Wishcasting Wednesday: Movtivate

Today is Wishcasting Wednesday!!!  And since I'm trying to keep up with my blog, I want to answer today's question:  What do you wish to have?


There are so many ways to answer this question.  In fact, as I'm typing I have no clue what I do wish to have...  I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, and a job that allows me to be a mother to her....

I"VE GOT IT!!!

Motivation, I wish to have motivation.  You know those people that can get out of bed during the summer break and go non-stop until they go to bed and by the end of the day they've built and entire castle, decorated said castle, and had their first ball in the ballroom of said castle all before noon so they can take a leisurely swim in the moat in the afternoon all to get antsy and go run a marathon?

Yeah, I'm married to one of those people and I often wish to have that kind of self-motivation.  I guess I should stop using excuses and get my butt out of bed sooner so that I have more hours in the day to use...  That and get unaddicted to the internet again....  Neither of which sound too terribly appealing.  But, self-motivation, I can work on that.  Maybe the motivation is there, but the discipline I am lacking....  Who knows.

Hey, I'm blogging again, that's a step in the getting my soul back and getting motivated direction....  We will see.

8 Small Things

Today I decided to play along with my friend from The End of my Rope who plays along with Magpie Girl.  Today's project: list 8 small things you are grateful for, and seeing as I need to get out of this black mood that seems to match the dreary weather outside, here I am.

And here are 8 small things I am thankful for:

1.  Being sandwiched between the two loves of my life. (The husband and the kid.) Nothing can make you feel more loved than that!

2.  This amazingly delicious steaming cup of freshly ground coffee.

3. Being able to take a jog last night.  The first of many since Evalyn was born!

4. Baby cuddles.  They never get old for me.  Hopefully they won't ever get old for her, either!

5.  Being Catholic.

6.  Scrabble with the husband.  (Mostly because I'm winning this time. ;)  )

7.  Living among a community, and actually knowing people.  It's a nice change from the nomadic life I held before.

8.  Thoughts.  Being able to think for myself.

What are you thankful for?

Signs of a Blessed Pregnant Woman

Many days I sit back and thank God for the many blessings in life.  This past week has been one filled with God's blessings through many different people.  I must admit that lately I have been tired and overwhelmed from different things in life, and of course God provides us with more grace and understanding than we can handle.  It's a good thing.

Let me start with a co-worker of Wade's.  She called and said, 'I know what it's like this stage in the pregnancy, I want to come clean your house.'  Um, I would have been an idiot not to take her up on this offer.  It made me cry a little, seeing as I hadn't had the energy or willpower to even do the dishes in like 2 weeks.  So, we got kicked out of our house and went on a date and got home and the house was spit-shined and amazing!  I've never been able to get my floors this clean.  Seriously.  Blessing #1.

Number Dos:  Friends.  They are like gold.  I have had some great times with some around here lately.  From our super short Super Bowl party (a sign that we are getting all growned up.)  To the days I get to spend with my new, dear friend Megan.  I'm telling you, it takes a true friend to go with you to a breastfeeding workshop when she's not even preggers.  Of course, we went to the bead store, Chick-fil-A and looked for Valentine's stuff for the hubbies.  It was a relaxing night out.  (Although the workshop was simply a joke of a DVD.)  Definitely a needed evening of pure joy and fun.

And probably my favorite pregnant blessing of the week (besides the fact that I have life growing within me, that's a constant one, though) is this:  the other night I had been so tired, I think I slept on average about 13 hours this past weekend, anyway, I mentioned how great a bubble bath would be.  The next thing I knew, my wonderful husband had scrubbed the tub down (although I think it had been scrubbed previously by afore mentioned house cleaning) and then he drew me a nice warm bubble bath, complete with my current read, a hot cup of peppermint tea, and candlelight.  It was so relaxing, I think I spent at least an hour and a half in the tub while Husband and Dog were playing on the ukulele.  In fact, I think I may repeat that about right now....

May every pregnant woman have as many great people in her life as I do!

Spreading Love Blog by Blog

Three days ago I was given a blogger award. Seeing as I am new to the blogging world, I am quite flattered and the pressure is building on me to keep writing. Which is a very good thing. My best friend from high school has given me this award because we are both on the same journey to unleash our inner childhood dream of writing. Of course, she is scores ahead of me, but maybe some day I will catch up to her. Alisha and I have been through many life-altering events together. Things like senior prom and the high school basketball team all the way to college and marriages and now she is one of my biggest advisors through pregnancy. Thanks, soul twin, for this award and for the encouragement to follow this crazy dream.

So now that this wonderful award has been bestowed on me, I must pass it on to five other bloggers and tell you 6 things you may not know about me. Bare with me because neither one of those will be an easy task for me to fulfill. But that is why it has taken me so many days to finish this assignment. ;)

1. I have a deaf dog. My husband and I love to take advantage of this fact. Hide and seek is fun with the dog, so is walking in the house and getting so many things done without her knowing we're home. And, we love to scare her. It may sound mean, but she just wags her butt at us every time we get her.

