Our little girl…our daughter Erin is 19 years old today!  Where did all the time go?  This little munchkin is in college now, and I spend today full of a thousand memories.

Read the rest of this entry →

Up early before the sun today.  No reason.  It’s what my body and mind wanted, so — g.o.o.d. m.o.r.n.i.n.g!

Read the rest of this entry →

Can you believe 100 days have passed?  I have to tell you that when I began this happiness journey — multiple people (including my husband) – questioned – doubted – worried – that 100 days of consecutive blogging would be too much for me to take on.    Yet here we are.  So let’s break it down, and talk about what we’ve learned.

Ok – FULL TRANSPARENCY!   I began the 100 Days of Happiness — just four short days after I lost my job.  I was told my job was eliminated on a Tuesday.  By Saturday morning, I had managed to stop crying.  Yea, I cried for 4 days.  Oh please – the JOB wasn’t all T.H.A.T.  But somehow…being told (after 14 years) that you weren’t needed anymore.  Well.  It HURT.  ALOT.

So I saw my friend Faith doing the 100 Days of Happiness on Facebook, and I figured……this is the point in my life when I NEEDED happiness the most – so I should go on a journey to find it.

After 100 days — 100 mornings – 100 afternoons – 100 nights of looking for happiness in all the small places — it’s easy to tell you that the lesson…THE LESSON….was/is/and will always be….that happiness is not something you find, it’s something you choose!  Every day.  Each one of those 100 days.

100 days later — my transition period from work is over, and I am unemployed for the first time in my life!  ………….  And it’s Ok.  I’m looking for a job.  No.  Hold up.  Stop!  I’m not Juust looking for a job, like any ole job…..I want a job that I enjoy.  A job that allows me to learn again.  Along side people who like me.  Care about me.  Invite me to their homes for coffee and christmas parties.  I want to LIVE….and work.   Not work….and struggle to find time to live.

100 days later — our house if for sale, Erin left for college, we lost our 10-year old puppy Zoey….and Peter’s father passed away.  Some were hard days.  Yet, on each of those days…..I found small l.o.v.e.l.y. moments, moments I slowed down long enough to see.  Moments that I chose to hold on to….instead of the sad, hard parts of life. Happiness takes choice.  It must be chosen, everyday.

Oh it’s easy somedays….when Christmas trees and Gingerbread houses fill the day, or when Valentine’s day tulips adorn your kitchen table.  But what about those days in the middle.  All those ordinary days that we don’t remember or (worse even)..forgot we lived!

I’ve spent 100 days n.o.t.i.c.i.n.g. my LIFE.  All the good, the bad, the big, the small….and all the ordinary.  My biggest surprise was…..that happiness doesn’t have to be forced.  I didn’t (not once), “create”  happiness….just for this 100 day journey.  Nope.  I just had to open my eyes..and look at my life.  The one I was missing when I was racing around, doing…..”nothing important”.

So where does this leave me?  Well, back in November….if I allow myself to be honest…..I was hoping that I would be employed again, and be able to say….“See Ta-Da….in 100 days….my life fell apart and I put it back together again like magic.  Ta-da!”

Well….here I am 100 days later…pieces of my “life puzzle” still scattered around me….and there’s no magic….but there is a lot of happiness.   I’m really happy.  It took 100 days for me to learn …to slow down.  To allow myself (for this first time)….the liberty of time to let this next transition happen.   In that, I’m Choosing Happiness.  Every day.

So — the journey is incomplete.    <—–   Ahhhh.  there is the magic.   Such is Life.  Incomplete, each day.  And thank god it is.

Please stay with me friends.   We’re rolling this one forward.  From 100 Days of Happiness to 365 Days of Happiness.  I can’t promise you what lies ahead….I just know that each day…..the morning breaks, and offers us an opportunity for one.original.opportunity.  Everyday.

Let’s Take It Together.

#100happydays (100/100)  #ChooseHappiness365 (100/365)

Ciao for now….Diane <3

Some days happiness comes in the form of a donut.

Ok….3 donuts.  But they were on a plate.  So….civilization wasn’t entirely cast to the wind.

I’ll be better tomorrow.   #100happydays (99/100)

Ciao for now….Diane

Tonight — this is really difficult.

(My husband Peter and his father Piet on our wedding day.)

Read the rest of this entry →

Weight Watchers is hard.  Well, maybe not for everyone — but it is for me.  Let’s face it — I’m a Cake Girl.  Somebody make sure that gets written on my tombstone one day.  I want those “lookie – loo’s” wandering through the cemetery of the future to get a REAL sense of Who I Was.  “Diane, Cake Girl.”

Read the rest of this entry →

WhatsApp is a fabulous service.  It’s another one of those simple things that helps bridge the gap across the ocean and brings my family closer together.  My brother Doug lives in Spain with his wife Paloma and their two kids, Sylvia (4) and Ian (1).

My WhatsApp chatbox was full of J.O.Y. today.  Little Ian took off on his own this week and is w.a.l.k.i.n.g.   What’s abundantly clear is that Sylvia is enjoying her little brother Ian’s success j.u.s.t. a.b.o.u.t. as much as he is!

#JoyRising #100happydays (96/100)

Ciao  (and Adios!) for now…..Diane

It warmed up today (55 degrees!) and melted the snow!  Then….. it started to rain.  🙁

I know….let’s take a mental field trip to Kailua, HI and admire the mokes.

There.  That’s better.  #100happydays (95100)

Ciao for now….Diane

Because selling a house is STRESSFUL, and negotiating with total strangers through realtors is FRUSTRATING….I’m going straight for a happy thought today.

TURTLES!   Hawaiian Turtles!   and their pals…yellow fish!    Oh turtles and yellow fish are sooooo ZENnnnnnnnn!  I feel better already.  #100happydays (94/100)

Ciao for now….Diane

Happy Valentines’s Day <3

Over the years, Peter and I have really mellowed to the idea of Valentine’s Day.  We just don’t feel the need to add any pressure to our lives….in order to create some B.I.G. symbolic event around something that we know every day.  We Love Each Other.  We Are Each Other’s Valentine, Soul Mate, Lover, Friend, …. all nouns apply.  That’s what working on a good marriage gifts to you.  You do the work..you get a valentine e.v.e.r.y. y.e.a.r  🙂  It’s the simple things that grow our love.  Those are the things I treasure…. in February….and March….and April….all year long.

Read the rest of this entry →