People Amaze Me

Aren't people just wonderful?!? 

I remember talking to one of my roommates in college about how everyone is amazing. Everyone has a life story to share. Everyone is different and unique and intriguing. 

I love meeting new people, seeing what flavor of person they are. When I go to sports games, I miss out on a lot of the game because I am too busy people-watching! It is just too much fun watching the old black guys and his mannerisms as HE watches the game, seeing the mother and father of four trying to corral their kids while passing out hot dogs and soda pop, figuring out the dating dynamics of the adolescents in front of me. Pretty fun!

Recently a gal moved into the ward that is super into digital scrapbooking. She is a fun, vibrant character that is always up to something, and that something is usually EXTREMELY creative. 

Well, I decided to enlist her help on an activity that I was in charge of for the youth at my church last night. I put her creative skills to work to design a bookmark to pass out. She. was. AWESOME!

It was such a pleasure to watch her work. It was more fun than the bookmark itself! She was just so into it, moving this, changing that, switching it around, erasing and starting over. It looked really good within five minutes. An hour later it was awesome. I was so impressed by her talents and I had a blast watching her and getting to understand her better. That is my favorite.

Wouldn't the world be so much better if we all just went around thinking about how awesome everyone else was? What would happen if instead of being jealous or prideful we were just able to look at a person and appreciate who they were. 

Try it out today. Stop criticizing. It doesn't ever make you feel better anyways. Instead, look for the AWESOME in everyone else. You'll find it. 

God made us, which makes us awesome.

More thoughts on Work

My son is persistent. When he discovers he isn't good at something, he practices and practices until he has mastered it. Some examples:

-When he was learning to cruise, it bothered him that when he dropped at toy and bent to pick it up, he fell down. So he help onto the couch and practiced dropping and picking up his toy until he was a pro.

-He saw me put the pointy end of the nasal aspirator into a screwdriver hole in a peek-a-boo toy of his (Don't ask why I did this. I have no idea.). He thought it was pretty nifty though and practiced, practiced, practiced until he could consistently get the point in the hole.

-He has a favorite push toy. He wanted to go outside with it but there is a tiny bump where the door seals off that kept messing him up as he attempted to push it out. So he practiced over and over for at least 15 minutes to become an expert.

Now, he isn't persistent ALWAYS. Sometimes he just gives up and starts screaming, but on the whole he does a pretty great job. Think about all the many things a little child has to learn every day. It is complete overload! And yet they work, work, work on it and master it in the end. 

How often do some of us encounter something difficult and give up right away? I've had my share. This past weekend my abs and shoulders were hurting SO BAD from my attempts to get in shape for the Army Physical Fitness Test. On Saturday, I couldn't even do ONE sit-up! SO frustrating. I thought, I will never be able to do it. I gave my body a rest on Sunday and decide to give it a go again today. I was able to bust out 15! I still have to add 35 more onto that number, but I'll make it. 

Another wonderful adage by President Monson:

"Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it's a cinch."

Amen. 

Work, Work, Work

Sometimes I try really hard to put off the stuff that I know needs to be done. You know the stuff, those things that aren't VITAL, like shopping or showering or changing the baby's diaper, but are important all the same, like scrubbing the toilet or planning out food storage plans. I abhor that kind of stuff. It hangs over my head like a menacing black cloud, destroying my happiness. I try to forget about it, but it is always there, just bugging me. I feel more awful the longer I wait to do it because I KNOW that I am procrastinating, and procrastinating NEVER makes ANYONE feel good. Once I finally do whatever I have been trying NOT to do, I instantly feel better. Always.

So, I've been trying to work on those things that I hate to work on. Like organizing Nathan's closet or remounting those hanging baskets that I just haven't put back up since the move. Now, I get to look for pretty flowers to put in my baskets and I don't have to worry about swimming pool floaties and winter jackets and old burp cloths falling on me every time I need to refill Nathan's diaper basket.

Not a very exciting "Happy" thing, but it makes me feel good knowing that I am facing all those monsters on my To-Do list. Yeah, it would be more fun to sit around sipping pina coladas while I watch So You Think You Can Dance, but I always feel awful afterwards when I do that, and no more wasting a perfectly good day feeling awful!

Our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, has said a hundred bajillion things about attitude and optimism. He is an excellent resource for pick-me-up speeches. In a wonderful sermon he gave back in 1977 (I know, it was a LONG time ago, but it is an AWESOME talk), called Faces and Attitudes,  he talked about having an attitude of work. Included in his remarks was the adage "Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't". He also stated that "You do not find the happy life, you make it!"

