Introspection

Music is a powerful thing. 

This morning as I was putting on my makeup I put on a little old-school Jason Upton and instantly I was sitting on the floor in my closet doing the very same thing only it was 9 years ago.  I could smell my closet and the summer breeze coming through under the door.  I was overcome with those precious feeling of falling in love for the first time, the giddiness of knowing that I had met my husband-to-be.  The feeling of utter abandonment to the Holy Spirit's leading.  The nerves of knowing I was on the verge of the beginning of my life.  The innocence of ministry that can only be found in someone who doesn't have the first clue what's to come.

I close my eyes and I can see the pictures lined up on the mirror on the back of my closet door.  I can see the brand new size 8 dresses bought just days ago hanging to my left and the dozens of bridesmaids dresses hanging on the right.  I can hear the phone ringing and feel my stomach flutter wondering if it was The Music Man.  I had no worries, no real responsibilities, no mortgage, no kids, no mini-van.  It was such a simple time.

I can see it as clearly as I can close my eyes and see my children today.  It's like it was yesterday.  It makes me so emotional to think of it now.  Oh! to be able to recapture those innocent feelings of complete abandonment to the Spirit.  To shake free from the worries of life.  To feel like anything's possible for me.  To have a passion for ministry that's not been tainted and a bit scarred. 

My prayer remains the same as it was then...  "Lord, have YOUR way in my life...take it, take all of it and do with it whatever YOU want!"  But yet I don't feel like I am the same person.  My innocence is gone.  Responsibility and demands schedule my days now.  I'm pulled a thousand different directions and it's hard to keep track of where I'm going. 

I look different. 
I act different. 
I think different. 
I am different.

On the one hand I'm glad.  I've grown up so much.  I have experienced things I wouldn't wish on anyone, but yet I've also had more joy and fulfillment in my life than I ever thought possible 9 years ago. 

But on the other hand, I feel like such a different person from that young bride-to-be, that I often wonder who am I?  Am I still that carefree, spontaneous, goofy girl and have I just lost sight of her along the way?  Or am I this new more serious, slightly OCD, home-body of a woman who's called wife and mother?  And is it possible to be both and still be me?

I wonder if in another 9 years I'll listen to a cd and it will transport me back in time to a day much like today.  I'll hear my babies laughing and playing.  I'll see the mounds of laundry and the choas of an upset toy box.  Will I remember this time as fondly as I feel towards it right now as I live it?  Will I look at myself today and think how innocent she was!?  Where will I be in 9 years?  What will God have brought me through?  Will I be even more serious or will I be more spontaneous and carefree? 

I still believe anything possible, but somehow this feels different.  It feels more defined...more refined... 

Refined by time.
Refined by life experience. 
Refined by tradegy. 
Refined by babies. 
Refined by love. 
Refined by God.

And I'm ok with that.

There's no resisting it...

Is anyone else floored by the Idol finale?  I totally thought Adam was walking out of there as the next American Idol! Overall the finale was delightfully entertaining!  There were some really great moments and some real doosies.  First the highlights...  (These are just my opinions so if you don't agree that's cool.)

1. Norman Gentle
2. Ryan in Norman's glasses and headband
3. Anoop and Alexis with Jason Mraz
4. Kris and Keith urban
5. Randy's cute little bow tie and matching specs
7. Kara and bikini girl - Love the way Kara whipped out her own bikini!
8. Gene Simmons pony tail
9. Santana, and SANTANA ONLY...please see Miss #3 & #4 for more information.
10. Tatiana del Toro 


Total Misses
1. Adams skeletor shoulder pads and boots
2. KISS. I just don't get them.
3. When the top 13 joined Santana
4. The excessive group numbers.
5. That oil rigger guy
6. That Matt guy with the nubbin on his head (which, by the way, they've photo-shopped out of this picture!)
6. Not enough Anoopdawg
7. Too much of Adams falsetto screaming
8. The trophys - just weird. 
9. This guy reminds me of this guy.
10. I really only had 9 misses, but I'm too OCD tp not have 10 highlights and 10 misses.


That's it.  That's all I've got. 

