Happiness Archives - Page 22 of 70

On Happiness, Calm and Being Myself

April 12, 2013/2 Comments/in Happiness, Kansas City /by Megan

This week was a little gloomy in my neck of the woods. After we finally had a full week of sun and sandals, this week it snowed (WHAT? KANSAS YOU ARE DRUNK!) and rained pretty much the entire time. It was chilly, but I refused to get my winter boots back out and spent most of the week shivering in my springtime wear. It was totally worth it.

On Wednesday Tate and I were starting to get a bit crabby after being stuck inside, so we packed up and headed to the Nelson Atkins Museum here in Kansas City. This is the kind of thing I used to dream about when I was stuck inside my dark office at a job I hated. I dreamed of having the freedom to wander a museum during quiet hours and taking my kids with me on adventures around the city, without the rush of packing everything in during the few free hours we had together. Tate took the museum just you’d imagine a two-year-old would…half loving everything and half hating it all while laying on the floor in the galleries.

Someone is taking this "art is life" thing a bit too seriously... #toddler #art #museum #kc #drama

I was talking to a very old friend yesterday who I haven’t spoken to in a while and she mentioned that this blog has seemed very different lately than in the past. She said that when she’s read what I’ve been writing here, it sounds like the “me” that I don’t usually project out into the world. She said, “It’s the side of you that I have always known, but not the one most people see.” She’s right. Lately I’ve been annoyingly happy and content, and I’m sure that’s been reflected here. My trademark sarcasm has been a little lighter, but I promise, it’s still me. Things aren’t perfect, I still complain and moan way more than I probably should. But for the most part, I just feel calmer. More grateful. Slower.

#fmsphotoaday #aplace #nelsonatkins #museum #kc

I hope you all have a happy weekend, and enjoy some slowness yourself.

(For reference, we’ll be attempting potty training this weekend, so if you think it’s all sunshine and roses around here, you’d be VERY wrong.)

Happy Weekend! (Plus a little more Go Mighty fun…)

April 5, 2013/1 Comment/in Fun, Happiness, web /by Megan

Oh, hey, it’s Friday! I’m so excited for this weekend. After so many grey, dark months, it finally, FINALLY feels like spring outside and we plan to take full advantage. We have Lucy’s first soccer game and I’m sure we’ll be spending lots of hours cleaning up the yard and starting some garden projects. I am stupidly obsessed with the sunshine this year…not sure why it’s so different than years past. Probably because when I was working crazy hours, I never saw much sunshine, regardless of the season! But this year it feels like there are so many possibilities just waiting for us. I really can’t wait.

I was going to share some links with you, but instead, I think you all should turn off your computers, go outside and lay in the grass for a few hours. If you want to participate in something fun, head on over to Nat the Fat Rat and learn more about her rad project with Go Mighty. She is trying to get 500 tweets, Instagram photos or other social media posts that focus on sharing compliments about others. If you want to participate, just tweet or Instagram something awesome about someone you love and appreciate, and tag the post with #mightylove. If there are 500 in one week, Nat will get to donate $500 to a battered women’s shelter in NYC. Here are a few that I’ve posted over on Instagram…

Hey, @mikaylastover, you are one of the best moms I’ve ever known and I’m endlessly trying to emulate your patience. Oh, and you’re an incredible friend to boot! #mightylove

@maralynntho You are one of the only people on earth who can handle my weirdness and I love you for it! Thanks for always being there for me and holding my hand. Love you! #mightylove

@abbienyoung Thank you for always being there to listen to my troubles and tell me bad jokes to make me feel better. Your an amazing mom and person and Eminem impersonator 🙂 #mightylove

@nicolecoleman You are such an incredible mom and friend! Thanks for always inspiring me with your impeccable taste and for documenting my little family in photos. We miss you!!! #mightylove

A couple of these were featured on Go Mighty, and that makes me super, super happy! Spreading the love really does feel pretty fantastic. Have a great weekend!

Easter in the Mud

April 3, 2013/1 Comment/in Family, Fun, Happiness, Photos /by Megan

I know I’m a few days late, but I wanted to share a few photos from our family Easter at the farm. We had such an incredible time, mostly due to the fact that it finally felt like SPRING! After all the snow we’ve had the past few months, it was so lovely to be out in the sunshine for two entire days. We worked on Lucy’s tree fort, dug in the mud for worms, ran around in circles until we were dizzy, laid in the grass watching the clouds and stomped around the lake shore in our rainboots. In fact, we spent most of the weekend in our boots, since along with the snow melt, we had a glorious thunderstorm on Friday night. I am in constant awe that my children are growing up with memories of this beautiful place and watching them live out their childhoods at the farm is so magical. I hope you had as much fun during your holiday and ate approximately 300 jellybeans (like I did, whoops!).

My First Piece in Sweet Lemon Magazine!

April 1, 2013/2 Comments/in Fun, Happiness, Work /by Megan

I’m so, so excited to share my first article published in Sweet Lemon Magazine. I wrote a piece about a fun DIY I’ve been wanting to share for ages. I hope you head over to Sweet Lemon Magazine and check it out! While you’re there, take a glance at the amazing relaunch of the site and the new branding that is all over the place. The Sweet Lemon team worked so hard on this redesign and I think it looks pretty darn fantastic!

The Wisdom of Two Year Olds

March 29, 2013/2 Comments/in Happiness, Tate, World /by Megan

Getting shorts on this boy was so dramatic! He thought they were "broken" pants. #2yearold

Hey, hey, it’s FRIDAY! I hope you all are gearing up for a fun weekend, and if you celebrate Easter, I hope you get lots of pink jellybeans in your basket (they’re the best kind, in my opinion). We are getting ready to head back to the farm to spend the weekend with family, but I wanted to share a quick story before I go. As you all know, this week the Supreme Court is hearing a case that might help decide the future of marriage equality in this country. If you know me at all (or have been reading this blog for any sort of time), you know I’m a huge supporter of marriage equality and equality in general. I was raised to believe that people can love whoever the heck they want, and I’m raising my kids with the same lessons. In fact, Lucy has several friends with same sex parents and doesn’t understand what all the hoopla is about some people not wanting same sex couples to be married. Tate is still a little young to understand any of this…I mean, his greatest concern in life is whether or not his Thomas the Train is within two inches of him at all times….so we haven’t yet spoken to him about equality or government or anything that doesn’t directly relate to said train or the amount of macaroni he must eat before he has a cookie.

Today Tate and I were out to lunch when he started up with his adorable two-year-old antics. He started pointing at the other people in the restaurant and LOUDLY telling me all about them.

“Mama! That girl has macaroni too!”

“Mama, they lookin’ at me!”

“Mama eat noodles?”

“That boy wear a red hat!”

Et cetera and so on…you get the gist. A few tables over there were two 30-something men with their little baby, having a nice little lunch. Tate looked at them and screamed “TWO DADDIES! TWO!!!” while pointing at their table. I looked at him and said, “Yup, they have two daddies.” Tate immediately started laughing and cheering, “YAY!!! TWO DADDIES! YAAAAYYYYY!!!” He was so happy and excited that that little baby had two daddies, it made every inch of my body beam with pride. The two men looked over, laughed, smiled and waved at Tate, who clearly thought they were rock stars. I mean, how lucky is that family? They get TWO DADDIES!

I hope someday everyone can be as open and accepting as my crazy Tater. We could all learn quite a bit from wise, little two-year-olds….

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