Expect nothing of others. Be grateful for everything.

Last night was a rare night. I was actually dressed in clothes that were not purchased from lululemon.

We went to the arena, Maisie and Bryce had a cute little skate together and the plan was to go out for a nice dinner. Some 5 years ago Bryce and I went on one of our first dates and he wined me and dined me at a local restaurant (whos name shall remain unspoken). It was really sweet and last night he suggested we go there with Maisie. Just the three of us. Our life incredibly different than it was 5 years ago, undoubtedly so much better.

It started off great (even though our waitress wasn't the most cheery). We were talking, laughing. Family fun. Then our appy came... pretty greasy. Oh well. We were still fine. Then Maisie spilled an entire glass of water all over the table, herself and my legs and belly. Spare pants in the car for her, no problem. We cleaned it up and were back on track. Then our food came. YIKES. Super disappointing and definitely not how I had hoped it might be. In fact... it was kinda gross (I'll spare you the details).

But there we were, me 8 months pregnant and thought I looked cute, happy to be out in the world with my little family. Him, excited about his meal... then super not excited when it came. Her, cutest ever. Out for dinner (past her bed time even) she kept asking if it was Christmas or Halloween. Both nights that we are actually out of the house past dark. Kept saying the world looked like the "winter woods" (translation, looks enchanted like a scene out of the Tinkerbell movie). She was the happiest ever. Eating her bad french fries and pizza. She was completely happy and totally adorable.

I thought, "ok, I'm irritated. The food wasn't super cheap so we were going to be spending more than usual for our dinner. We were splurging. It was gross. I was feeling the pregnancy hormones on the verge of getting out of control." Then I looked across the table at Maisie. The happiest. The most vibrant little soul. She said with the cutest smile on her face "such a nice family dinner".

I immediately didn't care how much dinner was going to be, or that it wasn't very nice food. We were together. Our biggest problem was that our dinner wasn't the best. I immediately knew, none of it mattered except that we were together and happy. Despite the food (and un-awesome service). The waitress came by "everything ok?" "Great", I replied. Today I came across a quote that I completely understand and think fit perfectly with our big night out...

"How to be happy. Expect nothing of others. Be grateful for everything."

I thought. Yup. This works for me. It really does. In moments that could otherwise be disastrous, there is pretty frequently something to be grateful for.