Thankful Project 2011

I AM THANKFUL FOR:
Day 1- my sisters, two by blood, several in spirit.
Day 2- warm beverages in the morning
Day 3-FAMILY

Day 4- My mom and dad

Day 5- My brother Greg
Day 6-LAUGHTER
Day 7- MOSES( my Moses)


Day 8- Words from my Creator, candles that smell like fall, fresh flowers, and a warm spot to take it all in.
Day 9- To hear two cousins shooting the breeze at the end of hard days work.
Day10&11- Sunny and Gray days! One makes the other that much better.
Day 12-FRIENDS
Day13- Funny movies, good food, and Stellar men
Day 14-PICTURES



Day 15-For all the ARTS; music, painters, dancers, writers, etc. Expression is a beautiful thing!
Day 16-WORDS
Day 17- My daughters

Day 18- My sons
*I had quite a few more things I am THANKFUL for on THIS day. I got a free turkey. That's right a 21lb FREE turkey, pretty stoked about that. Also I am currently typing from my beloved Maccy that has been in the shop. Woot Woot! It's friday, I made homemade Manicotti, my house is warm, my Mr. Big is on his way home, and my kids are AMAZING!

Thankful day 19- The sun is shining in all these wonderful windows, my front yard is filled with the beautiful colors of fall, my mom-in-love is on her way up, and my Mr. Big is home enjoying his children, while I sit and enjoy this warm cup of joe. This is my "SWEET SPOT" when everyone is all together, and we are just chilling. LIFE IS GOOD!



Thankful day 20- Today I am thankful for my health. The older I get the more I realize how fortunate I have been in the health department of life. Something I have often taken for granted and even done begrudgingly is exercise. Today I head out the door for a morning walk thankful that my legs work :) and that I had a great playlist to inspire me up the BBKH!!

Thankful days 21 and 22- For People, and all kinds of personalties. I love people. I know that seems kind of general, but truly people are so interesting. I love to hear the life stories of every single person. If I could, I would sit down and hear everyone's life story.


Thankful day 23- Today I am thankful for my younger brother Jeremy. The jewel of our family. He is truly one of the funniest people I know. He is kind, sincere, faithful, responsible, trust-worthy, and already at 19 years young one of my favorite human beings on planet earth!! Jeremy Pellant I LOVE YOU!

Thankful day 24- full pantry, full fridge,full belly, full table,full heart, if life was a deck of cards... I just got a full house!

Day 25- leftovers :)



Thankful days 26 and 27- The holidays that celebrate being thankful and that it's better to give than receive

Thankful days 28 and 29- I am thankful for my faith. It is a gift that at a very young age, truth was revealed to me. Also for the many teachers in the faith that I have been fortunate to know and learn from to mention just a few; Greg and Ellen Pellant, Ben and Anita Sanchez, Jen Pellant Simmons, Moses Scofield, Charlene Oakes, Shaine Claiborne, Tom Griner and Kathie Griner, Judy Bratcher, Max Lucado, Jamie Weston, Louie Locke and Joni Locke, Peggy and Louie Locke, Jeff Peterson,Greg Rea, and so many, many more. To all of you who are running the race and I have followed after as you follow Christ, I say a HUGE THANK YOU!!

DAY 30- If you are reading this I am thankful FOR YOU!

Last day of Project Thankful 2011- I have to say that it's not hard for me to find things to be thankful for so this wasn't really a challenge or anything. Can you be thankful for being thankful? I think I remember an old Petra song about that topic... anyhew that's not what I want to say I am thankful for. TODAY- I am thankful for YOU! If you are reading this it means our paths have crossed somehow and for that I am thankful :) and I hope you can find it as easy as I do to find something, anything to be thankful for.

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for!!!

My Maccy

So my beloved Maccy is dead. Ka-put! Gone-zo!
I did not have a back up system in place and so everything on my said Maccy is Ka-put, Gone-zo... no longer in existence except in my mind.
This evokes all kinds of emotions.

It's not as though my house burned down. Which recently happened to my beautiful mom-in-love's bed in breakfast in MS. It was filled from top to bottom with her mothers lifetimes worth of memories.
Thankfully no one was in the house when it burnt to the ground, but still there were treasures lost.

This recent loss for her has definitely helped me keep things in perspective when it comes to My Maccy, still I miss him.

It is a shock. To have all the pictures, stories, information just gone! I imagine an even greater shock when your whole house and everything in it is just gone. Or when you have had something stolen from you.

These thoughts and many more keep this experience for me in perspective. I suppose that's the lesson learned. It's all about perspective.

