New Bloggy Goodness

This blog is not really happening anymore.  Or probably ever. I needed something new. More...me. But for those of you who follow me, don't worry! I have a NEW blog!  Better! No, really!  Go. Follow it.  :)


 If you don't, I will miss you all. So do it!


www.laurenslll.blogspot.com

It's a Good Thing

It's a good thing I left my house late the other morning.
It's a good thing I was only stuck in all that traffic and not in the accident that caused it.
It's a good thing even though it might seem like a bad thing at first.

It's a good thing I like to drive.
I sure spend enough time doing it.

Good things = Good life.

This year...

Aren't you all itching for a grand 2010 recap?
No need to sit there biting your nails on the edge of your seat!

Here we go...

In 2010...
1. I got rid of my first car (who also doubled as my first love).
2. I got a brand new car and quickly realized it is the very best car in the world.
3. I lost a friend.
4. We got an adorable new nephew.
5. I began my fourth year of teaching, 
6. I got the best, sweetest, most funny class.
7. I realized I don't miss New York.  Only my family there.
8. I became a vegetarian.
9. We celebrated our 5 year anniversary.
10. I got much better abut blogging  :)
11. We finally joined a bowling team (and placed second!)
12. I achieved one of my dreams of photographing a bolt of lightning.
13. I started a 365 project...and made it to day 26.  ha!
14. I saw my best friend graduate as an RN.
15. I achieved another dream of finally seeing Something Corporate in concert...TWICE.
16. I decided I really don't care for New Year's Eve as a holiday. meh.
17. I fell in love with Josh all over again...every day.

I'm a lucky girl.  I know this. 
Maybe I'm a little spoiled.  Maybe I'm a little high maintenance sometimes.
Maybe I'm not nice to everyone I meet and everyone I know, every single day.

But I know for a fact I live my life the best way I can.
I love.
I laugh.
I give.
I teach.
I learn.
I feel.
I cry.
I comfort.
I work.
I play.
I LIVE.

I'm not making some crazy New Year's Resolution. 
These are the things I'm going to strive to do in 2011.
They're simple.
They're complex.
They're me.

Happy 2011 Everyone!
Let's make it great.

Lost

Lost is defined as the following:

No longer possessed or retained.

I disagree.  

 What about the people we've lost over the years?

They are in our hearts.

I possess the spirit of my loved ones who have gone to another place.

I retain their qualities through laughing and reminiscing.

They are far from lost.

Maybe just stored away somewhere.

All The Little Things

Sometimes it's so strange to think about all the little things that have happened to make us who we are today.

For example, 25 years ago, a woman gave birth to a baby boy on April 18 in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Two weeks later on May 3, across the country in Huntington, New York, a woman gave birth to baby girl.

Now that boy and girl have been married for 5 years.

I don't think we really take the time to single out specific events in our lives. We remember the big events like birthdays, holidays, special occasions. Do we ever think of all the little things we are grateful for?

When we were 16, one of my BFFs and I both applied to Michaels.

I think about the fact that I got the last open position.

If I hadn't been hired, I could have never met my husband.

If my parents hadn't moved our family from New York to Arizona when I was 8, I know I would have turned out a lot different.

I'd be a completely different person today.

I like who I am.

I love the people I know.

Even with the ups and downs in my life...

I wouldn't trade how things have turned out for anything.

Our lives are made up of a lot of small moments, but we only seem to celebrate the big ones.

I think we should start having parties for all the small ones!

The Sun Rises. The Sun Sets.

Each and every day the sun rises and the sun sets.

No matter what happens, it never lets you down.

Life happens all around you.

Be like the sun. 

Rise every morning.

Brighten the day of those around you.

And on days when you just don't feel like shining...

Find the people who make you mad

and give them a pretty wicked sunburn!



Put the Pieces Together

Sometimes you just need to put the pieces together.

Look at what you have and what you've been given and make what you can with all of it.

Some days you need to listen to the Man upstairs and take a hint.

Really listen.  Not everything is loud and clear.

You won't be able to hear it unless you choose to try.

Everything happens for a reason.

