20 years

Last month on June 3rd we turned 20 years old.

20 years is literally a life time.

We looked SO very different 20 years ago. 

I was only 20 years old when we got married, and My Giant was 22.

Now in our 40s it seems a lifetime ago and at the same time like only yesterday.

We spent our anniversary going up the coast of Hwy 101 in our VW bus.

This was a bucket list dream come true for us, and around every corner we were reminded that our story is HIS story and that from start to finish HE (the lover of our souls) has been binding us together in this 3 stranded cord of beauty.

I remember the first time I saw him. I will never forget that moment as long as I live. It really was love or lust at first sight for this girl. I'm gonna go with lust because I had no idea what love was at 15 years old. Yea, purty sure it was lust but not the kind that is tainted by the world. The innocent school girl crush kinda lust. I haven't stopped lusting over this beautiful man who can paint a picture that should be hung in an art museum as well as build a beautiful cabin in the woods with a porch to sit and watch the world go by. He is just a man, but in a world when so many men have been weighed, measured, and found wanting ...  He is a MIGTHY GOOD MAN! For those of  you who want to read  more on our beginnings, the whole long lust/love story that really is a good one if I don't say so myself, you can go here : Hashtag MoNoSco But for today I want to talk a bit about what 20 years have looked like and I'm not going to leave out the nitty gritty stuff that we know all marriages are made of. Before I let you in to this most treasured corner of my heart and life beloved reader, know this; There are moments that I will never share with you because they are sacred.  In every life there should be moments that are kept under what the Jewish Rabbi would call the Chuppah !! This was and is a symbol that goes way back that signifies a set apartness from the rest of the maddening world. The couple stands under the Chuppah to declare to the rest of the world that this union is set apart and only they will know what goes on under the covering of the Chuppah. I love this tradition and have adopted it in my own marriage even though I'm not Jewish I recognize the value in this beloved act. There are moments of this relationship that I will never share with my best friends, mom, sisters, or anyone else who is trying to weasel there way into this most sacred spot. That being said, I will share with you that these past 20 years have not all been filled with wine and roses. 

There have been moments of total sadness, disappointment, frustration, anger, irritation and full on close to hate.  I can't say that I've ever hated Moses, but I have come close to feeling that scary disconnect with him and it's in these moments we have looked for help. It is also in those moments that I know the grace of God was/is at hand because neither one of us is opposed to being open about the fact that we have needed help.
We started our marriage with pre-marriage counseling and in the 20 plus years we've been together we have gone to counseling a couple of times, and I'm sure that we probably will go again. I'm beyond grateful that we both have been willing to be honest about that. I think it's SO important to realize in a relationship when you need help and don't be ashamed to get it.  Honestly, I don't know a single solitary couple who hasn't needed some kind of outside help to keep their marriage on a healthy path.
Why we don't recognize and celebrate the counseling as much as we celebrate the anniversaries and Valentine's Days I will never know, because to me that's when the real intimacy takes place.    So there is some of our nitty gritty. Now on to the mushy gushy. This is the part that everyone loves to read about, myself included. This is the part where I tell you when we had our first child, Emma I fell more in love with My Giant who was weepy over the sight of his brand new baby girl. This is the part where I tell you that not only do I love this man because he has fathered 4 children, but he has truly been an inspiration to me in many ways with how he takes the time to sit and have deep talks with our 4 kids.
This is the part where I tell you that sometimes when he gets dressed in the morning and he comes out looking all HOT and stuff, my little heart still goes pitter-patter! I love that he makes me breakfast on a regular basis. He makes me laugh so hard that I almost pee my pants on a daily basis.  Those are just some of the good things that I choose to stay focused on when we hit those rough patches. I know you've heard this and if you haven't then I'm happy to be the first place you read it, but 
LOVE REALLY IS A CHOICE I don't disagree with my mom often, if ever, but this is one of those times that after all these years I can honestly say that when she has said for years "You can't tell the heart who to love" I would have to disagree.
YOU absolutely can tell the heart who to love and you have to tell it again and again and again! Moses was my high school girls crush 24 years ago and he became my life's choice 21 years ago  and I'm choosing him again.

