Why I love to dance......

When I was about 5 years old, my babysitter Vicky would come over and teach me how to do ballet. I remember those days of admiring how beautiful she looked, how graceful her movements were. They are some of my favorite childhood memories. I knew then it was going to be a life long love. In my wee little pink tutu I would swirl around, pretending to be a famous dancer. Making my stuffed animals, parents, friends, relatives neighbors be my audience. I am sure my parents got a kick out of my little productions, they ranged from ballet to dancing to MC Hammer, so you can guess they were pretty Legit:)

In middle school I really got into dance, taking about 4 or 5 classes. Filling my every night and weekend with dance, dance and more dance. I spent a lot of my childhood in a dance studio. even dyeing my hair in between classes. It totally freaked out my teacher! And then when I was in the 7th grade I got my big break, we would be dancing for Sesame Street. It was the coolest for a kid. Up on stage with Big Bird, Oscar...I mean seriously I about peed my pants. So for years I danced in any production I could do. From the Nutcracker to Annie, to freestyle to point. I loved it, soaked it all in and tried to learn as much as I could.

But it all changed for me in high school when I began to dance to worship. Nothing gave me greater joy then to dance for Jesus. Take any emotion I had and turn it into dance. Finding my one way to express my gratefulness, my love for the One who loved me so much.  Dance turned into not just something I loved to do but was part who I was and am.

Then my Junior year of school all that changed. On my way to my youth leaders home I got into a terrible car wreck. Totaled my car and the crash left me with a ton of scar tissue and back pain. It was pretty devastating for me. I had to leave my dance studio, and leave the life I knew so well behind as well. It took many years for me to realize that even though I couldn't be a "real" dancer I could still dance. Cause that is what I am, its programmed into my heart.  It can be rather painful to dance sometimes, but back is still out of whack. But nothing brings me greater joy. So starting about 10 days ago I decided to to dance for 100 days. To get people to get moving, to have some fun, and maybe through it decide to get back to something they let go of. Yes, I may not be as graceful as I used to be, or have the dancer body but my feet can still move and my heart still feels the music. 

A mommy on a mission......

About 5 months ago I started on a journey to finally take control of my body and get off the unwanted pounds I had put on in the 3 1/2 years I was having babies. With my first pregnancy I put on 65 pounds. So I went from 125 to 190 in six months....no body should be able to stretch that far but it did. And after a c-section and long labor my body was pretty tore up. I remember crying cause I didn't have any idea how to really function in my new body. I was pretty lost in a lot of ways and would never made it through without the love of my family and my God. Then after two more babies, both within the next two years...I was not at the 200 mark but pretty dang close...and man I was wiped out. I recovered poorly after my last baby and it took me a year to not to be in pain anymore. And then I decided this was it, I was going to take control and get my body and self back. As all women we struggle with weight on a daily basis, constantly bombarded by the media that to be beautiful you must also be thin. We are all beautiful, we are all different....and I refuse to give in to being anyway else but who God made me. With a lot of prayer and support by people who love me, I found a place were no matter what the scale said I just wanted to be healthy. I wanted to be a good example to my babies, I wanted to be me again. I never expect to be like I was when I first got pregnant but I do know now that I can be healthy in my everyday life. And make the decisions that will effect myself and my family. Since taking that first step I had the privelege to take others with me as I became a Fitness/Nutrition coach and so far am down 25 pounds and feeling pretty dang good. I feel like ME again.

Love what you do, be who you are....

I recently started reading Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, and man I got to tell it has gotten me fired up! It talks alot about leading with your passions in life, whether that be worms(his illustration:)) or feeding the hungry. We were all designed for something, something unique, something amazing!! I know in my own life I have found things that always stick out to me. The biggest is HELP. Helping others reach their goals, dream big, love deep, feel fufilled. I have also always had a passion for color/art and finding beauty in the mundane. I mean every since I was little I have been painting, redesigning and creating. I love change, love it!! I love seeing change in people's lives, and I love seeing change in our surroundings. So lately I have been praying alot about what this all means to me, how I can make sure that in my life I never give up these passions. But instead use them evey day, as my job, as my day to day. So watch out cause here I come, and I won't give up till I reach my goals. :)
We are all made for different things, I mean I would make a terrible Deputy like my hubby. I would probably be in the fetal position in most circumstances, just not my cup of tea!! And I am cool with that.
God is the ultimate creator, he made us unique for a reason.....we just need  to accept it and embrace it!!

