...So proud of and thankful for the heroes in Massachusetts tonight.
May all the victims rest in peace and their families remain in our hearts and prayers.
Now please, be kind to one another...
Friday, April 19, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
.Boston.
Today, my heart goes out to Boston.
I don't consider myself a runner. I work out. I walk on my treadmill daily and run when I'm feeling motivated.
People who run the Boston Marathon are more than motivated. They train... for a long time... and they train hard. They train their body... and their mind. They run for many reasons. They dedicate their run to people they love, to people who are fighting illnesses, and to people they don't even know. They run to complete a life goal... to check a huge accomplishment off their bucket list. They don't complain... they run.
They run in celebration, they run in dedication, but they don't expect to run from an explosion. An explosion that today, changed many lives.
And who does this person/these people responsible think they are, intruding and destroying so many dreams, so many bodies, so many lives? And why? Will we ever know the answer? More importantly, will we ever be able to comprehend it?
No. The answer is no. We will never understand why people destroy others. Religion, politics, race... it's all the same these days. Just another reason for someone to hate someone else. Hate. Pure hate. Why must we be so ignorant that we can't understand that people will never agree on certain aspects of life? There has to come a point where we must stop trying to make others think/feel/see/believe what we do. It will never work. I have been a believer (dreamer, I guess) of Peace my entire life... but as life goes on and the world continues to go down the path it currently is... it's getting harder and harder to believe.
Growing up, we are taught not to run from our fears. We are told to face them head on and not let them control our lives. I fear we've hit a point in our society where that's becoming less and less possible. People say, "Don't let it change the way you live, that's what they want"... but let's be honest, that's just not possible anymore. We live in a world so filled with hatred and recklessness that these senseless events are occurring more often and will continue to. I don't know what will stop them anymore. The United States is being murdered by terrorists just as often as it is being murdered by our own citizens. And for many different reasons. How the hell do you make it stop?!
Becoming a Mom changed my outlook on fear. I no longer feared things for myself, but for my children. All of a sudden, everything seemed so much scarier than it ever had before. As a parent, it is my job to protect my children. How am I suppose to do that when I can't even protect myself? Protection is no longer in our hands. Our safety now lies in the hands of the strangers who surround us. People are being killed at work, killed on airplanes, killed at school, killed at the movies, killed at church, killed at the mall, and now, killed while attending a marathon. It makes me sick to my stomach. How am I suppose to feel safe taking my children anywhere? Everywhere I go, I am skeptical of those around me. What are their motives? Face it, we are living in a society we can not trust.
My only hope to begin fixing such a major problem is that people will start pulling together and learning to trust one another. In today's world, it is NOT going to be easy. We need to learn from the heroes... the Police Officers, the Firefighters, the Military, the Doctors, the Nurses, and the every day people who are running IN to the chaos. We need more people running in, if not to have one another's back in assisting those who are wounded and in need, then to at least hold one another's hand in prayer. I'm not sure what God is thinking when events like this happen... but I like to think He is present in the hearts of the helpers.
When my children ask me what is happening when they witness these heartbreaks on the news, I try to let them feel the sadness of the moment, but also allow them to learn from it. We want so badly to shield our kids from the evils of the world, but it is sadly the society they are growing up in. They have been robbed of the innocence of growing up in a world where you could trust your neighbor. We need to explain these situations so they are aware. The last thing we want is for our kids to be ill-prepared to face what is out there. We must teach them that it's OK to feel the sorrow in such situations, but that it's also important to act in them. We must act not just for ourselves, but for each other.
My thoughts and prayers are with Boston today... for those who were robbed of their life, their health, their family, and their dreams. Please, be a person who lives their life through love... not hate.
I don't consider myself a runner. I work out. I walk on my treadmill daily and run when I'm feeling motivated.
People who run the Boston Marathon are more than motivated. They train... for a long time... and they train hard. They train their body... and their mind. They run for many reasons. They dedicate their run to people they love, to people who are fighting illnesses, and to people they don't even know. They run to complete a life goal... to check a huge accomplishment off their bucket list. They don't complain... they run.