Now what am I going to do with my Tuesday and Wednesday nights???

Dude's Turning One!!!

My baby boy was born one year ago today. I could not tell you where that time has gone, but I can tell you that it was gone in a split second! All day long I have been remembering where I was and what I was doing this time last year...

He's an amazing little man and I cannot imagine life without him.

This was us just about this time last year...

This is us just a minute ago...

What a difference a year can make! Those are real drumsticks in his hands. His favorite thing in all the world. Annnnnd....his tshirt says "drummer wanted!" Annnnnnnnd....yes, that it a mohawk in his hair! You can't be a dummer without a mohawk! Everybody knows that!

So I wish you the happiest of birthdays Little Guy! I know this one is sure to be the best one yet! All the pain and agony with NO EPIDURAL(!!!!!!!!) I suffered a year ago was SOOOOOO worth it!

The Latest on the Homefront

This morning as sat down for breakfast my kitchen was filled with the Presence of God.

What does that mean?
How do I know?

I don't know how to explain it other than to say I suddenly knew I was surrounded by pure love. I felt it like I feel the clothes I'm wearing. It was as if the Lord Himself walked in, sat down at my kitchen table, and said, "Ok Girlie. Here I am to fill you with my love and carry you through today."

Puddle. I was a puddle.

I read Oswald Chamber's timeless My Utmost for His Highest and was blown away yet again that through Christ's resurrection I have been given a completely new life. All of the old junk in my life is gone and He has made ALL THINGS NEW!!! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

His Resurrection Destiny
by Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest

"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?"

Luke 24:2

Our Lord's Cross is the gateway into His life: His Resurrection means that He has power now to convey His life to me. When I am born again from above, I receive from the Risen Lord His very life.

Our Lord's Resurrection destiny is to bring "many sons unto glory." The fulfilling of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God. We are never in the relationship to God that the Son of God is in; but we are brought by the Son into the relation of sonship. When Our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absolutely new life, to a life He did not live before He was incarnate. He rose to a life that had never been before; and His resurrection means for us that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life. One day we shall have a body like unto His glorious body, but we can know now the efficacy of His resurrection and walk in newness of life. "I would know Him in the power of His resurrection."

"As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." "Holy Spirit" is the experimental name for Eternal Life working in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the Deity in proceeding power Who applies the Atonement to our experience. Thank God it is gloriously and majestically true that the Holy Ghost can work in us the very nature of Jesus if we will obey Him.

When I copied that into this post, the verse got cut off. It's Luke 24:26 not 24:2, but I didn't realize that until I had first gone to verse 2 and read that "they found the stone rolled away from the tomb..." I was overcome with... I don't know what, but look at that. THE STONE WAS ROLLED AWAY AND HE WASN"T THERE ANYMORE!!! Are you kidding me!? Nothing else needs to be said.

Puddles. More puddles. I read on...

Verse 45 says, "then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." If he opened their minds to understand His Word, he will do the same for me!!! Little old me!!! Who I am that He even knows who I am??? I'm no one.

No longer just puddles. We're talking small ponds now!

I read on... He then ascended to heaven and the disciples returned to the temple where "they stayed continually...praising God." When you understand the cost of your salvation you can't help but continually praise God. You know where you have been and you know where you should be, but because God loved you so much He made a way for your life to be redeemed. He made a way for us to break free from the consequences of our sinful lives. It was through Christ's death that our debt was paid and it is through is resurrection that we find ourselves able to spend eternity continually praising God!




Oh how He loves you!!!

Puddles? Small Ponds? Fuggetaboutit!!! Oceans, now. Deep, wide, endless oceans.

A Day at Truvy's

I got my hair done today.

Ahhhh... That feels so much better!

Anyway... It seemed as though everyone I know in this little town was also getting their hair done today. I felt like I was living Steel Magnolias. All that was missing was Annelle...

"...Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair..."

And Ouiser...

"...He is a boil on the butt of humanity!"

My Core is Sore!

I really go into my pilates workout* yesterday. I knew I would be sore today, and guess what!? I am!!!

Ouchy-wa-wa!

In other news....

