2013 July

Behind the Scenes: Sometimes We All Just Need a Nap

July 29, 2013 by Mel · 34 Comments

Look close.

Cute. Little. Girl. Alert.

She really is. Cute, that is. Adorable, kind, completely funny, silly…just a wonderful little princess of a girl.

She also stopped napping around the time she turned two.

Friends that means for about a year, she has taken about six naps TOTAL. (That includes the four she took last week when she had the flu…)

Needless to say?

This mama is tired.

I so love being mommy to Mae…she is truly my sunshine, and the mommy/daughter bond we are building is something I hope will grow for the rest of our lives.

Having a daughter is the most amazing, incredible, dream come true.

But sometimes?

Oh, how I looooooooooong….sometimes with even more o’s…For. A. Nap.

A nap from her so there can be one for me, too.

That may sound lazy, but Oh. How. I. Miss. Naptime.

After a particularly trying day last week, my husband pretty much mandated something. (In a kind way, though.)

An hour-long rest for our Maelie-girl every day.

Oh, I’m pretty sure the angels sang. In fact, I probably joined them. Loudly.

This picture was taken the first day of our new let’s-take-a-rest experiment.

I almost felt guilty as I rested the gate against her door and saw that cute, little, slightly curious, smile come to her lips.

What are you doing, Mommy?

Remember, Mae? You’re going to take a rest for an hour. You can play or read quietly or even sleep.

And so began the hour.

Things were good for the first 20 minutes or so…and then, Mommy? I’m hungry.

I caved and went downstairs to grab a little snack for her.

That seemed to satisfy her, and she continued playing with her dollhouse while I crept back to our bedroom across the hall, crash-landed on the bed, and virtually-cracked open a book on my Kindle. I made it about three pages before my eyelids started to close…

and I woke up an hour later.

Everything. Was. Quiet.

Gotta admit, I’ve never bolted out of bed faster.

Because when you’re the mama of a toddler, silence is not golden. It’s just plain suspicious.

But I didn’t need to bolt out of bed at all…because one little peek into her room gave me the answer I needed.

The one I had almost never dared to hope for.

There she lay, curled up under her purple blanket…Napping.

Yes, folks, nap #7 of the year.

It was lovely, and I flipped off her light and let it continue for yet another half an hour or so.

Bliss.

It hasn’t happened again, but hey.

I’ll take it.

And my nap was wonderful, too, since I know you’re wondering. 😉

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It’s Tuesday…the day I link up over at Crystal’s place for Behind the Scenes. I love this link up!

Social media and online relationships can make us feel like everyone else has it all together. We’re edited, proof-read, Pinterest-perfect versions of ourselves (or so some might think!) when – in reality? There is an unfinished pile of laundry around the corner. That cute toddler smiling for the camera just had a massive meltdown seconds ago. That yummy breakfast-for-dinner you just showed us on Instagram? It’s because the cat licked the chicken that was supposed to be for dinner.

“Behind the Scenes” is a fun link up where we show those photos – but tell the real story behind them. The sneak peek behind the scenes, a look past the edges of the photo to the real life behind it.

If you’ve got a few extra minutes in your day, I hope you’ll stop by and read what’s going on in the hearts and lives of my amazing blogging sisters…they’ve always got some sweet and silly stories to share about what goes on behind the camera. 😉

Filed Under: Behind the Scenes, being mommy, blessings, just life, Maelie, where I am

Five Minute Friday: Broken

July 25, 2013 by Mel · 38 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday.

Join me!

The rules: Write for five minutes. No editing, revising, overthinking, or backtracking. Just write.

Today’s topic: Broken

The word hurts.

It does.

Broken.

There are so many things in life that I have allowed to break me…from hurt feelings to parents splitting up to struggling for a baby to being forced to start over in a new place.

And I think sometimes it’s ok to break…to get to that point where there’s nothing left to lean on but my Father.

Because that’s what He does…He takes those who are broken, and when we let Him,

He fixes us.

Heals us.

Glues those broken pieces back together in the way that only He can.

I think back a few years ago…when we stared down so many unanswered questions…life just felt broken.

So broken.

And now I look back, and I just smile…because He knows what He’s doing.

