Lighten up!

Just wanted to celebrate a 2.8 lb. loss this week. This makes a grand total of 16.8. Whoohoooo! If all goes as planned, I will be at my goal weight on August 19th. Wish me luck and self control!

Life is Good

Life is so good.

This is a conclusion I came to today while meditating over coffee at Barnes & Noble. Before the moms reading this blog freak out at my apparently large amount of free time...it was part of our class assignment (the best class in the world) to spend a few hours perusing books and drinking coffee. At first I said NO! That sounds terrible. I won't go. But someone convinced me.

Just kidding. I loved it from the start. I love books and I love writing. We were supposed to find something inspirational to us and enjoy it. At the end of the session, we were to explain to a friend why we chose what we chose. I gathered a large stack of interesting things...some religious, some parenting, a cookbook, etc. I sat down to read. I scanned a few, but no inspiration. So I took them back. On my way back I found the very best section of all. The most beautiful books I've ever seen (3 whole rows!). I was in heaven. I opened the pages and flipped through them all. They were all blank. Journals! So beautiful! I ran my hands over the soft leather covers and crinkly pages trimmed with gold, turquoise or red, some hard backed with magnets to close them tightly, some with ribbons or velcro, some small and some large, intricate designs and plain. I spent an hour there flipping through journals (as if I'd find something), but I did find something. I found the most wonderful red journal that spoke to me, "WRITE IN ME!" So I did the logical thing. I walked away from the lady at the desk staring at me strangely for apparently reading something that was blank for an hour and I sat down and I wrote in it. But as I wrote in it, I confessed to the journal that I had technically not purchased it yet, but I would soon.

As I wrote, I reflected on things. My friends, family, God, our home, my job, the weather, Target. I love it all. I am so very happy, and so very grateful that I can be happy. Thank you God for all that I have been given, that I may give to others as well. What a gift this life can be.

Girls!!!!

My mom, the girls and I all climbed into the car this weekend and roadtripped to Iowa City to visit family. We had a great time! Here is our picture log of the weekend:

This is us at Lianna's preschool, doing a Carefree commercial on the trampoline. Sophie is doing her impression of Bigfoot being caught on tape in the woods.

This next one is classic Olivia

This is a cheesy smile from Sopapilla

This is me and Sophie at HuHot, keepin it hot.

We took Grandma to HuHot too.

Then we shopped at Stuff and met up with the cousins!

This was before our walk to the movie store.

This is the Java House bear where we stopped for java before our trek home.

This is the puppy and kitty the girls made at Build a Bear. Their names are Easter Puppy and Easter Kitty Chocolate Bar.

We had a great weekend together being girls. The trip there was a blast playing DJ for my mom and singing as loud as we could. We had beautiful weather, fabulous food, shopping, good exercise, and a scary movie. What more could a girl want? A happy end to a gorgeous spring break....

Mel (14 lbs. lighter) :)

Thanks Mom & Darrell!

We got a fabulous gift tonight! Mom and Darrell gave us their bed!!!! We can use our old bed for a guest bed and now....drum roll.....we have a head board AND a foot board. Background: (This excitement stems from a couple who has never bought a piece of furniture in their whole lives except for last year when I got hives all over my feet and thought it was bed bugs and we purchased a new mattress and box spring. That's it though). So, needless to say, my excitement overwhelms me. This means people can actually stay with us comfortably....not that our couch (also courtesy of Darrell) isn't wonderful, because it is...but still. I'm pumped!!! Just when I took pictures of our new beds though, my camera battery went dead. So I decided that I'd document our new home improvements, bathroom and all in pictures tomorrow. We are so very grateful for this gift!!! We are also so very grateful for the best parents in the world (even without gifts)...they rock it out of the park. Love you guys! Thanks so much for the awesome gift!

Give me the gold

Olivia's homemade rock puzzle


New pup from Papa Keith and Grandma Carol



Part I: Spring Break

We are really enjoying our superior spring break this year! We have had fantastic spring weather, and we are loving the opportunity to venture back into nature here. We've been on trails and are riding bikes and walking to the park. We are digging in the dirt and writing with chalk, and planting grass seed (prematurely, I'm sure, but who cares?). Tomorrow I go back to work, but for today.....

We got the honor of hanging out with our cousin Hannah! The girls LOVED to help take care of her. They even threw away dirty diapers! True devotion. I was amazed at what a happy little munchkin Hannahbaby is. She barely fussed at all, and happily played and watched the big girls play too. On our walk to the park, Hannah fell asleep but woke up a while later at the park to snuggle. I held her for a minute and she was back in dreaming heaven. When she was throwing DVD's off the shelf as fast as she could, she kept glancing back at me, grinning, as if saying, "Are you going to do anything about this?" :) We just had a blast! And I got my baby fix. Thanks for sharing D & A!

Part II: Give me the GOLD!

The girls kept asking where I thought the leprechaun hid the pot of gold today. After relentless questioning, I decided I had to produce some gold. So we scampered off to Target and I picked up some gold/silver shining chocolate eggs and a swimsuit (unrelated but fun), and we were off. Olivia raced inside when we got home, and searched in all the logical places: her music box, under her pillow, under the couch cushions....all to no avail. I had the girls take a bath and get their jammies on, and after....to our complete surprise, we found the tray of gold. The girls could not be more pumped about this. Sophie told us how she knew that the leprechaun was here because she saw the Target bag move unexpectedly, and saw the leprechaun's hand!!! Lucky. The leprechaun left behind a message saying, "You found my pot of GOLD!!! Four leaf clover: Leprechaun."



In honor of this St. Patty's day, here is our favorite unbelieveable clip from youtube. Enjoy! Give me the gold! I want the gold!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8

PS. Sophie's prayer today in the car: "Dear God, am I right? I AM right! I knew it!!!!"