Being a SAHM doesn't allow me the time to go to a gym to work out. If I had the time, I don't know that I would go anyway. I love working out at home. I love the flexibility of being able to do it when I want and at the moment I want (that's a biggie!). I love that I have the privacy to make faces and sounds I wouldn't normally if someone was on the machine next to me.

I have a massed a small collection of workout dvds that I rotate through. I like to mix it up, so I rarely do the same one two days in a row. I have found that I love walking aerobics, yoga, and pilates. Lately I've had a number of people ask me for recommendations for workout dvds. I always recommend the same few dvds. I thought those recommendations would make for good blog fodder or blodder as I like to say.

So without furthre adeu...Here are my top THREE recommendations...

1. Leslie Sansone Walking dvds. This particular one is my favorite and the one I recommend over all other (although they are all good). It can be done as a whole--5 miles or can be broken up and done a mile a day. OR you can do what I do and mix and match the chapters to create the workout you want.


2.The "for dummies" series is my best friend. (Did I just say that I'm a dummy?) It breaks down the workouts and lingo which is great for getting started. This one is a fantastic and is a great place to get started with yoga. Very basic and informative. I have transcribed the positions onto paper that I use now instead of the dvd. I often go through the positions after an intense workout or in the evenings to relax.


*3. This particular workout KICKS MY BUTT, er my CORE!!! It the one I do more than any other "dummy" workout.

Me too! Me too!

I follow Mark Batterson on Twitter. He's this really great guy who happens to also have this amazing church in our district. Anyway, he's written like a million books (slight exaggeration **blush**) and his little tweets are pretty witty. Today he had a really great one...
So I'm going to make that my prayer for today too.


What about you? What's your prayer for today?

TWO WHOLE DAYS OF POSTS...

...Aren't you proud of me?!

We watched Australia last night after the kiddos went to bed. I was excited to see it ever since seeing the previews a while back. It had been heralded as this great epic film. The only thing epic about it was it's length. An hour into it I got on my computer so I had something to do. The movie was sssssllllloooooowwwww goings!

Here's my real-time commentary of the movie. I wrote this last night as I watched starting about an hour into it...

I seriously doubt they even went to Australia to film it. It looks like the whole thing was filmed on a back lot in LA. Some of the cheesiest FX and uses of green screen I've ever seen.

When that little boy "sings" to animals...TOTALLY CREEPY!!! I'm afraid that when we finish this movie the only thing we'll be saying is, "Now that is 2 hours and 45 minutes of our lives we'll never get back."

"The wrong side of business" = Horizantal mambo

1:14 into it...

A friend just told me that the second half gets better. I'm kinda thinking that a root canal would be better than this. At least at a root canal they give you happy gas. I could use some happy gas. And why must King George always be in tree pose?

Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman...not a believable couple. Wolverine and Tom Cruise's wife??? Just doesn't work for me.

And the random Japanese cook??? This movie does make me want to see the Wizard of Oz again though. I must admit.

If I was all dolled up and a patroness of a fundraiser...I wonder how much a dance with me would go for? You think I could raise $5?

Ok. Here we go. Mr. Jackman is clean cut and all dolled up too. Something tells me that the wrong side of business is in their future. Thanks to The Music Man we just skipped on through that part. But I tell you what! That Mr. Fletcher is a bad man. He gives me the creeps too.

All this talk of "creamy" makes me want ice cream. Mmmm...I want coffee mixed with cookie dough eaten with cinnamon graham crackers. Oh my...now that is something I can enjoy. I lived on that while I was pregnant with the boy-wonder. It's a miracle I only gained 26 pounds. Shoot! I sho'nuff want me some ice cream now. I could go get it and be back before the movie was even over. I'm sure I wouldn't even miss anything.

Other things I could be doing right now instead of watching this movie...

1. Reading a book.
2. Eating ice cream...the aforementioned concoction, please.
3. The wrong side of business with The Music Man.
4. Painting my nails.
5. Writing a more worthwhile post.
6. Buying more shampoo.
7. Folding clothes. Seriously. The basket's right in front of me.
8. Playing computer games like this and this or even playing around with this. Can you say, "I heart MacHeist 3 Bundle"???

