My Happiness Project

A blog I follow has recently mentioned Gretchen Rubin's book, The Happiness Project. So, on a cold Friday night, I took a trip to one of my favorite places [Barnes&Noble] to finally purchase the book. Not because I'm not happy, but because I know I need to start enjoying life's little things. And because I highly trust any book she might recommend.

"A "happiness project" is an approach to changing your life. First is the preparation stage, when you identify what brings you joy, satisfaction, and engagement, and also what brings you guilt, anger, boredom, and remorse. Second is the making of resolutions, when you identify the concrete actions that will boost your happiness. Then comes the interesting part: keeping your resolutions."

A lot of times, I worry about making everyone else happy, doing what they want, when they want. I can't say "no" to anyone or anything. I try to make everything I have planned and everything I'm asked to do work. And if that doesn't work? I feel guilty. I need to start being honest with myself and others. That doesn't mean I'm a liar [in fact I've learned to be one honest person lately] it just means I have yet another thing to work on. If I have plans and somebody asks me to go somewhere, I need to accept that it won't work and tell them straight up. You get the idea...

What will I get out of my "happiness project"? It's hard to say. I hope it is, in some ways, a life changer. I do know I'll be posting about it quite a bit here.

Ps - did you forget I challenged you? I need 4 more comments by tomorrow to post every other day in March! Thanks Lex for getting it started. :)

March Challenge

Happy M[ARCH MADNESS] month!

Today is March 1st. It's a little hard to believe how much has changed in the last 366 days. A new job, a [couple] new homes, a new nephew to spoil, new friends and a new outlook on life.

As hard as it is for me to accept that I've changed as a person, I'd like to think it's been more for the better [than for the worst]. Sure, there are times when I do something without thinking for even a split second..only to somewhat regret it hours, days or even months later. I know I make mistakes. I know I'm not perfect. I know I don't give 110% as often as I should. But that's what makes me, ME. I am my own person. A little too independent and stubborn at [most] times.

Watch for some pretty interesting posts this month. :)

Ps...if I can get five comments on this post [from five different readers] I'll post every other day in March! You have 48 hours...GO!

Paint.

For some reason, while I was at Menards this afternoon [searching for a Swiffer..do those still exist?!] I decided to pick up a couple paint samples. My grandma suggested it a couple weeks ago and I finally gave in today.

Spanish Tile.

I painted about two feet of the wall behind my garbage can and then to the right of the stove, underneath my cabinets. It's not fully dry and it's just one coat, but I think I like it. I think.

Stonewall Jackson.

  

I DO like this one. I painted where my dining table sits, and also where I [for now] have a huge picture above it.

So after Round 1 of painting, I took an unnecessary trip to Target.

I spent twice more than what I wanted to and got seriously upset when I asked for a Caramel Brulee Latte at Starbucks and was told "we no longer have that, it's seasonal." Uh, alright then..can I have a Caramel Light? "Frappucino?" Sure. I was obviously confused and a little pissed, and even more so when I realized what I had agreed to order.

Round 2 of painting went much better. Then I decided to clean my kitchen and bathroom floor. At 9:30 PM, I was outside, shaking the sand and salt from my kitchen rugs. I swept before getting on my hands and knees to clean the floors.

If you know me at all, you should be thinking, "who is this girl and what has she done with Lindsey?"

Here I am. Wide awake at 11:30 PM, on a "work night" with a disaster of a kitchen /living room. At least my floors are clean.

Blogger App

You readers (if there are any!) are in trouble...

Yesterday morning, I decided I had had enough of my Blackberry. I was tired of it freezing when I opened Twitter and found it quite annoying when I tried going to a website other than Facebook or Gmail only for my phone to freeze yet one more time. The Tour got me through almost two years believe it or not.. so I was a little apprehensive about getting a Droid. And a touch screen. Ps, thank God for the "auto correct" options so I don't have to type the whole word all the time. ;)

So, I now have a Droid. The Motorola Electrify. And while it's going to take some getting used to, I've already downloaded the Pinterest app and now, the Blogger app..so I can blog literally from anywhere, anytime. And since most of the pictures I post are taken on my phone, I might even love this app more than I'm expecting to!

Happy Sunday. Super Bowl Sunday! Go Giants. ;)

Dumps

Have you ever been so $@#*%!$ frustrated and just plain burnt out that you're in a crappy mood (the dumps) and can't snap out of it?! Well, if I'm not there, I'm damn close.

