100 days of happy update

So, maybe I'm not the most consistent about updating my blog about my 100 Days of Happy, but I promise I have been keeping up with them. And rather than post over fifty all at once, I just chose a few of my favorites. And by a few I mean twenty...I'm not good at decision making. 

I've said this before, but I'll reiterate: being happy is a choice. And sometimes making that choice is simple, but sometimes it's really, really hard. I understand that. I've had days when choosing to be happy felt nearly impossible. I've had days when I just didn't have it in me to make that choice. And I think it goes to say that those days have never been my best. 

My view of what happiness is, how to achieve it, and especially how to find it when it feels elusive or even fictional is ever shifting. But that's a topic that I could (and maybe should) dedicate an entire post to. So for now, here are some highlights from day 36 to now (day 88).

37. A little freshman year nostalgia in honor of running into an old friend.

38. Cupcake run with some cool cats.

40. Letters from Hailey are always awesome, especially when delivered by Dobby and embellished by Terri and Terry.

44. A tribute to a friendship that's dates back fourteen years. Bless that girl. 

47. Few sights can top this one in terms of beauty. 

48. National Best Friends Day. I have got me some fabulous friends. 

50. Utah sunset.

53. Two of my favorite ladies and I went to the wedding reception of another one of my favorite ladies: the first of my freshman roommates to get hitched!

55. One darn good waffle. 

59. Throwback to a Kentucky Christmas. (I had Christmas songs stuck in my head all day that day)

62. This book has changed my life. It can change yours too. 

67. My baby brothers turned 17! What studs. 

70. I am becoming quite the proficient smoothie maker if I do say so myself. This one was particularly tasty. 

74. This is what sibling love looks like. 

75. Nothing like watching my older brother get beat up by an adorable three-year-old. 

78. Salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars. You need the recipe, I promise. Unbelievably good. 

79. An amazing talk. Give it a listen/read.

80. A day of driving that included all of my jams. Thank you, radio!

81. Exercise therapy. 

82. A personalized word search from Miss Hailey. 

100 days of happy: days 22–35

It's your lucky day: two weeks of my happy in one. It's really just because I was too lazy last week to get a blog post together, but here it is now.

The last two weeks have been a bit more of a stretch for me. I've really had to search for the little things that make me happy, but it's always been rewarding when I've found my little happy for the day.

22. One of my biggest weaknesses. So good. 

23. New cooling racks! 

24. Throwback to tree selfies.

25. Peanut Butter M&M cookies!

26. I had a little doggy visitor

27. Sunday afternoon in the park.

28. Letter from my favorite :)

29. Good book. Beautiful day.
30. Them mountains finally got a little green on 'em.
31. Beauty in unexpected places.
32. Somehow life is better when you're wearing seahorse socks.
33. I'm one happy apple addict: pink ladies for $ .98
34. Sometimes my friends hijack my phone when I leave the room and take dozens of pictures for me to find five days later.
35. Memorial Day BBQ!

100 days of happy: 15–21

Ah, so much happiness. It was a good week, y'all, mostly because there was the perfect juxtaposition of the little happies (french fries and my man Ben Rector) and big, huge, wonderful, can't-life-just-always-be-like-this happies (my Minnesota trip...more to come on that later).

All I'm saying is that this week has big shoes to fill...

 15. Homemade oven-baked fries. (The secret to good crisp is to sprinkle some white sugar over the potatoes after you've cut them and let it sit for twenty to thirty minutes and then rinse and dry them before seasoning. In case you were wondering.)
16. Ben Rector. To quote my dear friend Laura, "I just love him, and I need him to love me."
17. My awkward this-is-my-excited face selfie the day before Minnesota. The finger is because there is one day left, not because I had a great idea.
18. Leavin' on a jet plane!
19. Sculpture gardens with Mama, Mama Aase, Maddie, and Kate.
20. Got to spend Mother's Day with my favorite lady!
21. Mother-Daughter date coming to a close at Culver's.

100 days of happy: 8–14

So here's the truth: life right now is pretty dang boring. Maybe monotonous is a nicer word. But it's true. My days are all pretty similar for the most part, so it's been really beneficial for me to be consciously looking for the things that make me happy. It takes some of the ho-hum out of life and helps me to appreciate the little things that make my days less dreary.

8. A jillion and half miles but only one phone call away.

9. A Utah evening in its prime.

10. Blast from the past movie night.

11. Brody's first (and thus far only) hair!

12. Feeling blessed to have gotten to be there for three of my favorite munchkin's baptisms.

13. Dinner time apparel at the Greenhalgh home (Mom clued me in via text)

14. Missionary Mondays! 

100 days of happy: days 1–7

Lately I've been making an effort to increase my overall level of happiness in my life. I truly believe that happiness is a choice we must each make—it's not always easy and things out of our control often threaten to hinder our efforts, but it's a choice nonetheless. So, following the lead of my lovely roommate (find her blog here), I decided to participate in the 100 Days of Happy challenge. All it entails is finding one thing every day that made you happy and posting a picture to the social media platform of your choice.

I'm excited to search every day for the little miracles and joys that are in my life. So, without further ado, here is my first week of happy!

1. My goofy roommate
2. Brody—my grass hair growing buddy who's keeping me company this summer
3. She's the Man while cleaning
4. Nice and tidy room
5. Baking therapy
6. Freshly baked bread
7. FINALLY got my door fixed!

Follow my journey to find more happy on Instagram (@maddiegre) or check back here for weekly updates.

To join the challenge, visit http://100happydays.com/