Well, we made it through January! It was a tough month ("the first and worst month" as I like to call it), but it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and there were definitely things that made me happy, some of which are the following:
A trip to a new (to me) bookstore and lunch with Meredith and Sharalyn (which I'll write about tomorrow).
My brother Nate friended me on Goodreads. It may seem silly but this made me happy! These days it really is the little things. I also had a fun little get-together at my house with my mom and my sister Jennifer, and another fun get-together at my house with my sister Elizabeth and her sons. We hadn't seen them since last summer!
I received a wonderful priesthood blessing of comfort and peace from my bishop for some hard things that I'm going through, and it really helped me. Priesthood power is real and it's powerful. Speaking of which...
Sam got the priesthood and John advanced to the office of priest since they're turning 12 and 16 this year. They can both now do the sacrament together. This makes me so happy!
I watched some good TV: All Creatures Great and Small, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, the first season of Murdoch Mysteries, and Queen Victoria and Her Nine Children (if you ever question your parenting skills, watch that and you'll feel better about yourself as a parent, I guarantee it! All I can say is that beyond having nine children, Queen Vic certainly wasn't the queen of motherhood!).
I read eight books! I don't remember the last time I read that many books in a month.
I wrote an article for my town magazine.
I bought and assembled a cool new thing for the family room (I'll write about it on Friday!).
Girl Scout cookies
I stayed organized and on top of things every day all month long. This is huge for my mental health and for my sense of well-being and control over my life. I didn't realize just how much of a difference this makes for me until I consistently did it on a daily basis for a month. And boy did I need it this month. I'll definitely be continuing this influential and impactful habit.
I went out to dinner with some friends at my favorite haunted restaurant and got the delicious salmon entree that I crave on a regular basis, as well as homemade apple crisp for dessert.
I went to another new (to me) bookstore with Meredith and we enjoyed shopping and had a tasty lunch in the cafe there. January was bookended (get it?) with fun bookstore trips!