I'm telling this heart who to love and continue to love well.

It may have been lust all those years ago but it has grown into this beautiful thing. This amazing, wonderful, astounding thing called  LOVE.
And after all these years I'm beyond grateful that he is still my favorite, and that our love story is still ongoing, and I'm still a lusty hot mess over here for that man !!

MoNoSco turns 19 years old

Today I get to celebrate a second birthday. Well, technically the world calls this day my anniversary, but to me it feels like a second birthday. It's MoNoSco's birthday today and I am 19 years old with this guy. We got married June 3, 1995.

I remember when I was a 19 year old girl who got engaged to a 21 year old young man. I told a young, 21 year old Moses, "Won't it be SO cool when we have been together longer than we were alive apart from each other?" And now this year marks that date for me.  We have been together 20 years. Married for 19 years. Known of each other for 22 years. That's A lotta years. If you are interested in those years, the beginning years of our LOVE STORY you can read about them here; MoNoSco Love Story Together our names make up Mo No Sco. Moses+Noël+Scofield= MoNoSco
That's what he's etching on the wall at the old Genoa Bar. MoNoSco... It's a pretty great name if you ask me. 

It seems only right that our name should be etched in stone at the place we got married 19 years ago.

We didn't get married at that bar, but we were in Genoa NV 19 years ago at this time.

19 years ago on this day I was only 20 years old. 

Now, I sit here as an almost 40 year old woman and I can remember that day like it was yesterday.

I wasn't nervous.

I didn't have cold feet.

I was 100% sure that my commitment, promise, and covenant to Moses was one life choice I would NEVER regret. 

And I can honestly say, that after all these years I am beyond thankful for this beautiful thing called marriage.

We have had SO much fun together traveling along life's highways and byways, and low-ways.

There is still no one else I'd rather spend my day with and as I sit here and think about us and all the years that have gone by it fills my heart to overflowing that I have been lucky in LOVE.

I have been so very fortunate to grow up beside this man named Moses. 

Being married to him has taught me more than I could ever possibly imagine it would have.

And I have yet, to find a way to fully express how much I love him.

Good thing I have the rest of my life to figure out a way to do just that, 

but for now,

I think I still like the way Billy Holiday sang it on our wedding day 

Oh Happy Happy Day MoNoSco!!

U2 song- Whoa The Sweetest Things

It's not our anniversary, but it is the month of LOVE.
And so I feel compelled to tell you this LOVE story.
It's the story of when a blue eyed boy met a brown eyed girl.
Or the story of how a brown eyed girl stalked a blue eyed boy.
Either way, it's my LOVE story.
I wish that each and everyone of you had a blog where I could read your LOVE stories, because to me LOVE stories truly are "The Sweetest Things"
This Love story well it happened kinda something like this.

Well, about over 20 years ago.

I don't regret going to my friend Jen's youth group that night because not only was it a night that I would meet some treasured people that would forever be in my life, but it was the first time I laid eyes on him. (Enter the "At Last My LOVE has come along" song here)

Jen's Youth pastors at the time were a couple named Louie and Joni Locke.They were newlyweds. They were nice, but they were quickly forgotten once Moses walked through the front door.

(Can't believe I am actually going to use this reference, and I am sure my teenage daughter will never forgive me for ruining her favorite love story, but here goes nothing)

Enter Twilight scene where Bella first lays eyes on Edward as he walks through the door to the cafeteria at school. To those of you who haven't watched Twilight, I'm sorry. To those of you who have it really was pretty much something like that, only Moses wasn't a vampire and I am not named Bella. I quickly asked my friend Jen who that tall guy with Heather G was? She filled me in as best she could and then the stalking began.

I was 15 years old. He was 17. I was going to into the 10th grade he would be a Senior. CRAP I AM OLD!!

