Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Happiness is...


"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way".

The older I get the more
I am realizing that this quote is SO true!
Lest I get any further behind with Blogging, I thought I would share the things these past few weeks that have made me HAPPY

Happiness is...
having school lunch with my 8 year old!!
I loved going to school and enjoying lunch with Ethan. Although, he was a little shy and embarrassed for me to walk down the hall with him and his friends, we had such a great time and it was so funny having all of the kids fight over who got to sit next to me at lunch time. My kids are going to look back in future years on our lunch date tradition.
If Chili and Cinnamon Rolls are on the lunch menu, than Kimmie will be found sitting with her kids at school enjoying lunch together.
I hope my kids will always be excited for me to come and eat lunch with them!

Happiness is...
being loved and adored by your husband and kids!!
I went on a getaway this past weekend and had kids running out the door to greet me when I got home and they were SO excited to show me that they cleaned up the house! I have such SWEET and hard working kids and I am married to the hardest working man in the world.
WOW!! I SO love and adore that man!
Happiness is...
having a hubby with “Mad Skills”!

Each day I am in awe and
amazement at the talents of Mr. Smith.
It doesn’t matter what it is, he can fix it! Despite our crazy life right now, he took a whole afternoon and evening and replaced all of the struts in my car.

It amazes me that he hasn’t had training for any of this, but he can pull things apart and put them back together with no problem at all. He saves us SO much money by putting his “Mad skills” to use on a weekly basis. One of these days when life slows down a bit I am going to do a whole post dedicated to highlighting the many talents of this amazing hubby I am married to!
Along the lines of Mad Skills,
we needed to have a piece of wood that was a bull nose for the top of our stairs and so Tracy glued together miscellaneous pieces of oak wood he had in his scrap pile in the garage and created an awesome tread for the top of our stairs.
He exudes talent and never ceases to amaze me!!

Happiness is...
PROGRESS!

My Awesome Father-in-law
who without his help, we wouldn't have made the progress that we did!!
Yes, we are making progress
on our hardwood flooring project!

After four days of working early in the morning until late at night, the flooring is finally all laid!
NOW, the fun REALLY begins
with sanding, puttying, sanding, staining, varnishing, sanding, varnishing, sanding, varnishing, sanding and then putting on trim work and painting.

However, we are having FUN with every aspect of this crazy project we have going on right now.

Happiness is...
FLOWERS!!
We have the most amazing neighbors that have a yard full of blooming flowers and they make flower arrangements and bring them to church each and every Sunday from March to October.
I was the recipient of this gorgeous bouquet
this past Sunday!!
I felt so lucky and it brightened my day and week SO much!! I am still amazed that people have gorgeous things blooming in their yard this time of the year. I mean it is October in Southeast Idaho!!
I LOVE FLOWERS…especially wild flowers!

Happiness is...
time spent with family!!

Conference Weekend we went to my parents vacation property in Lava, Idaho and spent the afternoon with my parents, siblings and all of our kids. It was SO much fun as my brother Weston flew in from Arizona for a few days. We enjoyed LOTS of fun breaking a pinata, decorating pumpkins and spending time together. The men then went to the Priesthood Session together and the women and kids went to Deseret Book and my mom bought all of us a book. It was a great time together!
We are cherishing these moments as my Sister Heidi and her hubby and kids are moving to Seattle in December and then we won't get to see them as often.
Happiness is...
TRADITIONS!

Pancakes for lunch after church on Sunday!
I LOVE Sunday breakfast for lunch. Since we have church at 9:00, we usually don’t get breakfast before we race out the door and I am not good at getting something thrown together for lunch before church and so we just have made it a tradition to have pancakes and eggs for lunch on Sunday afternoons.
I LOVE these special moments of sitting down and eating together and discussing our church lessons and planning out our upcoming week!
 "Friendship is when people know all about you but like you anyway!" 


Happiness is...
FRIENDSHIP!!
I went on a blogger retreat this past weekend to Bear Lake!
It was SO much fun to meet people in real life.
I have never done anything like this in my life. I always do everything with Tracy and so this was quite an adventure for me.
I was with some pretty amazing women
and we laughed, cried, LAUGHED some more, played games, ate wonderful food, shared heart felt stories and feelings about most every aspect of life! 
OH, and I must mention that each and every one of them spoiled me rotten!!

I went away feeling enriched
and motivated to be a better person!

Happiness is...
taking time to notice beauty wherever you are.
While we were at Bear Lake someone commented about how nice the gravel was along the shore of the lake and then we took a closer look and noticed that it wasn't gravel at all, rather it was lots of little snail shells covering the shoreline.
It was gorgeous!!

I'm savoring each and every moment of this amazing journey of life!!
My family, friends and every moment good or sad, is what makes my life so wonderful and memorable!!
Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect.
It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.

16 comments:

mCat said...

I love this post! Your happiness is contagious!

