Anticipate Fun

The day of our engagement!  On top of Stone Mountain.

We're planning a day trip to Stone Mountain this weekend, and I'm really excited about it!  Stone Mountain holds a special place in my heart, because it's where Robi proposed to me.  And also, we've had a tradition of going to "Snow Mountain" for the past several years during the winter break, so keeping up with that tradition makes me happy, too!

I try to remember to "anticipate fun," because looking forward to fun times makes me happier!  And I'm not the only one who gets extra happiness from anticipating fun.  The authors of this article in the journal of Applied Research in Quality of Life found that vacationers get a strong happiness boost before vacations, and have much higher levels of happiness than non-vacationers when looking forward to a vacation.  (After vacations, not so much!)

I try to let Flannery know our future plans, so she can benefit from anticipating our fun trips, too. Today on our morning commute, I talked to her about our upcoming Snow Mountain trip, and what we might do there--getting cocoa, building a snowman, sledding/tubing, perhaps riding the train around the mountain.  It really does make me happy to think ahead about the good times we're planning as a family.   We also have a quick weekend camping trip planned in a few months, and a beach trip we're planning for the summer, and just thinking about those getaways puts me in an instant good mood.

So, what fun time are you anticipating?  If you don't have a fun trip or vacation planned yet, is there a quick weekend trip you could start planning?  Do it!  Just be sure to plan it far enough in advance to soak up the anticipatory happiness!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Tomorrow evening, I'm flying home to visit my sister and to attend a baby shower for one of my oldest dearest friends.   Yay!

And the best part?

I'm flying home.

As in, I get to read uninterrupted for several hours.   And look out at clouds and stars and trees beneath me.

And read, uninterrupted!

After driving the 8 hours home what feels like several million times in the past year and a half, flying is such a luxury.

Wish me happy trails!


What do you enjoy now that you never saw as a luxury before you became an adult?

Baby Love

This weekend, I threw a baby shower for my sweet friends (aka, Flannery's godparents), who just adopted the cutest little baby boy in the world. It was so wonderful to get to see all my old friends from Georgia, and to get to hold a tiny wiggly baby for a bit! But the best thing was to get to see my friends, who've been waiting and praying for this little guy for quite some time now, in their new roles as parents. And really comfortable parents, at that.

Flanna is in love with babies right now, and asks constantly for a little brother or sister. I mean, constantly. So she was in heaven when we let her "hold" him.

And then we flew back home to Durham. The first flight that I think Flannery might actually remember. (She's flown twice, but was really small then.) She kept saying, "I've never ever been up so high, mama!" and flirting with the college aged girls sitting in the row behind us. And she played paper dolls during the trip, which were a big hit. (Thanks, Grammie!)

And now we're home, and what a peaceful home it is. I think I'll go take a bubble bath and go to bed early now.






What's your favorite thing about brand new babies? I just love their curled up toes, and the wrist rolls on the little chubby ones!

Appreciate Beauty

Today was pretty horrible.

A long drive home.
Traffic.
9 hours in the car.
With a 3 year old.
And two dogs.
And then the part where I accidentally left the back windows partially cracked during a carwash.

Good times.

Sigh.

But, there was a moment in the early afternoon, a quiet moment, that made my soul happy.

Driving through Georgia, near Augusta, there was a beautiful clearing. And hills in the distance. And a perfect soft blue sky with bright white gentle clouds. And this song popped into my head by the Weepies. It fit the moment perfectly:

"All this beauty;
You might have to close your eyes
And slowly open wide
All this beauty;
We traveled all night
We drank the ocean dry
And watched the sun rise..."

And we actually had that CD in the car...so I got to listen to it soon after.

All this beauty. Really, it's around us every day. I just need to close my eyes, and open them anew to see it sometimes. That one little moment of appreciating beauty was the saving grace of the day. (And then we did sparklers when we got home, which was pretty fun, too, but I was really exhausted, so it wasn't quite as moving!)




What song can pull you out of a funk? And what places, when you see them, can calm your spirit? There used to be this beautiful road where I grew up called Rocky Creek Drive, and it was just so gorgeous that my sister and I would go out of our way to drive on it. A real live happy place! Were we the only ones who had a place like that?

Grammie Time

My sweet mother-in-law has been visiting us this week, and we've had the chance to do a few fun things while she's been here.

On the down side, our AC went out this week....of all weeks! So it's been hot!! But she hasn't complained...what a trooper! We are sweltering a little!

Here are some wonderful photos of our trip to the Life & Science Museum at the beginning of the week. Such fun!










We miss our family soooo much, and it's just been so wonderful to have a week together with Grammie! And Poppa comes to visit tomorrow! We're very excited!


What special times do you have planned for the summer?

Traveling

We're visiting family down South this weekend. Fun! And exhausting (the traveling, not the people!)! Here are some of the highlights. Flannery with her great grandmother "Mema." I love how they're looking at each other with complete adoration.
Happy Cousins
Flanna with my dad. I just love how he looks shocked that I'm taking a picture.
My parents with their grandkids after eating yummy mexican food at one of our old family favorite restaurants. A wonderful blast from the past! This is after we drove by the courthouse clock that my dad worked on (he's in construction) way back when, pointing it out as a happy monumental link to this old home town.

And tomorrow, if the weather cooperates....the zoo! I have so many special memories of going there with my family as a child. Can't wait to see what's changed and whether anything remains the same.



What places hold special meaning in your life? Are there certain places that make you feel like a kid again and also very very old at the same time? That's what visiting the town I grew up in does to me.

Enjoy the Anticipation

In a few weeks, I'm going to visit my family & friends back home for Easter. And then we're heading to the beach for spring break!

I'm already getting ready for the fun times we're going to have. I bought my daughter some adorable sundresses for the beach. I bought my niece and my daughter cute matching dresses to wear while they hunt eggs. I've been digging out the beach toys we need to bring with us. I've been talking up all the fun things we'll do together while we're with family and friends to Flannery. I bought sunscreen. I've been looking through my closet for hats that have wide brims but don't make me look silly. (I hate to get sunburned, so I'm really careful at the beach!) I've been scoping out good treats to buy for filling Easter eggs for the great egg hunt we'll have at my in-laws' house.

All this might sound like a little much considering that I have 2 weeks until we leave for our trip. But, I know now that it's not just that I like to be prepared for things. I like anticipating fun. It makes me happy to think ahead about fun things. And doing little things to prepare for fun events is a good way to enjoy the anticipation.

Maybe that's what made the year I was engaged so magical...the anticipation of all the wedding fun. Or what made my sickly pregnancy so bearable...the anticipation of baby fun.



What happy times are you anticipating?

The Long and Winding Road

Tomorrow I'm going to be brave and travel by myself for 7 hours (at least) in the car with my 3 year old. Don't worry, the portable DVD player and VTech handheld game are charging up as we speak.

Which buys me, um, maybe 1.75 hours of peaceful driving.

For the other 5.25 hours (or more, depending on traffic and restless toddler legs), please say several, er, um, many, intense prayers for my sanity tomorrow.

I'm going to visit my fabulous and wonderful extended family, and to spend a few peaceful days in a house in the woods.

Ahhhh. The woods.

I really can't wait!


What fun time are you anticipating?