Enjoy your ride called life!

Happy Saturday night my Happy clan!  I hope this post finds you all happy and smiling!!  I am ... Just in case you were wondering if I was following my own words of wisdom ;)

Today was a very nice day and I'm so thankful for my day of blessings and love!  God really is so very generous and loving!  How can I not be happy all the time - I mean, I am still alive and have the chance to live another day spreading this love and happiness that I am blessed with!!  Knowing that I might possibly be able to make someone (or multiple someones) smile gives me such an incredible joy!!!

I saw an amazing quote today that I just knew I had to share as part of our Happy today.  It's a great way to sum up life:

Life is a roller coaster,

With highs and lows,

With speeds and slows,

With screams and blows,

With dreams and woes...

Just smile and enjoy the ride!

Isn't that just so fantastic?!?!  What made this even more incredibly fantastic for me was I was just talking with my coworkers and friends the other day about how much I loved roller coasters and how much I loved the thrill of them.  And it really is the perfect metaphor for life.  Like a roller coaster - there are some scary moments that sometimes almost make us feel as if we aren't even going to make it out alive!  But, those moments usually end up being the most fun and exciting parts!

Have you ever seen the movie Parenthood directed by Ron Howard?  It's one of my favorite movies!  Well, at one point, Steve Martin's character, Gil, just quit his job and comes home to find out his wife, Karen, played by Mary Steenburgen, is pregnant with their 4th child.  Gil and Karen are in the middle of a parent argument (you know, the fighting parents do when kids are around) when Gil's grandma walks in and interrupts them.  Here's the clip:

I couldn't agree more with their Grandma!  I like the roller coaster too!!

Life is most definitely an incredible Happy when you think of it like this, wouldn't you agree?  And this is just another reason I am always so happy and am able to keep a smile on my face 99.9% of the time ;)  I love my roller coaster of life and wouldn't stop this ride for anything - I'm so thankful for however long I get!!  So, I'd like to share one more quote about life and how it's like a roller coaster before I say goodnight:

So, from here on out, I want all of you to start enjoying your roller coaster of a life and when things start getting scary, don't close your eyes and hide away, throw your hands up and smile because it will be worth it in the end!

On that note, it is time for me to retire!  Goodnight and sweet dreams to all of you!  Remember, unless you are in Arizona, set your clocks ahead an hour so you can "spring forward" with the time change.  Until tomorrow, keep smiling and spreading that love!!

Peace, Love and Happiness!

Karen :)

Look beyond and see the good!

Happy Friday evening my Happy clan!  I hope you all had a super day!!  I know for some of you just knowing it's Friday makes today an extra special Happy, but it should be an extra special Happy for all of you!  Even if you have to work it can still be a Happy, you just have to let it be.

Today's Happy is a quick and simple message to help you make every day a Happy one:

Being Happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect,

It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!!

And it really is that simple!!  And it's very late so take that with you now and forever and until tomorrow, keep smiling and spreading that love!!

Peace, Love and Happiness!

Karen :)

You're never alone!!

Happy Thursday my Happy clan!  I hope you all are having a wonderful day and are ready for the weekend - which is now almost one day away!  It's been a crazy busy week and it's just going to get crazier, but as long as I've got my boys I know I'm going to be okay.  After all, love is all you need, no matter what life may throw at you...  And it's so awesome being loved, it makes the hardest days seem quite easy to deal with!

And that's one thing you can always depend on your family for - to love you and be there for you no matter what.  And remember, family isn't always blood.  It's the people in your life who want you in theirs, the ones who accept you for who you are.  The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what!  And guess what, that's your Happy for today ... But I'm thinking you already guessed that ;)  Today's Happy is just a reminder that you are loved by the "family" you have in your life, and guess what, I'm one of those family members!  And just one more reminder to add to your Happy for today:

So, next time you feel alone or left behind, remember you aren't... You always have someone who loves you and is thinking about you and will always be there for you - I promise I will always be!!  But, now it's time for me to head off to bed so until tomorrow, keep smiling and spreading that love!!

Peace, Love and Happiness!

Karen :)

How are you defined?

Happy Wednesday my Happy clan!  I hope you all are having an awesome hump day!!  My day has been great - busy at work because I had a lot to get done but a really nice day.  I brought my homemade peanut butter and chocolate chip banana bread in so that immediately put everyone in a great mood!  Which put me in an even better mood, I really get a kick out of knowing I made someone else's day better :)  I just love being happy!!!

My whole life I've had people ask me how I can be so happy all the time, how I can always be smiling...  Have you ever looked up the definition of the word "Happy"?  Webster's Dictionary's definitions are:
     1) favored by luck or fortune
     2) notably fitting, effective or well-adapted
     3) enjoying or characterized by well-being and contentment

This can be the definition of you if you let it!!  And let me tell you, it's a pretty awesome way of being defined.  I love knowing when people come see me they know they are going to be greeted with a smile, a hello and in most cases, a hug!!!  And what's even greater is knowing they enjoy when they see me!  I try to make sure everyone I meet knows that I'm happy and grateful to have met them and spent time with them.  And I hope all of you know how happy and grateful I am to have you - and I love you all!!