I see that in the little girl who fills my days and the new place that has become our home; in the ways He has led our family and the things He does each day in our lives.

And I’ll take those pieces of life that have been put back together by my Healer any day.

Because they’re beautiful.

Thank you, Father, for taking the broken and making it so much more beautiful than I ever could have dreamed.

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And, could I ask a little favor, sweet friends?

If you haven’t had a chance yet to hop over to CausePub, would you take the time to read my story and vote? I submitted A Moment of Love, and am hoping like crazy that it will be accepted into their book project; the proceeds from this book will go to Blood:Water Mission in Africa.

You can go here to vote for it. Thanks so much!

Filed Under: blessings, encouragement, Five Minute Friday, just life, Maelie, remembering, where I am, writing

Couch Rebels: Buy the Book, Change Lives

July 24, 2013 by Mel · 1 Comment

So unless you’re a new reader to my blog, you know that I’m involved in a project right now.

At least, hoping to be part of the book project that will Change. A. Lot. Of. Lives.

Cause Pub is an organization that is putting a book together called Couch Rebels: Because Stories Like These Aren’t Told By Potatoes. It’s a book of short stories submitted by people all over the world who have dared to get off the couch and make a difference.

The book comes out August 14th.

I know, that’s practically tomorrow!

And I want to help spread the word, not only because it’s going to be an incredible book, but because this incredible book is also going to influence the lives of so many people. For each book sold, THREE people will be provided with clean water for an entire year through Blood:Water Mission in Africa.

Honestly, friends?

I can’t imagine a better way to spend $10. (Actually, $9.99.) 😉

In exchange for two trips to Starbucks, you can change the lives of three people for a whole year.

I hope you’ll think about this amazing opportunity to make a difference and be a Couch Rebel yourself!

You can go here to buy the book.*

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And a HUGE thank you to the many of you who have taken the time to read, encourage, and vote for my story, A Moment of Love.

I’ll find out on August 3rd if it will be published in the book. (That would be an awesome anniversary present! ;))

And you can go here to vote for my story.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support, friends…and for being part of this incredible, life-changing book!

*Affiliate link included in this post.

Filed Under: uncategorized

Behind the Scenes: Oh, the Places We Eat Breakfast…

July 23, 2013 by Mel · 29 Comments

Becky, Mel, & Missy

So when you look at this picture, I’m sure you think, Awww. Three friends.

Maybe even, awww, three best friends.

You’re getting closer. 😉

We are, in fact, three best friends who have just had breakfast in the driveway at 6:30 a.m.

But there’s a little more to the story. Because there always is and because I like to be a storyteller. (I think it might be my gift.)

Anyway. 😉

Missy and Becky are actually sisters. Like, blood sisters…but we’re all sisters because we just are.

We grew up together from the beginning…like, from the very. beginning.

I don’t remember a time in my life when these girls weren’t part of my life.

Since the two of them are sisters, they are obviously about as close as sisters can be, but they let me be included in that.

They don’t know that it means the world to me to be included in their family. Really.

The three of us got into all kinds of ~~trouble~~ adventures while growing up, and we have so many memories…from summers spent at the community pool to tree climbing to canoeing (one of us may or may not have fallen out of a canoe one day…) to camping out…

We just had the best time.

As happens with most friendships, we’ve gone different directions, but right now, the two of them live within an hour and a half of each other…so when I go back to Iowa, I get to see them both.

Often, at the same time which is pretty much my favorite thing ever…and when it happens, we always, always, take a picture.

On this last trip to Iowa, that didn’t look like it was going to happen, though. I’d stopped to see Becky on my way to my hometown, and Missy was coming back to Illinois with me for a few days, but we didn’t think it would work out to see each other at the same time.

Until someone *brilliant* in the group devised a plan. 😉

Knowing that Missy and I would be passing through Becky’s area around 6:30 a.m., I suggested we meet for breakfast at her house.

The problem?

Was that Becky’s kiddos would still be asleep…and let’s face it, at that hour, it’s always nice if the kids stay asleep. Plus, I didn’t know if Maelie would be awake or asleep or bouncing out of her carseat.

And so we decided to have breakfast together in Becky’s driveway.

