Velveteen Rabbit, Billy Ocean, and A New Tattoo (trust me I'm going to make this work)

“You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

- Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Yesterday afternoon my oldest daughter and her choir put on a concert for a 90 year old woman who has been an active influence in the world of art and music here in Reno for over 50 years. It was an awesome event to celebrate her life and while I watched her play on stage with the other band members I started to think about the above quote. I absolutely love the above quote.  It really applies to life as a human being as well as life as a Velveteen Rabbit. I miss the days of reading the Velveteen Rabbit, but when I was a child I never even knew the depth of this quote. One of the main reasons I love that quote is because it reminds me that life is a process. There is no final, or test that you take to say you have graduated, or you have now become who you are going to be.  You just become. It really does take a very long time to become. In watching the 90 year old woman last night I thought to myself, not even this lady has become. She still has more memories to make and more lessons to learn, although it seems hard to believe but I bet if you asked her she would tell you that it's true. You never stop learning. You never stop becoming.  It really does take a long time to become. Upon turning 40 years old I thought if a person was ever going to be done with the whole becoming process it should be about half way through this life don't cha think?  But no, as it turns out, it's really not even close. I mean, sure it's closer than it was when I turned 20 but still so much more becoming is needed. I look at older ladies in my life and see how secure they are in their skin and how confident their voices are and  I think I want that even more than I have it now, but I'm pretty sure its wrapped up in... you guessed it... more becoming. It really does take a long time to become. I don't want to be one that breaks easily either.  There's a scripture in Proverbs that says,   "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small."  This scripture has always reminded me of that old Billy Ocean song, When the going gets tough the tough get going! I think we should listen to that song and have a little dance party at the end ...  What do you say, who's with me? Let's get back on topic for now though...  The wisdom in that proverb is that in this life there are going to be days, weeks, maybe even months or quite possibly years of adversity but that is when we have to push through and keep looking up, or  work on those tough muscles or get going like Billy says! Speaking of looking UP, this past Friday I finally got Carl here, from the Disney movie UP tattooed on my inner arm. Can you say OUCH!!

He (Carl) is a perfect example of this becoming business. He thought when his wife died his becoming was over... but OH what joy awaited him when he started to become someone else, someone he always wanted to be. I'm going to move on because even just thinking about that movie gets me weepy. (Because remember when Isaiah turned 5 and had an UP themed bday party?)

I'll be honest, one of the reasons that scripture has always stood out to me is because I don't like adversity. I don't do hard or complicated or tough very well.  I like happy, sunny, champaign wishes and caviar dreams, (only minus the caviar... bleh!) But real life is not like that.  We have to go through the bad that makes the good that much more betta! It really does take a long time to become.
And let's talk about sharp edges.  Have you ever noticed those grumpy old people with so many edges it's hard to be the same room with them? Kinda like Carl before he met Russell. Don't cha just love that Russell kid? Oh wait, sorry I keep getting distracted all I know is that I don't want to become... like that. I know for me there is still so much more life ahead and rather than being worn out and leathered by the storms of life that come my way I want to be like a fine wine that only gets better, not the kind that turns to vinegar. So that being said, let's become well together and don't forget to DANCE!!

Fruit Cake, Fonts, and Funks

Hello There Beloved Reader- I'm sitting here getting drunk on my Momma Nash's amazing fruit cake and drinking coffee.  I should be crafting and creating getting ready for another Craft show tomorrow, but I'm in kind of a FUNK! Are you familiar with the FUNK? I tried taking a shower to wash it off but that didn't work. I'm on my third cup of coffee hoping that the caffeine will kick in and that will help the FUNK find another home. And currently, while eating this delectable fruit cake I'm hoping I can eat it away.
BUT... alas, from previous FUNK days I know none of this will work. 
Maybe if I change the font on this blog post and have one more bite of this delish dish it will slowly work it's way out of my system. I suppose if I was an athlete I'd be going for a run right now, but I don't run, unless someone's chasing me, and even then I might just stop mid sprint and give them what they want to avoid running!!
That font wasn't happy enough.
Maybe I need a happy picture...