I was going to write 10 things I could be doing instead of watching this movie, but I'm too bored. Talking about those games makes me want to play them. I'm ending this commentary. My recommendation would be to read this and save yourself a few hours of time.

I know I know

I've been a bit MIA on here lately. I'm not sure what my reasons are. I know I have them, but trying to formulate them into complete thoughts with quirky one lines for a spanky post aren't happenin' for me right now. Soooo...it is on my to-do list, so I will do it. I promise. I also promise to post more often, not just tell you why I'm not posting every couple months. Mmm kay?

Now that the air is clear, I thought I'd let you in on a little project I'm starting. Actually I've already been doing this but I've decided to welcome some accountability into my life and join with a bunch of other bloggers.

Woo-hoo for accountabiblty!


I've joined the 30 x 5 challenge over at 2nd Cup of Coffee. You do 30 minutes of excercise a day, five days a week. And it's only for two weeks. You can do that!

Here's the kicker...You have to blog about it then. Ok, that right there will get me into major trouble because you all know how I haven't been blogging at. all. lately. So sorry.

Now, I must go and get my heart pumping. I have 30 minutes till my family gets home and will want to eat.

PS. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tap Tap Tap, Testing 1, 2, Testing

Easy Brownie Shortcake Dessert

This chocolate brownie shortcake is topped with a sweet sour cream topping and fresh fruit.

Ingredients

1. 1 (19.5 ounce) package brownie mix
2. 1 (16 ounce) container BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream, divided
3. 1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
4. 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla
6. 3 cups cut-up mixed strawberries and peeled kiwi

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie batter as directed on package; stir in 1/2 cup sour cream. Spoon into greased and floured 9-inch round cake pan.
2. Bake 45 min.; cool 10 min. Remove from pan to wire rack; cool completely.
3. Mix remaining sour cream, whipped topping, sugar and vanilla. Cut brownie horizontally in half. Place bottom half on plate; spread with half of the sour cream mixture. Cover with top of brownie, remaining sour cream mixture and fruit. Store in refrigerator.

Search, share, and cook your recipes on Mac OS X with SousChef!

A few Random Thoughts...

1. I'm done nursing. Well, not technically, but in my heart I am SO OVER IT! My precious baby boy still nurses as often and as much as he did when he was 4 months old. There has been no slowing down for him. I try, oh do I try to get him to eat other food. All he wants is me. Bless his heart. I've always said that I would nurse him as long as he wanted as long as he wasn't still nursing when he went to Kindergarten. I'm not really thinking that anymore. At this point in time, I'm committing to his birthday. Beyond that will only happen by the grace of God.

2. My daughter prefers Granny Smith Apples to any other apple.

3. I'm ready to re-paint my house. All of it. Every. Last. Room. I just want to freshen things up. So maybe I don't have to re-paint everything to freshen things up, but a few things here and there would be great. I've toyed with painting my kitchen cabinets for a while now. I go back and forth between a creamy white to match all of the moldings or a bold black that would contrast everything. I've even thought about painting the top and bottom cabinets differently. I have a lot of ideas swimming in my head. I just need to DO IT one of these days.

4. There is some sort of cluttered pile in every room of my house. I hate it. It keeps me awake at night. But no matter what I do, it always finds a way back into my life. It makes me cringe.

5. Dan In Real Life is an awesome movie.

:::

I told you these were random thoughts.

I finally got my hair done yesterday.  

Ahhh....

I feel good.

I twittered the whole process yesterday with pictures and everything.  I realize that there are a few people in this cyber-world who are still living their lives blissfully unaware of the deliciousness that is twitter and facebook.  

Soooo...for you I am re-posting the pictures of the hair-beautification process.

Roots are gone!

Foils are in!

The finished result - the straight edition.

Mama + an afternoon away getting hair done = Much more peaceful household

The (really) curly edition.

So there you have it.  The price tag can sometimes be a bit to swallow depending on circumstances, but I tell you what!  It is worth EVERY penny when I come home feeling so refreshed and rejuvenated!  If a few hours alone every couple months and $100 is all it takes then I think we're doing pretty good!

