Things that Made Me Happy this Month: January

I’ve always taken lots of pictures. I like taking pictures. And even more than that I like going back through them later and reliving all of the memories. Pictures make me happy. Some of my favorite photos are of the little things, the little everyday bits and pieces that make up real life and later bring back all those warm fuzzies because without that picture I would have completely forgotten.

Like the time we made homemade marshmallows and it was so messy it took a week to clean up. Or that really warm spring night where we drank limoncello on our roof deck and made plans for the summer. The dappled sunlight in the garden. A bouquet of dahlias. A sunset. My new favorite tea.

Since having Oliver, my camera (and life!) focus changed. Before having a baby my computer photo albums were 50% house projects, 25% Georgia, 25% things that made me happy. Now it’s like 80% Oliver, 15% house projects, 4% Georgia and 1% a random photo of something I liked. And of course I should take a million pictures of Oliver - he’s growing so fast and I feel like I miss so much and I wish I had MORE pictures of him. But I also would like to try to take more pictures of the little things too. It’s one of my goals for 2014, to capture a slightly wider glimpse of our life outside of my darling boy. And I figured if I put it out here on the blog, I’d be a lot more likely to stick to it. You are all wonderful motivators.

So here are a few lovely things that made me happy this month:
Beautiful sunsets to bring in the new year



Freshly fallen snow (over and over) to play in 



My indoor basket of spring that continues to bloom



Bright colors from kaleidoscopes and seed catalogs 



Fun pencils | Finding 50 beautiful pink envelopes in the basement



Possibly the best smelling candle ever | Frosted window panes 



Oliver's favorite collie toy that looks like his favorite collie | Brightly colored tea carafes



My new obsession: Passionflower calming tea for stress, it works so well it's spooky | Fun wellies big and small



Oliver creating beautiful abstracts with colorforms | Slow cooker dinners



Oliver leaving me piles of his favorite toys color coordinated | New aqua earrings