That did make me smile.  I love the phrase too. Seize the Day. Carpe Diem. I would be doing the EXACT opposite of that.  Today I'm sitting here and the only thing I'm seizing is this damn good fruit cake.  Which, I have to say now that I have had my self a healthy piece of it, I am starting to feel a little bit better.  There is SO much LOVE in this fruit cake that my mom-in-love made us. I can almost feel her big warm bear hug coming through it.  Along with Lots o Love it is also loaded with nuts, fruits, and some kind of strong alcohol that makes for one of THE best fruit cakes I have EVER had. Did I mention I didn't even like fruit cakes until I had a piece of Momma Nash's fruit cake? Man alive is that woman ever talented!!
Let's try another font shall we and maybe let's slant it a bit...
Because I'm starting to feel a little slanted. Maybe it's the fruit cake or maybe it's words in different fonts, or maybe it's just being here with you but I actually do feel better now that I have bared my soul to you.  Thank you as always for listening and for helping me fight the funk!! Even though, technically you didn't do anything you listened, or at least it feels like you listened. I'm reminded of You've Got Mail right now,
"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void."
And with that I will leave you for now, maybe it's time for a tiny bit more of fruit cake?

And Then....

I have a real treat for you all this morning.  Trust me on this Tuesday morning you are going to want to watch this lil video it will give you a good chuckle.  And then.... see what we have been up to over here at MoNoSco head quarters. See, I told you it was funny. Ok so... Is it just me or did the month of October just fly right by us without even stopping to say hello? How RUDE you are October!! I think that's kinda how this time of year goes for everyone, but let me just explain how crazy busy it's gets over here once October comes we have nothing but, Birthdays, Parties, and Holiday right through until January when My Giant kinda seals the deal with his birthday on January 23rd. But until we get to that finish line it goes something like this; Seems like two seconds ago I was celebrating this dashing young man turning twelve on October 4th...

And then... 

We had company come from Seattle and L.A.

And then...

We were off to the Fall Ball Baseball tournaments

And then...

I had a whirlwind week of getting ready for the first Craft show of the season.

And then...

The Bo Sox won the World Series

And Then...

It was the play dress up and eat lots of candy day.

Which was an awesome day for me and my clan.

How was your dress up, eat lots of candy day?

And Then .... We had a pie party

And Then... Yesterday was my parents birthday 

And Then.... Today is my brother Greg's birthday Happy BIRTHDAY GREGIE!! And Then... We will celebrate their beautiful lives this weekend. And Then... We have more company coming in all the way from Gulfport Alabama. Woot Woot!! And Then... Thanksgiving And Then... My Sister Beans Bday  And Then... Tanya's Bday And Then... MY BIRTHDAY.... (stay tuned for a giveaway around December 17th) And Then... Christmas And Then... Niece Sophia's birthday And Then.... New Year's Eve And Then.... You can stop me anytime ;) "NO and Then!!!" Happy Tuesday Friends 

Goonies and Christ Followers

This might be a long stretch of my imagination, and an even longer stretch for YOUR imagination, but I think there is an analogy between the movie the Goonies and following Christ.

Stay with me here, as I process this out with you. Ok so, you know in the beginning of the movie when they are all up in the attic and Brant, or is it Brand, or Brad...  alright well the old brother is talking to the younger brother Mikey and he's defending his dad's story about One Eyed Willy and the Treasure, he says "My Father always tells me the truth." This one line started this whole process for me of this analogy. 
I think because Mikey had such a strong faith in his Father's stories being true he inspired everyone else to come along with him on this adventure. Sometimes our faith, YOUR faith inspires people.

Wait, lets pause right here for a moment. I feel compelled to let you in on a little secret about me. I LOVE ANALOGIES. Or  Word Pictures.  I- Love-Them.  So, on any given occasion you might find me coming up with some pretty random, sometimes poignant, often times nonsensical analogies. That being said, I guess this really isn't a stretch for my imagination to compare The Goonies to those of us that follow Christ, but if it's a stretch for you just... Now YOU hold on, don't go getting butt-hurt if you are Christ follower because I just called you a Goon. Let me explain.

The Goonies are a band of brothers and two sisters who are working together to find a Treasure. WE as Christ followers search everyday for the hidden treasures that are in God's treasure chest.
They all share a common goal, saving the town of Astoria. WE share the common goal to live and die as Christ.
There are leaders in the group, and there are followers. WE are all leaders in some way shape or form and we are all followers of ONE.

They make mistakes. WE make mistakes.

There are doubters, and there are encouragers. WE have those who can wrestle with doubt or be full of faith, and we have those who can encourage your little socks right off on a daily basis. 
They each bring something different to the table, The Goonie table that is. WE each bring something different to this banqueting table. All of our gifts are important. Not one is more or less important than the next.