All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was.  I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory.  I was naïve.  I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.  It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with:  that I am nobody but myself.  ~Ralph Ellison

New finds......

A new king size comforter!!

Flower holders for the wall.....love the color.

And the ultimate breakfast in bed tray.....

Got all these in the last few weeks, and think I spent like 15 bucks on all of it. And with a little elbow grease, they are all looking good and add a little more character to the house!!I love little treasures.

Stressed out Mommy....

I know you have all been there, a place we all hate to go but it just seems to happen out of nowhere. Your blood pressure rises, your head feels like it is going to explode. And then you look down to a child who once was always so cute and cuddly, into the face of a kooky, crabby three year old. Who ever said its the terrible twos got it all wrong, its the threes that will make you want to crawl in a hole sometimes, its the threes!! And that my friends is what is causing this momma to forget to take showers,  and drink way to much coffee. I just don't know where my sweet little Remi has gone sometimes. I mean most of the times he is my fun loving little tank of a boy. But once in awhile it is like he loses his brain and something else takes over. Like the other day we had some of our good friends over who also have three kiddos. As we were sitting around the pit talking, we noticed that Remi was no where to be found(and then we noticed Sky was missing too!) So we went into panic mode, I took apart the house and Jesse jumped in the car to look for him. And you want to know what that little stinker was doing......he was hunting bugs. With a magnifying glass stuck down his pants and his little sister in tow. Remi had managed to run all the way down the street and into a neighbors backyard. If I wasn't so stinking scared and mad at the last time I would of laughed. Cause to Remi he was just on another adventure and nothing was wrong. Oh, what to do with a three year old sometimes, what to do!! The highs are awesome, but the lows are the hardest to handle as a parent. Thank goodness I love that little face of his so much!!

Fire!!!

So the first thing my husband and I worked on when we moved into our home was to build a fire pit. We live on the edge of the country so we can have a fire as long as its contained. And we do try are best to keep it that way, though when a two grown men get together and try to burn an entire Christmas tree, things do get a bit out of hand!!But alas our home still stands despite my pyro of a hubby sometimes. We just love our pit, we built it all by ourselves, and nothing is better then smores and chillin with family/friends. Oh, the smores that are consumed is amazing, well just last night we made over 40 smores for us and our friends. That's like 20 crackers, 40 marshmallows and 120 pieces of chocolate, I know good math eh! I will be doing a lot of extra calorie burning today, but that's cool it was worth it.:)

Everytime we have a pit I send out a text to all of our friends and just wait to see who shows up. Always different and always fun. It is just so nice to get people together, sit and watch a fire burn. Everything from goat milk(yes one of our conversations last night) to the end of the world get thrown around the pit. I have had some of my favorite talks in the light of a fire, it just seems to calm everyone around it and brings out the best discussions. I think Jesse would have a fire pit every night if he had the chance. I have found him out there in the middle of winter, all bundled up smoking his pipe and reading beside the fire pit. That is his element, fire and books...does his body and mind good:)

Craft night with the ladies......

Here are pics of a project our summer ladies group is doing to help raise money at a garage sale to benefit http://www.findingchurch.net/.

So easy to make:

Supplies:
100% polyester fabric
scissors
Circle(three sizes,S,M,L)templates
thread
candle
buttons

Steps:
Cut out three different sizes of circles. A L, M and S size using a template you make out of either cardstock or poster board.

Burn edges with a candles, just enough so that the outer edges are solid and won't unravel.

