10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Saturday! Today, I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link up.

1. Spending time with my family

2. Thanksgiving

3. Watching My Phone by King Princess

4. Decluttering the boys' closet (I got a few boxes of clothes to donate!)

5. Date night at the Atlanta Christkindl Market with my love

6. December Daily prep

7. Happy mail from my favorite memory-keeping and scrapbooking companies

8. Leftovers 

9. Mami's Coquito

10. Forever by Lewis Capaldi

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Dulce // Sweet

I come alive in the fall time. The early morning light at 7 AM is a welcome gift when Daylight Saving Time ends. I am not a morning person, but coffee is a tremendous help. That first sip of coffee before getting ready for work and taking the kids to school is such a comfort and absolutely glorious. 

For some reason, Mother Nature decides to be even more beautiful during fall. The moon constantly has me in awe and wonder on fall nights. I seek peace at the Silver Comet Trail and, often, will find myself walking for far longer than I usually would. 

I find myself listening much more to the sweet sounds of nature around me. The hoot of the neighborhood owl always brings a smile to my face. The falling leaves and the crunching sound they make as I continue my evening walk around the neighborhood. 

Saturday mornings are spent making big batches of banana chocolate chip waffles for the boys. This is when I usually listen to classic songs. Good music is heard all around. James Taylor is crooning How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) while my husband twirls me around. Sometimes, the boys smile and go back to watching their morning cartoons.

With the fall season comes cold and flu season. Of course, I always call Mami and ask for her remedios. Only her remedies for colds and sore throats will do. "Prepárate un té con limón y miel," she says. She'll insist that I make the tea along with a slew of other remedies. "La miel sabe dulce," she reminds me when I complain of making tea. She knows I hate tea, but it always works. It's true what they say: mothers know best. And every year, without fail, I call Mami to ask for her remedios despite knowing precisely what she'll recommend. I may be an adult, but I still find comfort in my mother's voice. Always have and always will.

The in-between of seasons sometimes has me feeling conflicted, especially when it's fall and signs of winter are appearing. With Halloween falling on the last day of October, November 1st seems to be the unofficial start to the holiday season. But fall still has a chokehold on me. However, I'll still listen to my fall playlist while throwing in a Christmas song or two. Fall always comes to an end, but it'll always have an everlasting hold on my heart. As the years go by, I hope to always remember the everyday moments and sweet sounds of my favorite season, fall.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale - an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Mellifluous."

Photo by Oliver Hihn on Unsplash

If You and I Had Coffee

If you and I had coffee...

We'd meet virtually because I am currently down with strep and a horrible cold. This is my first time ever having strep, and I hope you have never had to experience it because it's been terrible. Thankfully, I don't have Covid or the flu, so I'm grateful. I'm feeling much better now, but I'm not 100% there yet. 

I'd probably stare at my chicken broth in disgust and hope because I could use a cup of coffee, but it's been hard to even eat or drink anything.

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that November arrived like a whirlwind. I can't believe that the holidays are almost here. Although I wish I hadn't gotten sick, I'm glad it happened before the holidays.

Since I mentioned holidays, I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and having time off of work. I'm looking forward to some much-needed rest, good books, hot chocolate, and comfort food.

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm excited to start working on my Project Life album. I haven't been creating as much as I like, and I really don't like how that made me feel. I will have to make memory keeping a priority and part of my self-care routine.

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I can't stop thinking about what's going on in Gaza. My heart is breaking. I came across a post on @aslyum_speakers Instagram page of words adapted from a piece by Rachel Brathen (@yoga_girl) that has stayed with me for weeks. 

There is a woman in my feed.

A video.

Don't look away.

She is kneeling quietly.

In her arms, a child.

Don't look away.

She holds her little one gently. She doesn't wail, or scream, or beg.

It's a quiet moment.

I don't look away.

I watch as she kisses her child's face through the thin sheet that's wrapped

around their body. The moment is so tender. so hauntingly, unbearably

painful.

All throughout, she is whispering. Words I can't hear, and even if I did, 

they're in a language I don't speak.