  And they each go about this adventure a little different from the next guy. Sure they are on the same path, but the way they handle each skeleton, each "boobie trap, that's what I said" from the next is so different.  But the important part is that they are on this Adventure TOGETHER. 
WE search out the heart of God, the treasure that is with in Him so differently, but that doesn't mean we aren't all in this together.  They say things like, "Goonies never Die" We say things like, "Be Strong and Courageous for the Lord Thy God is with thee" Wait. I don't say things like that, I say things like what those pictures up there say, see different, but the same.
The goal- treasure. The end result-  a mother load ship to end all mother load ships. Akay, that's all I got. That AND  I get to be Chunk ;)

Flashback Friday

All this week I have been looking for a great, classic, end of the summer movie, to share with my kids.
I finally landed on A League of Their Own. It is truly one of my all time favorite movies. With a cast so fun and a topic so great it is for sure a classic in my book. I know it's technically not a classic since I don't consider it that old being that it was filmed in the 90's. But, if you were to ask my kids if it's a classic well... you should have heard the comments at the end of the movie when the actors were made up to look like their older selves.  And I quote, "Wow, the makeup artist's did a really great job making them look old. It's so believable for being such an old movie."
Ahem... yes a movie from the 90's is OLD to my children, and so am I . Welcome to my world.

 But, my kids kept recognizing tons of other actors and actresses that I didn't even know. I guess the lady from the TV show Monk is in it and Tea Leoni. And Tom Hanks really cracks me right up as the grumpy, drunk coach. One of My favorite parts is when he yells at one of the girls for making a bad play and she starts crying. He says,"What are you doing? Are you crying? There's no crying in Baseball. THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!"
Anyway, it's a great "OLD" movie(wink wink) and if you and your family haven't seen it yet do yourselves a favor and check it out.

I was paying close attention to the hair do's and the way the women were using the scarves to put their hair up. And because I love you, and trust you not to put these silly pictures up all over the internet(bah ha ha) I am gonna share a few of the styles that I came up with, with you all. Tell me what you think?

And Your Welcome.

In honor of the movie I chose a baseball post to go along with the movie. It wasn't hard for me to find a baseball post, although it's hard to believe this whole season I haven't written a single blog about it. Other than of course my boys playing.
I think this week I shall have to remedy that.
Happy Friday Everyone! Hope you all have a great labor day weekend ahead.

So now it's time for what I like to call a little FBF- if you are new here this is a link up for blogs that are a year or older. You find an old post that you want others to read or re-read and link it up. Then you read each others and I hope comment and get to know your fellow FBF'ers.

The Vow (Movie Review) and some other stuff about Love and Marriage and What Not

"Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage... GO together like a horse and carriage" (go on sing it you know you want to)


Last night my Giant and I sat down to watch the movie The Vow. Have you seen it? Well, actually we watched the manly movie Chronicle first, and then it was my turn to pick. Knowing full well that The Vow was going to be a chick flick I took the risk of it being ruined by watching it with Men instead of My Chicks (2 Barge Men no less). Hey, I'm a risk taker(no I'm really not) and I took my chances and I believe I won.

Sidenote- I do believe that I have been with My Giant for so long that even Chick flicks are somewhat tainted for me. By that I mean, I hear his voice inside my head making fun of every cheesy comment made through out the movie. Whereas before this tainting occurred, I didn't even realize the comment was cheesy. I guess that's what happens after being with a Giant for 18 years. It's okay. I'm not bitter. I can quickly realize it's happening and get that cynical, manly, Giant voice out. And to be quite honest...I sometimes agree with that Giant voice when movies are no longer just cheesy, but they borderline full blown sharp chedda!(say that with an east coast accent)

Another sidenote- My Giant was NOT cynical at all throughout this movie. Yay Giant! Yay The Moses! Yay Me! In fact he actually seemed to be enjoying it. Shhh... I hope he won't get his man card revoked for that. Course, I'm not really concerned of a revoking of the man card with him, because frankly I think My Giant is the one who is in control of the said, Man Cards! Especially now that he manages a barge. (Make some manly noises here Hur,Hmph, Err, Argh)

**Spoiler Alert- If you haven't seen the movie The Vow, and you are one of those that can't have any detail given about a movie that you want to see but haven't yet, then now would be a good time to move on to another blog. Come back somewhere toward the end of this post. Go on now... I don't want you saying I didn't warn you.