Missy and I hit a drive-through on the way for McMuffins and hash browns, and Becky made the coffee and chocolate milk, and we pulled up to her house and parked the van to see…

…something that I wish I had taken a picture of…

Becky had set up the cutest little table and camp chairs in her driveway just for us.

For an hour, we sat there and chatted and ate and drank really good coffee (because Becky makes really good coffee :)) and then ended with the we-need-to-snap-a-photo-of-our-time-together picture.

I treasure these moments, these photos.

I’m so blessed to have these two beautiful women in my life…they are my heart-sisters, and I love them.

And I think this whole breakfast-in-the-driveway thing is kind of a cool tradition.

It’s one I’d like to keep.

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Thanks for stopping by for my take on life behind the iPhone camera lens. 😉 I love this link up on Tuesdays over at my friend, Crystal’s place!

I hope you’ll hop over for some sweet and crazy and fun and sometimes-sad stories of what actually goes on behind the pictures we share.

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And, could I ask a little favor, sweet friends?

You can go here to vote for it. Thanks so much!

Filed Under: adventures, Behind the Scenes, blessings, friends, just life, remembering, where I am, writing

A Wall to a Foundation: A Guest Post

July 22, 2013 by Mel · 2 Comments

I was never that girl…

…the one invited to sleepovers and parties, the one who had boys lining up for her, the one who was beautiful and had the latest, most perfectly-tight-rolled, Guess Jeans or Keds with the Real. Blue. Tag. on the back of them.

Gotta love the 90’s. 😉

Life in a public school was difficult and so was feeling like I had that group of friends who understood me and had my back.

I remember that day in freshman choir when I realized just how much I wasn’t accepted.

She stood behind me in our second soprano section of singers and kicked the back of knees.

Over and over.

For fun.

I’d always known she was mean, but this seemed like a new low, even for her…and when I turned around with tears in my eyes, she laughed.

The other girls joined her.

And the bricks?

Well, I started to build with them…

Please click here to read the rest of my post, A Wall to a Foundation.

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Today I’m so excited to be guest posting at my dear friend’s space.

Christine is one of my God-Sized Dream sisters, a powerful prayer warrior, and an inspiring dreamer. She writes at Living Joel 2:25, and I was so excited when she asked if I’d like to be part of her Rebuilding the Walls blog series! Please stop by and check out her space…I know you’ll leave inspired and encouraged.

Thanks for reading today, sweet friends!

Filed Under: barefoot, encouragement, family, friends, guest posts, remembering, where I am, writing

A Moment of Love: I Need Your Vote!

July 19, 2013 by Mel · 4 Comments

Hi, friends!

So a pretty cool opportunity came up about a week ago. One that I am already so in love with, I hope it’s something I’ll be able to participate in often in the future.

CausePub is an organization that is putting together a crowd-published book called Couch Rebels…meaning lots of people contributing stories for one publication.

If you have ever traveled abroad or placed yourself in an environment that is uncomfortable from what you are used to, you’re a Couch Rebel. It is within those times of choosing to be uncomfortable that we learn, grow, and experience the incredible things life has to offer… and then tell those stories for the rest of our lives. (causepub.com)

The sale of this book will benefit Blood:Water Mission in Africa, which I think is beyond awesome.

320 million Africans are without access to clean water. For every copy of Couch Rebels sold, the organization, Blood:Water Mission, will be able to provide three people with clean water for one year. The goal of this Cause is to sell 15,000 copies, which means that 45,000 lives can be directly impacted through your participation in this CausePub project! (causepub.com)

And I’m thrilled to have the chance to participate!

I’ve submitted the following story, but in order to be part of this publication, I need your help! Would you consider stopping by here to read and vote for it? Thanks so much!

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There are those moments in life that leave an imprint forever; this is one of them.

My husband and I spent five years living and working in Indonesia. Life there…well, it differed drastically from what we’d always known, and many of those differences were good.

They were differences we embraced.

But there was one…one that was so in-my-face and obvious; wherever we went, there were so many people in need.

In every facet of life, it seemed, there were people hurting…from those with housing needs to being hungry; and others unable to send their children to school or lacking the funds for desperately needed medical care.