What a wonderful world

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Some like it hot

And some sweat when the heat is on.....

I stole this from my sister's facebook because just about any song lyric makes me laugh!

Here is my own song:

This day is GORGEOUS!!! It's 73 degrees out right now and the sun is shininggggg, and a light breeze blowsssss! My windows are OPEN and I seeded the lawn. I hope that it doesn't come back to bite me in the...yawn.....

The girls and I went for a walk with Grandma Jan (Sophie's newly sophisticated way to say "Bam") and we saw horses and squirrels and goats, and tiny balls of fluff hanging from trees Dr. Seuss style. Olivia and I just worked on the lawn. She raked and helped me scatter seed. Then she helped me sweep off the deck and now I am painting the bathroom (touch ups only). What a glorious day! Hope you are enjoying it too!

An honor

Hey Everyone! Hope everyone got a little glimpse of spring last week with our 74 degree stint. (Dad, you don't count). It was so inspiring though and my mood zipped right back up out of the dirt and I reentered the land of the living (not to be confused with existing).....It was a beautiful reminder, really.

I've noticed that in my life, there have been cycles of me feeling great, feeling like I'm doing what God wants me to do, feeling like I've got this stuff down. Then shortly thereafter, God reminds me gently...not so much. These past few weeks have been just that for me, a reminder. Suddenly, I feel convicted when I'm gossiping mindlessly, or I am more aware that my joke may have meant more than intended, or I'm hurt and guilty that I didn't do this or that. In previous sessions such as these, I've resisted change, blamed others for my shortcomings, or just plain got depressed. This time, I'm trying (key word) to listen and watch, open heart, ears, and eyes and just see what I see.

What I've seen: My complaints about my job are mainly unfounded. Although an undeniably difficult career, I think, I've been convicted lately that what I'm doing is a real, true privilege. I have the opportunity to make sad people smile, hurt people feel better, angry people calm. I get to reassure those who are afraid, feed those who are hungry for companionship, work on my own personal goals, and hone skills that I've always wanted to be a "pro" at carrying out.

I'm taking a class at Grandview University that I believe is the best class ever. Nurturing and Well-Being (of the nurse). I thought it was going to be a lame class about how to talk nicely to your patients, but it's actually the opposite. It's how to be nice to the nurse (me). We have discussed in a big group why we became nurses, where we are now, where we see ourselves, and why we are continuing on. It was nice to center on that again. It was nice to be reminded of my roots. It's mainly nice because our instructor is the most encouraging person ever. She takes whatever you say and encourages you to achieve that. She praises your insight into something. She marvels over the experience of the nurses in the room. She reminds us that nursing is one of the greatest opportunities in the world to help others, and that's how we should see it. She reminds me that it only takes one bright shining light to extinguish the darkness. Lesson learned: we need more positive lights shining.

This comes on the heels of a perfectly placed sermon (as always). Who's running this show anyway? :) It was about work. Doing God's work wherever you are, whatever you may be doing. There's a way to glorify God through that. Find that part of it, shine the light on it, share it with others. So here I am now, knowing that my complaining and gossiping MUST stop. I know my job is hard on me. I know it requires hard work and emotional pain at times. But it doesn't end there.

A real testimony was a video our professor showed in class about a hospital staff at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Dedicated to their mission in the first place, they found themselves united even deeper once the storm hit. This story told of when the power went out and how they manually bagged (ambu-bag/breather bag) for about 50 critical care patients in their units...in the dark....no medicine...no water.....no machines....very little hope of survival. They did this tirelessly for over two days. Squeezing the bag in, and letting it out...every vital breath. One doctor said, manually breathing for someone that could not do it on their own, instead of relying on a machine (ventilator), made the whole thing more human. After two days, they were told FEMA was coming to evacuate them, but two days came and passed and then the third. They realized then, they were forgotten. This is a story of how the staff banded together to organize their own evacuation efforts, how they kept all but two patients alive, how their lives were forever changed through their mission.

While I couldn't get my hands on the video, there is a link to the written story. Although not as powerful, definitely worth reading. I realized that the knowledge I have can help save someone, and that is something not to be taken lightly, and I have. The story makes me proud to be a nurse.

We all use our talents for the Lord in some way or another. We are stay at home moms, care givers, teachers, counselors, financial advisors, gardeners, church members, school board members. The sermon I listened to and the movie I watched, reminded me that we are to do what we do...whatever it is to glorify God.

To do what's right for humanity in a situation that'd be easy not to. Are you proud of yourselves yet?! There's no greater honor than this (whatever it might be).

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/TenWays/story?id=2119722&page=1

Old enough

My mom pointed something out to me this morning during our AM phone call. On Saturday night, we all gathered in our little house here in Polk City to have a meal together as a family. My mom and Darrell, Lianna and Shawn, Dan and Amy and Hannah, all in the living room after a taco salad. I suggested we play a game. Despite the groans, I knew it'd be fun and it was. The girls sat on the laps of their aunt and uncle, and played right along with us. Hannah cruised around the ottoman and gurgled and babbled happily. We had a great time. As Mom was recanting all of this on the phone, I realized, YES. The girls were not screaming, screeching, whining, fighting, crying, throwing things, or demanding every ounce of attention from the crowd. They sat, they played, they were big. Old enough to roll with the big dogs (as Olivia would say). And I'm proud of them. Because it's too many times that I focus on what I'd like to change about their behavior or that I count down the days until they outgrow this stage or that. But now, I'd like to saran wrap this time up, that it might not grow any more, that they might just stay the way they are, precious awesome little people. People that constantly make me laugh, temporarily frustrate me to no end, but mostly make me wonder how it is that parents can love their kids THIS much.