They run in celebration, they run in dedication, but they don't expect to run from an explosion. An explosion that today, changed many lives.
And who does this person/these people responsible think they are, intruding and destroying so many dreams, so many bodies, so many lives? And why? Will we ever know the answer? More importantly, will we ever be able to comprehend it?
No. The answer is no. We will never understand why people destroy others. Religion, politics, race... it's all the same these days. Just another reason for someone to hate someone else. Hate. Pure hate. Why must we be so ignorant that we can't understand that people will never agree on certain aspects of life? There has to come a point where we must stop trying to make others think/feel/see/believe what we do. It will never work. I have been a believer (dreamer, I guess) of Peace my entire life... but as life goes on and the world continues to go down the path it currently is... it's getting harder and harder to believe.
Growing up, we are taught not to run from our fears. We are told to face them head on and not let them control our lives. I fear we've hit a point in our society where that's becoming less and less possible. People say, "Don't let it change the way you live, that's what they want"... but let's be honest, that's just not possible anymore. We live in a world so filled with hatred and recklessness that these senseless events are occurring more often and will continue to. I don't know what will stop them anymore. The United States is being murdered by terrorists just as often as it is being murdered by our own citizens. And for many different reasons. How the hell do you make it stop?!
Becoming a Mom changed my outlook on fear. I no longer feared things for myself, but for my children. All of a sudden, everything seemed so much scarier than it ever had before. As a parent, it is my job to protect my children. How am I suppose to do that when I can't even protect myself? Protection is no longer in our hands. Our safety now lies in the hands of the strangers who surround us. People are being killed at work, killed on airplanes, killed at school, killed at the movies, killed at church, killed at the mall, and now, killed while attending a marathon. It makes me sick to my stomach. How am I suppose to feel safe taking my children anywhere? Everywhere I go, I am skeptical of those around me. What are their motives? Face it, we are living in a society we can not trust.
My only hope to begin fixing such a major problem is that people will start pulling together and learning to trust one another. In today's world, it is NOT going to be easy. We need to learn from the heroes... the Police Officers, the Firefighters, the Military, the Doctors, the Nurses, and the every day people who are running IN to the chaos. We need more people running in, if not to have one another's back in assisting those who are wounded and in need, then to at least hold one another's hand in prayer. I'm not sure what God is thinking when events like this happen... but I like to think He is present in the hearts of the helpers.
When my children ask me what is happening when they witness these heartbreaks on the news, I try to let them feel the sadness of the moment, but also allow them to learn from it. We want so badly to shield our kids from the evils of the world, but it is sadly the society they are growing up in. They have been robbed of the innocence of growing up in a world where you could trust your neighbor. We need to explain these situations so they are aware. The last thing we want is for our kids to be ill-prepared to face what is out there. We must teach them that it's OK to feel the sorrow in such situations, but that it's also important to act in them. We must act not just for ourselves, but for each other.
My thoughts and prayers are with Boston today... for those who were robbed of their life, their health, their family, and their dreams. Please, be a person who lives their life through love... not hate.
Monday, April 8, 2013
You Own Your Stories
"You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should've behaved better."
Brilliant.
Brilliant.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Truth
..."God says we need to love our enemies. It's hard to do. But it can start by telling the truth. No one had ever asked me what it felt like to be me. Once I told the truth about that, I felt free..." -The Help
Sunday, March 10, 2013
...Dream
Here's one of the projects I did today. It's one of my Great Grandma's old end tables... the before and after. I made it for the girls' bedroom. And, that's one of my Great Grandma's crochet doilies on top of it. I love how it turned out and love that there's a piece of my Great Grandma living on in my daughters' room!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Rise & Shine
The girls were SO excited to see the moon this morning. I then explained to them that it's WAY more exciting to see the sun in the morning... ;)
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Rise With The Sun
Another pretty sunrise today! I guess that's one good thing about your kids getting up super early every day... you always get to see the sunrise. :)
Baby Animal Teeth
This morning, Nenni ran to the bookshelf, grabbed the Muppet Babies book, and ran back to me and Buddy. Then she opened it to a specific page, pointed to Animal, and said, "Buddy, see?! You need to grow teeth like this!" ...He'll work on that... ;)
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The "R" Word
A couple weeks ago I started watching the show "Parenthood". I had never seen an episode of it, but I always heard people talking about how awesome it was. So, I figured I'd check it out.