And then there were people in the kind of need I’d never seen before…

To read more of this story and vote for it, please click here.

Filed Under: barefoot, culture shock, encouragement, Indonesia, remembering, where I am, writing

Behind the Scenes: Confessions of a Former Park Street Girl

July 16, 2013 by Mel · 43 Comments

Today’s photo comes courtesy of a girl who doesn’t necessarily love going back to her hometown.

The why of that is far too long and complicated to get into…it’s just difficult.

I go so Mae can see her grandparents…

…so I can see my family and a handful of friends who live there.

But it’s hard to be in a place that hurts…so much heartbreak and un-belonging. (I’m in the business of making up words these days. ;))

One of the ways I survive (and I say that carefully…it’s obviously not real survival ;)) is by running. I run here, but running there is different because that physical run often turns into a head-on sprint into my past.

Last Tuesday morning, I went for a run through the neighborhood I grew up in.

So much of it hadn’t changed and yet it felt foreign.

I had run from my mom’s house, past my elementary school, through my old neighborhood, down by the park and public pool, around the lake, and on my way back, I decided I needed to run back by the place I’d lived for the first fourteen years of my life.

I really wanted to take a full-on picture but didn’t want to look like a creeper. Instead, I settled for wrestling my iPhone out of my sweaty armband and snapping a photo of the street…but my house is the white one that you can kind of see through the trees. 😉

Running by it was bittersweet…out of my years spent in C-town, those spent in that house…on that street…are the ones that I’m (mostly) ok with revisiting. There were special moments in that neighborhood…bike rides with friends on sidewalks that are still there, getting knocked out with a baseball in the side yard one spring, sledding down our hill every winter, 4th of July fireworks-watching from our backyard.

I do smile when I think of those things, even the baseball knocking out part. 😉

But what I’m kind of glad you can’t see in this picture is the stop sign at the end of the (very long) block.

It’s the corner of Park and Kirby, and it’s an intersection I wish never existed. Ever.

Because when I was ten, that’s where my closest friend in the neighborhood died.

Car accident.

I’m brave enough to drive through it now, but I couldn’t for years. Years.

I ran through it, and while I tried to put out of my mind what had happened there 24 1/2 years ago, the tears still sprang to my eyes.

Some memories are embedded too deeply to ever be erased, I guess.

I’ve tried giving thanks over and over for my hometown, for the pain it holds, for the memories that are there, for the pieces of my heart that will always be tied to this town of 9,000.

I find it hard to say thank you for pain, but He does work through it. He gives and He reminds that He is always good, even when families shatter to bits and girls are mean and friends leave this world way too soon.

Just a few confessions from the small-town piece of my heart I left behind 21 years ago.

Thanks for taking a walk down Park Street and memory lane with me today.

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Happy Tuesday to you all! Today I’m linking up at my friend, Crystal’s place for some sweet and silly and sometimes-tear-jerking storytelling…the kind where we show you pictures and tell you what’s really going on behind the camera lens.

Thanks for taking the time to read my words…I hope you’ll hop over and read more about what’s happening in the lives of some of my favorite bloggy-sisters!

Filed Under: Behind the Scenes, just life, remembering, running, where I am

Embracing the Chaos: A Guest Post

July 12, 2013 by Mel · Leave a Comment

Hi, friends!

Today I’m super excited to be writing over at my sweet friend, Kristin’s place, The Riches of His Love.

I met Kristin through the God-Sized Dream team, and she was kind enough to let me share a piece of my heart in her space. I hope you’ll take some time to hop over here to read about the crazy and the chaos (and also the lessons) that came from driving a motorbike in Indonesia. 😉

And maybe from crashing into a few bushes, too…

You’re totally curious now, aren’t you?

😉

Filed Under: blessings, culture shock, encouragement, guest posts, Indonesia, just life, remembering, what I'm learning, where I am

Behind the Scenes: Sammy

July 9, 2013 by Mel · 43 Comments

Aaaahhhh, Sammy.

Meet one of my two “boys.”

And behind this picture…more stories than I can possibly begin to tell you.

I could tell you that the reason we have him is because he and I fell in love one night in a pet shop in Bandung, Indonesia and how I had to take him home in a taxi…and how the taxi driver charged me double for the simple reason that he didn’t like dogs and he could.