I have never been more grateful for my little Iphone. The past week would have been a lot worse if it weren't for that lil apple, can't wait to get the big apple back though.I am not skilled enough to write an entire blog on my little apple so
currently,I am typing this on what My Mr. Big just purchased. A little PC called ASPIRE. It's teeny tiny and will make a great computer for the kids when we get Maccy back. Going back to a PC after being on the Mac is very interesting me. I remember learning the Mac and getting so frustrated,and actually that's how he got his nick name because I would say in frustration "MAC...KEY why you do me like that?"

When he returns directly upon his arrival home I will be sure to switch over to the camp that "hopes for the best but prepares for the worst". I might do a little dance, sing a little song, and continue keeping things in perspective.


Lesson Learned.

Ignorance is Bliss

Well, last night while strolling the neighborhood with my trick-or-treaters I started to ponder the thought of this Holiday Halloween, and what it must look like to foreigners.?!?

You see, I live in a neighborhood that is made up of the Nations. I absolutely love this about where I live, but when it comes to American holidays I wonder what they must think about this one.

You see, we teach our children all year long to not talk to strangers, not to eat too much sugar, don't walk out in the middle of the street and on and on... and on this one night we abandon all for the sake of a bag full of m&m's and tootsie rolls.!!! ???

When we first moved here I didn't realize that we live in an area that many have migrated to from India. In India a holiday that is a lot like our Christmas is one called Diwali. Well, this is our third season of Diwali and so when I see the lights go up I no longer think "Oh come on, we haven't even had Halloween yet?" I used to think we just had a bunch of overly excited Christmas Elfs that got started on the outside lights in October. I am embarrassed to say, this goes to show you how small my world view was. Now I know that when the lights start going up it is not Christmas Elves(I enjoy the lights all the same) but those that celebrate this Festival of Lights, Diwali.

Now that I have a bit more understanding about their holiday I wonder how would I explain this Holiday Halloween.
I am not sure I can explain it just yet, but I would say I have made it what I want it to be. A day when little kids get to use their imaginations to the fullest degree, wear that creativity on their bodies, and then be rewarded for it :)

I know this is a very simple minded look at it, but ignorance is bliss;

Happy Halloween!!
and
Happy Diwali!!

2 Year Anniversary

This pass week marks our 2 year anniversary of when we moved a million miles away(Ok not a million miles, but it might as well have been). I thought on this relaxing Saturday morning, when my hubby is out at Sea what better time to reminisce than here with you all.



This is a picture of the cabin right after we had squeezed all of our lives into the 800sq ft space. 2 whole years ago. 2 years might not seem like a long time to some of you but to us, it may as well have been 20.



This is a picture of what it looked like before we moved here. While we were still living in NV Moses came up on a scouting trip to see what kind of shape the current rentor/pot dealer had left the cabin in. This is what he found.
Moses, Dennis, Joel, Shawn, Greg, and Papa Russ, thank you for changing this



into this;






I cannot even begin to tell you all how much baggage we came to Washington with. Literally and of course Emotionally.



We couldn't even move in our living room for the first couple of weeks because there was no place to store all our stuff. The hard work that was put into this little place still astounds me.
Even now looking back on these pictures I am amazed at the transformation.

Thanksgiving 2010, this was THE table Mo built, Uncle Jeremy, Emma and Bella in the back there.

MoNoSco 2009

When I think about the fact that we really did this I have to laugh. There was a time though when we first moved here that we did a lot more crying than laughing. I mean, from the picture below you can get a good idea why one might want to cry!



It has now officially been 2 whole years since we embarked on this big move 700 miles up north, and what a roller coaster ride it has been. There have been many, many moments when we have thought "What the hell were we thinking?"

And then there have been many, many moments when we have sat outside, heard the sound of running water from the creek outside and thought "This is truly our safe haven, thank you God for this."



There have been many adjustments along the way, and as much as I tried to prepare myself for this major life change there really was no way to be fully prepared.



The first year here we were under siege. I say "we" loosely because truly it was Moses who was bombarded with countless things that needed to be fixed, chopped, built, moved, rebuilt, and then fixed again.
THE MAN, MY MAN IS A STUD!!



2 years later this place looks so different now.
I no longer need Gloria Paige Smith (aka GPS) to guide me.
I have a storage shed that is NOT my living room anymore, or the front and back porches.
We have figured out how to stay warm in the winter without central heat.
I have adjusted to not having a dishwasher or garbage disposal(my hands have never been so appreciative for a good bottle of Palmolive)
I now have a compost.
Even living on a septic tank has become my new norm.



