Happy Challenge

In the wake of the Government shutdown and the sort-of-launched Affordable Care Act, I have noticed that there is very little enjoyable things on the news feeds of any of my social network sites. Even hanging out with my friends eventually leads to the depressing topic of over 800K people out of work. Minus those 400K who are back to work….It still means that the livelihood of many people has been put on hold until some unannounced date.

This Happy Challenge should probably be something we do everyday. Especially now because everyone seems so unhappy with things–regardless of your side. Add something happy to your life each day. Whether it be in conversation or any social network you belong to. If you update your status message a few times a day or share links with friends let one of those shares be happy.
Restrictions on this Happy Challenge? Really not much. It has to be something that makes you happy. It could be pictures of animals too adorable for words such as those found on Cuteoverload.com.

It could be that hilarious video that had you snorting milk through your nose:

Or, perhaps you would like to share a new favorite recipe that is just to die for, like this recipe for Oven Fried Mushrooms I found on Cooking Tip Of the Day.

You can share personal stuff or just about anything. Make sure it is something that makes you happy and isn’t related to all this jacked up stuff that the news media is fully covering for us.

You’ve been challenged. Share something happy.

What made you happy today?
Please share with me, I do need more happy on my blog/facebook/tumblr/twitter/instagram/greader/reddit/inbox.

~Kat~

Addition: Mug Hooks

I have been swooning over the fancy mug rack DIY projects on Pinterest since I first saw them. However, Kit and I agreed we don’t like our cabinets and do not mind if we drill them for of holes.

I even used the power drill! I was proud of myself for learning and frustrated that I wasn’t an expert immediately. I did put up several of the hooks without completely ruining anything.

I am super pleased at the final product! My mugs are easy to access, they look pretty on display, and it cleared tons of room in my quite limited cup cabinet.
Yes, I am very aware my hooks aren’t even. My life is a little janky, so it fits me.

What do you think?

Day 329: Shelving

Aside from demolishing the house and rebuilding there isn’t much I can do to fix our weird partitioned house. One thing that Kit and I constantly struggle with is finding space for our dishes, cookware and food. When we married we combined his fully stocked house and my half stocked student housewares.

A nice fix for now is just throwing up some wire shelving. I didn’t time us to see if we took the advertised “less than 20 minutes” to assemble, but it went together pretty well. The most distracting aspect was my beagle wanting to climb in our laps.

Kit and I excitedly ran around the kitchen tossing things on the new shelving. Most of the things are the things we use frequently or need to use soon (bread/fruit). There are also a lot of items that float around the kitchen but do not have a home. One step closer to a more organized kitchen!

Day 286: My Pops

This is my dad in his natural and entirely happy habitat.
I think my dad had a good Christmas. You know, how I know? He didn’t go back to bed. He loves naps buuuuuut…

We got him Non-alcoholic beer and a big book of sudoku puzzles. He is sporting his favorite causual wear–his bath robe.

You may think I’m joking but he was tickled with his Xmas presents. He sat and enjoyed his NA beer, sudoku and after a bit some decaf coffee.

He is a strange kid, but I love him anyway.

2013 Memory Jar

What is it?
Write down memorable happy moments that happen throughout the year and put them in a jar. On New Year’s Eve, open the jar and enjoy getting misty eyed as you read through the highlights.

What do I need?
•An empty jar
•Paper
•Pen or pencil
Optional: Frilly things to make your jar pretty and fancy paper or gift tags.
Do I have to use a jar?: No. Empty pasta sauce jars, canning jars, peanut butter jars (make sure you get all the oils out), pickle jars, piggy banks, shoe boxes, big mailing envelopes, a journal, photo album, write it down and take a picture (file on your computer), etc. There are many possibilities, so have fun with it.

How do you do it?
For Kit and I, it is completely impractical to sit down every day or the end of every week and write memorable moments.
We started ours today (Feb. 1st) and wrote down every awesome thing that happened in January. Kit remembers every, but I cheated and flipped through my journal.
We made a goal to write at least two good things–he wrote three and I wrote six.

That’s it! Write, fold and cram into the jar. It took us 10 minutes (which included me collection supplies)–it was soooooo easy.

Extra Tips
•We both wrote on slips of notebook paper independently and had one overlapping event (we got a goat!).
If you have a large family, or want to have a discussion with your family then you will likely get fewer duplicates.

•I cut up extra slips of notebook paper and threw those in the jar (unfolded) along with a pencil. If the moment strikes we can unscrew the lid and keep a memory.

•I highly suggest discussion if you have small children. If they are having trouble just help them think of one good thing. Don’t chastise if it is a material happiness that first comes to mind.

•Kit and I are both really good at letting date sensitive events just slide on by (Bills….omg). So I have set a reminder on my phone to pop up on Feb 28th and March 1st.

•Here are two links to keeping a memory jar. Also called Scrapbook Jars; some people make them quite fancy. Maybe a year is too extreme, consider a Month of Gratitude, like this blogger.

Have you ever tried this?
• Waste of time/worth it?
• Suggestions for newbies like me?