Let's get work making for ourselves a happy life!

Huffing and Puffing

So, my husband got an email yesterday calling for volunteers for a research project studying the effects of altitude. Each volunteer must be able to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test here in Dallas (basically no altitude). Then, those volunteers get flown up to Colorado for the weekend where they perform the APFT again. Pretty basic, right?

Dave and I thought it would be fun to have a little weekend getaway so we applied for it. I looked up the standards for the APFT. Not too bad. I've been watching my dad train for these for my whole life so I know the drill. For a woman my age to BARELY pass, she would have to do 45 sit-ups, 17 push-ups, and run 2 miles in around 19:30. Easy peasy, right?

SO WRONG.

Dave had me practice last night just to get a baseline of where I was at. I can do crunches all day long but sit-ups are HARD! I was lucky to get in 20 measly ones. And then push-ups. This is too embarrassing...

Three.

Yep. Pretty awful. I mean, at least they were good push-ups. I know a good push-up when I see one. But only 3?!? It makes me cringe. How is that possible when I've been carrying around my chunk of a baby for almost a year? He is weighs as much as 3 bags of Kroger potatoes! Oh, well.

So, I have about 6 weeks to get awesomely in shape. I can do the run no problem. Running is my thing, but I am going to have to actually TRAIN for the rest. How ridiculous. This morning when I tried again I got 7 push-ups. That is an improvement already.

BUT being in shape makes me happy. Can you imagine how proud of myself I would be if I passed that test? That is something to smile over for sure. So here I go. I'll report back to you every now and then on Operation Superwoman.

Oh, thought I'd brag about my daddy for a bit while I am here. To get a perfect score on the APFT, a male would have to do 75 push-ups, 80 sit-ups, and run his 2 mile in 13:00 minutes. My dad always gets a perfect score. In fact, he blasts out 100 push-ups and 120 sit-ups during the 2 minute window. Wow. He's a stud huh? And he has only been beat at the run by one man. That was an 18 y/o black guy when my dad was approaching 50. And he even passed his test when he had broken his arm 6 weeks earlier. Yep, pretty awesome  : )

This is the only pic I have of my dad on the computer from his army days. He was about 40 in this pic and still whipping up on all the young ins ; )

Seeing the Flowers in Life

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”  -
Henri Matisse


In six grade, my amazing teacher, Mrs. Vindivich, has us all describe our "happy place" for a writing assignment. My happy place has always been my grandmother's backyard. What a glorious place that was. It is here that I tasted my first cherry, picked my first sugar peas, made my first snapdragon "laugh". I marveled at the colors of her gorgeous rose garden, the nectar within the columbine, the intrigue of the bleeding heart. It was a miniature Eden and I LOVED it. 
My grandmother is gone now and her garden is fast disappearing too. The fruit trees have had no one to pay them attention for a couple years and the rose bushes are being uprooted and transplanted to her children's homes. I am grateful that she shared something with me that was more long-lasting than her flowers though. She shared with me her love of a garden and that I can keep with me forever!
My garden right now is pretty sad. My apartment porch has 3 little planter boxes that now hold mostly shriveled plants. My poor garden didn't survive the its week long drought very well while I was in Utah last month. What is left has been growing up nice and tall, so tall that the poor little plants can't hold themselves up. Today I decided to attack the mess and whip it back in shape. I figured half the plants are already dead so what is there to lose with experimenting, right?
I trimmed away all the dry, dead parts and lobbed off the tall portions of the living. I've never learned much about gardening, just admired pretty gardens for the most part, but I have read the scriptures enough to learn that plants benefit from pruning. They've got to get stronger, fuller, and more beautiful if I whack them all off right? I think...
I'll try it out. I hung my herbs up to try and put my flowers in a pretty vase. It felt good and hopefully something fabulous will come of all my whacking. We'll see. I took some pictures so I can compare it someday if it actually works. 
Now for a favorite little story about how the Lord prunes us. Hope you take the time to read it, or reread it!

http://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/01/the-currant-bush

I am so grateful so the times in my life when the Lord has whacked me down and pruned me so that I could get stronger. I know that through our trials we come out a hundred times better if only we rely on our Savior!

Raindrops cont.

Since my draft of my post from yesterday about the rain, I realized that perhaps not everyone shares my views about how wonderful the rain is. I thought I'd address a happy thought to all of you that might be sick and tired of the gray, wet, gloom that can come with rainy days. Perhaps you are yearning for sunshine. Maybe your rainy days aren't physical, but mental, an emotional rainy day. Those are tough days and my heart goes out to you.

