired them
to see motherhood in a new way.

It was such a gift because they may not have realized
how inspired I was by them.

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Want to join me in my quest
to scout out happiness for a whole year?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.
Then, steal my button and include it in your post.
Don't forget to link up to Mr. Linky.

Winner : Space Cadets Edition

We have a winner for this week's installment of Freakshow Friday. Please take note that my super hilarious and non biased best friend was the judge. Here are the top three in no particular order.

Linda D.
Poor Edna, she just couldn't remember where
to wear her necklace after that strange Acid trip in the 70's.

Vandy J
When they missed the rocket trip to mars,
the girls decided to improvise with a band trip to Saturn.

Linda D.
When Sally told the members of the wedding band
that she wanted a reception filled with
starry, dreamy, ethereal music,
she had no idea they'd take it literally.

And the winner is...

Linda D.

Poor Edna, she just couldn't remember where
to wear her necklace after that strange Acid trip in the 70's.

Linda d
is the funniest blogger in all the land.
She doesn't have a blog

but she's still hilarious!
Put your reward on your Facebook page, Linda!

Thanks to all the people who played.
Tune in this Friday for another installment of Freakshow Friday!

Freakshow Friday : Space Cadets Edition

It's time for another installment of Freakshow Friday. Where I ask my readers to come up with a caption or story for a funny photo. My best friend will be the judge and she's one hilarious freakaziod. So, bring it! Here is this week's photo, I am so confused.

They thought that their band was out of this world.

You got a better one for me?

If so, you may just when this awesome award
and have bragging rights forever.
Oh...do I ever have an award for you!
You will win this brand spankin' new award!!

If you win then I'll link up to your
Blog and make a big deal
about how funny you are.
Simply leave your funny caption or story
in my comments section.

The winner will be announced on Monday.

The Road to Hana

With our anniversary fast approaching,
I have been reminising about our honeymoon.
We went to Maui, it was like a dream.

One day we journeyed on
The Road to Hana,

which is the name given to the 68-mile long
stretch of Hawaii State Highways 36 and 360.

It's an amazing adventure
that takes you past waterfalls, lagoons,
and so many other beautiful landscapes
that Maui has to offer.

The adventure should not be rushed because
once you get to the little town of Hana,
you will only find a sign, a gas station, and a small church.

You see, the magic of the Road to Hana
is the journey, not the destination.

If you rush to get to Hana,
you will miss all the beautiful views
scattered along the way. 

After we completed our quest,
I decided to take that experience
as a metaphor for how I lived my life.

Even now, as I've journeyed into motherhood
I have kept that experience close to my heart.

I am on my own "Road to Hana"
but mine involves things like cooking dinner, kissing boo boos,
bathing filthy boys, telling bedtime stories,
the list could go on and on.

These are important strolls that must also be taken slowly.

The joy of being a Mom can be missed if
one were to rush through these tasks.

So I take the time to pause
and enjoy the beautiful moments
that I encounter with my children along the way.



If you have ever been on a walk with a child,
you know that children live by this philosophy inherently.
We stop often to poke sticks into holes
or to throw rocks into the woods.

Very often, we have no destination.

Public Humiliation as Punishment

There has been a recent rash of parents
forcing their children to declare their sins in public to teach them a lesson.
Is this genius parenting
or a therapy session waiting to happen?

Tell me your thoughts over at Athens Patch.
Click here to read the article.

Everything is more awesome at Nana and Poppy's House.

Roger went hunting last weekend
so the boys and I packed up and
spent a few nights with my parents while he was gone.

Sure, we could stay home when he leaves
but why would we want to when everything
is so much more awesome over at my parents' house?

There are always home made cookies in the cookie jar.

Griffin is allowed to play video games
until his brains turn to mush
and come oozing out of his ears.

When it's bath time,

the bathtub is filled with a hundred gazillion billion toys.

They get to crawl up in Nana's bed
in a sea of puffy pillows and comfy covers,
to have a bed time snack and watch a movie before they go to bed.

It's not just awesome for the kids,
it's pretty great for me too.

I get foot rubs from my dad,
just like I did when I was a child,
and watch classic movies together
after the kids got to bed.

My dad pretty much gives the
best foot rubs ever!

I even get to sneak in a nap in the middle of the afternoon.
Their guest bedroom is like a cave.
It's dark and cool.
The bed is like a dream.

See what I mean?
It's just so awesome at Nana and Poppy's house!

52 Weeks of Happiness :: Week 8

When I was in high school
I called myself the "flower bandit".
I had an addiction to driving past houses
on my ride home from school,
jumping out of the car,
and picking beautiful flowers from people's yards.

I would show up to my parents' house
with stunning bouquets
and my mother would scold me to no end
for stealing blooms from unsuspecting people.

She eventually had to ground me
if I turned up with a handful
of flowers.

I still have that impulse to this day.
I just can't help it,
it's not my fault that
I love picking flowers so much.

With all the gorgeous wild flowers in bloom,
I've had itchy fingers lately as I drove past
fields filled with tempting flowers.

I just couldn't fight the impulse any longer
and the moment that I had some time to myself,
I had a relapse and gave into my flower bandit ways.

It was so much fun to hunt them down.
I even risked my life getting this Queen Anne's Lace
as it was on the edge of a very busy road.

I said a prayer as I crossed the street...

"Dear God,
Please forgive me for stealing flowers
and don't let me die on the side of the road
while I attempt to steal them.
Amen."

I grasped my bouquet and made a run for it.
Even though all the flowers were on public property
and most of them were pesky weeds,
I still had a blast.

They sure did look beautiful
when I got them home and into a vase.

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Want to join me in my quest
to scout out happiness for a whole year?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.
Then, steal my button and include it in your post.
Don't forget to link up to Mr. Linky.