Happy Now-Jan. 22

It has been a great week!  Here are this week's Happy Now 10:

1.  Wedding Album--Woot!  Woot!  That's right!  My parents received our wedding album earlier this week and then forwarded it to us.  I think it turned out great, and we are SO excited to have it!  Here is a sample of one of our pages. :)

2.  New Necklace--This week I also received my first Etsy purchase in the mail.  I saw a picture of this necklace on Pinterest and loved the delicate leaf pattern.  This was quite the week for receiving fun things in the mail!

3.  Welcomed Work--Darren and I have been amazed at how hard it has been to find a full-time job for Darren until law school starts.  This week, however, Darren received a long-awaited job offer from Lowes.  We feel so blessed to have this offer and be able to start adding to our savings!

4.  Dinner with Friends--We got to have dinner with our friends Sara and Ian on Thursday.  It was great to catch up with these two, and we are looking forward to doing more activities with them!

5.  Student Puppet Shows--The mom of one of my students owns several puppets and performs puppet shows at the local library.  At the beginning of the year, this mom offered to help my students perform puppets shows should it ever fit into our curriculum.  I recently had my students write fables and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to incorporate puppet shows.  We had two fables performed last week and will have three more next week.  The puppet shows have been great so far, and I am so grateful for this mom's help!

6.  Rainy Days--Saturday morning we woke up to a wonderful rainstorm that lasted all day until it became cold enough in the late afternoon to turn into a snow storm.  It provided some much needed moisture and made for a wonderfully cozy Saturday.

7.  Breakfast at Mimi's--Darren and I started off a fun Saturday with breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.  I love the atmosphere at Mimi's, not to mentioned their hot chocolate and omelets. :)

8.  New Books--Mimi's Cafe just happens to be right next to Barnes and Noble.  Yesterday our browsing in this book store turned into some fun purchases.  I am perhaps most excited about the Below Stairs memoir I bought of a kitchen maid in the 1920s that inspired the creator of "Downton Abbey."

9.  Library Cards--Darren and I went from Barnes and Noble to the new Springville Library where we got our library cards and spent some time reading.

10.  Rock Climbing--I'm afraid I put Darren's "man card" in serious jeopardy last week when I chose crocheting as our first opportunity to learn something new together.  It is now his turn to choose the activity, so I must be equally supportive now that he has chosen to go rock climbing.  They have "family night" reduced prices at the Quarry on Mondays, so we are planning on going tomorrow.  Rock climbing is not really a new activity for Darren, but it certainly is for me.  It should be an adventure!

Happy Now-Jan. 15

I am excited to share my Happy Now 10 for this week!  Unfortunately, this past week has found me a little under the weather, but there's nothing like being sick to really make you appreciate the small things that are often taken for granted.  I spent last weekend lying low (hence no blog post) and then took Friday off to give myself a longer weekend this weekend and finish recuperating.  Here are my top 10 moments from the past couple of weeks.

1. More Law School News:  In the past couple of weeks, Darren has received two more law school acceptances and has been put on one school's wait list (at our top-choice school, so we are keeping our fingers crossed!).  It feels like such a blessing to have choices.  So far, we have been accepted to a school in Michigan, Arizona, and North Carolina.  Can you guess which school this sun-loving, CA girl is rooting for?

2.  Student's Morning Question:  I have one particularly active student in my classroom who bounces into my room every morning and doesn't stop bouncing until he leaves that afternoon.  This student has started greeting me with a question each morning that never fails to make me smile.  Our conversation usually goes something like this:

Me: Good morning, (student).  How are you doing this morning?
Student:  I'm great!  How are you Mrs. Myler?  How did you sleep?

Now it may not seem like much, but it's his last question that always makes me laugh a little inside.  He holds still for just a moment to hear my response to his questions before moving on.  I try to answer his questions as sincerely as possible.  Maybe it's because I think of it as a question a mother would ask her child, but it always seems so unexpected and cute every time he asks.

3.  E-mails from Chris:  I've received a few e-mails from my brother over the past couple of weeks.  I love it every time I see his name in my inbox.  His sense of humor cracks me up, and I love hearing about what he's up to and his song recommendations. :)  Thanks, bud!

4.  Pajama Days:  I mentioned earlier that I took Friday off from school because I wasn't feeling well.  What I didn't mention was that I spent the WHOLE day in my pajamas.  I definitely started to get antsy toward the end of the day and it was great to get out and about a little yesterday, but staying in comfy clothes all day certainly has its up sides.

5.  Indoor Plants:  I love nature.  For Christmas this year, the other fifth grade teachers at my school and I decided to exchange classroom plants as gifts.  I was so excited!  While Darren and I were shopping for the gift plant, we also bought a few plants for our home.  Staying indoors and getting plenty of rest recently has definitely been good for me, but when I started to miss seeing some greenery, these little house plants sure brightened my day.

6.  Breakfast in Bed:  I woke up Friday morning to see my husband carrying in a tray of eggs, toast, fruit, and water.  What a great start to a day!

7.  Couple Crochet:  Darren and I decided that we wanted to start learning new things together.  I got to choose our first activity ... and I chose crocheting. :)  I remember learning once for a Young Women's project for which I planned to make a baby's blanket, and it turned into a pot holder.  I now remember why the once-planned blanket ended up so much smaller.  Crocheting takes me a really long time!  I'm not ready to give up on it, but I do know that if I ever finish a baby's blanket that thing will be more rare and precious than gold!

This is how far I got before I decided to take a break.