I thought he was already in college because he looked so much older, imagine my surprise when I found out I would be going to school with him the next year.
A few more details you should know about this story is that although he wasn't a murderous vampire, he wasn't a Christ follower at the time. I was trying to follow Christ's teaching a little closer than I had in my non-following Christ years, and so this posed a problem. Our lives were on different roads. He was listening to Nine Inch Nails, I was listening to Amy Grant. LOL. That is just a pretty damn funny sentence right there. And also a pretty good way of putting our past into a nut shell(Help, I'm in a nut shell!)

This is where my prophetic youth pastor enters the story. I had told no one, and I do mean no one about this high school girl crush. Although, those that were close to me I am sure had an idea or two. But, I certainly didn't tell anyone near or remotely close to my youth pastor. So there is no way he could have known what he knew. And basically, without leaving all you non-church goers in the dust here he did what the world would call a psychic reading on my ass, and it scared the crap out of me!!

So, due to my recent "Fear of THE LORD" I let all those high school girly crush dreams go and I forgot about the man-child! I did really forget about him until my Senior year in high school. Long after he had moved out of Carson City. Long after I had that amazing first impression of him. I forgot him. But then one day, there he was almost a year and half later.

This time it was no longer a crush, it was a reality. And by reality I mean he actually talked to me this time.
He came up asked me some questions and then disappeared again.
I forgot him again. (Fear of THE LORD thingy!)
Until a year later.
I looked him up.
He was looking for me.
We talked on the phone.
I invited him to church.
He came.


WE said I DO!

(For those of you new blog followers there is a very lengthy story of us under the tag monosco if you have an hour or two, JK, but really you will need at least a half and hour)

15 Years Ago...

It started with a glance out of the corner of my eye.



It then turned into a good long stare when he wasn't looking.



Which quickly became a High School girls crush.



Crushes have their way of becoming obsessions.



Obsessions have a way of getting a little out of control and making The Creator of said obsession a little angry.



Which gave some time for The Creator to perfect things.



And perfect things have a way of working out perfectly.



Perfecting something called Love isn't always easy.




Love is so strong it deserves to be recognized with symbols, dates, tokens, and certificates.



But those things aren't what defines this LOVE.





This LOVE multiplied 4 times over.



This LOVE 16 years later looks and feels different than when it first began.



It feels like a thirst being quenched. Like a need being met.




Like winning the lottery. It feels like "a peach, soft, fuzzy, and juicy" says the man I married 15 years ago June 3, 1995.





I met and married a boy who has turned into the man that can still make me smile like no other person I know.


He is now without a doubt my best friend, lover, amazing father of our 4 children and still the one I would rather be with than anyone else on planet earth!