Today's Happy is a simple affirmation and also a helpful way to show you how to always be happy!

Don't look for a reason to be happy - just be happy!  First of all, because there is ALWAYS a reason.  And secondly, because you don't need a reason!!!  So, I hope you all really take this in and learn from it and go out there and get to being happy!!!  Until tomorrow, keep smiling and spreading that love!!

Peace, Love and Happiness!

Karen :)

Baking up some Happiness!

Happy Tuesday my Happy clan!  I hope you all had a super day - I know I did!  It was another super busy day but I got so much accomplished, and I'm still going too.  This morning, even though we woke up almost an hour late, we got Johnny ready and out the door only 5 minutes later than he should have left.  I made it to the bank before 10am, I got almost all my paperwork dealt with before lunch time and we got a lot of necessary plans put together as well.  And now, I'm waiting for my last two loaves of banana bread to finish baking so I can let them cool long enough to wrap up for the evening.  I changed up my recipe a bit, this time I made chocolate & peanut butter chip banana bread, and it is delicious!!!

I find it quite amazing how easy baking comes to me.  I never thought I'd not only be able to but enjoy baking like I do.  Life gives us so many unexpected but awesome surprises and I'm thankful for ever single one of them!!  What's even more fantastic is that it happens to all of us, we just have to pay attention.  Sometimes the signs in life are so apparent but other times they can be quite subtle.  For example, for 2 years in a row my mother-in-law bought me the first two books in the "Hello, Cupcake" series.  I thought they were cute but didn't give them much else thought.  That is, until my mom's birthday one year.  I had no money but still wanted to do something special for her.  I found some cake mix in my pantry and decided, how about I bake her a cake.  But, a cake seemed too boring, so I started looking through all my cookbooks until I found the baking section.  The "Hello, Cupcake" book immediately caught my eye and the first recipe I opened up to was a recipe for bowling pins, and my mother is obsessed with bowling!  Well, of course, I had to make these cupcakes!!  So, I went to the store to get the remaining ingredients needed and spent about 3-4 hours baking.  Here's a picture of the final product:

For my first attempt at "fancy" cupcakes, I have to say, I did a pretty fabulous job!  After baking this batch, I thought it would be pretty cool to start baking cupcakes for everyone on their birthday - I was thinking this would be a unique gift just from me, but still wouldn't cost too much (um... yeah, it's actually a lot pricier than I thought).  So, next in line were Kathy and Kelly (technically my dad comes afterward but he was living out of state at the time so he missed out).  Kat and Kelly are twins but have very different likes - so, Kat got some kitties and Kelly got my first attempt at "CubCakes".  Here's their final products:

It was definitely easier for me when I had a design to follow, but as I kept baking, I just got better :)

And I still use designs I find along the way that I like:

Now, I not only design, but make my cupcakes completely from scratch (no store bought mixtures for this redhead - and a lot of the pictures above are made completely from scratch!) and I'm in the process of creating my own recipes as well!  It's such a thrill whenever I bake and it really is just a multitude of Happies for me!  One Happy is the actual baking - I love creating the batter and working on it to make it my own!  Another Happy is waiting for the cupcakes to bake and the house smelling better and better as the time ticks away!  And yet another Happy is when they're all finished and watching people go crazy so they can get one more of my cupcakes because they're just that good!!  God truly blessed me with an incredible gift and I promise all of you that I will continue to work on my baking and one day it will be available to everyone everywhere!!!

So, to go along with my point, today's Happy is about the special talents that we all have.  Whether it's something like being able to whistle, or being able to recite all the elements and their abbreviations of the Periodic Table, or being able to flip your eyelids inside out or (in my case) being able to bake fun and yummy cupcakes, we all have a talent and we should embrace these talents!  We're given them for a reason - and sometimes we have other talents that we didn't even knew was there.  Start opening your eyes more and seeing the amazing things you can do.  But, don't just see it - celebrate it!!!  You are amazing and you do amazing things and you should be very proud of yourself!!!  Now, go celebrate the awesomeness that is you and have a beautiful sleep with the sweetest of dreams!  Until tomorrow, keep smiling and spreading that love!!

Peace, Love and Happiness!

Karen :)

The answer to happiness is so simple...

Some Happies just don't need an explanation... Until tomorrow, keep smiling and spreading that love!!

Peace, Love and Happiness!

Karen :)

Sunday Slumber

Happy Sunday night my Happy clan!  I hope that you all had a stupendously wonderful week!!  Can you believe it's not  only the end of another week but the beginning of a brand new month!  Just like that and it's almost springtime :) I know there's still another few weeks or so to go but I can feel it!  And until then, "Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snow lies the seed that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes the rose." (The Rose, -Bette Midler)

The thought of spring makes me so happy in so many different ways!  I can guarantee I'll have some lovely dreams tonight thanks to these thoughts - and I'd like for you all to have lovely dreams as well!

So, tonight's Happy is a sweet and simple song that gracefully depicts the exquisite wonder that is springtime:

I love the soft melody of the piano... I think it fits quite well - and makes for a great tune to fall asleep to ;) In fact, that's just what I'm going to do!  Until tomorrow, keep smiling and spreading that love!!

Peace, Love and Happiness!

Karen :)