Darren made it much farther--I think he's found a hidden talent.

8.  Austen Book--We're reading Sense and Sensibility for our book club right now.  I LOVE Austen and I'm so excited we're reading one of her books.

9.  Primary Class--Darren and I started teaching a new group of kids in our Primary class.  We loved our last class, but the group of girls we have right now are little angels.  It's such a pleasure to teach them.

10.  RedHeadedHostess--I recently came across this website: www.theredheadedhostess.com.  She has some great scripture study tips and other insights that I have loved reviewing.

Here's to a week of improved health and continued happiness!

Happy Now-Jan. 1

Happy New Year!  I have a great feeling about 2012.  So far, we are off to a great start!  This post is several weeks overdue, but I have my top ten Happy Now moments from the last few weeks of 2011.

1.  Dinner with the Chaffees--On our last Sunday in Utah before the Christmas Break, Darren and I were invited to dinner with the Chaffees.  It is always wonderful to see them, and I feel like I am meeting with family rather than friends whenever I am with them.  While there, the Chaffee women recommended the TV series "Downton Abbey" to me.  Darren and I just finished watching the first season via Netflix, bless Darren's heart.  We both really enjoyed it, though, and can't wait to start watching Season 2 next week!  Thank you for the wonderful meal, evening, and recommendations, Chaffee family!

2.  Holiday Farewells to Students--Every now and then, I think about a scene from the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus" in which Mr. Holland is teaching his first day of a high school music class.  At the end of the day, Mr. Holland says something about how he never imagined as a student that his teachers looked forward to the final bell as much as he did.  I certainly felt that way on the last day of teaching before the holiday break.  I was as giddy as the students at the prospect of having a week and a half off.  I expected the students to rush out the door without a backwards glance when the final bell rang, and most of them did.  A few students turned back, however, with some very kind words.  Their expressions of gratitude and holiday wishes made me pause in my attempt to follow the students quickly out the door with a much-needed reminder of why I love to teach and why the classroom is a pretty great place to be after all.

3.  Road Trip--I have many fond memories of the road trip between Utah and California, most often made with my family while I attended BYU.  The trip has come to represent excitement as I am either driving home or returning back to an academic adventure.  These most recent trips with Darren have been no different.

4.  Family Gatherings--The holidays are all about family, aren't they?  Over this holiday break, Darren and I were not only able to spend some wonderful quality time with my immediate family, but with extended family, as well.  I look forward to every opportunity I have to get together with my cousins, aunts, and uncles.  I felt fortunate to be able to see my Dad's side of the family over the holiday since Darren and I had missed seeing them at Thanksgiving.  Here's to a 2012 with many more family gatherings!

5.  Christmas Eve Chili--I love holiday traditions.  One of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is eating a bowl of my mom's Christmas Eve chili.  It smells and tastes like Christmas to me more than anything else.

6.  Christmas Morning Wake-up Calls--I am 28 years old, but I still find it absolutely necessary to get an early start to the festivities on Christmas morning.  One may think this should fall to the youngest sibling, but alas it has fallen upon me over the past few years to wake my brother, parents, and now husband when the agreed upon time has come to begin opening stockings.

On a slightly unrelated topic, I wanted to share a Christmas day picture of me and Darren before we left for church.  We had taken several, but I didn't like any as much as the impromptu dip Darren did at the end. :)

7.  Wedding Cake--I previously mentioned loving holiday traditions.  Truth be told, my love of traditions is not limited to holidays.  My parents agreed to save part of the top layer of our wedding cake in their freezer for the past year so that Darren and I could have a bite on our 1st anniversary.  Despite some hesitation on Darren's part to eat a year-old piece of cake, I was bound and determined to carry out this tradition.  It was about a month after our first anniversary, but we ate (and enjoyed!) a piece of our wedding cake.  I was surprised by how good it still was!  Darren and I both had more than the anticipated small bite.  My mom, who did not get the chance to try any at our reception, also had a taste.  I would definitely recommend this tradition!

Chris, our photographer for the evening, got artistic with our rings before we took bites out of the red velvet piece of wedding cake.

We're about to take our first bite.

8.  Zumba with Mom--Several weeks ago I mentioned how much I enjoyed taking a Zumba class with some teachers at my school.  When I found out that a local gym in CA would be hosting two Zumba class while I was in town, I immediately proposed the idea to my mom.  While the music and steps were different than my experience with Zumba in Utah (but still confirmed that I have ABSOLUTELY NO Latin blood in my veins), we still had a great time.  What a fun way to work up a sweat!

9.  New Year's Resolutions--Every year, I love making New Year's Resolutions.  There's something about starting fresh with a clear image of how you want to improve certain areas of your life that is invigorating.  Many years ago, my dad used a scriptural reference (Luke 2:52) which talked of Christ growing in "wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" to suggest that we make resolutions in four main categories of our lives: intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social.  I have my resolutions set and am ready to put them into action.

10.    Midnight Fireworks--Darren and I started driving back to Utah yesterday afternoon, on New Year's Eve.  Once we were on the road, we set the goal of trying to be back to Springville by midnight so that we could ring in the New Year in our little apartment.  We were about 20 minutes late, but it worked out for the best.  When the clock struck midnight, our car was cresting a hill on the freeway from which we could see surrounding communities for quite a distance.  Our first moments of 2012 were greeted by several fireworks displays in the Utah valley.  We counted nine in all.  It was a magical moment and a great way to start off a new year.

A very happy New Year to you all!