Life is Good.


2 years later and we are still here.

Homeless (cont.)

Last Friday night the ladies at my book club discussed our recent book Paris Wife,(good book btw). A book about Ernest Hemmingway's first wife and then somehow in some strange way this became the topic of conversation;

Should I give money to homeless folks or beggars?

I found it so interesting because I didn't bring this up, yet it was a thought that had consumed quite a bit of my time last week after my somewhat encounter with the beautiful stranger(see blog below).
In scrolling around on my usual reads this morning I found this lil note written to the above question by one of my favorite authors, Shane Claiborne.

"Jesus said give to everyone who asks. That’s a tough command. Sometimes we wonder what Jesus would do in the Calcutta slums or in these heroine-haunted streets where folks ask for change on every corner. What we can say with confidence is that we are to give something to everyone who asks – dignity, attention, time, a listening ear. Sometimes we may give money, sometimes not. But we can always give love. And there are times when giving money can even be a way to insulate ourselves from friendship or the messiness a real relationship might demand. So you can toss a few coins to a beggar or write a check to charity precisely as a way of insulating ourselves from relationships (and still appease our consciences)… but at the end of the day Christ’s call is to relationship and compassion. When Jesus speaks in Matthew 25 about caring for “the least of these”, the action he speaks of is not about distant acts of charity but personal actions of compassion – visiting the prisoners, caring for the sick, welcoming the strangers, sharing food with the hungry. Better than sharing money is sharing life, a meal, a home. Having said that, most Christians need to get taken advantage of more. And we can usually spare some change. Sometimes folks say this question about giving to beggars and panhandlers with suspicion, speculating that homeless folks will just use their money for drugs or alcohol… which happens sometimes. But we don’t always ask what CEOs are doing with our money when we give it to their companies (and the recent events on Wall Street raise some flags about how responsible they are!). In the end, if we cannot take someone to dinner or give them a ride when they ask for money, we might as well give some money. It’s better to err on the side of grace than on the side of suspicion. And we doubt that Jesus is going to reprimand us for giving too much money to addicts… more likely, we will discover we could have been a bit more generous than we were."

Shane Claiborne

Even if you are NOT a follower of Christ I think this blurb has some very good points to consider. Like we might not need to give money but we can always give LOVE. I like how Shane comes at the age old argument of not giving because they might use the money for drugs or alcohol, combated with do we scrutinize America's public servants, aka politicians with the same rule of thumb?
I believe the topic of people in need is one that will continue to resurface as the programs that were once in place to help those in need are now being shut down. I don't necessarily think this is entirely bad because it now gives us "the human race" the opportunity to step up to the plate of real true need, and help meet those needs.

I want to do my part. Not exactly sure what that looks like, but I think it begins with "giving to anyone who asks".

I am proud of my little book club because these thoughts and more were all part of our conversation last Friday night. And now I leave you with the same question;

Should I give money to homeless folks or beggars?

The Homeless

Today I had a strange thing happen to me. I was sitting in my car in front of Safeway getting ready to go to the grocery store for the umph-teen time this week, (I feel as though I live there, but I digress) and I was txt-ing back a friend and when I looked up I saw a beautiful, clearly homeless woman sitting in front of the store at Safeways outside tables. She was sleeping peacefully, and she had figured out how to chain all her bags to her person so they wouldn't be stolen while she slept.

I saw her and paused...

And then I paused some more and thought, what must that be like?

Taking a nap outside of Safeway, having everything you own in the world chained to you, and resting peacefully?

I thought maybe I should leave her some money because clearly she could use it, right? Or maybe not. She didn't have a sign up saying that she needed money so I thought maybe she was okay for now. Then I thought maybe I should go in and get her a Starbucks on the way out to help her wake up from her slumber.

Then I got thinking about how many people choose this way of life because they are so tired of running the rat race. I wondered IF she had in fact chose this way of life or if life and it's cruel ways had forced her to this place.

She sat there in the middle of the day sleeping, and here I was running from here to there, trying to make it all work. Napping in the middle of day is not a bad gig. Ask anyone who has done it. It is glorious! But this was different, or was it?

So in the end, after I prayed to see if I was to give her anything besides my prayers I didn't end up giving her anything at that time. A while back I blogged about how convicted I was by not giving to homeless people when they asked for something and ever since have made it a point to give something, anything if I can WHEN ASKED! But she didn't wake up and ask so I walked inside and thought if she is awake when I walk out and IF she asks for something I will give. Whatever it is... maybe she will ask for coffee, a meal, some cash?

