Category: Happy Holidays

happier 2023!

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The days are long, but the years are short.

– Gretchen Rubin

Normally, I agree with Gretchen Rubin but I am not so sure about 2022. Whew! What a year! It was a rough one. I started this blog ten years go, and one thing has been consistently true. You can always tell how I am doing by whether or not I am posting on this site and it has been about 10 months since I have posted anything.

I do this thing where I literally forget unpleasantness in my life. I have a difficult time remembering two years of college because I was suffering from undiagnosed depression. It’s only when I talk with friends with whom I have shared experiences and they remind me that “this happened” and “that happened”, that all those events come screaming back to me. 2022 was like that.

It has taken me years to learn that I am the only thing I can control. Which I often find it hard to believe and then don’t do very well. But I am determined to have a happier 2023, even if the only thing that makes it happier are the changes I make in how I move in the world.

These changes are not mind-blowing: more intention, being present for the Hubby and the Buddy Man, reading more, playing the Sims, cooking food I love, running, basically anything that allows me to enjoy life more, all things I have talked about before here on this blog. My issue is consistency so I took 2022 investigating (with the help of my licensed therapist) what is my major hang up to making any lasting change. Hopefully my new understanding will be a catalyst to a happier 2023.

Here’s to happier 2023 for us all.

enjoy life…

happy thanksgiving

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 It is time for my annual list of very present things that I am grateful for this year.  This year, I tried to make gratefulness more of a weekly practice than a yearly exercise I have  compiled a lengthy list. Here are a few of the highlights.

  1. My Family. The Hubs, the Buddy Man, the Mother-in-Law, the parents, the sister and her family, the grandparents, all of the fam.
  2. My Friends. You know who you are.
  3. Anne Bogel. Being on the What Should I Read Next podcast and then ultimately becoming a part of her team are two dreams I didn’t dare to dream.
  4. My Home. After KonMari(ng) my home, I am grateful for and love it more than ever.
  5. The Modern Mrs. Darcy Inaugural Book Club Retreat. It’s awesome meeting people who have the same passions as I do.
  6. Lady Smith and Snail on the Wall books. Partnering with her has fulfilled so many dreams this year.
  7. Travel to places including Daytona Beach, FL for a personal writing retreat and my family’s first every vacay at the beach. Another dream come true.
  8. Books, books, and more books. Always books.
  9. Stepping outside of my comfort zone and doing things with fear. Wonderful things happened this year.
  10. And as for the not-so-wonderful things, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

And as always, I leave you with my favorite quote for this time of year.

Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world, I am deeply grateful for, sometimes even perplexed by, how much misery I have been spared.” -Dennis Prager

Happy Thanksgiving!