Everyday Live Happy

Quarantine. That is a word that I never thought I would ever have to deal with. Now it is a daily fact for so many people all over the world. Crazy! But after the initial shock is over, now what? Even if you are working, home schooling your kids or even yourself, you are going to have so much extra time on your hands. Most of us aren't used to too much time. I mean don't get me wrong at first I was like "Nice. Life is going to slow down and give us a chance to breathe." But by day 7 I thought I was going to scream! A little extra time now and then is great but, now faced with weeks of extra time all I could think was "What am I going to do." So I started to make a list of things that I wanted to do, needed to do and could spend time doing. Here are some ideas.... Deep clean your house. I mean it is spring so now would be a great time to do your spring cleaning. Organize your closet. Take out all the clothes and shoes that you don't wear anymore. Pu...

Covid -19. I'd never heard of it before last month. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know how much it would effect my life and I don't even have the virus. So much is unknown. So much is left up in the air. It's impossible to move forward since we don't know how bad this can get or how long it will last or how far it will spread. I am lucky though. I don't have the Coronovirus. No one I know has been exposed to it. There has only been one case in our local health department boundaries. Since I live in a relatively rural area out local health departments boundaries actually cover a couple of counties. And that one case was from someone who had traveled to an area where there were many cases. Now I know that that is not the norm for most of the state of Utah. The areas around Salt Lake City have a stay at home that was ordered by their city mayor and the county mayor. I am very grateful that while there are restrictions that are state wide that the stay...

WOW! That's the first description that comes to mind of the past week or so. I can't believe how much can change in the matter of a few weeks. A month ago my worries were simple, everyday worries about things that really don't matter in the big picture. I worried about helping my daughter get time to practice for her coming up dance competition. I worried about finding time to do some extra cleaning. I worried about how I was going to get things ready for a church function that I was helping with. And so on. Now those worries not only don't seem nearly as bad, but most are now moot. Competitions and other functions have been cancelled. As have been dance, gym, yoga and other classes - even school! It seems like daily for over the past week my life has taken drastic unbelievable, crazy turns! No school and since I work at an elementary school that means no work for me either. It also meant a loss of income because I only get paid when I work. Church has been cancelled....

Time management and I are not friends. Everything I should do, want to do and need to do seem to lose out many times to whatever is easiest and takes the least amount of effort. I know this about me. It's something I'm aware of. But in the middle of the chaos that is sometimes life, I just don't care enough to do something about it. Sigh.... Everyday I begin by thinking about how much I'm going to get done - what I'm going to accomplish that day. I don't think bigger than I can reasonably do. It's just by the time I get home from work many times I just sit down just for a minute on my phone. Next thing I know much, much, much more time has past than a "few" minutes. The funny thing is I'm not really a fan of social media. That's not to say I don't look at it. But it's usually playing games or searching through all the ideas on Pinterest. So many great ideas. But I'm not going to tell you how many pins I have. Actually, I'm...

I am one of those people who love quotes. I love happy quotes, meaningful quotes, get-your-life-together quotes. Any quotes that "speaks" to me, my heart, my situation. I write some of them down in my planner. I've even posted a couple on my kitchen bulletin board. I also have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to them.  They remind me to work harder, to try harder, to be happy, to love life. In case you can't tell I prefer uplifting quotes. Here are a few that will hopefully brighten your Sunday. This last quote sums up what quotes do for me. They force me to intentionally focus on an area in my life. Good habits help us in our lives - I have an entire post on habits. Habits are not bad but they can become automatic to the point that we are barely participating in our lives. That is not what life is supposed to be. Quotes remind me to pay attention and I love that make me intentionally participate in my life. And what a life it is!

I made a list of goals or habits that I wanted to implement/reach three weeks ago. It's going okay and I really like how it is set up to track. But as the weeks have gone by I can see that I need to reevaluate some of the habits. For instance, do you have any idea how hard it is to drink 128 oz of water everyday? Super hard! I haven't attained it once and it still has me running for the bathroom at very inopportune times throughout the day. That one is being changed to 68 oz for now and then I'll reevaluate again in a month to see if I should increase to 96 oz. That is one of my favorite things about habits instead of goals. Habits are changing and adaptable. If something isn't working I don't feel like my goal is a lost cause. It doesn't seem like quite the failure that it could be. A habit isn't written in stone. Good habits slowly changes us for the better. I can also see if there are things that I should add to my list. I've discovered one of tho...

Fruits and Vegetables. They are very good for you. Vitamins. Minerals. Fiber. It's recommended that you eat 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruits everyday. I know all of these facts. So why is it so hard to get the recommended number of servings a day? Maybe it's just me, but I'm not very good at it. Unfortunately, when I look for a snack it's usually a cookie or some crackers. Not an apple or some carrots. I've been trying more. Today I ate an apple with my lunch. Great so that's one serving out of the 5-9 that I should be getting. I haven't been very good at eating them so that means that I haven't been very good at serving them to my family. I love my family. I want them to be healthy. I still can't wrap my head around how hard it is for us. Occasionally I'll grill some chicken to put on a salad or make a soup with lots of veggies or make teriyaki chicken with rice and many different vegetables. On those days I'm like ...

In my last post I mentioned that I have daily cleaning zones. Areas of my home that I clean on designated days. For instance, on Mondays I clean the kitchen. I have things that I do there each week - dishes, sweep the floor, counters, wipe down the outside of the fridge. Those are the basic tasks. But there are weekly tasks as well. The first and third Mondays of the month I also mop the floor and clean the kitchen sink and counters and. Monthly I also clean out the fridge - take everything out and wash the shelves with soapy water. This system has worked well for me. I've had the daily days lined up for years. I know where I should be spending my time cleaning each day, I just haven't been good at doing it lately. Part of the reason why is that it doesn't always look like it needs it. But just because something doesn't look dirty doesn't mean that it isn't. That's why I've rededicated myself to strictly following it this year.  I want my home to alw...

This year I am working on gaining new habits not resolutions. I guess technically they aren't very different from each other, but they sound different. Basically everyone who makes resolutions has one of a handful of things they want for the new year in common. They want to lose weight, get a good job, eat healthy, etc. And basically everyone has given up by February. To me a resolution is like a wish. It isn't supposed to be that way, but it sort of is. People don't make a plan to make those resolutions work. Changing what we always do isn't easy. This year instead of making the same old resolutions as I do every year, I'm going about it differently. I'm working on changing my habits. I made a list of habits that I want to have or habits that would be good for me. I have some that are unoriginal and others that will make our home run more smoothly. Here are mine: Exercise - hopefully at least 30 minutes 4+ times a week Drink more water - my goal is 128 oz ...