It started last Monday with working until 6:15. PM. A nearly 12-hour day. And then Tuesday. I left work a little after 7. PM. A 12+ hour day. So much for doing anything once I got home! Then on Wednesday, my nephew and his mommy left for Florida. I haven't gone a week without seeing him yet, and tomorrow marks day #10. Friday was my half day and I was supposed to be work-free at 12:30 after a lunch at Newton's, but I had some things to finish up once I got home and didn't log off the computer until after 4:00. Some half day!

I had this great idea to move the bed from Jami's basement to my spare bedroom while she was in Florida, so I spent most of Friday evening going through boxes and boxes of garbage stuff. I was tossing almost everything I came across until I found some cards. Cards from my mom's baby shower when she was pregnant with me. The first thing I said was "where the hell did these come from?!" And then I opened this:

A card from who else but my great grandma Eunie. My angel. The one person who knows just what I need, when I need it the most. The one person who can make me remember who I am and what I stand for, even if she's in Heaven now.

Here's to starting February off right. To celebrate a month full of love, to take a much-needed weekend trip, to get things crossed off of my 'to-do' list, to sticking to my workouts and to focus on myself.

Oh, and to hopefully not get called for jury duty on Valentine's Day. ;)

One Year Anniversary

Today, January 20, 2012, marks my one year anniversary. Of? This blog. One year ago today, I wrote my first blog entry. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Putting my thoughts out there for the whole world, or a handful of people, to see.

One year ago...

...I was a full-time college student. Working towards my Bachelor's degree with just five short (or long) months until graduation. Pulling all-nighters, aka staying up past 2:00 AM during the week, to finish a paper. I was procrastinating. Surprise, surprise!

...I was living with my cousin Jami and in her belly, my nephew Taysen. I was planning my first baby shower for her, to be held exactly one month later.

...I was working two part-time jobs. I was generally an administrative assistant at John Deere PEC in the Drivetrain Engineering department. I was worried about finding a replacement for my position come May. I was planning the CoreTech Conference, a meeting with over 150 worldwide attendees, which would later turn out to be the most successful Core Technology Conference to date, with the highest attendance rate they've seen in years. I was a receptionist at a local insurance company, studying my butt off to take my personal lines insurance test over Spring Break.

...I was a daughter. A friend. A classmate. A sister. A niece. A co-worker. A cousin. A granddaughter.

Today, I am...

...a college graduate

...a payroll analyst

...a homeowner

...a daughter, a friend, an aunt, a niece, a sister, a co-worker, a cousin, a granddaughter

...independent.

Missing

Once again, I've disappeared from blog life. And I really don't have an excuse for it, except for the fact that I had a week off of work for Christmas shutdown. I tried sitting down a few times to work on something, but I realized I was doing a lot of complaining. Complaining about how I feel like I do so much and get so little in return. Complaining about student loans. Complaining about why my life isn't like so-and-so's. Complaining about why there aren't more hours in the day or days in a week. And who wants to read that?

I don't have a room in my house that I feel is complete enough to post a picture, so I apologize. I've searched Lowe's and Menards, I plan on going to Home Depot and Blain's and I've surfed Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams on the web to find paint colors for the kitchen and living room. Man, is that frustrating! I find one color I think I like, but it doesn't match my cupboards or it's too dark or what have you. I have decided I want grey on my long wall that runs from the kitchen to the living room... and I am NOT changing my mind on that one! I wanted orange in the kitchen, but I'm now considering other colors. I want something fun and bright and unexpected (since my favorite colors happen to be black, white and grey...and blue). I have also decided that I'm going to paint the smaller wall behind my TV. Only I want something that flows from whatever color I choose in the kitchen, but darker. I'll try and take a closer picture of the wall this weekend and post it.

Other than that, I got my dining room table set up over shutdown (thanks to the best Dad ever!) and my washer & dryer are being delivered tomorrow. That pretty much takes care of the "big" purchases. Now I'm focusing on the wall behind my couch, my bedroom, a few ideas from Pinterest, finding tall enough bar stools, figuring out my garage code, going through all the junk in the spare bedroom and basement and the list goes on...

P.S. Look for some more exciting posts soon..with pictures!