Hello February!

February is LOVE Month!

For my Happiness Project in February, I plan to focus on my Marriage.

I will be reading 2 books -
Again, my focus is on LOVE - so here's the one that applies to that:
How We Love by Milan & Kay Yerkovich



Additionally, as a part of Lent the past few years, I have included reading from this next book as much as possible...it's a devotional that you read in the Morning, Midday, and Evening
The Divine Hours - Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle



I still have 9 more days of Purpose Driven Life (it's a 40 day devotional)
So this is going to be quite a reading filled month!


WHAT WE DO EVERYDAY MATTERS MORE THAN WHAT WE DO ONCE IN A WHILE.

As I re-read through this month in The Happiness Project book, I pulled out some great ideas and actions that I hope to accomplish with Joe.

- 1 word reminders (rather than nagging in full sentences)
- Be more observant and appreicative of his acts
- Don't expect praise
- Hug for 6 seconds or more (the author found research that showed hugs must last 6 seconds or longer to positively affect your happiness levels)
- Fight Right (No using NEVER and ALWAYS)
- PROOF OF LOVE "There is no love; there are only proofs of love." Piere Reverdy
- ILY (a text I plan to give him often - it's short for I Love You)
- Spend time alone together
- Play Games
- Extreme Nice (1 week this month, I will be totally focused on being nice to everyone)

I have added another DAILY activity that I am very excited about - orginially, I was going to try a new recipe once a week...well, my friend Laura turned me toward a fantastic website called e-mealz.com



They send you (after you become a member for a very small fee) recipes that correspond with the grocery store you frequemt based on the sales of that week at that store. You get a grocery list and 7 recipes (for dinners).
I went Sunday night to the grocery store (9pm, no kids) and it was the most pleasant shopping experience I've had - with 7 meals worth of food bought (and the usual must-have supplies and milk) for less than $100!
Talk about lowering your stress, which in turn makes me happier!
And the focused/lower spending and using "coupons" makes Joe happy too!

I am also going to try to commit to doing Yoga at our Y on Mondays (it's a free class). Now that's the way to start your week!

So here we go!
February is here and it started with a snow day for the kids - all 4 kids are home all day, with temps too cold to go outside and no snow, but instead a huge sheet of ICE covering our trees, ground and roads.

It's PJ DAY!



Hope you find lots of love and happiness in February too!

Joe, Megan, Joey, Morgan, Jameson and Baby Jackson!