Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Happiness Project :: First Lost Tooth


So, my little booger lost his first tooth!
He's so proud and feels so big.
I live for these milestones.
I love being the toothfairy.

He's growing up so fast.
I love that little toothless grin, right there.
So sweet!




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to scout out happiness in our lives?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.





Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The Happiness Project :: Catching the apples


So, I got all swept up with life and forgot
to share about the night my mom and I
dropped everything and drove to Atlanta 
to meet one of the most amazing authors, Sarah Addison Allen.

During her lecture, Sarah shared that 
when she was working on her first novel 
she had a pivotal moment as she wrote a scene 
where a character came home after 10 years and 
when she got out of the car an Apple rolled in front of her. 

Sarah then had the idea that a grumpy Apple tree 
had actually thrown it at her
 and the premise of her book "Garden Spells" was born. 
Then when I met her we had this conversation.
 
Me: I'm an aspiring writer, will you write advice with your signature?
Sarah: Oh, so much pressure!
Me: (off the cuff) What about Catch the Apples?
Sarah: (clapping hands) Oh, that's so good!
Me: (with a wink) I'll give you that one.

How cool is that?




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to scout out happiness in our lives?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.




Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Happiness Project :: King of the Castle


Over the years we've kept Griffin's toys
so that Koen could play with them
once his brother outgrew them.
Add that to Koen's own collection
and we have a massive amount of 
castles, batman stuff, and pirate ships.

Koen will drag them all out
and form a village out of them.
He'll play for hours, slaying dragons,
fighting off the evil ogre, 
finding pirate treasure.

I love these simple moments.
When I can hardly walk through the living room
because his imaginative play has taken over.
When the house is messy.
I love hearing the fake explosions and wars waged.

I'm treasuring the time of innocence
 that comes with having a 5-year-old.




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to scout out happiness in our lives?
Simply post a photo of something that
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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The Happiness Project :: The perfect little bookcase


My mom gave me this adorable thrifted bookcase recently
and it makes me super happy.

I'm like a dragon by nature
in that I like to pile up all my creative stuff
and sit amongst it,
like gold in a lair.

I realize I sound slightly crazy here.

It's true, though.
I'm one of those messy creative types
that loves junk all around me.
BUT the situation with my books
was getting way out of hand.

I had to wade through a big ol' stack
to get to my desk.
So, my mom found a place to hold
my resource books and inspiration books
and journals and stuff.
It fits perfectly next to my writing space
and everything is within reach.

It's been so nice to have a little orginization
and I feel much more clear headed
than I thought I would.

It's the little things, people.




Want to join me in my quest
to scout out happiness in our lives?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.







Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The Happiness Project :: A New Year


So I have a hundred gazillion pictures
from our holidays that I could share with y'all
but it seems like ages ago and I'm 
all about moving forward.

So, happy new year!
Not only is this time of year for a fresh start
but I'm feeling energized and ready.

Ready to get this novel published,
(behind the scenes things are happening, I swear).
I'm ready to lose 500 pounds
and have a perfectly clean house.
I'm ready to blog twice day, every day this year.

Okay, most of that won't happen
but I like the possibility of it all.

I'll do my best to meet you here 
on Tuesdays to keep the Happiness Project going
and I miss having this space to document life with my boys
so I'll try to pop in more with photos of our adventures
and not so adventures of everyday life.

Happy 2015.
Let's make it the best one yet!




Want to join me in my quest
to scout out happiness in our lives?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.





Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The Legend of Tomorrow :: Episode 4

When we last left the residents 
of the sleepy town of Tomorrow, 
Helen and Lovelace were having a show down in the woods
while Mindy suffered alone in a dark ally
after being run down by Helen's horse. 


After a heated argument
where Helen confronted Lovelace
of his intentions to leave her for Mindy,
the couple came to their senses
and realized they were more powerful
together than apart.

They fled to the town 
of Yesterday to rob banks
and start a life on the run.


Many years passed,
and everyone in town
assumed that Mindy had run off with Lovelace.

She had really pulled herself up from the ground and ran 
two towns back to a place called The Day After Yesterday
where she finished out her pregnancy in seclusion.

She raised her daughter, Sally
as a single mom.
Working two shifts at the Hunter's Lodge
and barely making enough to scrape by.

After struggling for years,
she decided to best thing 
would be to return to Tomorrow
and drop Sally off at the local church.

She had little choice,
so she moved in the cloak of night,
darkness enveloping her shame. 


But the town gossip, Vicky happened by on her sled
and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw 
Mindy and Sally.

The child was a mirror image of Corbin.
She moved fast to the town square
to share the news.


Trudy and Corbin
were devastated when Mindy
never showed up for her surprise party.

They found comfort in each other
and fell in love.
The two paid a visit to the square every year
on the same day to lament Mindy.

This year would be different
as Vicky shared the news of seeing
Mindy leave Sally at the church
before leaving town.



Shocked, Corbin dumped Trudy
and ran to the arms of his little girl. 

She reminded him so of Mindy 
and he just couldn't stay a moment longer with Trudy.

His heart belonged to Mindy and Sally.


Heartbroken, Trudy packed up previsions
and hopped onto a canoe,
paddling put into the icy waters,
her tears freezing on her cheeks.
to leave the town of Tomorrow.

But a snowstorm was heading her way!


Meanwhile, news was spreading fast
that Lovelace and Helen had been up
to things far more sinister than robbing banks.

Tune in next year to find out...

Does Corbin find Mindy?
Will Trudy make it out there in the cold world?
What are Lovelace and Helen up to?

Monday, December 22, 2014

The Legend of Tomorrow :: Episode 3

When we last left the residents
of the sleepy town of Tomorrow,
Helen had just been given a vial of poison
to use on her philandering husband, Lovelace
and his suspected mistress, Mindy.


As she rode through the town square,
Helen saw Mindy up ahead
and in a fit of passion, kicked her horse into 
a frenzy and he barrelled through town towards her nemesis.


Her horse chased Mindy down a secluded alley
and trampled her to the ground.
She fell over without the slightest scream.

Corbin's baby would surely be lost now.

In a panic, Helen fled the Village of Tomorrow
and left Mindy alone, suffering in isolation.


Hours later, when Lovelace couldn't find Mindy,
he ventured out into the woods to see
if she'd escaped to clear her mind.

He wanted her to move to the town
of Yesterday with him with all of his heart.

He searched well into the night.


Meanwhile, Helen had fled in
such a hurry that she mistakingly
dropped the vial of poison in the snow.

Little Lucy Smith happened upon it
and thought that it was fruit juice,
drinking down the poison in one gulp.

Her knees buckled and she fell to the snow,
the world spinning as she tried to focus her eyes.

Even the ducks were worried about her.


The next morning, a crowd had gathered
in the town square at the request of Corbin and Trudy.

It was Mindy's birthday and they had organized 
an awesome party but Mindy never arrived to
hear them shout "Surprsie!"

It had all been a horrible mistake.


Helen and Lovelace happened upon each other in the woods.

She reached into her pocket for the vial of poison
and realized it was no longer in her pocket.

Lovelace pretended to be excited to see her
but kept one hand on the pistol in his pocket.
He would marry Mindy
even if it meant ending Helen.

Only one of them would leave the woods alive!

Tune in next time to find out...
Did Mindy lose Corbin's baby?
Would little Lucy Smith survive?
Could the guests return all of Mindy's birthday presents for a full refund?
Who survives in the fight between Helen and Lovelace?
All of this and more will be revealed on the next episode of
The Village of Tomorrow.