The story of Mo..el Part 3 of 3

Learning to be complete in God's love and to trust in Him fully for the future was what the time in between my sophmore and senior year taught me. Ephesians 3:14-20
Okay, so this bring us to my Senior year of high school. In between all that time like I said I truly didn't think again about Moses but that was partly due to the fact that I didn't see him again because he had dropped out of high school and partly due to a distraction that I entertained for a bit about another boy. Ya know , I was after all in high school!! Mostly though I really was growing alot in my relationship with Jesus and I was fortunate enough to be able to go on several missions trips during this time that kept me pretty busy.
My Senior year was very hard because I really didn't want to be there anymore. So the year was draggin a bit for me up until mid year one day when I walked into my last class Art, and there was Moses. Whoa!!! I was so shocked I cannot even tell you but again not knowing if he ever got my letter or if he knew who I was now, I just walked on by and sat down at my table in class. Then, when I looked up there he was. Closer than we had ever been before he sat down right next to me and said, "You are Noel right?" To which I replied "Yes" He then said, " I never got to thank you for that letter but it came at a really important time in my life and I just wanted to thank you for it." He then went on to say, "I would really like to get together with you sometime and talk to you about what you believe in" to which I said, "NO"(just kidding) I said yes of course. The class proceeded I left and went right over to my youth pastors house and told them what had happened. I was on cloud 9 you better believe it. I could hardly wait to go back to school the next day but when I did to my total disappointment he wasn't there. The art teacher told me that there was a mix up with the school and that they weren't going to allow him to come and assist in the class anymore. I was pretty upset but I didn't even know how to get a hold of him and certainly didn't want to fall back into my bad stalker habits again so I didn't even try.
Another year went by. I graduated from high school and decided not to go away for college as I originally had planned. I was working at a preschool taking classes at WNCC and had a new roomate at my parents house, my good friend Allie. We would stay up late almost every night into the wee hours of the night(not good for her she was still in high school) but made for some very great memories for me. Anyhew, she asked me whatever happened to Moses to which I replied I have no idea. She then suggested that I look him up in the phone book and see what happens. So I did. I called the listing and to my shock and amazement it was his house but he wasn't home. His roomate Scott answered and said he would give him my message. What I didn't know was that around the same time I was looking for him he had thought of me again as well. Running into a mutual friend he asked where I was and what I was up to. So after a day or so of phone tag we spoke and I invited him to come to our Saturday night college service. He said that sounded great and I was so excited just to see him again. At the same time I was a bit weary because I knew for sure that I wasn't about to just start dating him right away unless I knew he was serious about persuing a relationship with Jesus first. I watched from a distance as he was faithful to come every Saturday and then when he was asked to live in Guys house for the purpose of becoming a stronger Christian (it was called a discipleship house) I knew that he meant business with Jesus and not just with me. This meant a lot to me, his decision probably more than he realized at the time. So for a long time we went out with a big gang of people and then as I got more sure of his intentions for Jesus and for me we started to go out just the three of us, Me , Mo, and my good friend Allie. Poor guy , now that I think back on this time I have to laugh because of the hoops I made him jump through but I had to be sure. Anyway, he didn't seem to mind and even paid for Allie's night out as well(what a gentleman) but it didn't take long before he wanted to know when we could go out on a date alone. I was at this point to be honest a little scared but excited at the same time. We dated for about 2 months before he made his intentions clear that he didn't want to just "be dating" but that in fact he wanted a life partner. I was on board. So at the young age of 19 he asked me to be his wife and the rest is history....present and future.

Story of Mo..el Part 2 of 3

Prayer changes everything!! 1 Timothy 2:1
Now, a few months had gone by since I first saw Moses at that bible study. He had changed girlfriends and was still very much lost in the world from all appearances. I was looking for him at high school around every corner. Truly, he was the highlight of my sophmore year. The girl he was dating at the time I knew to be a Jehovah's Witness so my prayers for him had changed a bit. After I got the prophetic word from my youth pastor though, I knew that I didn't want to upset God any further with my attentions being elsewhere so I decided to write Moses the
letter and not for any other reason than the fact that I wanted him to know that God loved him. When writing this letter you have to realize that I didn't even know if Moses knew who I was. I just wanted to tell him a little bit about the fact that I knew God had bigger and better plans for his life then what I saw him living out. I wanted him to know that the God of the universe was paying attention even if no else was. The letter went something like this;
Dear Moses,
I know you don't know who I am but my name is Noel Pellant. I am a sophmore and I am a Christian. I have been praying for you the last few months and I just wanted you to know that I really believe with all my heart that God has big plans for your life. I don't know much about you but one thing I do know is that Jesus loves you very much and I really wanted you to know that.
Sincerely,
Noel Pellant
It wasn't a long letter and I didn't even know if he would just throw it away or if he would even get it but I knew that in order to move on for me I needed to send it. Again I prayed , "God if we ever talk please let our first conversation be about you so that I will know that you heard my prayers for him" I sent the letter and shortly after I did I was invited to a birthday party of an old friend. I wasn't going to go because I knew that it was going to be the kind of party that I didn't go to anymore but another Christian friend I knew was going and said that she would take me home if I didn't feel comfortable so I went. Most of the night was pretty much a good eye opener for me and made me very thankful that God had brought me out of so much empty living, but about half way thru the night Moses arrived with his friends and he looked very disturbed. I was wondering at this point if he had got the letter, if he knew who I was now, and what was going on in his life that was the cause for all his intoxication and tears that I could see he had been crying.
We didn't even make eye contact until at one point I was sitting down on a couch doing some serious people watching when he suddenly plopped down on the other end of the couch with no one in between. Now, of course inside my head I was thinking all kinds of things, but I didn't even look his way or acknowledge that he was there until he turned to me and said, "Do you believe in eternity?" to which I responded "Yes, I do." After my response the whole world came back to life. His friends plopped down right beside him and continued comforting him for the reason he was upset that evening was that he had broken up with his girlfriend .That I didn't know, but what I did know was that God's hand was indeed moving and I knew in my heart at that point that something very special was happening.
I got up from the couch, went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and thanked Jesus over and over again because I knew that one question about eternity was the conformation I was looking for and that now even if nothing else ever happened , even if I never saw him again I knew that God was moving in his life and that I could leave it in His hands and I did. I didn't pray anymore for him from that moment on and strangely enough I didn't see him again for two more years until my Senior year in high school. I didn't ask about him, think about him, or even wonder about him. Strangely enough my heart was asleep again during those years.
To be continued....

