how to be happy.

dear friends,

i've discovered the answer to being happy. or rather, GOOGLE has. with just a click of the mouse, one can find "about 105,000,000 results" for "how to be happy". wow,... that was easy.

think again.

if someone came up to you on the street and asked you, "are you happy?" what would be your honest response? my answer would be, "i'm workin' on it". i really am. my sweet husband matt would answer, "definitely, absolutely, for sure". i guess i wouldn't be as confident in answering that way. but i would like more than anything to be at that point. and that's the direction i'm headed in.

i know where the answer can be found without a question: THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. yet learning how to apply it and reapply it (because unfortunately mistakes are a part of that application process) is a bit tricky. my query, i guess, is learning to enjoy the ride. learning to be happy WHILE experiencing the "downs".

this quote from "Our Search for Happiness" offered some much needed direction:

Although “men are, that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25), this does not mean that our lives will be filled only with joy, “for it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Ne. 2:11). Happiness is not given to us in a package that we can just open up and consume. Nobody is ever happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last.

my "elements of happiness":
-hitting a note right on the head while singing
-matt's hairy chin/ whiskers
-driving. windows down. favorite tunes.
-feeling the Spirit warm my heart
-pure service
-finding the perfect talk or scripture
-being in the right place at the right time
-the MTC
-Gloria's Little Italy ravioli with cheese
-sitting and talking in the living room with family
-kisses from my matt
-a productive day
-sister time
-ITALIAN people
-thinking about travel
-quality time with marfa
-meaningful talks with the hubs

President Monson had the right idea: "...find joy in the journey". i think i'll just go ahead and do that.

Homesickness.

"God has a picture of you on His dresser"

mindy gledhill is serenading me as I write. some of my best thinking happens with background music. what do you do while you're thinking? talk to yourself? stare off into space?

my thoughts lately have been about how we are all such a long way from home. by now we're kind of use to it. we've adapted. but at times, don't your heart strings ever ache for home? for me it usually happens when things are just hard, and i'd rather not face it all. though i am not yet a mother, i feel this story well describes how life can be at times:

“As I turned around to walk back home, I could see my house lighted up. I could hear echoes of my children as I had walked out of the door a few minutes earlier. They were saying: ‘Mom, what are we going to have for dinner?’ ‘Can you take me to the library?’ ‘I have to get some poster paper tonight.’ Tired and weary, I looked at that house and saw the light on in each of the rooms. I thought of all of those children who were home waiting for me to come and meet their needs. My burdens felt heavier than I could bear.

“I remember looking through tears toward the sky, and I said, ‘Dear Father, I just can’t do it tonight. I’m too tired. I can’t face it. I can’t go home and take care of all those children alone. Could I just come to You and stay with You for just one night? I’ll come back in the morning.’

“I didn’t really hear the words of reply, but I heard them in my mind. The answer was: ‘No, little one, you can’t come to me now. You would never wish to come back. But I can come to you.’”

it helps me to think about the reason behind it all, behind why He's sent us here in the first place. so very far from what was familiar and comfortable. i love remembering this journey has eternal purposes. one of which is lasting and true happiness. and yet, getting there is no easy feat. but, no worries, our Father has sent back up: the scriptures, the prophets, our families, PRAYER, my goodness the list goes on and on. each of these things is a care package from home.

"Heavenly Father knew the grave dangers we would face on our journey through life, but He remains resolute in His desire to have each and every one of His children return home. Therefore, He gave us time—time to work out our mistakes, time to overcome our sins, time to prepare for reunion."

"Make a mental list of those things you know you ought not to be doing. Stop doing today at least one such thing, and replace it with what you ought to do. Pray to Heavenly Father for forgiveness and for the strength to complete this journey. As you overcome one obstacle and move on to another, I promise that step by step the way will unfold before you until, as the wearied traveler, you are back where you belong."

"There is no spirit but what was pure and holy when it came here from the celestial world. … He is the Father of our spirits; and if we could know, understand, and do His will, every soul would be prepared to return back into His presence. And when they get there, they would see that they had formerly lived there for ages, that they had previously been acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and gardens; and they would embrace their Father, and He would embrace them and say, ‘My son, my daughter, I have you again;’ and the child would say, ‘O my Father, my Father, I am here again"

i'm living for that reunion. i work hard every day (with a gazillion trillion mistakes in between) for that reunion. and i want to take everyone i love with me. or it just wouldn't be as much fun.

i've arrived.

i have joined the blogging world. this thanks to a few choice people.

first, my sister jessica. jessica johns. i love this woman. i've made it a point to be her copy-cat through life because she's just something else. she knows what it means to be a successful individual-- she's one of those people you can always depend on to "handle it", "it" being absolutely anything. she's got so many things figured out, something i highly admire and seek after.

second, my good friend and new found inspiration, stephanie nielson. ok so she doesn't really know i exist, but i like to think we are bff's. she's changed my life one blog post at a time and that makes her pretty special.

third, my martha friend. MARFA. she.... well, she's my best eternal friend and we're meant to be together. period. our friendship just works and we never have to apologize for just being who we are. it is oh so nice.

so, essentially these three wonderful women have blogs, i want to be like them, and so here i am... HELLO.


So this is my husband and I in front of our first apartment. maha, kidding. but size wise it's not much of a stretch. we always joke that we can stand in the middle of our apartment and be standing in all the rooms at once. while eating dinner at the kitchen table, my matt can grab me something to drink from the fridge without getting up. this time of life is a kick though. we all have to go through it so we might as well have a ball.

my matt is quite the guy. here are some of his extraordinary qualities that make me oh so happy:

*his chisseled jaw-- i'm obsessed.
*his talent for anything he does. and his patience for that learning curve time period.
*his superhuman ability to down obscene amounts of food. we've decided he has hollow legs.
*his goodness and understanding for ME and all my shenanigans.