Recently, I good friend of mine spoke to me about a time when her entire life seemed dark and overcast. The weather appeared to mirror her mood, as if trying to keep her down. As she walked outside one day, just as she was feeling so low, there was a break in the clouds, providing her a glimpse of the beautiful sunny sky beyond. That one glimpse helped her to tear down those dark walls around her mind, to blow away the storm inside that so pestered her.

Don't forget that above the storming cloud cover that seems so thick and menacing there is a glorious sky waiting to show forth its beauty. The gales and grayness won't last forever. There is an incomprehensible beauty just out of reach. Be patient, it will return.

I have a favorite sermon by an apostle in my church, Joseph B. Wirthlin, on this subject that I have read and reread many many times when I myself have felt a depressing rain cloud over my head. Inevitably, the hope that this talk reminds me of is what helps me overcome. Here it is:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/sunday-will-come?lang=eng

Prayers and love your way!

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Today was a rainy day. I LOVE rainy days. I lived in Tacoma, WA for 5 years and rain visited us quite often  up there. Because we had 9 months out of the year that were raining, the forecasters got pretty creative on how they announced the weather every day.  There was chunky rain, drizzles, sheets of rain, raining cats and dogs, downpours, soaking rain, wetter-that-wet rain, etc. My mom has an amazing list of everything she heard them use during those years.

From Washington my family moved to El Paso, TX. There we had rain about 9 DAYS out of the year! These days all seemed to clump into August, during a period of time that El Pasoans nicknamed "Monsoon Season". During these few weeks, we would be hit by freak storms, full of lightning, thunder, wind, and BUCKETS of rain. I loved them. They were marvelous to behold. Once it rained huge fat drops on us for around 36 hours staight! The gulleys behind our houses were full to the brim with water. Homes were washed away. My sister and I, afraid for the safety of our home as the water level in our backyard rose slowly to meet our door, ran outside with buckets and jugs and coolers, scooping up water and dumping it into the pool, until that too was full, and then we dumped it over the back fence.

Did you know that you can smell rain? Because it was so rare in El Paso, I noticed that before a storm hit there was always a distinctive smell in the air that I had not noticed in Tacoma, I guess because I was inundated with it up there. I recognized that familiar smell in the air this afternoon while eating a hamburger by the pool and ran home to get ready. When it started pouring, I dragged my small son, Nathan, outside with me. My husband joined us soon after. Nathan was not nearly as excited about running around in the blinding torrents as I was. He much preferred to play with the broom from the safety of the porch and watch it all while staying dry. Oh well, he will learn.

The rain is such a renewing, life-giving force. It washes the old, dirty residue away and gives the world a free slate. It provides the earth with strength and growth. We, as humans, need the rain to live. What a marvelous gift it is from God. He "sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45). I am so grateful that He sends rain to me despite my imperfections.

Go play in the rain. And smile.

 Me during one of our awesome El Paso rain storms in high school. I've always loved playing in the rain...

 My boys in the storm yesterday.

A Smile on Every Page

I have always LOVED off-the-wall calendars.

You know the ones. Each day there is a new exciting thing to unveil. I have had tons of them; cartoons, definitions, word puzzles, paintings. My dad always had a Far Side calendar on his desk and he would bring me any especially funny comics and we would chuckle over them together. I could always rely on finding a Mary Engelbreit calendar from my mother in my Christmas stocking every year growing up. I saved pages upon pages of these cute pictures and quotes to paste into my scrapbooks or turn into little cards for my friends. Once I received a Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul calendar for my birthday and LOVED all the inspirational stories. I even had a Worst-Case Scenario one at some point. It taught me how to escape from a car dangling over the edge of a cliff, how to fend off an alligator, how to survive a fire at the top of a skyscraper, and how to pull a 180 turn in a car (I admit that I DID try that one out. Bad idea. I was not meant for stunt driving). I marveled over my optical illusion calendar. How do people come up with those things? The lady that looks a hundred years old when you look at her one way and like a young beautiful girls the other, the lumpy old man made entirely of vegetables, the checkerboards that have all the imaginary dots in them. It is crazy! Anyways, I saved all of my favorite days from all of my favorite calendars and still have them at the bottom of my drawer, carted through 7 years of post-high school moves. There is a happy nostalgia from flipping through them. They always make me smile.

