2016 has gone down in history as a garbage year, and I can’t say I disagree. But you can’t really define a year, as evidenced by the fact that things seem to have only gotten worse. Last year was the year Trump was elected. This year he is actually president.

2016 was also a happily stressful year for me personally, what with moving, helping my mom move out of a house she’s lived in for 30 years, and ceaseless wedding planning. The way things are going in this country and in the world, our little problems don’t seem so important. At the same time, our little pleasures seem even more important.

I recently started listening to a podcast called Real Talk Radio with Nicole Antoinette who interviews some very interesting guests from adventurers to athletes to authors to entrepreneurs. One guest, Tammy Strobel, really caught my ear and I have been following her blog ever since. She was also featured in the Netflix movie Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, which I will get into in a future post.

Tammy started a photo challenge for the month February. The challenge is to take a picture every day of something small or seemingly unimportant that brings you joy, and post it with the hashtag #tinypleasures2017.

I’ve made it more than halfway through the month, posting pictures to my Instagram account. It’s been a (fun) challenge, but it forces me to search for things that are otherwise hidden in daily life. I’ve cherished stopping to read a book before work, going for walks during my lunch break, breakfast made for me by my husband, and sipping coffee while watching CBS Sunday Morning. Check out some snaps below!