I could tell you about the utter heartbreak we experienced when he was stolen from us and missing for six days…and how we paid a ransom, literally, to get him back. (That story is in the book… ;))

But today, I’m just going to tell a bit of the silly and sweet of this crazy, lovable, completely loyal pooch named Sammy.

We tell people that he is our Indonesian dog, which is true. Andre is from America, Sammy is from Indonesia…

and I kind of think it’s cute that it ended up that way.

Sammy has been, from day one, all kinds of mischievous and loyal and ornery and loving, rolled up into one, big, lion-ish golden retriever with Really. Big. Paws.

No joke.

For years we’ve found it hilarious that he will lie in the direct sunlight when it’s HOT out, and take a nap.

That would be what he’s doing in this particular photo. 😉

Andre is usually lying nearby in the shade because he gets that lying in the sun is…well, it’s HOT.

Especially when you have golden retriever fur.

Not that I would know…I’m just imagining here.

He would do it on a daily basis when we lived in Indonesia. (Read: when the temperatures were pushing 95 or 100.)

We would watch him and think he was crazy as we still-sweated in our not-outside-in-the-sun living room. Yet a good part of his days were spent basking in the glorious (and did I mention HOT?!) tropical sunshine.

Maybe he was soaking up all he could because he knew eventually we’d stick him on a plane bound for the Midwest. And snow. Which he loves, by the way..

The truth with this dog is that he’s always been a little odd.

The first time we offered him ham, he wouldn’t eat it. What dog turns down meat?

His first interaction with Andre, as a twenty-or-less pound puppy, began with him trying to jump on top of our poor, confused, American dog. We still laugh about that.

He always has to have something in his mouth…usually in the form of a stuffed animal. (And he will steal one of Maelie’s if he can’t find one of his four or five.)

He still lives to greet us at the door in his usual, run-full-speed-and-almost-knock-us-over, manner…whether we’ve been gone for a week or two minutes.

The truth is, this crazy dog wormed his way into our hearts immediately…

And we love him like the crazy that he is.

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It’s Tuesday, and this link up at my friend, Crystal’s place is becoming one of my favorites. It’s pretty sweet (and sometimes tear-jerking, so bring tissues) to read the stories that come with the photos of life…especially the photos where there’s so much more going on than what we see.

Take some time and come on over to check out the silly and sweet of what goes on behind the camera lens…I promise you’ll leave smiling.

Filed Under: adventures, Behind the Scenes, blessings, dogs, family, Indonesia, just life, remembering

Five-Minute Friday: Beautiful

July 4, 2013 by Mel · 70 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday.

Join me!

The rules: Write for five minutes. No editing, revising, overthinking, or backtracking. Just write.

Today’s topic: Beautiful

It’s one of my favorite words that she says…beautiful.

Except she doesn’t say it that way.

Flowers are beaufitul.

Mommy is beaufitul. (according to her, anyway!) 😉

The car is beaufitul. (I adore her.)

It’s one of the few words we won’t correct because it’s just so darn cute.

Really, the word, beautiful or beaufitul or however you want to say it…

Is the word I would use to describe this journey.

The journey of mommyhood and being a wife and finding community and dream-chasing.

Oh, it hasn’t been easy…and the days haven’t been perfect.

But when I look back at the end of each day, there is always,

Always

Always a reason to smile.

Life is beautiful.

The blessings He gives are beautiful.

And I’m going to soak up each precious gift He chooses to give.

Especially when those gifts come in the form of a beautiful little girl who says the word in about the most adorable way possible.

Beaufitul.

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, family, Five Minute Friday, just life, Maelie, where I am

Behind the Scenes: Sometimes We All Just Need a Nap

Five Minute Friday: Broken

Couch Rebels: Buy the Book, Change Lives

Behind the Scenes: Oh, the Places We Eat Breakfast…

A Wall to a Foundation: A Guest Post

A Moment of Love: I Need Your Vote!

Behind the Scenes: Confessions of a Former Park Street Girl

Embracing the Chaos: A Guest Post

Behind the Scenes: Sammy

Five-Minute Friday: Beautiful

Mel

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