I'm so glad I did.
Turns out, it's a great show, and I'm only halfway through Season 2. I actually watch it while I walk/run on my treadmill. The time flies by and I feel like I learn stuff about my own life through it.
Anyways, today one of the episodes I watched dealt with the "R" word. (retard/retarded) It leaves a bad taste in my mouth just from typing it.
I've always had a very strong opinion about this word. I find it to be worse than the "F" word, the "S" word, and equal with the "N" word... all the curse words that I was never allowed to say growing up. My entire life, I have never used this word. I don't find a reason to, and I get offended when I hear someone use it. It's almost always used in a negative and/or hurtful way. Throughout my childhood, any time someone used it towards someone else, basically to call them stupid, I would cringe. And to this day, when I hear someone call someone else that word, I immediately think less of them. I do. It makes people look completely disrespectful, unprofessional, and uneducated.
The word retard is defined as "a slowing down, to be delayed", so why do people so often use it to call people dumb? And to make fun of people? Slow does not mean dumb. It has become a negative word simply because people have used it in the wrong sense.
The "R" word is just another word for disabled or handicapped. Sadly, I understand how it has been turned into a meaning that is not its truth.
Someone who is disabled is not stupid. They are not dumb. And they definitely aren't retarded in the sense that the world now uses that word.
A mentally disabled person has a mental handicap. A physically disabled person has a physical handicap. But... don't we all?! We are all disabled in different ways, and on different levels. We are all good at things, and we are all bad at things... and we all face different challenges in life because of it. We are no different from one another in the sense that, not one of us is perfect. (I, for instance, have no sense of smell!)
I wanted to make a post about this because it has always been a very large part of my own life.
I have an uncle who is physically and mentally disabled. He was born very premature and wasn't supposed to live past birth. Well, he did, and he's now in his mid 40's, and he is amazing. He has lived with my grandparents his whole life, and they too are amazing. So when I hear people get called the "R" word simply because of the way they look, the way they talk, or the way they act, it cuts me deep. Being disabled is not a negative thing. Yes, it makes life harder in many ways, but it doesn't mean the person is bad or contagious (some people seriously think that). They are a human being. They are someone's family. In fact, my uncle is one of the most amazing people I have met in my entire life. He has taught me more about my life than most people I've met or schooling I've had. There are so many things I admire about him. His smile is contagious. He's hilarious. He's witty. He loves everything about music. He loves going for rides on his tractor. He loves to give high-fives. And he loves the Brewers more than anything in the world. He is nothing short of amazing... and his life alone is a complete miracle. A disabled person sees life through a different perspective... and in ways... I think the world truly needs that. It's actually quite refreshing to see the simplicity of their thoughts. I'll never forget one day when my siblings and I were at my grandparents house, a long, long time ago... we were eating cheese puffs at the kitchen table with my uncle. We were trying to teach him a math problem (he has the mentality of a toddler), and one of us asked him, "If you have 5 bananas and you eat 4 of them, what do you get?" As we were all thinking "1", he laughed and answered, "A stomach ache!" Brilliant, right?! We were all thinking in mathematical terms, and he gave the best answer I ever could have imagined. And he was right! To this day, I think of that moment, and I am reminded of the brilliance of his brain. He may be disabled, but all that means is his brain works in a different way than my own. And who's to say who is smarter?! We are both smart in different ways, and to be honest, I admire the way he thinks. That moment made me realize that though someone may be physically and mentally disabled, they are still a brilliant human being who can remind the world of the simplicity of life.
There is nothing wrong with a person who has a disability of any level. They were put here on this earth for a reason, and instead of criticizing one another, I hope someday this world will be able to look to one another for knowledge. We can learn from every person we meet. I hope people will stop associating the "R" word with such negative feelings and expressions. We all need to start embracing each others differences and stop being so negative and cruel towards those who are different from us. Stop being so judgmental and start being more accepting. And please, just stop using the "R" word to put others down. It's not OK.