Stitch a circle in the middle of each fabric circle and pull tight, in order to ruffle the circles a bit.

Place each size fabric circle on top of eachother, doubling up sizes in order to cause depth and more layers. Place button in the middle of top S fabric circle.

Stitch on either a headband or clip using button as center and stitching till all layers are secure.

And there you have it, so cute and super easy.
Can't stop making them!!!

Fun, Easy and Earth Friendly Coffee Cup Sleeve:)

Supplies:

• 1 sheet of 20x20 cm exterior fabric
• 1 sheet of 20x20 cm interior fabric
• 1 sheet of 20x20 cm fusible webbing
• Matching machine sewing thread
• 1 paper coffee sleeve

Instructions:

1. Cut the paper coffee sleeve or pull apart where it is attached.
2. Use this as your template to outline the pattern onto the exterior fabric, leaving a 1 cm seam allowance.
3. Repeat the same process with the interior fabric.
4. Repeat the same process with the fusible webbing but this time don't leave a seam allowance.
5. Iron the fusible webbing onto the exterior fabric. (Do not iron on the webbing side as this will melt and stick to your iron. Always iron on the fabric side.)
6. Fold the lower seam and without touching the webbing, iron inwards.
7. Repeat step 6 with the interior fabrics, do the same but without the webbing.
8. Place the interior fabric panel on top of the exterior panel and sew them together with neat seams at top and bottom. If you aren't happy with the look of the seam you can add bias tape at the top and bottom to neaten it up.

9. Sew a seam to form a circle out of the strip and place over a fresh disposable coffee cup. And you are ready to sip away!!:) Enjoy!!

Brothers.

My boys.

Brothers, Amigos, Friends, Enemies at times, Peas in a Pod.

My favorite night...

So every friday we have decided to start the tradition of movie night. The kiddos pick a movie or we get a new one, pop some corn and sit down and snuggle. And that my friends is the finest! I love the way the kids react to things they have never seen, or amazed by the movies Jesse and I watched as a kid. Or as Remi "you watched this when you were a baby?" For some people movies seem like a time to zone out for awhile, and sometimes it is. But on fridays we all gather and just chill as a family. Be a family and end our week as a family. I hope years from now the kids still come over from time to time to do movie night, still sit with a big bowl of popcorn and snuggle in a blanket. I hope we never lose these traditions, these times of togetherness. We need to make that a priority in our lives to be together. No matter what it is, we need to be together. That is what a family is, we all work somehow, we all work as a team. Jesse always calls us "team mates" and I think that is so true. We are team mates. This family has eachothers back and we fight as a team and we relax as a team. I love my little family, I love that we can be ourselves. That we have made our own traditions, and we love spending time together. So here's to friday night, the best night of the week:)

Dancin' the Night Away!

I was recently involved with a fundraiser called the Mom Prom, that benefited WAVI(a nonprofit who helps women in domestic abuse situations), and Love Inc(a non-profit who puts churches together with those in need in the community).Two of my dearest friends Amy and Jess were my partners in crime putting this event together. They were so amazing through it all, putting in more time and love into this event then I could of ever thought.:)

To be truthful if was super stressful at times, due to just tons of things to take of, to just not really knowing what we were doing right away. But the thing is when it all come down to it, it was for those ladies who live in fear every day cause they live in a world of violence, or for the children who feel embarassed cause they have no new clothes for school. The ladies that turned out for the event, gave and loved people they didn't even know through their donations, thank you!! It was one of the most amazing nights ever, I even broke out my MC Hammer moves towards the end:)

Also I renewed and strengthened two friendships that I cherish very close to my heart. We got to go through it together, all the disappointments but also all the truimphs. I love seeing people take what they have and have been blessed with, and spreading it to others. That is what should do, that is what we need to do. I can't always give money, but my hands work, my feet can walk and I have a mouth to speak words that can impact others. To help tell the stories of those who are suffering in silence and need us to stand up for them and fight.

This is me at the event, I went a little crazy but why not, it's Prom!!