2 down...363 to go!

I take pictures all the time and almost every day anyhow, so this isn't too hard.  Yet.

One of the things I do for To Write Love on her Arms is put flyers in places.

Starbucks is the best!

Remember the post about how I am terribly indecisive?

No? Click here to read that one.

Quick recap...

I can make major life decisions with no problem, but I act like I'm ordering my last meal when I go to a restaurant.

Well...I decided I wanted a new shower curtain.
Months went by. Could I decide on one?
No, of course not.

That's just how I am.

But...I finally, yesterday, got one!
Hallelujah!

Yesss!

Ya, half a post about a new shower curtain.
That's just to show you how important the little things in life are.

Life's a Battlefield

Everyday, in everyone's life there are constant battles we have to fight and innumerable battlefields we must charge through.

My usual battles include: (in no particular order)

1. Getting up in the morning. (not because I don't want to face the day, but because I would really rather face it after a few more hours of sleep.)

2. Swearing at the people in the cars around me who have no idea how to drive.

3. Successfully keeping 31 children from hurting themselves (usually  because they were not following the rules) or the feelings of others.

4. Teaching important information, life skills, etc. to my students while maintaining #3.

5. Wanting to cook dinner after I'm so tired from working at numbers 2 and 3 all day.

6. Finding the time and energy to go grocery shopping.

7. Choosing which concerts to go to and which to skip.

8. Finding the time and energy to play with Harley.

9. Keep in close contact with my friends and family that I don't see too often.

10. Keeping my house clean. (It seriously suffers during the school year.)

11. The process of sitting and paying bills. Yuck.

But then...

Right in the middle of all those battles,

you get a PERFECT day.

That was today.

It wasn't easy to get up this morning, but oh well.  I'm giving up on the idea that that will ever be easy!

I got things done.

Stuff taught.

No one hurt themselves or made anyone else cry.

Kelle bought me a sonic drink and french fries for lunch.

We got out of our staff meeting early.

I got texts from almost all my BFFs today.

Harley wasn't all muddy when I got home.

Josh picked up Costa Vida on his way home.

It's so chilly in my house I am getting to wear my new

pink Long Island hoodie.

And now I'm going to go make a healthy,

yet delicious, smoothie for dessert.

It was a good day.

I'm practically giddy just thinking about it all over again!

Have I told you guys I love you?

Well, I do.

After all, Love is the Movement.

C'mon, Get Happy!

Follow it.

The Part you can't slack on is the part that says "Change Something."

I found this flow chart on Kate Voegele's blog and she said she got it from The Happiness Project.

That site is by Gretchen Rubin who write the book

The Happiness Project.

She talks about how you can be happy in different parts of your life and how you can't just wait for happiness to come along.

Amen sista!

 I fully agree and say this often.

We have to make our own destiny.

We decide what we're going to be happy about and what we're going to get upset, jealous or angry about.

Isn't it better to filter out some of the things that make us angry?

Ask yourself "Does this really matter in my life?"

"Does this affect my loved ones safety and true happiness?"

"Will this have a great impact on my family, home or career?"

 You will probably realize half of those little things don't matter.

It's so easy to get frustrated over meaningless things.

The plate that got dropped on the floor and shattered.

Waking up late.

Getting every red light when you're in a hurry.

Spilling a whole glass of something you know will dry sticky.

Burning dinner. (Which I have only done once in my life, thank goodness. Because apparently I can't operate a stove and accidently turned it to HIGH when I thought I was turning it to LOW and walked away to let it simmer! Oh well!)

Your puppy throwing up on the carpet.

ETC...

ETC...

ETC...

Do these things suck!? Of course!

After they happen, can we change them?  No.

Are they going to really make a difference in our lives?

No, not for most of us.

I'm not saying you should walk around everyday like a medicated loon just smiling and accepting everything, but I think we need to get better at using that filter.

Things that are important to you will still make you cry, laugh, yell or shoot steam out of your ears, but maybe you won't have to look back and think

"Wow, I can't believe I yelled and wanted to punch that cashier in Walmart because she was such an idiot and couldn't figure out how to ring up a freaking tomato!