Ok moving on, so the movie first is based on a true love story. I love that. And if you haven't seen it(wait what are you still doing here? I thought I told you to move along, ok well read at your own risk). It is about a married couple who get into an accident and the woman forgets who her husband is. She remembers early life, but not the 4 years of life that she had spent with her husband. He basically has to figure out a way to make her fall back in love with him.

The premise for this real life love story / turned movie is so great because I feel that if you have been married for any length of time you start to realize that at any given juncture you are choosing to love a different person, for different reasons. Does that make sense?

It's like this, you see, I would consider myself to be a "Saddy Saddy Old Married Lady" at this juncture in my life. Being that I have 17 years under my married belt, not quite the heavy weight champions as my mom and dad who have 42 years, but hey... 17 is pretty good. So I can honestly say that it takes some finesse. Some gumby(remember him? that stretchy green guy?) like qualities to stay married this long.

You have to be willing to be married to a different person around the corner, or any given year in life. Because people change. It's good to change. It's healthy to change. It's just that sometimes those changes can even take the person who is changing by surprise and so that requires gumby stretchy qualities. Or what some might call a lot of grace, patience, and basically a lotta LOVE.

Are you tracking what I'm laying down?

Marriage, a good marriage takes falling in love not just one time, or two times, it takes several times. Love really is a verb, not a noun. Really. It is. No Lie.

There was a part in the movie that really struck a chord in me and it made me cry because I have been judgemental of spouses that choose to stay despite infidelity. The mom says, in regards to the main character Paige's dad cheating on her with Paige's friend,(... ewww...), " I chose to stay for all the things he did right, and not the ONE thing he did wrong. I chose to forgive him." Them, there are some powerful words. Don't get me wrong I'm not advocating infidelity, but for those that have the courage to forgive... I think you are a better woman or man than I.

You have to choose love, it doesn't just happen like the movies. Unless, your life IS the movie hee hee hee.

Which brings me back to this movie. There were choices made in this movie, to love or not to love. It's a great love story, and it brought about some good thoughts that I just felt like sharing with you all.

IF you are just now rejoining us, you are safe from this point out. In a nutshell(Help I'm in a Nutshell) I basically said... Love is a verb. Ummm and marriage is hard work... and ya da ya da ya da!

Go see the movie and then report back here.

Linking up Here today.

Fog and an Ode to My Twilight Fans

Have I mentioned to you, my beloved reader... how much I absolutely love the FOG!

Foggy mornings are a bit of a normal occurrence here in Seattle Washington, so are foggy evenings for that matter.
If you love them too, Don't be a hater! Just enjoy the pictures and come for a visit so you can take some of your own!


Still for this native NV girl, they take my breath away every time. I believe my family members think I have developed Asthma from all the gasping!


There is just something about the fog that can make any ordinary morning turn into something spectacular.
And by spectacular I mean kinda eery.
And by eery I mean kinda cool.
And by cool I mean... ok I will stop!



Is it any wonder why they filmed a series of movies about vampires swinging from trees up here in the PNW?
Can't you just see Edward walking out from in between those trees?
And NO we did not purchase an old red truck to copy a certain girls truck in a certain vampire movie. Mr. Big, aka My Giant, aka The Moses, aka Hubby purchased "Old Red" last year for dump runs. We like him. He eats A LOT!!

I don't have anything really substantial to say, but I want to say something anyway. So here it goes.

School is in it's 4th week of full force for my kids. They are all doing great. I have to say I am a little jealous of their lives. They get the normal routine of getting up, going to school, coming home, doing homework, doing their individual extra curriculum activities, and then going to bed. How funny is it that when you are child all you can do is wait for the day when no one is telling you what to do, and when you are an adult you wish you had the simplicity of childhood?


At this time, I would like to point out that my oldest daughter has the best self management skills I have ever seen! Truly, she is a wonder to me. She has since the time she was a little girl put herself to bed long before the bed time bell rings and it just astounds me. My daughter Chloe and I on the other hand will be burning the midnight oil until the day I die. Total opposites those girls are. It just makes me giggle to think of them. Same DNA, Same Parents, Even Same birthday month... yet so completely opposite!

Anyway where was I, oh yeah back to my kids back to school routine. SO they are back doing great and I am jealous of their simple lives. When we went shopping for school supplies I of course bought some for myself just to feel apart of the busy. Every time I do back to school shopping I think about the movie You've got Mail where Tom Hanks says, "I would like to buy you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils". That movie is an all time favorite for me because I can so relate to Meg and Tom's characters love of school supplies.

