Mindfulness

I'm STILL working on getting through The Happiness Project (I know it's taking me forever...).  The part I'm currently reading deals with being mindful.  I sipped on a little tea from my new mug last night while I read.  

My new favorite mug, compliments of my favorite brother.  

That same mug was filled with some wonderful coffee this morning.

The espresso roast is DIVINE!

I am finding the section on mindfulness to be extremely interesting and decided to look into it more on the Happiness Project Blog this afternoon.   

While I was there, I stumbled upon this mindfulness quiz and it was a total wake-up call.  I am not mindful AT ALL.  I need to slow down, to stop and smell the roses, to live in the moment.  No wonder I often feel overwhelmed or feel like I'm just going through the motions.  I want to work more on living in the moment and appreciating the little things.  I think it will help me tremendously in the months ahead to work on being more mindful not only of the world around me, but also of the God who provides and cares for me.  This book has been so enlightening for me...even if it is taking me forever to get through it.

I loved this quote from the book:

"Mindfulness can bring many benefits. It brings clarity and vividness to present experience. It may help people end unhealthy habits and patterns. It can enhance a sense of well-being and calm troubled spirits."

I definitely need some mindfulness in my life.  How about you?

This morning got to be a little more relaxed than usual since my boys slept in til 7:40.  It has been a long couple of days.  I'm glad they're finally able to rest.  I found comfort with an experiment in the kitchen.

I love making Long Run Cake, a recipe I found a while ago in Runners World Magazine.  It's a healthy cake recipe that's loaded with good stuff I can feel good about eating.  I have toyed with the idea of adding spinach to it for quite a while, as if it wasn't healthy enough, and this morning was the perfect opportunity to try it out.  I still have some tweaking to do since with the ratios, but it shows promise.  It sure is yummy but the presentation isn't quite there yet.  The spinach must throw off the baking powder because it inflated like nobody's business.  Hopefully my boys will help polish it off quickly so I can try it again soon.

After breakfast we headed off to Story Time at the Blue Door.  Today's stories were Whopper Cake, by Karma Wilson,

and Down By the Cool of the Pool by Tony Mitton.

The rhyming is both of them is entertaining and the pictures are quite interesting for the kiddos.  I highly recommend both of them.

The rest of our morning was filled with play time with friends.  Don't know my kids or I would what I'd do without all the wonderful people in our lives.  Check out this cute card one of my friends gave me...

Guess I can work of being mindful of the cuteness factor of my food when I'm eating.  Haha.

I'm hoping to squeeze in a trip to the gym late this afternoon for a cross training session, maybe a spin class since I haven't taken one in a LOOOONG time.  The elliptical is sounding pretty inviting though as well since I could zone out with a book.  Should I be mindful of the book or the workout?  Food for thought...

Stop to enjoy the moment today and remember, like my friend says, "God is good ALL THE TIME!"