I then imagined how cool would it be to sit down and have a conversation with her.

She was awake when I came out and both our attention was drawn to a toddler that was not being watched by it's mom and playing with a gadget about ready to walk into a wall. We both shook our heads by this, and smiled in acknowledgement of how cute the toddler was. I waited for a plea for help, a hand outstretched for something but there was nothing.


Hmm....


I wish I could say that I was my usual sanguine self and sat down to strike up a conversation with her but I didn't. I put my groceries in the car, she put her head back on the table, and I drove off.

Maybe next time.
Maybe she was an angel I could have entertained?
She sure was beautiful.

Solomon turns 10

10 years ago I became the mother of my first son. 10 years of "I love you's" from my little prince. 10 years of slugs, inventions, spontaneous wrestling matches, action heroes, legos, baseball games, bugs, lizards, and overall fun.


I am currently reading Bringing Up Boys, by James Dobson (again) for reminders of how to do just that. I want to bring up this Boy, Solomon to be in love Jesus more than life itself.

For me bringing up boys is harder than it looks. You see because, I come from a family of mostly girls. I do have two brothers but they were so spread out in age that I never got to see brothers in action. And being of the female species I often finding myself in a territory unknown.

I ask my husband all the time if the things that our boys do is "normal" or should I be concerned? When should I consult a professional ?

Before I had children I used to say that I wanted only boys! HA ha ha , serious LOL on that one. God knew. He knew what I needed and what I could handle.


All of that to say, that the last 10 years although it has kept me busy and on my toes I wouldn't trade Solomon for the world.
Not even when he went through the phase of sticking things up his nose!!

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.

Ciao Bella Summer 2011

Although my favorite season is right around the corner, I am sad to say goodbye to this summer.

Here in Seattle it feels as if the summer is just getting started because the weather has finally got the memo that summer generally means warm and sunny.

Maybe I am so nostalgic about this summer coming to an end because the very special event of my sisters wedding took place June 25, 2011.

Or maybe I am sad to see it go because it means that now a new school year has begun for my kids, and that means they are getting older, and that therefore means I am getting older.

What ever the reason this was an amazing summer and I am so grateful for all the fantastic memories that were made.


I am looking forward to the year ahead. I hope as you are saying goodbye to summer you are feeling the same way, grateful for the summers memories and excited about the new year.

Remembering a Day

Remembering a day we all have said we would "never forget" is harder than it looks. We all want to honor the thousands of lives that were lost on that tragic day, and how we choose to do that doesn't really matter as long as we do remember. As Americans, I don't think we like to remember that bad things really do happen. In our culture I don't feel we grieve well, but that's a topic for another day. This week I have been hearing and reading a lot of conversations as to how we as a Nation should go about remembering, and really I personally think that we should all feel free to remember and honor the heroes of that day however we choose. So that's what I am doing here, remembering.... because;

I will never forget.

For me it's easy to remember how many years have passed since that tragic day because I was still pregnant with my third child, Solomon. He turns 10 this October 4th, and so that's how I know 10 years have passed since 9/11. During his pregnancy I remember being so full of hope. I was excited to find out we were having our first son. I was excited for his future, little did I know that the year he would be born would make history for a tragic reason. Forever, that will be a part of his story. That he was born a month after 9/11.

I will never forget.

I am sure most of us can remember exactly where we were when we saw or heard the news that morning. I was at home with my girls who were only 3 and 1 and a half. We were watching PBS Sesame Street which was the normal morning routine after daddy had left for work. My friend Alyse, who also happened to be my neighbor at the time, called to share the news with me. I thought something had happened to her or one of her kids and was shocked to hear otherwise.

I will never forget.

It's hard for me to imagine raising Solomon without his dad being there to help him, but that is exactly what so many have had to do because they lost their soul mates, and parent partners that day. For Solomon there have been countless first days of school, boy scout mtgs, baseball games, birthday parties, and bedtime prayers said with his dad by his side all these years. For thousands of other children this 9/11 marks how many things they didn't get to do with their loved ones. That's a lot of candles that didn't get blown out. A lot of wishes that didn't get made. A lot of prayers that never got spoken.

I will never forget.

Recently, tragedy struck again in the little town where Solomon was born, Carson City NV. A random gunman shot and killed 4 people yesterday, and now this week before 9/11, will never be forgotten for all those families. That was only 4 people, and I am sure the town of Carson City will be forever changed because of yesterday. I called my hometown of Carson City to make sure that none of my loved ones who still live there were at I HOP that tragic morning. They were not. My mom however taught one of the boys who lost his dad this week. He will never be the same. On 9/11 we lost nearly 3000 people. That's a lot of stories cut short. That's a lot of teachers who had students who lost parents.....

