30 Day {Instagram} Photo Challenge :: Day 3, Happiness Is

When I saw the prompt for “Happiness” today, I wondered how I would create a picture exemplifying it. Then it hit me when I was in the kitchen this morning. This is the happiest time of the year! Friends, family, loved ones gathering and sharing in the joys of time together. This Christmas is our first one together as a married couple and that makes it even more special. For me, happiness is::

This means that very soon we will be baking real gingerbread cookies, decorating the house for the holidays, listening to classic Christmas music and enjoying our final days with each other before deployment. We need to make the most of these happy days and when the house smells as amazing as it does now, there’s no way we can’t find happiness!

What is your happiness?

30 Day {Instagram} Photo Challenge :: Day 2, I Can See You Smile

If you are like me, you hate posed smiles. There is something so awkward about the way your eyes crinkle, even if you’re not trying too hard because you are trying. I was none too thrilled that on day two of this challenge I had to face this and get a smile. I thought long and hard about catching a Fiona smile, but she doesn’t like to cooperate when she knows I’m trying for something. Instead, I snapped this on my way to pilates this morning::

I also find it really awkward that Instagram (or is it the iPhone?) flips my pictures! For instance: My house is on my right side and the fence is on my left, which means they should be on the other sides in the picture. Awkward. Maybe there is a way I can fix that.

I hope you all had a reason to smile today, friends! Tomorrow is all about happiness in the challenge!

PS:: Are you on Instagram? Come follow me! I’m TheYoungRetiree!

30 Day {Instagram} Photo Challenge :: Day 1, Favorite Food!

By now everyone has seen “challenges” for this, that, or the other. I have participated in a few and found one tonight while waiting for my dinner to come together that I absolutely adore:: 30 Day Instagram Photo challenge! A quick google search led me to a clear and crisp image of the challenge::

I am excited to participate in this and think it will be another way to call to mind all those little things throughout the week that call for celebration, no matter how small!  You can join in, even if you aren’t Instagram obsessed like me! I’ll try to post every evening but in the very least will post the next morning! Day one, favorite food:: Chicken! I could eat it every day! Tonight, we are having it with a (hopefully) awesome sauce we got while we were visiting Savannah::

Speaking of which, let me get back in the kitchen! It should be marinated enough and ready to go in the oven!