Moving on... SO fall is my favorite. I have told you that before. There is just something about this season that makes my heart go pitter patter. The leaves on all the trees around here are showing little signs of the change that is coming. One of my favorite children's stories of all time is a story called "Frederick". I am sure I have blogged about this book before, but it's about a field mouse who when all the other mice are scurrying about to get ready for winter, collecting nuts, preparing their homes for hibernation, Frederick is just sitting there. Seeming to do nothing the other mice get frustrated with him, but later they realize he was taking it ALL in. When it gets dark and there is no longer any color left in nature Frederick starts sharing about the colors he was storing in his mind so that he could tell stories about it later. IN the dead of winter he paints the pictures of summer and shares his poetry. That's what I feel like sometimes when I catch myself just soaking it all up before the leaves fall off and the trees go barren.

I just realized that Fall is nature way of saying that things are dying. It makes me awe in wonder at the God I serve that right before death we get such beauty! Isn't that true in life. Right before the elderly pass, we get such beauty if only we have eyes wide open to see it. This Fall my eyes are wide open to see the beauty. My ears are wide open to hear the beauty. And my heart is full of gratitude for the changing of seasons.

What is wrong with the world? What can we do to change it?

With recent events in Japan,
The Brewing events in Libya,
In house events with Rob Bell's new book coming out,
My somewhat not really an event, finishing Shane Claiborne's book Follow Me to Freedom,
And with my current event going to watch with some friends the new documentary tonight, " I AM"http://iamthedoc.com/

I have got a lot on my brain.
There are so many points in this movie that I have been thinking about for a long time.
Even more points in this movie that I have heard my husband saying for years, (being the prophetic fella that he is)
I am still chewing on quite a bit of it, and I don't want to give away the ending for those of you who want to go see it, or the answer to the above question, but I will say this... the grand finale... well it ends with a four letter word.

I will give you some clues (in song of course);

What the world needs now is....(blank) sweet.... (blank)?


Where is the ..... (blank)? Where is the.....(blank) ?


His banner over me is..... (blank)??

Dances With Wolves... and some deep thoughts with Me(LOL, that title just makes me laugh)

This past Sunday night we had the distinct pleasure of sharing with our Fab 4 the old movie Dances With Wolves starring and directed by Kevin Costner.
There were quite a few scene's that were of course not appropriate for all of our children, and therefore skipped through, but as a whole I thought that the movie was a good one to share with our kids.

While watching it, one of the things that Mo mentioned to the kids that I found so interesting, was the fact that the women were the ones who in many, if not most tribes, built the Tee Pee. She also had complete control over what went on in her Tee Pee, what came in or out of her Tee Pee, and she could even kick the man out of her Tee Pee if he didn't "bring home the bacon" so to speak!
I found this so intriguing.

I think for one, because general carpentry is not something that I do in this house. Outside of putting in an occasional light bulb or putting batteries in my children's toys, I leave the fixing and or building of things to my hubby.
So the notion that the women not only built the Tee Pee, but put it up as well was a foreign concept to me.

I also think I found it interesting because today you often hear phrases like;
"The woman is the heart of the home" or
"If momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy!"
So in a way I suppose you could say this is a cross cultural theme and an aged-old truth.

Either way, it made me then think about my home.
What have I allowed to go on in my home?
What have I promoted to be a good or bad thing in my home?
Who have I allowed to influence my home?

And also do I really need all this stuff ?
That question leads me to my other thought about Tee Pee Life.
Those families were on the move quite a bit.
The women I am sure were very careful about what kind of things they let become permanent fixtures in their homes because having the life of a nomad does not work well, with having the life of a pack rat!
They "traveled light" I am sure.

Finally, it made me remember one of the choices that my book club picked last year that I never got to thank them for choosing;
Daughters Of A Copper Woman

And then I read this, just this morning;

"Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands." Proverbs 14:1

Hmmm....

I want to be a woman that carefully builds my house.
And if I do tear it down may it only be for the purpose of moving with my family on to the next great adventure!

The Book- Jesus For President ,The Movie- Avatar, The Church Bethany UCC,and my thoughts lately

I have been reading another one of Shane Claiborne's books Jesus for President by Chris Haw and Shane. The first book of Shane's that I recently blogged about here a few months back, Irresistible Revolution still seems so fresh in my mind, and has left me haunted in many ways that I am not doing enough to make this world a better place.
This new book I chose to read to stay on that same train of thought( the train that wants to make the world a better place is not an easy train to be on), has done the same thing, but magnified that thought x 1000!

