Today's Bliss: Good News

Today was a good day at work. I don't come out and say that often, so it's sort of a big deal when I feel that way and want to share it. I actually really like my job and my coworkers, and I don't necessarily have bad days, I just have a lot of challenging ones. See, I am a fundraiser. Everyday. Constantly. I am always planning something, doing something, asking for things that will help bring in money for the non-profit I work for. I definitely have developed a knack for it over my years in this line of work, but it never gets to be an "easy" job by any means. But today I had some things go well. I got some good news. And that made a truckload of bad days seem not quite so bad!

Good news balances us out. When you are in the midst of a day that you cannot see the end of or a situation you just cannot figure out, a bit of good news makes all of the difference. We are in the season of good news: Christ was born, He is with us, He has come to save us, He is our Light at the end of whatever struggle we find ourselves in. Thank God for this beautiful gift!

N and I have had a really nice holiday season so far and we have a lot of upcoming festivities to help us celebrate a fun, happy year together. We are giving thanks to God for all of our blessings! We began our celebration with a new Christmas tree and we both love it. Here I am with our new tree and our sweet dog, Scooter:

May your holiday season be filled with blissful things and many blessings!

Today's Bliss: Holidays

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones! N and I really enjoyed our trip to Kentucky last week to be with his family to celebrate the holiday. We ate a lot, watched movies, helped decorate for Christmas, spent quality time with each other, and relaxed. I did not touch a computer or get online for 3 days straight...that was most definitely blissful for me! I needed to un-plug. We also got to see the new Muppets movie that I have blogged about a couple of times. It was a really good movie; I felt like I was seeing my old friends! I will forever love Miss Piggy and her extreme self confidence, Kermit's faithfulness to his friends, and Fozzy's determination to be happy.

Time spent away really makes me let go. If I had 4 days at home, I would feel the need to work on projects, conquer to-do lists, and be productive. When I go away, I let myself read magazines, watch television, chat with N more...it is a really good way to recharge, especially before the bustle of the Christmas season that is coming up so soon.

As I look at the remainder of my 2011 calendar that is filling up so quickly, I am bracing myself for a crazy month ahead. But, I am so so blessed by it. I am glad for the yule-tide activities, occasions to greet friends and family, and time to celebrate our ultimate gift: Jesus. I am blessed that I do not feel a need to attend a Blue Christmas service, that I do not feel lonely rather than fulfilled, that I am not searching for a place to go to celebrate with loved ones.

May your upcoming holiday season be blissful and not stressful; uplifting and not sad; loving and not loathing. Look around in thanks for what you have and who you are!

Today's Bliss: The Muppets

Tomorrow the new Muppet movie opens and I will definitely be ready to see it. I have been counting down for weeks to see all of my favorite characters back in action. I have always been a huge fan (you may remember my Miss Piggy specific post not too long ago) and I cannot wait to reconnect with the kind-hearted, innocent Muppets that really helped shape me as a child. I can still sing the Muppet Babies theme song by heart!

This movie is not the only thing that I am excited about today. Thanksgiving week is full of reasons for me to be thankful. Family, friends, fun, food, Friday shopping... I am a very blessed girl and I look forward to celebrating my life of bliss this week! Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's Bliss: Biscuits

Today was a really nice day. N and I met my parents for a tour of Cheekwood and a late lunch at the Loveless Cafe. We were celebrating my dad's birthday!

Cheekwood had several exhibits that we really enjoyed: a garden train, Buffalo Bill memorabilia and wild west artifacts, and holiday trees and decorations. We also saw a birds of prey lecture which was interesting...we even got to see a bald eagle and pet a screech owl. It was a beautiful day outside and we had a chance to enjoy it as we roamed through the Cheekwood gardens and grounds. Every exhibit had something special to offer to our day and we definitely appreciated it all!

After our morning filled with learning, we had to get something yummy to eat and the Loveless did not disappoint us. I had not been there in years; N had never been. We loved every bite of fluffy biscuits, crunchy fried chicken, and creamy corn that we had on our plates! It was a good meal and a good way to end a day of fellowship.

Breaking bread is an ancient tradition. When you have a meal with someone, you have time to talk, enjoy their company, savor the blessing of food that you've been given, and celebrate a day of life. I am so grateful that we had this nice day with my parents. N and I are lucky to have a strong, loving, healthy family in our lives. Take a moment to savor the people around you, break bread (or biscuits) with them, and tell them how they make your life feel like bliss!

Today's Bliss: Technology

I don't know where I would be without technology. In the last hour, I have gotten so much done, all thanks to the internet and my trusty laptop. And my job? I cannot imagine doing my daily assignments and projects without my computer, email, and the web. I look back at not-so-distant history and wonder how everything worked without the technology that surrounds us everywhere we look. I think that the world was just slower. A century ago, it took weeks for a letter to travel long distances. Now, a letter can travel from one inbox to another, across the world, in seconds.

As easy as technology makes my day to day life, I can see a whole lot of negative things about it, too. We are constantly looking at a screen instead of faces, chatting through a keyboard instead of vocal conversations, relying on computer contact rather than human contact. This is one main reason that I do not have a smart phone. I would be much too distracted by it. I want to live in the moment and enjoy people around me as much as I can.

N used to have a Blackberry. On a trip to the beach, he talked all day about the sunset and how he could not wait to see it! Well, the day passed...evening came...we settled into the sand, held hands and waited for the much anticipated sunset to arrive. It was beautiful! As I turned to look lovingly into N's eyes to celebrate this moment, I couldn't. He was too busy checking Facebook on his phone! He had missed the thing he had looked forward to all day because technology distracted him.