What do you do to revive your soul???

My Superbowl... of SHOPPING!!!

So as you know...last night was the Superbowl! My husband enjoyed it. I was bored by minute 2 of the first quarter, so I looked to Facebook to entertain me, but instead it yelled at me and blocked me from using friend chat. It said I was being abusive of the feature and if I continued to try to use it while being blocked, my account would be suspended and deleted. Nice. Thank you Facebook. I'm no longer such a big fan of yours!

What's a girl to do without Facebook to entertain her? Go shopping? Yes! That's exactly what I did! I thought I would bring you along as I browsed some of my favorite websites. Here we go...

Up first, my friend Ann...

I totally and completely luuuuuve this outfit!


And this one... Oh my! I just plum don't know where to begin. The shirt... The ah-mazing jeans... The shoes and bag! Be still my beating heart!

On to my FAY-VOR-RITE place to shop ever! Banana Republic...


I love these, minus the pleats. Seriously. Pleats no friend of this baby tummy. But they are still so cute and with the extra 30% off all sale items...they're totally cheap!

So moving on to accessories from Sam Moon...


How adorable is this luggage set. Come on, now! Fly me to the moon, Baby!


I think I like these, but I'm not sure just yet... I'd have to see them in an ensemble.

There, these are much better!


When I was 7 my favorite color was canary yellow...After seeing this handbag, I'm thinking this summer may be the summer of canary yellow! I big puffy heart this bag! It just makes me smile!

Ok, enough accessories... Let's go back to more clothes and let's go to my favorite dream shop, Boden. Someday I might be able to afford something, but for now I will just thoroughly enjoy browsing!

These crisp little cookies would remind me of Sandy Gabrielli!




Well hello little sweet pea! You would look great on my hiney!

I can honestly say that I'd like one of each of these and in every color. Size 8 please. Thank you.

I so totally love this dress! Why, oh why does it have to be $138? I've only got two dolla and a piece of pocket lint!

Some would say they can't live without air...

A couple of random things before we get to my post...

1.  My son refuses to crawl. 

2. He refuses to sleep through the night.

3. I'm glad football season is over.

Ok, now that I've got that off my chest we can get on to the good stuff...

I use certain things on a daily basis that I don't think I could ever live without.  Well, I probably could, but I don't ever want to try!  I got to thinking, though, that no one should have to live without these things either.  But, then I thought, what if you don't know what you're missing....

Soooo... I am going to share a few of the things I don't want to live another day without.  Let's start with the first and most important, mm kay?

Here we go... Are you ready for it???...

Earth Mama, Angel Baby Mint Herbal Lip Balm

I will not, I repeat, I WILL NOT live my life without this lip balm.  I bought myself some as an indulgence while still preggers with the boy.  I fell in love at first swipe and will never go without it for as long as live.  

It may be more dinero than your average Lip Smackers, but oh my heavens!!! It is worth ev-er-y penny!  I promise.  

I buy mine in bulk.  No joke.  I have one in every jacket pocket. One on my dresser, on the table next to the door, in the bathroom, in my desk door, in the drawer of my kitchen island, purse, car etc., etc.  You get the picture.  I don't like to be without it.  

I've given it away in countless gifts.  It doesn't matter what the occasion.  This lip balm is perfect for any gift!!!  

All this talk of lip balm has made my lips chapped.  

I'm going to go slather them in goodness.  

And I'm going to order another case.  

Would you like a stick?

Why snowboots are a waste of my money.

We have finally come into winter here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Nothing crazy like when I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin. Check out those piles of snow...

That's me there about the "ss."  I heart my big winter denim coat.  

(That boy in the front on the left... See him there?... He tried to kiss me about a month after this picture was taken.  I didn't let him kiss me until a couple years later at my junior formal.    I haven't heard anything about him in years.  Do you suppose he's on Facebook?)

We got snow (and mass amounts of ice) this past week.  Schools were cancelled and children went sledding (on 2 inches of snow!  Those poor deprived children!).  They built itty-bitty snowmen and forts perfect for a toddler.  I've been looking at all the snowy pictures of my friends on FB and Google Reader.  

