Pleasant Pauses Daily Challenge

I'm on day 41 of my Daily Challenge streak, and I'm amazed at the positive change it's making in my life. What I love about this site is that although most of the tasks are very simple and may not seem very challenging at first, they often lead to much more. Let me show you how through a little recap of the past 2 challenges, which turned an ordinary Sunday that I may have otherwise spent wasting time online into a wonderful day filled with productivity and joy.

I started a new track 3 days ago called Pleasant Pauses. Here's the description:

Tell your many tasks and responsibilities to sit tight, and embrace your silly side with these challenges. From acting like a cat to learning to write a limerick, this track is full of fun ways to bring simple joy to your day.

Yesterday's challenge was to Give 1 room in your house a mini-makeover by moving a few small items to new places. 

At first this seemed like a chore better suited for the "Conquering Clutter" track. Having very little time, I just spent a few minutes when I got home at 10 pm cleaning out my nightstand. This simple act started a domino effect because I really liked the uncluttered looked of that space and it motivated me to follow suit with the rest of the room. When we woke up this morning, we got to work and before we knew it we had complete organized, dusted, and cleaned every surface of our bedroom, including putting clean sheets on the bed, vacuuming the floors and even going through our drawers and closet to donate a ton of clothes we never wear. It felt great and now our bedroom is some welcoming.

Today's challenge was even better: Plan to take a culinary trip down memory lane and eat a favorite food from your childhood. 

Yum! :) My first reaction was to suggest to Jason that we go get some Mofongo. He insisted I make it instead. It's kind of a pain to make, but then I remembered that I didn't really eat that as a child, and started thinking of the things my grandma would cook me. I settled on Verdura. I have fond memories of eating this often as a child, although at the time I was such a picky eater that all I ate was potatoes with hard boiled eggs drizzled in olive oil lol We biked over to the co-op and then walked to Publix to gather the ingredients, and then I was counting down the minutes until I could start cooking :)

It smelled amazing and tasted even better. It brought back wonderful memories of my grandma and all the things she used to cook me, and I just had to call her and share it with her. She lives in Puerto Rico and is always urging me to call her -- we usually talk when my parents call her while we are at their place for a holiday. She was so thrilled to hear my voice and that I thought of her. We spent a few minutes reminiscing about all the things she used to cook me, then she asked me to give my dad a message. When I called my dad, I could hear my niece in the background. I've been meaning to go visit my sister to see the kids, so I took the chance for an impromptu visit with the whole family. It was the perfect way to end the day.

If you have never tried out the Daily Challenge, I urge you to check it out to improve your life one small task at a time. Big changes start with one small step.