The Story Of Mo..el Part 1of 3

The story of how Moses and Noel came to be Mo..el. The story of how when we wait on God and obey him in all areas of life, when we love Him more than anything or anyone He works all things for good. Romans 8:28
The summer before my sophmore year in high school I was asked by my friend Jen to go to her youth group and I was up for meeting new people and mostly just hanging out with my friend Jen . We went over to some peoples house where about 15 or so teenagers were crammed in a living room for bible study. This is the first time that I met Jen's youth pastors Louie and Joni Locke. We all sat down for a cozy bible study when some late arrivals walked thru the door, a girl I knew from choir Heather and her very very attractive boyfriend Moses.
They introduced themselves to the group and I thought to myself "Whoa that guy is fun to look at,also do they allow older college persons to come to a high school bible study? hmmm.. okay, but since he's not hard on the eyes, the more the merrier" I wish I could say that I still remember to this day what we studied in the bible that night but pretty much my attention was not on the bible as much as it was on Heather's boyfriend. (ouch)
After bible study was over I probably asked my friend a gazillion questions about the mysterious boy named Moses and she clued me in that he was indeed still in High School, that he wasn't a christian, and suddenly, starting my high school year took on a whole new excitement. I soon found out that Moses was actually pretty lost in the world. I began to pray for him. ALOT!!! I asked everyone I knew about him and if they knew why he was named Moses. I thought with a name like that there has to be some history that would give a flicker of hope. No one really knew the story of his name. Well, my interest grew and grew and soon became much more than prayers for salvation, my thoughts turned more toward what most young girls think about at that age, that one boy who would fall hopelessly in love with them and protect them from all the other boys of the world. At this point my self-control was a bit lacking and I became a slight stalker in some sense....well pretty much, yeah a stalker of the high school good christian girl kinda way ,not the burn your bunny kinda way. I knew where he worked, where he lived, his phone number everything. All this time we had never even had a conversation but my prayers for salvation, and ahem....for other things became more frequent. I think this is about the time that God decided to get my attention.
My youth pastor at the time was very prophetic. God told him things all the time that he had no way of knowing other than thru this gift and thankfully his gift was always used for our encouragement. I had told no one in my youth group about my serious crush on Moses and certainly hadn't told my youth pastors anything (somehow i knew it wouldn't be recieved with kudos)Anyway, one day before youth group was to start my youth pastor asked if he could talk to me with his wife privately. Oh man, I knew something was up but I had no idea that the God of the universe would care for me so much as to communicate this to me. My youth pastor said, "Noel, God has told me that he is jealous of the time you have been spending thinking and praying for someone else, you have this romance novel going on inside your head and God really misses you and your attention." Oh man, can I just say, that I was floored!! I had no idea that God was paying that close of attention to me, and my mind but apparently He was. So, I prayed one last time for Moses and this was my prayer, "God I really do hope and pray that all my prayers for Moses to come to know you are the ones that you will answer, more than anything I want him to know the hope for living that I know now in You. Please if all this wasn't a total loss I pray the first time we talk that our conversation would be about you, I am sorry for making you jealous and would it be okay if I write him a letter about you?" To which God gave me the permission to go ahead and write him a letter and then leave it at that.
To be continued......