I think that we miss a lot of things because we are staring at our televisions, phones, and computers. Stop. Go outside and take some time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. Celebrate the gifts that God has given you. Then hug someone, look them in the eye, and give thanks.

Today's Bliss: Looking Ahead

Next week, the holiday season officially begins! It is so hard for me to believe that it is time again for turkey, decorations, gifts, parties...the list could go on and on. 2011 has passed by very quickly for me! Today I am pausing in anticipation of the holiday season and giving thanks that it is almost time to celebrate the blessings we have been given, the birth of Christ, and a new year. I love the holidays and all of the activity that comes along with it, and I am so grateful for family and the opportunity to spend time with them.

Many people around us are not as happy as I am during the holidays. We have all experienced losses that are difficult to face during these joyful, festive times, but some people are left with emptiness rather than happiness during this season. Other people face financial challenges that prevent them from traveling far distances to see relatives or from purchasing a gift that their son or daughter would really, really like to have.

I am blessed. I don't need a lot of "stuff." My gifts are the people around me, their health, their love. N and I adopted an Angel Tree child last year at Christmas and we plan to do it again this year. We want to be sure that someone else feels the bliss of the Christmas season and knows that somewhere out there is someone who cared and wanted to show them love.

Today's Bliss: Home

There is no better feeling to me than going home. And home can mean several things: home is my childhood home where my parents still live; home is N and I's current home; home is the place in Indiana where I visited my grandfather so many summers growing up; home is N's parents house in the country. And no matter how long you are away from your familiar surroundings, all of your memories rush back as soon as you return. There is something special about being in a place that is comfortable, familiar, yours. As soon as I step through my doorway, I feel so much more relaxed. I can be myself, rid of the stresses that I encountered on the outside.

Home is a place that I can express opinions, wear pajamas at 5:00pm, cry when I am frustrated, laugh a bit too loudly at a movie, talk to my dog as if he is a human, play childhood boardgames with N, chill out on the couch for four hours straight and not apologize...I could go on forever with this list!

I am very grateful for my home and for living in a country where I have the freedom and the means to have this comfortable place to live. I am grateful to share my home with my sweet husband N. I live a life of bliss everyday in our home!

Here is a photo of N and our home sweet home:

Christmas 2009

Today's Bliss: Reminders

I just caught myself saying something that I am trying not to say (especially with this blog in mind): "why is everything so hard?" Really? Hard? My life? I don't think so. I hate when I say this about my blessed, easy life. It was only a low tire that brought out this exasperated comment. As soon as I made this statement, I apologized to my husband and immediately thought of Nasra, the 13 year old girl that I sponsor through Compassion International. She lives in Tanzania and I have corresponded and provided assistance for her for 7 or so years. Her lifestyle and mine are vastly different. My tiny problems are nothing compared to the challenges she faces!

I am grateful that my heart is training my brain to take reality checks. When I get frustrated over something small and insignificant, I try to pause to think about the problem and if it is really worth the worry. I am definitely still working on incorporating this day to day, but I am slowly making progress.

I pray that I will be better; that I will focus on a bigger picture and take a moment to appreciate all that I have today and everyday in my blissful life.

Today's Bliss: Miss Piggy

I don't remember a time when I didn't love the Muppets. I am anxiously awaiting the new movie coming out 17 days from now! The Muppet that I have always loved the most is Miss Piggy. She is self confident, bold, opinionated...she is unapologetic about who she is and she owns it. I mean, she is a fashion-conscious pig who loves a little green frog and sees nothing odd about it. So great! I do admit that sometimes Miss Piggy is a bit shallow and a little too bossy, but I think that she is misunderstood a lot, too.

One thing is certain: Miss Piggy has confidence in who she is, the good and the bad. This trait alone has been a big reason that I have always admired her so much. I am a self-doubter and I can be really hard on myself. Sometimes I wish I had a little more Miss Piggy confidence!

So with bliss that I will get to reconnect with my old Muppet friends later this month, I salute you with a mighty "HI-YA!" Miss Piggy style! :-)

Today's Bliss: The Weekend

The past few weeks have been crazy at work and we have been traveling every weekend. I have enjoyed seeing people and doing some fun things; I have even enjoyed most of my crazy workdays. However, you get to a point eventually where you are ready to stop and rest, take a moment to breathe, and relax. I am definitely at that point today and I am very grateful for a weekend at home. We do have some things on the calendar that need to be done, but nothing that will hinder my relaxation. :-)

Something that our society is missing is a true sabbath. Even at church we have Sundays FULL of meetings and events, keeping us away from a peaceful day of rest and meditation. I am certainly guilty of packing my schedule so full that I feel like I will never be able to stop and sit and take a moment to be thankful for what I have. (That is what this blog is all about, after all.) But I hope that I can keep in mind the need to pause, pray, and rest in the love that Christ so generously offers to all of us. His love is the key to our sabbath: taking time to give thanks for it, accept it, and share it with others.

Today's Bliss: Top Chef

It has been a super crazy week and it is not even close to being over. But, in less than five minutes, I will be removed from the stress by one thing: Top Chef on Bravo! It is one of my favorite shows and it's back for a new season. I can't wait to see the challenges and delicious food that will appear on the episodes this fall. Enjoy an hour of bliss and be inspired by some awesome chefs.