Pies and Thanksgiving

* I actually DID write this on Thanksgiving. Then the power went out. And yesterday I spent the day fighting with my natural crash after a big day, so I didn't get this put together. That's why you get it today! Hope you enjoy! *


Guys! It’s been less than a week and I’ve ALREADY knocked off another thing on my “30 Things to Do Before I’m 30” list! I accomplished number 19: I baked a lemon meringue pie! And it tasted as delicious as it looked!

I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie because it presented a challenge, but was something I would really enjoy. Lemon meringue pies are my favorite pies, but no one makes them because meringue is a pain to make. But honestly, the hardest part for me was the crust! I didn’t like my crust recipe and will try a different one next time. Regardless, it looked and tasted delicious. Plus, I felt really proud of myself when I finished.

The entire pie was eaten. Which is pretty good because only one other pie was completely eaten. Best news of the day? I made that pie too! Here’s both of them:


The chocolate cream pie was eaten so fast that neither I, nor my husband (who I specifically made the pie for) got to eat any! Note to self: make multiple chocolate cream pies next year. I also had intended to put whipped topping on it, but they ate it before I even got the chance to do that! Their loss. But I do have to make another chocolate cream pie for my husband, so he can taste the goodness. I just need to decide when to do that.

Today was Thanksgiving, and as such, I wanted to take a minute and just be grateful for what I have. Life is far from perfect right now, but it is good. I have so many things going for me! For example, my husband is amazing. He’s my rock. My mother-in-law has been invaluable. I found a temporary counseling situation while I try to find my new long-term counselor.  I’ve been having great experiences with friends and family. Most of my life is going really, really well.

I love my happiness journal and writing happy things every day. It helps me stay focused on the positive in my life. I’m not one to blindly ignore the negative, I know it’s there, and I’ll talk about it when I need to. But I just don’t like living in the negative. It’s why, even though my anxiety really sucks, I’m glad it’s not depression. Because it’s not depression, I can see the good so much more! I can enjoy the happy moments when they come, even if they’re surrounded by negative moments.

Like yesterday while making the pies at my good friend’s house: I was trying to do homework while things were cooking or sitting in the fridge to cool. I was getting completely overwhelmed. My anxiety was starting to spiral. But in the midst of the crazy emotions I was feeling, I also felt the happy: my lemon custard tasted delicious. So did the chocolate pudding. And the meringue worked like a charm. I could enjoy those small things and that was beautiful.

So mostly, today I’m grateful that I’m only dealing with anxiety. Thank goodness my bipolar symptoms are in control! So, despite the negative, I’m grateful for how life is going. I may have to slow down graduation, but I will be able to graduate. I may not feel peace all the time, but I can still find happiness in the small things. And that makes life worth every minute.
 

30 Things to Do Before I’m 30

1. Dye hair blue and purple
2. See a professional (or university level) musical
3. Teach a massage class
4. Give talk/speech about mental health
5. Hike a tall mountain (preferably Mt. Timp)
6. Attend a temple I’ve never been to before
7. Go through all my belongings (Get rid of stuff!)
8. Reach a healthy weight
9. Finish the first draft of a book
10. Finish reading the bible
11. Earn $1,000 (gross) with massage business
12. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter
13. Sew shirts based on my favorite casual shirt
14. Write to 2 of my favorite authors
15. Knit a pair of socks
16. Grow a plant from a seed
17. Learn to cook fried eggs (different ways)
18. Draw or paint a self portrait
19. Bake a lemon meringue pie
20. Eat at a fancy restaurant
21. Go to a professional haunted house
22. Find a name for the temple
23. Go somewhere new (new city)
24. Sing a solo in public
25. Read a book in German
26. Do yoga outdoors as sun rises
27. Have either
    1. A girl’s weekend
    2. A solo trip not just to visit family/friends
28. Take a community class to learn something new
29. Try a new food (not just a new recipe)
30. Do 30 random acts of kindness

Kicking Off a Year of Happiness

Today is my 29^th birthday! And with this birthday, I’m kicking off a year of happiness. I’m going to spend my last year of my 20s focused on bringing happiness into my life.

The idea started because I read Gretchen Rubin’s book “The Happiness Project”. She spent a year focusing on bringing happiness into her life. I’m not Gretchen Rubin. My happiness project is not really like hers. She had charts, resolutions, commandments, secrets of adulthood, splendid truths, and monthly themes. I think that’s a great idea, but it’s not me. I’ve been thinking for the last month of how I want to do my happiness project, what is my version. How can I bring happiness into the life of Beans? I think I finally figured it out.