I know what she is saying though. Every mother watching her knows.

We all love our children in the same language.

Love

Is all of our mother tongue.

Don't look away.

If you and I had coffee...

I'd tell you that I'm thankful that we were able to catch up. I'm grateful for technology and that we didn't have to miss our chat this month. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week and spend the upcoming holiday however you wish.

What would you tell me?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Karly Jones on Unsplash

November Goals

Happy Monday! How is it already November?! Time is going by so fast. Before we know it, it'll be a new year. Anyways, is anyone else struggling with the time change? I absolutely hate Daylight Saving Time. It always takes me a while to get used to the time change. 

Last month felt strange. October is usually one of my favorite months, but this year felt different. The month felt so heavy, especially when I kept seeing and hearing about what was going on in Gaza. I won't speak too much on that because I don't even have the words to explain how I feel, but I will say that my heart is breaking for the innocent people suffering. 

Work has been busy. Some days are better than others, but I've been thinking a lot about the next steps in my career. One thing I'm proud of is that I'm advocating and standing up for myself. I have so many ideas and love that I currently have several options to look into for progressing in my career.

Last month, I crossed a few things off my fall bucket list. We went on a haunted trail walk and attended our city's Spooky Festival. We also went to a handmade market a few times. I definitely plan to go to the handmade market more often. It was so nice to support local small business owners. We went to the Stone Mountain Pumpkin Festival. We went trick-or-treating and had a blast. 

This month, I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family, having a week off from work, starting Christmas shopping, and decluttering. I'm looking forward to attending my city's Christmas tree lighting and a few holiday/Christmas festivals and events.

Before I continue to ramble about my excitement over the upcoming holiday season, let's check out my new goals for the month and have a quick recap on how I did with my October goals.

Recap of October Goals

• Read and review 2 books I received from NetGalley: I read Goodnight Night Sweats by Haut Flasch, 15-Minute Drawing by Heinke Nied, and How We Got By by Shaina Feinberg. Out of the three books, 15 Minute Drawing was my favorite. 

• Read 2 books I borrowed from the library: I borrowed several books but sadly didn't finish the books. 

• Complete 1 One Little Word lesson: I did not complete a single One Little Word lesson. The month of October was not a creative month for me. Usually, I'm bursting with creative energy during October, but this time around was different. Part of that is due to how heavy the month felt for me. October was still exciting, but I couldn't get into creating.

• Complete at least 1 month in my 2023 Project Life album: Yikes! I didn't work much on my project life album, but I ordered a few things for some layouts that I plan to make. I've got to try to make a schedule or set a reminder to work on my album.

• Journal every day: I didn't journal every day, but I did work in my journal a few times. 

• Try 1 new recipe: I can't remember if I tried a new one, so I will assume I didn't try one. 

• Finish Side by Side ecourse: I still have some prompts to complete. I've been taking my time with this ecourse and am not upset about it. I really have enjoyed completing the prompts without worrying about a "due date." 

• Participate in this month's blog hop from Exhale: I did participate in the October blog hop. You can find my piece here.

November Goals

• Read and review 1 book I received from NetGalley

• Read 1 book I borrowed from the library

• Complete a One Little Word lesson

• Try 1 new recipe

• Participate in this month's blog hop

What are your goals for November? How did you do in October?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

Photo by Oxana Melis on Unsplash

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

Happy Friday! Today, I'm linking up with Charlotte, Lindsay, and Beth for their weekly happy and grateful list link-up. It's been a couple of weeks since I've shared a happy list, so I'm going to share a list of things that have made me happy over the past few weeks.

1. Going to the Smyrna Spooky Festival

2. The Ghostbuster's theme song

3. The Stone Mountain Pumpkin Festival

4. Magic in the Air by Magic System feat. Chawki

5. Sailboat art by @summerjaneart

6. Walks on haunted trails

7. October evenings

8. Happy mail from Studio Calico and Paper Person

9. Great deals at Children's Place

10. Memory keeping ideas and inspiration

What made you happy this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...