Episode 76: Happy!!

Every night before we go to bed, we sit at our dining room table, fountain pens in hand, and write on small 2"x2" pieces of paper that are cut from 24lb stock.  These pieces of paper are light blue and pink, the color of youth, the color of gender and for us, the color of happiness.  With my pen, filled with a beautiful hot pink ink called "Hope Pink" for breast cancer awareness I write my happy thoughts for the day.  Across the table from me, AM, with his turquoisish pen, filled with Bahama Blue, writes his happy thoughts for the day.  Our world is color coded in this way. When we are finished, we put them into an 8 cup Ball jar and seal the lid.  In this way, we record our happiness, one day at a time and fill a jar with love and hope.

We've been doing this since around February. Originally the thought had been to start January 1st, but we are slow to get organized.  The jar in the picture is our happy jar, with our happy thoughts color coded to suit us.  We put the day's triumphs, the happy little things that we did for each other, or that we talked about, or even just what we ate for the day.  They can be any thought, as long as they are happy and not negative.

The plan is to open the jar at the end of the year as a New Year's ritual and see all of the happy thoughts that we have created over the year.  Ideally, if we had started on January first, we would have 730 happy thoughts in it by the end of the year.  730 happy memories, 730 meals, 730 joys that we could share.  I am not sure what we will do with them as we review them. Perhaps we will create a scrapbook, putting them in order and gluing them to pages as a reminder of all the happiness that we had the year we got engaged and then got married.  Maybe we will let the jar fill (though it is already getting pretty full and we have to pack the slips down well) until our first anniversary, so we can have a record of our first year together and the time that we were engaged.  Maybe we will just tear them into smaller pieces and throw them over ourselves and our friends at our New Year's celebration.  We have a while to go until we pick out those pieces of paper and find out all of our happiness throughout the year.  I'm excited to see what he wrote, since our happy thoughts are private until the end of the year, locked up in our little jar on little pieces of blue and pink paper.

I hope that you all have your happy thoughts and that you share them with the ones that you love, today and every day.  Keep them somewhere safe, even if it is a journal or notebook, a planner or just in your memory, but my hope is that everybody has at least one happy thought a day, even if it is as simple as "the cute guy on the bus smiled at me" or "I ate all my vegetables" or even "I am still alive and my heart is still pumping blood through my body", everybody should be happy, every single day.

Here is to all of your happy thoughts!

Love and Lollipops,

ToryLynn

2012 Thankful Post

This year I am thankful for so many things, so many wonderful people and so many great things happening to me this year that I don't even really know where to start.

First, I am thankful for AM, as always, my rock and my roll, who makes me happy every day and lets me take care of him as much as he takes care of me.

I am thankful for my family, who have been there for me.  I know I don't see you enough lately, but you are always on my mind and in my heart..

I am thankful for the wonderful change that has taken place in my life that has allowed me to get a hold on who I am.

I am thankful for my job and that Prop 30 passes this year so that I can keep it.  I love what I do, even if I get frustrated sometimes. I love talking about literature, watching children learn who they really are and I love that moment when you're in a classroom conversation when a child knows that they can say anything and be listened to and respected.  I love all of my students.

I am thankful for my friends, new and old.  For the lunch crowd at Stagg and the writers of Wrimo.  It is good to know that there are kindred out there.

I am thankful for these and everybody around me.  I am thankful that I can make minipies to share with my family.  Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

Love and Lollipops and lots of cranberry sauce,

ToryLynn

Episode 60: Nature

I was up at 6am going to the grocery store to buy milk.  As I walked back to my apartment in the cool morning air, my bag laden with milk, butter, brown sugar, bread and apples, I stopped for a moment and looked around me.  The air was crisp and there was dew hanging from a spider's web on a nearby rose bush.   The grass was lush and green and sparkling.  The sky was blue, as it is often here in California, and everything seemed to be at peace.  Even the birds seemed happier.  And I've noticed... I've been having more and more of these moments.  I will stop and think and wonder at the beauty of nature, the brilliance of everything around me, and I will be happy.

Lately, AM and I have been eating healthier.  Less processed foods, less junk.  We watch the sugars on foods that we buy like yogurt, and we don't buy diet foods (except Lo-Carb Monsters... because caffeine is essential).  More often than not, we will make things at home, using natural and fresher ingredients, and I am finally finally learning to cook in a way that is healthy.  I'm not losing weight, but I am not gaining weight either and my body feels a lot healthier and trimmer.  We use whole milk, full fat yogurts, real butter, real eggs, lean cuts of meat and vegetables. Every meal must have some sort of vegetables or fruit... or at least we try to make that happen.

Yesterday's lunch was tortillas with tomato basil hummus and feta cheese.  Very yummy.  This morning we are going German with some German puffed pancakes and apple slices.  I haven't made German pancakes in ages, and they used to be my sister and my favorite food when we were kids.  I'm using the half recipe here German Pancakes, and slicing up some apples and mixing them with brown sugar and baking them down a little bit until they are tender.  Should be great! I'll let you know how they turn out.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday morning and stay happy and healthy!

Love and lollipops,

ToryLynn

Episode 42: The Obligatory Thankful list

Ok. I wrote a longer version of this, but I can't post it here as it is waaay too personal.  Let's just say that I am very thankful for all of the blessings in my life.  Here is a quick list:

I am thankful for:

AM

change

my job

my friends

my family

my best friend

I could elaborate on all of them, but I won't.  I am happy, I am fulfilled, and I am going to go eat some Turkey and Cranberry Sauce and FUCK thinking about points or diets or anything. I will probably gain weight this week.  I think I am perfectly ok with that!

I hope this finds you all well, happy and peaceful on this beautiful American Holiday.  To all of those who aren't aren't American who read my blog.. I hope you have a happy Thursday!

Love,

ToryLynn