Seriously, I have to say, that this book is even more challenging than the first because it deals so much with politics and how they correlate with being a Christian. Politics have changed and are still changing for me on a daily basis. Honestly, though they are not my full-time job, not even my part-time job for that matter and by that I mean I would consider myself to be the average American voter who only pays attention to things when election years roll around. That is some real, REAL honesty there(so don't be a judger). SO, reading this book which is primarily written by two extreme activists in this regard has made me realize how my ignorance was really bliss! Now that I know what I know after reading this book I can't turn back.

It talks about the violence of wars and their aftermath. What it looks like to be a Christ follower, who if we are truly following in Christs foot-steps we are to love our enemies, do good to those that hurt us, and I am pretty sure He said something about turning the other cheek. He never said, take what you want, when you want it and by all means use force to get it if necessary. Which btw, is pretty much in a nutt-shell the U.S. of A's entire history.
PLEASE,Please, don't take me wrong I am EXTREMELY grateful for this country and although I believe many of our ways are twisted and could use a serious wake-up call, there is also another side of the US that I see, in the faces and stories everyday that are good, but for the sake of what I am internalizing right now I have to say personally I see so many more changes that need to be made, rather than things that would be good if they stayed the same. Hope that makes sense?

I think this book combined with being totally blown away by the new movie Avatar has made me angry with our country and it's history. I hope it's a righteous anger, but all I know is it makes me want to do something, anything to make things better in this country. If you have seen the movie than I hope you get the correlation about taking things by force and how much the US has played a part from it's very origin in doing this very shameful act of injustice.

On top of this book, and that movie there is the new church I have been attending, Bethany United in Seattle or Bethany UCC.
This church if full and I do mean full of WORLD CHANGERS! Like this past Sunday, they had an amazing speaker, Pramila Jayapal, who talked about immigration reform. It was powerful. It was challenging to listen to the stories of immigrants whose rights as human beings are being violated every day in the name of the law. I cried silent tears pretty much the whole time she was talking for many reasons.
And now here tonight my heart is torn.
My eyes of full of tears again for so many reasons.
I am wondering what is my part in all of this?
She said something that I believe sums up what is happening to me, "If you allow yourself to feel fully everyday it is a courageous act. You can't help but become an activist."
I don't allow myself to feel fully everyday. It hurts way too much. I think I am beginning to awaken more feelings about all of this stuff and it scares the hell out of me because I know where this train of thought leads.
Why am I on this train again? Oh yeah, because I have 4 children.
This train of thought is not easy.
It's not for cowards. In fact it's not coward friendly at all, which is what I am to the core.
Like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz, I talk a big game, but I am scared and allow fear to dominate so many of the choices that I make in life. My phlegmatic nature is opposed to being an activist, but it's never too late to change.
I am beginning to find my ROAR though.
I hope that this new voice I have found always speaks
Life instead of Death,
Love instead of Hate,
Mercy instead of Judgement.
Honestly, Oh God I pray, I hope it sounds more and more like a Lamb than A Lion.

LOVE and ?

"There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only LOVE" Don Juan DeMarco

It is a funny way I suppose to begin to describe what love is by quoting such a silly movie but it begins this blog by asking questions. Rather than try to tackle the daunting task of describing LOVE I would instead like to ask some questions about it. I like questions. Questions are good. I wish I asked more questions and thought of better questions at appropriate times. (I wish I had better answers also because I always seem to have a better come back answer long after the conversation is over but that is a topic for another time and also one that Seinfield tackled quite well)
So, I ask What is sacred to you?
Of what is your spirit made?
What is worth living for?
What is worth dying for?

Would you say Don Juan’s answer is true? I would.