I will never forget.

After 9/11 I remember how many flags went up, how many bumper stickers were posted "Never Forget", and how many lives and their stories were being played over and over on television. I remember being somewhat glued to the television. I remember being so thankful that I lived on the west coast far away from what had happened. I remember feeling safer because I didn't live by a big city or any national monuments. I know that seems selfish, but I was glad my little family was far from the appearance of danger. We were far away from what happened. But, I also remember not feeling safe for quite some time. I was not directly affected by that day. All my loved ones came home that night. I lived on the west coast. It happened on the east coast. I felt I had no real reason to panic, but I remember starting to have panic attacks shortly after that event for the first time in my life.

I will never forget.


What will I do this year, 10 years later?
I thought this was a great way to remember;

http://blog.sojo.net/2011/08/22/jesus-bombs-and-ice-cream/

Check out this creative way to remember.
If only I lived in Philly :)

Well, I don't live in Philly, but I do live in Washington now, and that means I live close to the wonderful Mike Farina family.
I will be at the Beautiful Amoure Farina's birthday party. That's right she was born on 9/11, and if we aren't celebrating her newest grandbaby, we will be celebrating that life goes on and that the most precious thing we can do to remember is to LIVE!

I Will Never Forget.

Getting Lost-Being Found

I absolutely hate getting lost. Now that I see that statement, it seems kinda funny because I don't know many people who like to get lost. But I really hate it.
Last week, I set out to meet a friend at a new beach. I am always up for finding a new, fun, beautiful spot in this great state that I now live in, so I said yes. Little did I know that I would A.) set out to the wrong destination, but then 2.) even when I did get the right destination that I would continually get lost around every corner.
I don't mean to sound like a drama queen but it was exhausting! By the time I finally got there the sun was coming down, and I seriously was so irritated. In the midst of getting lost I had a moment where I thought, maybe I should just turn around and go home. It didn't help that my 7 year old who is almost as impatient as his mother when it comes to getting lost, kept saying... "Maybe we should just go home!"

Well, this got me thinking of the life lesson or the spiritual life analogy here.
Sometimes in life I get lost. I mean, I know I am FOUND for all eternity, but there are moments, seasons where I feel lost.
There are times in life when you question. Questions are okay to ask... they prove we have a mind. It's who we get our answers from that shape us.
I think these times come very randomly and for no apparent reason.
It's a feeling. Feeling is okay... it proves we are human, it's what we do with them that matters.

Like right now for instance.
I have had this nagging feeling of being lost again.
I am at a point in my life where I am wondering am I doing a good job being me?
Do you ever ask that question?
AM I doing a good job being me?
And then I quickly think what would be the definition of good?
Will I look back on what I have been given and be proud of myself?

I have been reading the book of Joshua in the bible.
I am past the point where God tells Joshua "Be strong and courageous, don't be afraid. I go with you." 1:9
I am past the point where Rahab hides the spies and because of this her whole house hold is spared. 2:14
I am past the point where Joshua and the people of Israel have seen God's hand move over and over on their behalf. 6:16
I am past the point where Joshua prayed for the Sun to Stand Still and it DID! 10:12(read it people it really did)

AND

Then I read this the other day;

"Joshua asked the Israelites, How long will you be SLACK to go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?" Joshua 18:3

This is after the land has been given, the boundaries have been set, the victories have been won, cities have been captured, THE SUN HAS STOOD STILL, and yet.... they SLACK?

They weren't lost. They found the right destination. They had clear cut jobs to do. But still they SLACKED?

I read that and thought this is exactly what this feeling of being lost is like for me. I have been given everything, and I DO mean everything that I need to succeed in this my life, and yet I SLACK!

Why?
For this I have no answer.

I only know that just like when Isaiah asked me, "Can we just go home?" that there is no going back.
Not when you have looked this long.
Not when you have spent that much gas.
Not when you have hoped for the destination to end all destinations.
There is no turning back, where else would I go?

21:44


24:15

Isaiah Gregory

7 years.


7 years of sweetness.



7 years of silly.



7 years of excitement.



7 years of joy.




7 years of surprises.



7 years of quotes.



7 years of pure fun.






7 years ago this boy came into the world as one of the greatest surprises my life will ever be given, and I will never be the same.



Happy Birthday Isaiah Gregory
Zed
Zay Zay
Zed Head
Iggy

The world has been a much brighter place the last 7 YEARS!