The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I listened to this book while cleaning at night and during the day (thanks Poppy!)  She starts by giving some background on what a happiness project is. Then she lays out her happiness project and what she did and learned throughout the year. She has lots of research on happiness and has several quotes that are very enlightening. I plan to get the physical copy of the book for Christmas so I can underline and highlight it. There is even a coloring book with some of her best quotes on Amazon!

What she did was pick 12 general areas to work on each month. January was Energy, February was Marriage, one month was Work, etc, etc. Each month she had smaller checklist goals that she would follow. For her energy month it was declutter, get more sleep, etc. Her goal was to make them habits and continue doing each months goals in addition to the current month she was in.

I found it very interesting to listen to. She had some good points, but here were some of my favorite/ones I remember:

-Be yourself. Sometimes we think, I shouldn't feel this way or need this, but I do, and thats ok. (She mentioned she loves getting gold stars for anything she does. She shouldn't need them, but she wants them)

-50% of your happiness is genetic. The other 50% is your life. So you do have a lot of control.

-Realize that you might be doing things "for other people" but you are really doing it for yourself. And that's ok.

-Kids DO bring happiness. She sighted some article that said having kids lowers your happiness because you lose freedom. She called BS and said she is able to enjoy more things that she would not do or experience if she didn't have kids. (Go to zoos, watch silly cartoons, etc)

Thats all for now. A great book with great ideas. It motivated me to clean out my closet and be a better mom.

Dressing Your Truth by Carol Tuttle

I just hosted my book club for this book last month. I was very interested in it after Caitlin mentioned they had read it in her book club.

The opening is all about laying the foundation for her profiling system. She emphasizes that each type of energy is beautiful and everyone has all types in them.

The meat of the book is detailing qualities, challenges, examples of the four energy types. It was fun to read and highlight the parts that were true to me. I immediately profiled myself a type 2. I highlighted almost the whole chapter.

The end is all about how to purchase her online product and why you should spend so much money on yourself because you are worth it, etc. I skimmed most of it.

Our discussion was fun and we had mostly types 3's and 4's with me the only 2 and another girl maybe a type 1. I made cookies to match each type (type 1 of me, or maybe type 2 for the attention to detail). Funfetti cake cookies for Type 1, Almond Poppyseed for type 2, Dark chocolate orange for type 3, and shortbread half dipped in dark chocolate for type 4.

This book is intriguing because I like to profile myself and be a part of a group. As I was reading the Type 1 section I thought, "This is me! I am optimistic, like to make things fun, etc". Then I started reading Type 2 and thought, yep this is me. I struggled through type 3 as it was nothing like me at all, and possibly Logan. Then I ready Type 4 and thought, "This is me! No wait, this is more Logan". So I figured I was a type 2 with a small type 1. And Logan was a type 4/3. Lovely, I hope they get along as well as we do. But then I looked at the clothing she suggests and I was way bummed. Type 2 should wear flowing and gray undertones. Boring! I love my bright yellow shirt and my white and dark color striped shirts! I wished I was a 4. So I reread 4 and thought ya, I am quiet and I LOVE rules, and I like to be alone sometimes. So maybe I am a 2, 1, and 4. Logan said it was all baloney (so type 4) and detailed to me how it was so. He did say that I look best in natural and neutral colors (boo). So, I think I will wear whatever makes me feel happy. I definitely won't wear any type 3 stuff because I don't feel comfortable in it.

The book was fun to read and gave great topics to discuss. Read it and tell me what type you think you are! I have my suspicions for all of you, but she says in the book "Only YOU can type yourself!"