I can’t really put into words all that is LOVE. It just is what it is. SO many feelings, actions, emotions all wrapped up into one word.
The bible attempts to say what LOVE does ; Love is patient, Love is kind, etc. but that is only what it does. Its says who LOVE is- God is love. So we have from the book of all books what it does and who it is. Do we really need more than that? I don’t really, but for the sake of this ongoing conversation let’s ask some more questions about LOVE.
If we were to break it down with the four all time questions;
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Then I suppose we have half the answer from the bible. I suppose the When and the Where is up to us. When do we practice love or feel it lived out in our lives. When do we experience it’s wonderfulness? The bible also says in 1 John 4:12 that when we love each other we have seen the face of God. I really believe that is true. There is nothing quite like seeing love in action. When I do see love in action it is like a “little piece of heaven on earth” (as Tommy Griner said on my wedding day) being acted out right in front of you.
And then I guess that only leaves where does it happen?
Where does it happen most? It’s not what love feels like or what it is to find love in the strangest places that I am asking here but where does it happen for you? That question is different for everyone but for me the where is really wherever I am I see love because I choose to see love more than anything else on earth. I choose to see LOVE.

"Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live"

"Love is not blind it simply enables one to see things others fail to see"

" You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear"

"We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love." Mother Teresa

"Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is." Gary Zukav

Choosing to see Love.
LOVE IS A CHOICE.

Thursday

This morning was great. I love the Spring like weather that we get to enjoy if only for a few days. It makes everything seem more alive. Maybe I am affected by the weather, but then who isn't?

Great day at work. Then I went shopping at Winco. When I was down the soda isle getting my sparkling water a woman dropped a whole box of soda's and one exploded all over her. I felt so bad and I was really glad that I always carry around a thing of wipes. I am pretty sure even when I don't have little sticky fingers this is something I will still do. At the checkout  I always pretend when I am bagging my own groceries there that I am a grocery store employee and I challenge myself to see how quickly and efficiently I can bag my own groceries. 

Walked to pick the big kids up from school because I can and because I should. It was nice until Isaiah took a digger and because I baby him I carried him all the way home.

Then no one had homework so we played outside for a bit and then we all decided to watch a movie, but what movie could we all agree upon?? It took a minute and a few tears but finally it was decided by popular vote to watch My Girl.  Forgot how sad that movie is. Me and the girls cried and cried and boys just stared at us like we were from another planet. I have a feeling that might happen a lot in our house.

 Brie Cheese dip for dinner. It is that good and that filling!! Kids didn't like it. They thought it taste too much like Blue Cheese which none of them like.  Too bad Mo and I were the only ones who could enjoy this delicacy. 

Samantha B. came over to get a tattoo on her foot and it turned out beautiful. Made me want one on my foot but I don't think I am brave enough for the foot. I have heard it's a very painful spot. She is sitting like a champ though.

It was a pretty good day, looking forward to tomorrow..... sing along!!

27 Dresses

27 Dresses is a great, clean(as clean as they come these days) chic flick. I took my girlies to go see it on Friday and I was so pleasantly surprised by how cute it was. It also got me thinking of all the weddings I have been in over the years. I made a list and out of the 9 weddings I was in only 4 are still married. 2 were widowed and 3 divorced. The dresses in these weddings ranged from butt-ugly to something I have worn again truly because I really could. That was one of the funnier parts of the movie was how many times the brides would tell their bridesmaids that "the great part about this dress is that you could just shorten it and wear it again" . Then I started to think of my wedding day almost 13 years ago and my poor bridesmaids and what I made them wear. Sorry girls, I am truly really sorry for the hats especially.

Nacho Libre Sleeps!!

why are they always so stinking cute when they are asleep??

i feel i should explain why my son fell asleep with belly exposed and mask on. after watching nacho libre about two weeks ago he has been a bit obsessive about the character nacho who is a spanish monk turned secret pro wrestler in his off time.

anyhew- isaiah now is definitely in a phase(at least i sure hope it is a phase) of taking his shirt off, putting something over his head(even if it is his brother's dirty underwear) and running into the room hands up exclaiming, "nacho libre!!"

if you haven't seen the movie it's a good one for laughs and if you haven't seen the reenactment yet from isaiah, stay tuned you probably will shortly.

Nanny McFee

This is a new kids movie out on dvd. We recently rented it for our kids and watched it first because someone said that it was about a witch. I thought "bummer," and I wasn't going to rent it and then Moses picked it up without knowing what I had heard so we watched it first and to my surprise it is no more about a witch than Mary Poppins was about a witch. To those of you who think Mary Poppins was about a witch then .....well, disregard this blog.

Anyhew, one of the things that I liked about this movie is that she comes in to teach the kids 5 lessons and as each lesson is taught she loses a blemish. First a mole, then another and finally by the end of the movie she is skinny, beautiful, no moles and perfect teeth.
Ohhhhhhhhh, that this could be real life!!!