5 Blog Post Ideas…For When You’re Too Tired To Think

This week has just been busy.

Normally I thrive with being productive, and I typically give myself too much to do everyday.  Normally, I love having too much to do…aragorn speech

School, laundry (sort of), cleaning, sanitizing, dishes…by hand since the dishwasher is on the fritz…cooking, laundry (hey, it’s clean), planning, an anniversary, sewing club and laundry during hot California days…somehow, it has all caught up with me and I am toast.

I’m glad it’s Friday.

Continue reading “5 Blog Post Ideas…For When You’re Too Tired To Think”

Daily Prompt: Fictional Intruder

Daily Prompt
Fictional Intruder
Go down the rabbit hole with Alice; play quidditch with Harry Potter; float down the river with Huck Finn… If you could choose three fictional events or adventures to experience yourself, what would they be?

This is very easy for me…

 

1. “Tennant of Wildfell Hall,” by Anne Bronte

I would have the wild adventure of living in a cottage in the moors of England, painting and raising my kids for a living.  I just need the slightest excuse to live this one out.787bb7080c5e9985a3fb17072dfd44e2_640_480-634873802031073233

 

 

2. “The Secret Garden,” by Frances Burnett

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I want to find the door to the secret garden, build a tree house and straight up live in there for the rest of my life.  Happily.

 

3. “Mists of Avalon,” by Marion Zimmer Bradley

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I love the area of Avalon.  I like the seasons, the landscape and the routines of the ladies in Avalon.  There is order and structure, and a peaceful harmony in Avalon that I always enjoyed reading.  I love reading about the apple harvests, or the hiking along the hills, or rowing through the rivers.  That would definitely be top on my list.

 

 

I Am Squishy Quad-Skater, But I Am Now A Squishy Half-Marathon Quad-Skater

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Got to record the whole skate!  Woohoo!!

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Got my lovely pin I put on my backpack!  They ran out of shirts, so they are going to make another one and send it to me.  No rush, I did this for myself.


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Taking off!!

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I had the road to myself, since I was waayyy in the back, so I just went and took a selfie at mile 3 😉

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Beautiful, empty roads.  All to myself.  I love Napa…it is beautiful all year round.

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I may have been singing along to my Gershwin album around here…

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And in the end, I got to go home with my favorite people 🙂

Goals are good things to have.  If you don’t make insane goals for yourself, you’ll never accomplish insane things!  It’s okay to push yourself to do great things in life.

This Is The End.

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http://youtu.be/bA_ag0_BdPo

This is the end.

Hold your breath and count to ten.

Feel the earth move, and then…

Hear my heart burst, again…..

For this is the end.

The end of my days when I have not completed a half-marathon.

Honestly, this is an amazing moment for me for a number of ways.  On one hand, as I’ve said before and I’ll say until my dying breath: I am not an athletic person.  I am a squishy, witty person who likes to sit in the backyard and drink Heretic beer and chill.

But I am also a woman who thinks she can take over the world, and you need stamina for that.  So I have to make some goals for myself.

I also want to be an inspiration for my kids.  I want them to see their mom as someone who believes she can do anything…and does.

For Ben…I’m going to be skating in purple spandex. I think I have him covered.  What more do you need in life?

So, off for some light practice!

Hobby Lobby: The Blind, the Naïve and the Angry.

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I wasn’t planning on commenting on the Hobby Lobby case, because it’s so polarizing.  But I’ve read numerous articles reacting/reflecting on the situation, and I’m mostly surprised with the willingly blind people who are angry about it.

This is a harsh statement, but let me explain.


Continue reading “Hobby Lobby: The Blind, the Naïve and the Angry.”

Build A Little Free Library For Your Front Yard


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Spencer Collins built his “Little Free Library” — one of 15,000 “take a book, leave a book” structures that have popped up around the world — both as a Mother’s Day gift and as an attempt to engage with his Leawood, Kansas, community through one of his favorite pastimes. It’s a way to “get into reading, get to know your neighbors, and … make friends,” he told Fox 4 News.

Inspiration travels with the wind.

This is Spencer Collins, and this is the Little Free Library he built with his grandfather:

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Even though someone complained to the city of a “permanent fixture” on the Collins’ property, and ordered Spencer to remove the Little Free Library from his front yard, the city realized how ridiculous this ordinance was.  As of July 8th, it will be legal to have a Little Free Library on your property…thanks to Spencer!

I think this is fantastic.