Unfortunately I have no pictures of my children playing out in the bits of snow from this week.  We've been quarantined inside with all sorts of RSV-related illnesses.  So I thought I'd post my pictures of the last snow we got...the first one of the winter, which fell a few weeks ago.

The girl wasn't too sure about eating the snow, but I convinced her it was a part of winter.  Just stay away from the yellow stuff.  That's bad, man!

For this mid-Atlantic girl, running laps in the snow is as good as it gets.  

Poor thing doesn't remember the 2 feet of snow we got on Christmas day the one and only winter she spent in WI.

A shot of me and my boy...

What keeps me on my toes... (Would you just look at the love in that boys eyes!!! The feeling is totally mutual Little Man!)

And more snow eating...Trust me! Once you start, you won't be able to stop!

:::

Hopefully in a couple weeks when we go to Wisconsin the tempuratures will be bearable enough to take the kids sledding.  Obviously they've never been.  We'll have to get her a pair of boots and some snow pants.  She's never had snow pants.  The first year we lived her we bought her a pair of snow boots.  She wore them once.  
We haven't wasted the money on any since.  

(Maybe someone in Wausau has a pair of snowpants and boots she could borrow...hint...hint...)

Hi. My name is Melis and I'm an addict.

Do you remember a time when you didn't have an email address?

Do you remember a time when you had to tear your document apart after printing it?

(You know what I'm talking about! When your school papers had perforated edges and that was ok?)

Do you remember a time when you didn't have a cell phone?  Ack!  Sacrilege!

What I'm getting at here is there was a time when all of this technology was not a part of our daily lives.  We've been a land-line-free household for going on 8 years now.  People thought we were CAH-RAZY.  Ok, I'll admit it.  I was all...what are our kids' teachers going to do when they need to call us????  What will our home phone number be when we fill out paperwork???

Yeah, we've adjusted just fine.  Who knew the paperwork would adjust itself?

There are days when I leave the house without my phone and go back -- no matter where I am --  just to get it, because heaven forbid I should go to the grocery without a phone!!!

Then there are days when I purposely leave it at home.  I choose to unplug, so to speak.  

(On a side note: There is absolutely NO POSSIBLE WAY The Music Man can go AN. EE. WHERE. without his iPhone.  It's no longer a gadget.  It's an extension of his hands.  I'm not joking here people.  The man CANNOT unplug to save his life!)

Ok, so all this blather to say that I think Facebook and Twitter have become so a part of my days that I wonder if I can go an entire day without them.  

Hmmm...

(Ha!  I just had the thought that I should twitter my fast hour by hour for all the peeps, but wouldn't that be breaking the fast?  See, what I'm talking about, People!?!  Technology is an ADDICTION!!!)

I 'm going to try it.  We'll see how I do.  I'll keep you posted -- but not through Twitter or FB.  I love you Peeps--but I'm unpluggin'!

Peace out.

Why I skipped church today...

....My poor baby boy!

I love to eavesdrop on my children.

Last night I took the children upstairs for bed.  I sat the boy in the middle of the girl's bed and told her to keep an eye on him while I took my eyes out.  (I know that sounds creepy, but that's just what comes out when I try to say I'm going to take my contacts out.)

Back to the story...The girl loves to "read" to her brother so she got Noah's Ark and read him the story.  As I listened to them, I couldn't help but get choked up.  He just sat totally silent as she gave him her rendition of Noah's Ark, complete with Mrs. Noah making a cake for Noah.

:::

Chicks Dig Me

This post was going to be so much better than it is, but I let my son have a sip of my tea and now that's all he wants.  It's all I can do to keep him in my arms.  He's tired too, so every time his cheek brushes my boobs, he's all tearing at my sweater.  Must go.  Boy needs boobs.

Photo Booth Fun

I just discovered photo booth and am in luuuuuuuve!!!

Check out more of my fun here...

My One and Only...

...New Year's resolution, that is...

IS...

this...

If you wanna join me, go ahead and sign up.  Let me know and we'll be memorizing buddies.

This is my verse...

(And I'm doing this from memory. Thank you very much.)

Psalm 5:11

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

Let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.