My Uncle :)
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Friendship On Fire
Someone once said, "Love is friendship on fire."
That fire is what got me here in the first place. Don't get me wrong, this is the only fire I have ever heard of that ends with a positive result. And for me, I saw that positive result when I took my first pregnancy test.
I fell in love when I was 22 years old, with the man I hoped to marry someday. Love came into our relationship pretty quickly. I fell hard and fast. What can I say, the feeling of finding someone to love, who loves you back, doesn't always come about as easily as we dream that it will.
I accidentally got pregnant when I was 23 years old. Little did I know, my definition of love would be completely redefined the day I would give birth to my first child.
Growing up you always hear people talking about not knowing how much love we are capable of having in our lives until we become a parent. That phrase honestly always annoyed me. I'd think, whatever, I know what love is...
I was wrong. I knew what falling in love with a stranger meant. The love I didn't know yet, was so much more. Having a child changes you. Completely. The moment that child comes out of you, they are not a stranger, they are someone you are wholeheartedly in love with, someone you feel like you have known forever, someone you don't know how you lived life without, and someone you are completely responsible for raising, protecting, supporting, and loving. That child comes out, and it is automatically the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, and that you will ever see for the rest of your life. And in that moment of love, all you can think about is the fact that that tiny human came from you... from love. Love creates beauty. Love creates miracles. And love, it creates a home in your heart where that child will live forever.
I once heard a quote that said, "Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body."
I honestly could not phrase it better myself. My children, they are all a piece of me. A piece of my heart. A piece of my soul. They complete me. No matter what I go through in life, I know my babies will always be with me. When times are hard, all it takes is a single hug, kiss, or "Mommy, I love you" to remind me that life is good and I am ok. I feel so blessed to have the love of 3 children in my life. I love being surrounded by them... their humor, their honest voices, their natural beauty, and yes, even their snotty noses. I love everything about them. Everything.
So today, on Valentine's Day, I want to thank my husband, for giving me 3 beautiful children to love. I'm forever grateful for being blessed to know the true depth of love.
That fire is what got me here in the first place. Don't get me wrong, this is the only fire I have ever heard of that ends with a positive result. And for me, I saw that positive result when I took my first pregnancy test.
I fell in love when I was 22 years old, with the man I hoped to marry someday. Love came into our relationship pretty quickly. I fell hard and fast. What can I say, the feeling of finding someone to love, who loves you back, doesn't always come about as easily as we dream that it will.
I accidentally got pregnant when I was 23 years old. Little did I know, my definition of love would be completely redefined the day I would give birth to my first child.
Growing up you always hear people talking about not knowing how much love we are capable of having in our lives until we become a parent. That phrase honestly always annoyed me. I'd think, whatever, I know what love is...
I was wrong. I knew what falling in love with a stranger meant. The love I didn't know yet, was so much more. Having a child changes you. Completely. The moment that child comes out of you, they are not a stranger, they are someone you are wholeheartedly in love with, someone you feel like you have known forever, someone you don't know how you lived life without, and someone you are completely responsible for raising, protecting, supporting, and loving. That child comes out, and it is automatically the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, and that you will ever see for the rest of your life. And in that moment of love, all you can think about is the fact that that tiny human came from you... from love. Love creates beauty. Love creates miracles. And love, it creates a home in your heart where that child will live forever.
I once heard a quote that said, "Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body."
I honestly could not phrase it better myself. My children, they are all a piece of me. A piece of my heart. A piece of my soul. They complete me. No matter what I go through in life, I know my babies will always be with me. When times are hard, all it takes is a single hug, kiss, or "Mommy, I love you" to remind me that life is good and I am ok. I feel so blessed to have the love of 3 children in my life. I love being surrounded by them... their humor, their honest voices, their natural beauty, and yes, even their snotty noses. I love everything about them. Everything.
So today, on Valentine's Day, I want to thank my husband, for giving me 3 beautiful children to love. I'm forever grateful for being blessed to know the true depth of love.
My silly Valentines:
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