And what a fun treat to meet you! I just wish I could have stayed and partied longer!!

Saimi said...

What a wonderful post!! You know, I have to admit girl, you have some mad skills posting pictures. Seriously How do you get them all together in a group like that?

Your floors look AMAZING! As well as your family and friends.

Fun posts come from fun times and that was a fun post!!

CB said...

Kimmie Kimmie Kimmie How I miss you already!!! I just love to be around you and I am glad we don't live too far away from each other -
You have become one of my favorite people.
I love your post - YOu have such a way with words and M-Cat is right - You happiness and feelings are contagious!
It was such a fun weekend.
That is awesome that your floor is laid - It is looks SOOOO good!!
I remember having to take all the food out of the kitchen,and leaving our house for the night, etc...when our floors were varnished because it was such a strong smell and very toxic. But once that is over they are beautiful. You are absolutely going to love the floors and how easy they are to take care of.
Tracy is doing a wonderful job!
Well since this is turning into a novel I'll say "see ya" soon!

Connie said...

You always amaze me with your up-beat, optomistic, inspirational, fun posts!
I'm sad that I didn't make it to the Bear Lake Wild Girl Retreat! Looks like you had lots of fun!

Your floors are looking beautiful! I too am amazed at Tracy's skills! It's so good that you guys work so well together. The flower arrangements are gorgeous. What a fun surprise to get a bouquet of flowers.

Your pancake lunch is my kind of lunch. I just made pumpkin pancakes this morning that were really good and low in fat. YUM!

I was going to say that I hope you have a happy day but I know you will!

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

You are so stinkin' darling! I swear!

Yes, I would love to teach you to dip chocolates!

I loved the drive there with you. It was so great to pick your brain and get such great ideas.
The almonds were so YUMMY! Glad you posted the recipe cuz I can see that will be a tradition.

Love yer guts!

Ann Marie said...

Happiness is .... spending 2 whole days with you...

Happiness is talking one on one in the early morning.. and shaing secrets..

Happiness is you loving me even though I pack my whole bed.. and may be a little *vulgar and shocking* at times...

Happiness is eating your coconut cream pie.. and cinnamon almonds..

Happiness is being your friend!
Love and miss you girlie!

PS: Tracy does have some mad skills! Love the floor.. the flowers.. pancakes for lunch.. and well everything!!

Candace said...

I have been waiting for this post. The floors look amazing! I missed getting to see you at Bryson's baptism, but was happy for you that you got a girl's weekend in bear lake. It looks like you had a blast!
Can't wait to hear more about it when I see you next :)

Brittany H said...

happiness is being around you! You make me so happy. I love how smiley you are all the time. I'm sure your boys missed you but I'm glad they spared you for the weekend!

Your floors look amazing so far! I can't wait to see them all done!

gigi said...

Happiness and Mad Skills and pancakes and school lunches and for the love of all great things, HARD WOOD FLOORS!! Lucky you :)

Thank you for taking me along on your blogger weekend. I enjoyed every picture of the fun good times.

Erin said...

so...i totally stalked your blog from heathers, i am in love. so much fun! a few of my favorite things, pink cookies, things i say to my kids all the time, I love you to the moon and back, and my own personal mantra- find joy in the journey...how could i not love your blog! i hope you don't mind if i stick around. :)

LKP said...

awwwww...your quotes, kimmie! man, they just hit me right where they needed to. thank you for all your laughter, and bright spirit. and i have to say, from the moment my tire went until i rolled into the station at snowville, you were with me. your almonds you made us saturday morning? that's what i did with my nervous energy. they were sooooo good, and they helped calm me. let me rephrase: your generosity helped calm me. thanks. plus, i'm thinking maybe it was the extra wonderful sweetness of cinnamon roasted almond-laced prayers that were so enticing, they were then all that much easier for God to listen too. ;)
have a great week my friend.

LKP said...

on a less spiritual note:

no undies!

{Mo} said...

Happiness is meeting new friends and laughing until we cry and being comfortable together!

You are going to love your new floors! We've had them in both houses we've built and both times I had grumpy guses tell me I wouldn't like them....guess what THEY WERE WRONG! I love that when they get scratched, I don't worry because they can be refinished. I love that mine hide the dirt. I love that they clean well. I love the the look of them.... Honestly I just ♥ them! (and just to toot my own horn.... I'm a pro (ok, semi-pro) at cutting and installing them too).

Heather said...

Wow I can't believe all the things your hubby can do! He is amazing!

Your family picture at the top is adorable!

Your wooden floors are looking so nice!! I can't wait to see the final product!!

I so loved meeting you! You are so fantastic and I just love you! It was a great experience! I too walked away feeling so enriched!

Candace said...

Happy Birthday to my wonderful, beautiful, talented, sweet Aunt Kimberly! Hope your day is Great!

a1travis said...

Happy birthday! Hope it was a great one!!