Photo by Lisa Stoner
Every Monday, I start my week by highlighting what makes me happy from the previous week, because I believe we multiply what we focus on, and that gratitude is the first step in learning how to be happier.
This week we drove from California to Reno, Nevada, where we’ll be staying with my girlfriend Lisa until this Sunday. It has been a pretty laid back week around these parts, with happiness found in the kindness of others.
To start off, we found ourselves spending an extra night in Petaluma thanks to a snow storm in the Sierra Mountains which lie between us and Reno. I paid for the extra night of camping at the Petaluma KOA, only have to have our money refunded the next morning by the staff. The first two nights had already been complimentary because of a work assignment, and I was surprised to have the extra night comped as well, especially after I’d paid! My budget and I were grateful.
On our way to Reno, we stopped off in Fairfield, California for a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory, which we’d heard about from RVers at a campground back East last summer. It was a silly pit stop, the kind of thing we don’t do often enough, and we left with a bag full of candy and giggling attitudes.
We arrived in Reno Wednesday night just in time for a home-cooked meal, the first of many Lisa would treat us to. All over the country, people have opened their homes, kitchens, and laundry rooms to us and it never ceases to amaze me how generous people have been to me and my family.
As if feeding me and my family was not enough – and we all have the appetites of lumberjacks, so that in itself is no small thing – Lisa offered to help me tackle one of the items on my life list: wear a dress I made. This is still very much in progress, but I’m grateful for the time and expertise she’s already donated, as well as the encouragement to get started and keep going when things didn’t go as planned.
And finally, Jared and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary yesterday. I daresay we are still hesitant to truly celebrate each year because the memories of an almost unhappy ending are still just a few short years old; I’m uncertain exactly how I’m supposed to feel each year – or how I’m allowed to feel – when I came so close to throwing it all away. At any rate, we have been married for a dozen years and we got to spend a few hours alone together last night, both small miracles I appreciate.
What were the highlights of your week? Before you rush off into a new week, I invite you to play along and share your own happiness highlights in the comments, or leave me a link to your own post.
What made me happy last week? Thinking about you sewing! Also, taking steps toward a couple of changes I've been mulling over of late.
45 minutes of quiet book reading while the children were in swim lessons!
What made me happy this week was slipping off to Toronto for a day and a night with my husband. You don't have to have a "near divorce" experience to find that your relationship is a little stale and in need of a tune-up. The time we spent together this weekend was a huge reminder that not only do we love each other, but we really like each other. We just needed to put US first, and I'm so glad we did.
New reader & I just clicked on your marriage summary post & wanted to say thanks for sharing (since I can't comment on that page). It's so difficult to go through that, but I applaud your authenticity and vulnerability in sharing your journey. It is so necessary for other women to see the "real" nitty gritty, dirty details of life & have faith that we can move through them successfully. I didn't get a chance to read them all, but I had a similar story & I was so glad to have women I could reach out to during that period. My happy thing last week is that my husband made me chicken pot pie last night & I'm bounding ahead with launching an exciting new website
have a magnificent day!
i think because of what you went through you have the right to celebrate your anniversary *extra* hard! waaaahoooooooooooooo!this past week i was happy to be able to help a friend out by dog sitting her dog for over a week, for having a family big enough to need two full tables at the church fish fry (and that they are awesome enough that i want to spend time with them), for a friend inviting me over on saturday night and her daughter asking me to dance with her in the living room (child said i was a good dancer and my heart soared!), for having the opportunity to go chek out a really great three bedroom apartment for a dear friend who couldn't go see it herself (call me tonight to discuss!), for having the opportunity to watch the rock in journey 2 with a great friend after the best breakfast in recent memory, for the puppy's first birthday party that aunt chris threw yesterday, for my friend getting great news about the kidney and tumor that was recently removed (they got all the cancer!), for winning free tickets to see la cage on stage (starring george hamilton!), for having the opportunity to get up entirely too early to take family to the airport so that they can enjoy a much needed vacation in cancun, and i am sure a bunch of other things that are totally slipping my mind!
So looking forward to your next stop – Salt Lake City.Happy Anniversary to you and Jared.
I just have a brief comment. I believe every couple should celebrate every year they remain married. It's a landmark in a world of brief trysts. You should congratulate yourselves and continue to live a (hopefully) happy life. I celebrate you two.
Highlights of my week…. driving my new car, getting my scooter out this weekend and mounting a new Go Pro camera on it, watching a 9 year old get excited to show me her new Nook Color.
The teachers here were on strike Monday thru Wed. Sleeping in was divine!Would love to read these posts… 'an almost unhappy ending are still just a few short years old;' Will you be reposting them any time soon? I could use the encouragement
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!
My happiness came from getting to spend time with one of my favorite people and her awesome family, enjoying big (well big for me) noisy family dinners, and having the house feel full of life. I am blessed!