Continue reading “Build A Little Free Library For Your Front Yard”

“Do Mommy Bloggers Matter? …”

First, let me just clarify: I have nothing against mothers… “

http://stuntandgimmicks.com/do-mommy-bloggers-matter/

 

This is such an interesting idea.  Do Mommy Bloggers matter?

I hadn’t considered Mommy Bloggers didn’t matter.  It definitely takes a perspective outside of onesself to see if one matters.  Or does it?

I was curious, just to be contrary, if Daddy Bloggers matter, and I was quite amused to see that not only do they matter, but they have their own website: Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 4.52.51 PM

http://dadmatters.focusonthefamily.com/

 

A few people who have commented on the worth of Mommy Bloggers are people like Jenna Hatfield who says, “Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 4.55.51 PMhttp://www.blogher.com/mommy-blogging-remains-radical-act

or

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http://www.theveryworstmissionary.com/2014/04/i-worry-for-mommy-bloggers.html

 

But these still don’t answer the question, “Do Mommy Bloggers Matter?”

That is a question that raises the uncertainty of the inherent worth of a Mommy Blogger.

Does what these women do matter?  

 

When we place the power to define our worth in someone else’s hands, we are often told that we only want to be wanted. This artificial script leaves us with an extremely narrow role: to be a pleaser.

Victoria Pynchon  (http://www.forbes.com/sites/shenegotiates/2011/10/12/what-is-a-woman-worth/)
I am very interested in solidifying my value, because the value of women is such a hot topic.  My grandmother’s value was so low, she could not legally vote; so, logically, my value is greater.  I live in a free country, I have a few college degrees and I have the freedom to drive, work and speak; these rights and freedoms are not allowed to women in other countries, so is it that my value is greater than theirs?

Although I don’t think so, I will say that the value of self that one believes in may be true for them, but it will not be true for everyone.  My value in Iran is very different than my value in California, even though I am the same person in either place.  So we have to conclude that my value is estimated by the people around me.

I’ll just predicate this idea by stating:  That Sucks.

My worth can be determined by the people around me?  Who gave them that ability?  Really?  What person can tell you what your worth is?

 

A very interesting interview with Christian author Carolyn Custis James explored her perspective of “God’s Purpose For Women”:

Women know they’re fighting battles. They fight battles with and for themselves; they fight battles for their children or neighbors or communities. We know we’re warriors. And it’s good that we’re warriors with the men, not against the men. That’s very powerful.

These women throughout Scripture—Ruth and Naomi, Deborah, Mary of Nazareth—they’re warriors. They’re standing up for the kingdom; they’re doing the hard things God calls them to do. That gives us a handle on who we are, and that can’t be taken away.”

When I see questions like, “Do Mommy Bloggers Matter,” I feel the battle of the value of being a woman.  I don’t like it, because I understand the worth within myself.  I know for an absolute fact that my husband values me above all the worth in the world.  My children value me as the greatest mother on earth, and my family understands my great value; as I understand theirs.

But I realize that  not everyone shares my view.  Not everyone understands the value of women.

And this is a battle it seems we will always be fighting.

 

My favorite chapter of the Bible is Proverbs 31.

I can identify with the woman in that chapter, not because of everything she accomplishes, which can be a little overwhelming to read, but because of the inner strength, and confident tenacity she has within her.

I am always fighting with how mankind values women, but I am steadfast in how God values women:

A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
 Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.”

The fight we feel within us when someone questions our value is flimsy.  I can simply turn the channel, close the browser or walk out of a room in order to dismiss the ridiculous claim that women somehow don’t matter…even if you have absurd follow-up statements like, “...I have nothing against mothers.

Value is something that I believe is more important than people realize.  As a person, we are always looking to see what our value is: Is it in our waistline? Our bank account? Do we find our value in how much we get accomplished every day, or by how much we are praised by other people?  
Our societal value as a woman has definitely changed through the last century.  On one hand, women gained the right to vote in 1920, so that was a huge step for us.  On the other hand, the feminist viewpoint determined that the value of a woman was still not equal to the value of a man, and thus began the struggle for women to be “just as good as men.”  
As opposed to having value within oneself.
Yet, in Proverbs 31, we see how God values women: 
 She is far more precious than jewels.
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But the thing is, even if someone didn’t see value in me, even if an entire nation saw me as a less valuable person…it really wouldn’t matter.

Because I was created byOne Greater than mankind, and One Mightier than nations, and I know my value to God.

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And I love you too 😉