Thursday Thanks

I'm learning something important, and while I would love to say I've learned something important, I believe I'm just beginning to learn it. Happiness does not equal perfection.  I struggle with happiness...
I think I have it figured out, or I've adjusted my attitude just right for the circumstances and then things go and change on me and I feel like my happiness was taken away.
One day last year as I was walking Dylan to school, I heard a voice tell me I would be happy in Houston. It was a simply, but loud and clear message, that was a bit of a surprise to me.  After all Houston was on the map of job options for us at the time, but wasn't anywhere near a reality for us at the time I heard this prompting.  I didn't hear the words you should go to Houston, or you need to be in Houston, but rather I'd be happy in Houston.  For a girl who has so longed for happiness, this prompting really stuck a cord.
After a very long and trying time for me, while we made the transition from Utah to Houston, I found myself questioning the prompting I had heard.  There certainly was very little happiness for me during that time.  In fact it was 6 months or loneliness, despair, uncertainty and much to my shame because of my attitude, lots and lots of unhappiness. 
And then the stars aligned (although not as I expected them to) and we finally made our way here to Houston.  And guess what...
I AM REALLY HAPPY!
Which is sort of strange in and of itself.
Believe me when I say I still have my bad days.  I have an almost 2 year old who is bent on destroying everything we own.  I'm missing my family and my husbands family and our few but fabulous friends, I'm missing baby's births and big family events.  I have a totally new and foreign environment, that has definitely taken some major adjusting.  I have no close friends or relatives to rely on. I'm really awkward and idiotic around strangers, which means I act like that around everyone down here. 
But every day I wake up with a zeal for life that I haven't felt before.
Maybe it's the fact that I waited (most impatiently at times) for a long time, for the blessings I'm enjoying right now, and I am indeed enjoying them.  I'm loving them!  I love our home!  I love being together as a family.  I love warm winters full of sunshine!  I love what the trials of the last 6 months have done for me, my family and my marriage.  What I feared was going to be a very indifferent ward, is full of caring and friendly women.  Dylan's Scout master is absolutely fabulous.  Dylan's school curriculum and homework seem ridiculously overboard and tedious to me, but I've met his teachers and I really like them and they really seem to like him too. My kids are doing really well with the transition and they really seem to enjoy it here.  The Mr. came home the other day and said he actually enjoyed his day at work and felt useful (which was a major milestone).
Long story short...
I've found happiness in Houston just like the prompting said I would.  I know it's up to me to continue to learn and grow and be appreciative of my blessings and my trials, so that I can continue to find happiness and joy in life.  I'm learning that happiness is not having everything perfect, but finding joy in the now.
I thank my Father in Heaven for giving my this opportunity to learn and grow. I thank Him for all the blessings that He's given to me that I now enjoy, I know He has given me far more than I deserve.