First, resolutions (I need some of these): These are things I want to improve in my life. I’m still working on my list of these and it might change as time goes on, but this is what I have so far:

1.       Exercise, even just walking, 5 days a week

2.       Improve relationships with my family by

a.       Spending time with my nieces and nephews

b.       Remembering birthdays

c.       Calling family more frequently

3.       Get up at a consistent time every morning

4.       Do 5 self care things a week

5.       Improve my daily prayers

6.       Blog more often

Also kind of resolutions that I think deserve their own categories are the following:

1.       Keep a happiness journal. This is a journal focused on things that bring me happiness in my life. Part of this is a daily 1 sentence journal (this I DID steal from “The Happiness Project”, at least kind of). Every day I’m going to write the happiest thing that happened to me that day. In other sections of the journal I’ll include other things that I find, write, do, etc that bring me happiness. For example, all I asked for this year for my birthday was letters from friends and family. Those will be put in this journal. 

 

2.       Read a book each month written by an inspiring woman. I was going to just do inspiring person, but I think I’m going to limit it to women for this year. I want to empower myself and feel connected to these amazing, strong women who have done various things. I’m still compiling this list. My goal is to let you know each month which book I read and what I thought. Oh, the book has to be nonfiction. So, even though I LOVE JK Rowling and find her incredibly inspiring, I can’t read Harry Potter. I have a list of inspiring women who’ve written nonfiction books that were recommended to me. I’m still open to suggestions. So, if you think there’s something I HAVE to read, let me know (if I don’t read it this year, or for this project, it’ll go on my list of recommended books and I will probably get around to it someday).

The BIGGEST think I’m doing this year though, is “30 Things to Do Before I’m 30”.  I have a list of 30 things that I want to accomplish this year. Some of them are silly, like do yoga outdoors while the sun rises. Others are things I’ve wanted to do my entire life, like finish the first draft to a book (this one will be the most challenging thing on the list). If I don’t hit all of these, I won’t beat myself up about it, but I’m going to try REALLY hard to get them all!

First thing on that list: dye my hair blue and purple.

I did a whole photo shoot today. I'm LOVING the new look!

 

I kind of cheated with this one. I technically dyed my hair yesterday, but I feel like it’s kicking off this amazing year, so I’m including it anyway. I may include a bonus item at some other point, but either way, I’m counting this.

Anyway, I’m LOVING my blue and purple hair! It makes me so happy every time I see it. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, had plans to do it in August (even crazier plans then!) but it fell through. It’s ok though: I kind of like the timing. I get my crazy awesome hair to kick of my amazing year of happiness. It seems fitting.  Here’s another picture just because I love it so much.



This was a more candid shot my husband took. It's one of my favorites!

Below is my list of 30 things to do before I’m 30 (in no particular order, besides the first one). Every time I accomplish one of these goals, I’ll write a post. Or at least I plan to. I might combine some posts. But I plan on documenting all of these. As I do, I’ll cross it off the list. Good news is I only have 29 more fun things to do before I’m 30! :D

I hope you follow along this year as I try to make my life happier. I don’t plan to ONLY blog about this. I still want to focus on other issues, but I see this as directly related to my mental health battle. Anxiety is here. Depression will come again. But if I can bring even just a tiny bit of happiness into those days that the world feels like it’s falling apart, it’ll be just that much more bearable.

 

30 Things To Do Before I’m 30

1.       Dye hair blue and purple

2.       See a professional (or university level) musical

3.       Teach a massage class

4.       Give talk/speech about mental health

5.       Hike a tall mountain (preferably Mt. Timp)

6.       Attend a temple I’ve never been to before

7.       Go through all my belongings (Get rid of stuff!)

8.       Reach a healthy weight

9.       Finish the first draft of a book

10.   Finish reading the bible

11.   Earn $1,000 (gross) with massage business

12.   Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter

13.   Sew shirts based on my favorite casual shirt

14.   Write to 2 of my favorite authors

15.   Knit a pair of socks

16.   Grow a plant from a seed

17.   Learn to cook fried eggs (different ways)

18.   Draw or paint a self portrait

19.   Bake a lemon meringue pie

20.   Eat at a fancy restaurant

21.   Go to a professional haunted house

22.   Find a name for the temple

23.   Go somewhere new (new city)

24.   Sing a solo in public

25.   Read a book in German

26.   Do yoga outdoors as sun rises

27.   Have either

a.       A girl’s weekend somewhere

b.       A solo trip not just to visit family/friends

28.   Take a community class to learn something new

29.   Try a new food (not just a new recipe)

30.   Do 30 random acts of kindness