(unless you're me and that event is still a sore subject)

Laugh it off!

So...remember. Only you can decide how you will feel about things.

I love you guys!

Love is the Movement

Sometimes...

Sometimes your students pretty much all behave and it's a really great day at work.

Sometimes you drive to work and it doesn't matter how late you are, the traffic doesn't bother you.

Sometimes you tell a great story about, text and get to hang out with all your best friends in the same day.

Sometimes you notice the mountains. Really notice. So clear and majestic and you think "Wow.  Most people never see something so magnificent."

Sometimes your awesome friends end up buying a house that happens to be FIVE houses away from yours!

Sometimes you get to see the first "pinkest" sunset of the summer.

Sometimes you go back and forth between "It's ok, 25 is a good age." and "Holy crap! 25! I might as well just wear a shirt that says 'Call me Ma'am'"  (Deep breaths.)

Sometimes you get to have a day that goes good.

Today was that day.

Things seem to fall into place and you feel yourself smiling more.

It's a good feeling.

I know it can't be like this everyday, so I'm happy with sometimes.

It's better than never right?

And plus...I don't believe in never.

Everything is a possibility.

Check!

Isn't it so amazingly terrific and wonderful when you can check things off of your lists of things to do!

As the school year begins to wind down, there are SO many things to wrap up. We are down to just over a month to get all the loose ends tied up into cute little metaphorical bows.

It's time to kick it up and keep getting things checked off!

Even if it's only one small thing a day...

it's still progress...

and i'll take it!

Life Doesn't Always Make Sense

Some things just don't always make sense, it's just the way it is. 

 It is strange to me that...

 Committment doesn't make sense.

After living in our house for a little over five years, the walls of my living room are still white because I cannot commit to a color.

Yet, I didn't have to think twice about marrying Josh when I was only 19.

Long term choices don't make sense.

It took me exactly one second to determine my major and

I can determine the daily schedule of 29 eleven year olds and impact their lives everyday.

Yet, the thought of having to trade-in my beloved car and get a new one makes me want to cry and throw up at the same time.

How you treat others never makes sense.

It can be so easy for me to snap at Josh or my family.

(Though I really try hard to not do this.)

Yet, I can't even say what I feel to the annoying neighbors that park in front of our house all the time.

I know life doesn't make sense.  I don't mind that.

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason.

Sometimes you just have to live your life the way you want to.

Without always caring about what others think,

without always doing what is most popular,

and maybe without following all of life's "rules".

My walls may stay white for another five years,

which is ok with me because the color of my walls don't really matter if I have Josh by my side.

And I may not cry a lot when I have to send my awesome class onto sixth grade, but I know I will when I have to say goodbye to my car.

Life wouldn't be life if it made sense all the time.

I think it really will make sense in the long run.

Do what makes you happy! I do!

 :o)

Time.

Time goes by way too quickly. Even when days seem long, by the end of the night I find myself wishing there was still more time. More time to snuggle on the couch.

More time to have nights like tonight with great friends.

More time to spend with my amazing parents.

More time to catch up with family I don't see enough of.

More time to do laundry and clean the house.

Even though I am always wishing for more time, I try very hard to make the most of the time we are given.

I try to be the wife, daughter, sister, friend and teacher that I want to be and at the end of the day I know my time was well spent.

It makes me happy when...

1. My husband comes home from work and walks through the door with flowers in his hands. Not only because he loves me, but because he keeps celebrating a holiday that I made up.

Yep, I think thats love.

2. I remember how much I love my childhood dog Winston, and I actually give him lots of attention. (Photo attention in this case!)

3. I see how much fun my husband and my dad have while working together.

4. I can spend a whole day watching TV and laying on the couch.

5. I have a really good conversation with a friend I just don't get to see enough.

I think people often find happiness in their life but it seems so normal that it doesn't get appreciated. You should take a minute to look around. Find the things happening everyday in your life that truly make you happy and take a minute to appreciate them.

Life is good! Try to see that. There is always a silver lining.