So for fun, I flipped through all of my old clippings and sorted them out. One of my favorites of all time is a picture done my Mary Engelbreit. Looking out of a windowsill are two young girls, a blonde and a brunette. On the ledge are beautiful flower boxes. Butterflies flutter all around. Oranges are hanging on the branches in the tree above. The blondie is looking grouchy and bored. The brunette has the most adorable contented smile on her face as she embraces the gorgeous flowers all around her. How often are we caught up in something that ticked us off and therefore we fail to notice all the beauty around us? Included with the picture is a marvelous quote by Abraham Lincoln:

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

One of my seventh grade teachers had a marvelous off the wall calendar she left on her desk. It was based on the book 14,000 Things to Be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Every day I would walk into class and read the happy thing for the day, be it marshmallows in your hot cocoa to rain drops on your face. I discovered Barbara's website today. It is a wonderful little daily calendar online with tons of things to be happy about, both from the book and things that people have submitted. There are over 142,000 things on the list so far. If you are having a hard time thinking of something to be happy about, this is a great place to get one, or a hundred thousand, reasons! Check it out!

Let's decide to be happy TODAY! Ready, set, go!!!

My Man

Due to the importance of the day, and because this particular happiness is on the foremost of my mind, I wanted to talk about THIS MAN.

Isn't he just a hunk? He is my best friend, my comedian, my adviser, the president of my fan club, my example in so many ways, my breath of fresh air, and my true love.  Dave is an awesome dad and an amazing husband. He is all that I could have ever asked for.

I was raised believing that who and where I married would be the most important decision I ever made. August 16th, 2008 we were sealed together for all time and for all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah. Best. Day. Ever. We have been married for a wonderful 4 years now as of today! Knowing that we will be together forever is my happiest of happy thoughts. I owe all that to my Savior, Jesus Christ. Life rocks ; )

Mission: Explore Happiness

Have you ever met those people who are just smiling always? I sure have. I remember how I feel around them. Because they are smiling, I want to smile too! They are refreshing and pick up everyone around them. Are those people born that way? Perhaps. It is possible that there is something  innately inside of them that causes them to always be looking on the bright side, to see the world in rose-colored glasses, to see the cup as half full. BUT that doesn't mean that those of us that weren't born with a huge smile on our faces can't turn into someone like that! I am a firm believer that you are as happy as you make yourself out to be. If you want to be a happy person, you can be a happy person! It just takes practice like everything else.

I've always considered myself a happy girl, not one of those brimming over with happiness constant smile on her face and twinkle in her eye kind of girls, but a happy girl that more or less tends to see life a wonderful thing. Growing up, my family called me Sunshine. They said it was my middle name. I took that literally and would introduce myself as Laura Jean Sunshine Fisher! My gramma got a kick out of it and would have me tell all her friends my name. I've had a happy life full of wonderful memories with friends and families. My years have had very few real trials. There have been no serious health issues, no premature deaths, no huge financial burdens, no social scarring. I have been blessed with a good mind, strong body, and a desire to fill my life with wholesome things. My parents taught me righteous principles early in my life and raised me in a home devoted to learning of and serving Jesus Christ. During my youth, I found wonderful playmates everywhere I lived and formed fast friendships that taught me many of the joys of growing up. I got involved with many activities and forged a vast variety of interests.

College expanded my happiness even further as I learned the satisfaction of intellectual growth and independence. It was during these fabulous four years that I met and married my sweetheart, Dave. He was the funniest person I knew and had a smile and laugh that were contagious. Many of his strengths were my weaknesses, many of his interests things that I had never explored before, and the opposite was true for him. Together we found excitement in trading these interests and strengths to add to our reservoir of knowledge and expand our joy. When we were married, we made our family motto "Living after the manner of happiness" based on a verse of scripture from the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 5. In this chapter it talks about the followers of Christ and explains that their happiness came from serving the Lord, being educated in all matters, and striving to be industrious. We wanted that in our family as well and trusted as we applied all of that, our home to would be a place of happiness.

We have now been married for a wonderful 4 years! We have endured the hardest parts of medical school together and are still very much in love. We have an adorable little boy that is such a light to our life. Life is happy.

So, if I am happy, why start a blog about happiness? My life the last year has been focused on being a mother and the wife of a very busy medical student. Looking back, it was the best year of my life so far, and I've had some really amazing years! Yet I realized that a lot of what makes me Laura I have cut out of my life as I have tried to survive the storm of necessities that have hit one after another this past year. I want to reexamine what makes me happy, what makes me Laura.

So this year I will be cataloging my rediscovery of my favorite things, my exploration of joy. What better discovery is there than that? There will be no set rules to this blog. No deadlines, no boundaries. Just happiness. Enjoy!