happy things

so far all this COLD and darkness has NOT gotten to me. every day that seems more light than dark in my heart is a gift...i'm taking so little for granted right now.

this "happy light" is part of my "plan of attack" for the winter. i turn it on in the morning when i'm reading. and i TRULY believe it's helping. now, it could just be a "placebo" thing (you know, where you THINK it's helping but it's just helping because you THINK it is). i don't care WHY...i'm just glad it is!! (some of my other plans of attack are not going so well...like not eating sugar :/ i DO KNOW that helps...but can't get myself under control!)

my mom sent me this picture after that show a couple weeks ago...isn't he the cutest?!?

get ready to put this on pinterest (ha!) i realized the morning of joshua's football team part that we had done nothing for a coach's gift. and his coach's were AMAZING this year! so...to target i went. new water bottles. a few Skor's candy bars. and a note printed out (and signed by HIM) that said, "I skor-ed BIG having you as a coach!"

challenging myself keeps me happy. pushing beyond what i think i can do makes me feel ALIVE. when i was in texas, and did that crossfit workout, one of the things we did was handstands and then lowered our bodies down onto our heads (with a mat thing underneath.) ultimately, the goal is probably to be able to do it all the way down to the floor. but i used a block (borrowed from the yoga studio at the gym) and it was definitely a challenge for me! try something. it doesn't have to be this...but challenge yourself physically in SOME way, and let me know how it goes!!

i LOOOOOVE having a double oven! i use it more than i thought i would! i made ALL these pumpkin goodies in 30 minutes!

my friend, megan, helped put on this amazing shop last week. all of the items were purchased from artisans and businesses to create economic opportunity for the vulnerable. it was so beautiful! the shop AND the items and the hearts.

i got lots of christmas shopping done. AND did a little shopping for myself. this blanket is AMAZING. it's made by women in india rescued from slavery and they use sari's to make the blankets. it's SO soft and cozy and i use it ALL.THE.TIME.

see? still wearing it. what am i doing, you ask??
so. neither pat or i drink coffee. which is fine. but when people come to our house, we have no coffee to offer them. because we never think about it. but then feel bad when they are here. so we usually send them down the street to dunkin donuts (which DOES have good coffee, or so they say...)

anyways. when i was cleaning out our storage room the other month, i found this coffee maker. we got it when we got married. !!! we registered for it, someone bought it for us, and we've had it for 16 YEARS...from apartments to townhouse to house. STILL IN THE BOX until last week! i opened that thing up and made my first pot of coffee in my kitchen. i didn't drink a drop (hate the stuff) but, thankfully, rebekah likes it and she drank it for me.

 there it goes! first pot of coffee in the cassada kitchen. (yes, it's a 4 cup pot. like, super tiny. there is an update to this story coming...)

my bailey is a mess lately. so hard for all of us. negative, dramatic, just HARD. pat and i are trying everything we can to meet her where she is. we brainstorm all the time to see if we can come up with something that will meet her little heart where it is.

in one of my efforts, i printed out a super detailed coloring page for each of us. and we colored. side by side. for over 30 minutes. we didn't talk a ton. but we were just TOGETHER. i didn't let anyone distract me or pull me away. who knows if it met her heart or not, but it was an enjoyable time together and i'm thankful for it!

 a little sprint workout to keep us in shape. {they loved it, ha!}

 i have GOT to do a whole post on our grilled pizza's. we added a dessert one this past weekend! it was AMAZING!

and this one? she asked if we could be twins for church on sunday...in our striped dresses and chunky necklaces...

this makes these boys SO happy. and, in all honesty, when they are just walking around you hardly notice because it's on the bottom of their head.

reading. makes us ALL happy!!

and this? a big amazon box, lots of tape and printer paper and at least a couple hours of imaginations running wild. they ALL were busy on it a different points and it made me SO happy!!