Random Happiness

Today I saw a coat online at Charlotte Russe that I decided I had to have. It was a white fleece hooded jacket with cute buttons and zippers and within a decent price range. But I don't like buying clothing without trying them on first, so I called the mall. They had one left in the entire store and it was my size! After talking to Dan about it, I rushed to the mall while he went to Young Mens. He beat me home...and when I walked in the door he looked at me disapprovingly and asked, "Why are you carrying two boxes?" 

So he noticed... 

If he looked closely, he would also have noticed they were shoe boxes and the only coat I had with me was the same brown one I've had for a couple years. Ignoring the wary, expectant look on Dan's face, my giddiness took over as I explained my new findings (while I may or may not have been dancing my way into the room to showcase them):

One of my few shopping goals this year was to find some warm, comfortable brown boots that I could slip on and spend the day in. Now, not that these were the cutest boots I've ever seen--and I've never gravitated towards fur-covered anything before--but the deal was, "Buy one, get one for TEN DOLLARS". All you ladies know how expensive boots can be, right? How could I resist? After trying them on, I decided they would do just fine for $40.00, with the bonus of another pair for ten bucks. The real push towards buying them happened when I was browsing the mall earlier and saw this same pair of boots at another store for $60.00, and even considered buying them then.

Choosing a second pair was a little trickier because I'm really not a super high-heeled kind-of-girl, which was much of the style offered. But these black boots have a small heel that look a little dressier without being impossible to walk in.

My new boot-fetish is really all Dan's fault. Last year for my birthday, he bought me the first pair of boots that I have ever really fallen in love with:

These are my "invisi-boots", as I like to call them. Last year, I loved how I could tromp through the snow and be perfectly warm in these super cute and walkable boots. The name actually derives from that Jame's Bond movie, "Golden Eye" with that Russian computer expert named Boris, who kept saying, "I am inVINSible!" Anyway... most of you are probably asking yourself, "Has this girl never worn boots before?" Actually, YES. Lest you forget, I grew up in the tropics and never knew winter could be so fun! I've lived in Utah for EIGHT years and have never experienced how wonderful boots are--except for this ugly pair of supposed dressy boots I bought my freshman year in college when I was even more clueless about style than I am now. So...boots were my random happiness today that will help me wake up excited about the cold, snowy days I usually dread.

I had to steal these pictures from Jen and Emily because these photos make me smile a whole lot, too.

  Kylana (just over a year) in her Halloween costume, right before Jen and Rusty up and moved to Oklahoma!

 

 Jen says she was entranced by the TV. I can't get over the look on her face and the way she's standing there! Such a beautiful girl!

 Speaking of beautiful, here's another sweetheart we all adore! Addie is about 7 months here, I think, not too long ago.

 Aunt Pawnee and Addie when Pawn came up for a quick visit to watch The Beach Boy's concert for my dad's belated birthday gift. (I still need to write about that...)

 This cute bundle was sitting on our doorstep one evening after a doorbell ditch. We gladly took her in! 

Seeing all my nieces gets me excited for the prospect that I might be having a girl. My first instinct (and that of so many others!) is that I'm having a girl. I became very attached to a boy name a few months back, but when I became pregnant, I have had baby girl on my mind ever since. In my heart of hearts, I can't help but hope just a little bit more for a boy, and I feel so guilty! I want to be just as excited if we hear we are having a girl. Last week was the first time I found myself genuinely thrilled about maybe having a girl. I have felt the idea growing on me...and then as I was shopping at Kohls for a baby-shower gift, I fell in love with all the cute girly attire and felt a surge of excitement rush through me!

Last week we had our Relief Society Service Auction, which was so much fun! Based on what we joked as our "righteousness points", we could bid on items that were donated by the sisters in our ward. (We had a sheet to fill out with statements that qualified us for a certain amount of points, AKA "bidding money"). For 200 points, I battled for this decorative flower-clip holder. It looks pretty simple to make, with a plain canvas with strips of ribbon stapled or glued to the edges. But I am much too lazy and uncreative to ever put something like this together for myself, so it was worth 2/3's of my points to "buy" it! And I figured, if I'm not

having a girl, between my other two sisters, ONE of us is probably having one! (Jen finds out on Wednesday afternoon!!)

I'm grateful for little moments of happiness every day and in every week. There are lots of hard minutes or days... but so many more happy ones that bolster me up. We had a great sacrament meeting on Sunday where a returned missionary spoke about his experiences. Wow, those RM's are so full of life and the spirit! We may tease them for their over-zealous love of life and the gospel, but really, I'm envious that I am not there. The closest I felt to Heavenly Father and the Spirit World and understanding so much of this gospel was in the early months after Ty passed away. I'm sad that I am not as spiritually minded as I was back then. And why not? Why can't I be?

I found myself thinking on Sunday, "What am I doing with my life?"

I have so much free time that I fill with part-time work at Transition, babysitting, exercising, editing and writing, and lots of hanging out with friends, which I love. But I have all this time to continue developing my spirituality. I can have that closeness back with the Spirit if I work at it. I seem to feel closest at times when I need that comfort--but that's because I'm constantly seeking it during those times. I can have that back. I just need to work harder.

And I will continue to welcome and honor the happy moments in my life.