2. I am a Catholic youth minister and I love it. Most days. It can get difficult, but that's when I know I'm in the right job.

3. I am madly in love with my husband and I have been since the day I met him. It took us almost four years to get married due to the journeys we decided to take in life, but the wait was well worth it.

4. My whole life I've wanted to be married and have babies. And now that I'm about to have a baby, I'm scared to death. Which is a pretty common emotion to have, I hear, but still it's crazy to think that my whole identity is soon to change once again.

5. I'm such a nerd that a good day off of work to me means that I can finish a whole book from beginning to end without ever having to put it down.

6. I am newly obsessed with taking pictures. Maybe along with writing random stuff from time to time, photography can become a pseudo hobby and one day I can change the world through it.

As for other bloggers, I will get back to you at a later date. No worries, it won't be a way later date, next week. Mostly because I'm going to have to do some research to find some great blogs!!!!

Popcorn and M&M's

Somethings in life can make you happy no matter what kind of day you're having. Whether you are exhausted from work or a bird pooped on your head or your car died, there are a list of things that make it all better:

Coming home to the love of your life

Cuddling with the love of your life

A greeting from your dog who can somehow bend herself in half at your site

Downing two bags of popcorn coupled with M&Ms

Watching a girl movie you've seen over and over and over

Feeling the kick of life within you

Coloring in a giant coloring book with Crayola crayons

The smell of fresh rain

An entire pot of macaroni smothered in large amounts of Velveeta

Sleeping in

A really good book

A really good bar of chocolate

Holidays with families

Beating your spouse at numerous card/board games

A big cup of hot chocolate with gigantic puffy marshmallows

A phone call from a friend you haven't talked to in ages

A piece of mail that isn't junk or bills

Dancing

A blue jay outside your window

A really long afternoon nap

Baking a cake

Eating said cake

Fresh brownies out of the oven with butter melted on top and milk in a frozen mug

Pretending there aren't calories in any of the afore mentioned food items

Laughing at something stupid until your sides hurt

A stroll through the library

And most importantly, love... love of all things... love of life... love of others

These are a few of my favorite things.

What are some of yours?

Soul Expression

Upon reflection of life, I've realized that I have no solid way of expressing my soul. I have a soul, it grows and changes, and slowly is becoming what it's meant to be. But, how does a person express it to the world? Whether anyone else actually seizes the opportunity to see what your soul is all about, there is solace in expressing it.

My wonderful husband is a brilliant musician and quite often comes home with a new song he has written, usually

better than his last. I love it. It's a glimpse inside of him I wouldn't otherwise have. Most of the time his songs are inspired by his latest spiritual reflections and revelations

. And through his music, he is encouraging others to grow spiritually and become who they are supposed to be. In his music, he takes the rest of us to a different, almost better world.

In his music, he allows us to see the beauty in life. Something that can be a very difficult thing to see at times.

And then, there's this woman in my life, one that I have always cherished my time with. My grandmother. My Grannie is one of

the most amazing artists I've ever met. She can paint the most

wonderful, vivid watercolors. My favorite painting that she's

done is my great grandmother at one of my

birthday tea parties. Every year for my birthday, we would have a tea party, and every year my great grandma would show up in her big white hat and ginormous wooden beaded necklace. This painting Grannie did, well, she put on canvas my great grandma's soul. Her very essence. It's a profile shot and she's in her tea outfit. Laughing. Pure joy is actually radiating from the painting. There will be fights over that painting for sure. Within her paintings, my grannie shows the love she

has for family, the faith she has in God, and the beauty of her soul.

Don't let me forget to tell you about another special woman.

One that has just recently showed up in my life. One that shines without even trying. One that after one phone call, I wanted to be her best friend (and yes, I'm aware that everyone who talks to her for

5 seconds feels the same way.) My wedding photographer, Chriselda. She can capture in a lens the beauty of another

person's soul, the love between two souls, the innocence of a

child, and whatever else she's trying to capture. And in that, the woman expresses herself in ways that I wish I could. She loves each and every person she has ever had a camera in front of. She has a captivating personality, that even though I've met her only twice in person, I feel like she's one of my closest friends. Because, in her photo blogs (www.chriseldaphotography.com), her soul radiates and becomes a magnet for anyone who even takes a glimpse at the page.

There are so many more people in my life that are able to express their inner-most being without necessarily even realizing it. I've tried music. Let's just say, I'm praying our children get Wade's talent in that aspect. I've tried being artistic, and in some ways I can be, but I definitely cannot take a blank canvas and create magic.

Thus, my quest begins.

I've decided that I should at leasts begin writing something somewhere other than my journal. Somewhere where it takes a bit of a risk to put my thoughts down. Somewhere that my childhood dream of being a writer can slowly start to shape itself, even if it is only on a small website and the chances of people reading are slim to none. Even if it means people think I'm more crazy than they originally thought (if that's even possible). Even if what you and I find out about me is scary or weird or not worth finding out about at all.

It's worth it to try a new adventure. To see if this may be the avenue in which my soul will release itself. To maybe allow people to see what I've been to much of a wuss to show....