Joyfully Jen

With all the daily drama living in people's lives, the stress of school, or work it is easy to lose track of yourself. Sometimes you just need to take yourself away from all of the stress for a bit to let yourself forget about it. That's how I spent my day toady. I went out to a local forest preserve and just hiked. Midterms week has just passed us, and after a long week of school plus a busy weekend, some time alone was much needed. I decided heading to the forest preserve would be a great way to take a load off because not only is hiking a great way to get in some exercise but being almost the end of October, I knew the leaves on the tree's would just be breathtaking. There's something special about experiencing the beauty in nature. It makes you realize what an amazing place it is we live in. I am a very outdoorsy type of person. When I need a chance to just think and relax there's no place I'd rather be than outdoors taking it all in. Spending tim...

When I was scrolling through my twitter  feed today I saw this article posted called 5 ways to get happy fast. The five steps listed were: 1. Close your eyes and take a few slow, deep breaths. 2. Doodle 3. Sing out loud 4. Laugh it off 5. jump! Besides these five points, it had one specific point added in that stuck out to me at the beginning of the article: Dance. I love to dance. Some of my happiest moments are when I am dancing. By no means am I a good dancer (and I'm sure my parents are pleased by that after all the money they spent on dance lessons through my life) but there's something that happens when you dance that just makes you and everyone around you happy. It is a time to just let go and be free without a worry in the world. It's more fun to dance crazy in a big group because it gives you and all your friends something to laugh about, and everyone knows laughter is the best medicine! I especially love dancing with my friends because we just act goof...

Dogs, or even pets in general are truly inspiring to think about. They are probably the only creatures on this planet who truly have the ability to love unconditionally. You show a dog an ounce of love and he will forever be your friend. They are the best listeners, companions, and friends. Not to mention they're adorable and you can't help but smile when you are around them. I have always been a huge dog lover. My family had a golden retriever named Casey since before I was born. He was the sweetest most gentle and beautiful dog. Although, it's hard to find a golden retriever you don't find adorable in my opinion. He was always excited to see us when we came home and never failed to put a smile on our faces. He passed away early on in my life but his memory has always been a happy one.  When I was in the fourth grade we finally got our second dog, Cody, a yellow lab. Cody is quite the character. We like to say that he is more of a people person. When we take hi...

This blog is slightly different then my past posts. Instead of writing about specific things in my life that make me happy, I am going to talk about aspects I find internally touching.  These issues deal with my way of thinking, and therefore effect my happiness by changing the way I look at certain situations. I came across a writer named Dani Dipirro who has a blog titled Positively Present . Dani  realized after 25 years of living with a negative attitude she wanted to turn her life around and start focusing on the positives. She uses her blog to focus on finding the positives and embracing the present in her life. This blog caught my attention because I consider myself a positive person but often catch myself thinking negativly about the past. Dani focuses on living in the present and not letting the past hinder your happiness. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this. One particular post I enjoyed was titled " Don't wait for love: 10 ways to love yourself now...