The Year Mark: Celebrating Good Things

October marks the one year birthday of my first post. Yay for posts! A year and a half ago,  I was all excited to do my own blog. I got as far as saving my blog name and address. For the better part of six months it remained blank.

I kept thinking, what on earth would I even say on a blog?

In October of last year, inspiration hit. If I was going to try and blog every week, I might as well be positive about it. Thus my slightly cliché motto "Celebrating Small and Simple Things."

Over 40 posts later, I guess I did have a lot more to say than I thought I would.  It's like that Good News Minute they sometimes do in Relief Society. Half the time you can't think of anything to say, but when you hear what others say, you realize even small things can be beautiful.

Like when the light isn't quite bright enough outside your window to convince you to get up and a little boy crawls up on the bed, his face wide with his morning grin. You know at that point, sleep is over, but for a few still seconds, he snuggles into you and is content to talk.

Like when the bunnies escape again, and you dread chasing them from one end of the yard to the other, but for some reason, they hop back into the pen and let you close the gate.

Like the random phone call you get at quarter to nine. "You want to go shopping? There's the best sale." You pull up your soaking wet hair into a knot at the back of your head and leave the dishes for later. You only have thirty minutes to shop between picking up kids and dropping off kids. And some how, you actually find something so cool it makes you want to dance.

Like the speaker set your brother let you borrow for your phone that plays music loud enough to hear it while you're in the shower. (I do apologize to the neighbors, but my singing this morning was much more on key, at least.)

Like your favorite song. On repeat.

Like the color of the mountains in fall.

Like riding a bike downhill.

Like two nieces and a nephew you haven't seen more than four times, still comfortable enough to hold your hand, climb in your lap, or let you braid their hair.

Like really long hugs.

Life is so beautiful. You'll never run out of things to celebrate. It makes me happy just thinking about it.

What makes you happy? What are your moments when the world aligns and you realize something glorious is happening, even in the midst of all the bad? What messages of love has God left in your life? Let's celebrate them for one cliché of a moment. There's a lot of good out there.


8 comments

  1. Good job blogging for a whole year! I love your theme of small and simple things.

    I'm celebrating today because in a week I'll be holding my first book signing/book launch. Yay! Thanks for the chance to share my happy thing.

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  2. Congrats on reaching one year. A great accomplishment. In my life, it's the little things that bring me happiness. Like a hug from my son. Thank you's and sweet comments from my children and husband. Red velvet cake. The ocean. Sunsets. I could go on. Thanks! Have a great day. =)

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  3. Congratulations! You should have mentioned the name of your book! I'm guessing it's "Sudden Darkness?"

    Thanks for your comment and good luck with your book signing.

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  4. RaShelle, I totally agree the little things are what keep me going. Thanks for your comments.

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  5. Congratulations on reaching this milestone. And thanks for the thoughtful reminder of how important it is to celebrate the small accomplishments along with the large. This has been a good year for me. This last month, in particular. There are huge, great things happening in my life. And also huge, stressful things. Sometimes the stressful ones try to overshadow the good ones. But they can only do that if we let them, right?

    Today, I'm happy because the sun is shining, and because for the first time in a long time, I grabbed a club and went after something and somehow managed to catch it.

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  6. Happy Blogverary! Getting my pages in on time makes me happy!! One set in today, another getting ready to submit! I'm happy for you, JoLyn!!

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  7. Love this post! Great job Jolyn! I'm happy because it's fall and general conference, my roses are still blooming and my kids are jumping out of their skin excited to decorate for Halloween. :)

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