I can't thank all the people enough that helped out with this event. All my lovely Project Church peeps, our photographer Lisa Johnson, SHE 106.3, RA Entertainment, all the sponsors/donors, my mom and dad, and our families that let us go wild with this and be away night after night planning. Love you all greatly.

Here is the link to the newspaper article for the event: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_6366e39e-792b-11e0-8901-001cc4c03286.html. Check it out!!

And please check out both WAVI and Love Inc. and see how you can help:

http://wavi.org/

http://www.love-inc.net/

Can't wait till next year!!

Keeping on track

One of my biggest struggles with wieght loss and staying healthy is FOOD!! I love it, and back in the day this little lady could eat a whole pizza. It was not pretty and so not good for me. Since then I have learned a lot about nutrition and just staying healthy day to day. And my biggest ally in this battle is meal planning. Every week I keep a list of what I will eat and what I need to prepare beforehand. Reading this you might think, I do not have the time for that. But to tell you the truth I probably spend an hour a week on planning and preparing compared to hours of deciding what to eat, and unnecessary trips to the store. When I know what I am going to eat for the week, there is no stress, no guilt and no extra calories consumed. I recently got turned on to a online meal planner called Kitchen Monki (http://www.kitchenmonki.com/), it is a great place to meal plan and its free!! Me likes that.

Here's a template you can use for your meal planning:)

A big part of meal planning to cooking and preparing certain items before the week starts(this usually means Sunday night for me). I will always cook up several chicken breasts, cut up my veggies and fruits and prepare anything else I have planned that can be freezed or refrigerated for the week. It takes the guessing out of meals, and for me take a huge weight off my shoulders when feeding my family of 5.

A Little Girl.

A baby no more, but a little lady.

In 2006 we had our first baby Josiah, 2007 the second Remington and in 2009 our sweet baby girl Sky. And yesterday as we celebrated our little girl's birthday I couldn't believe that my baby days were behind me. That I would no longer carry a baby in my belly, or look into their eyes for the first time. it is such a mix of emotions to feel all at one time. On one hand, I am so looking forward to seeing them grow up and become individuals but on the other I yearn for my babies to back in my arms being swayed to sleep.

The decision for me to never go through pregnancy was a hard one, but after three c-sections and my body just giving up after Sky I knew that this is what God wanted us to do. But still in the back of my mind I think maybe we aren't done, maybe there is a baby out there for us in the future. No it may not come from me, but sometimes I think I would love to have more. My children have been the most amazing joy and wonder in my life. And we have been so blessed by three healthy, vibrant babes. I mean seriously they couldn't be any cuter.

So I have no idea what the future has in store for us and our family, but I am excited to soak it all as it goes by........:)

Solid Ground

The Christian idea of marriage is based on Christ’s words that a man and wife are to be regarded as a single organism—for that is what the words “one flesh” would be in modern English. And the Christians believe that when He said this He was not expressing a sentiment but stating a fact—just as one is stating a fact when one says that a lock and its key are one mechanism, or that a violin and a bow are one musical instrument. The inventor of the human machine was telling us that its two halves, the male and the female, were made to be combined together in pairs, not simply on the sexual level, but totally combined.…
What we call “being in love” is a glorious state, and, in several ways, good for us … It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last; principles can last; habits can last, but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called “being in love” usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending “They lived happily ever after” is taken to mean “They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,” then it says what probably never was nor ever could be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be “in love” need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense—love as distinct from “being in love” is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit, reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both parties ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other, as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be “in love” with someone else. “Being in love” first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.^*

^* Lewis, Mere Christianity, (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1958), 81, 84–85.

Garage saling we go!!

Yes, I am one of those crazy ladies who will get up at the beginning of time in order to get a good deal. I wait anxiously for the weather to improve and the yard sale signs to start popping up. I get a high off of finding something that is unusual and one of a kind. And when I find kids clothes for for under a quarter a piece, move over cause I'm a comin'!!

So tomorrow starts my garage saling season for the year, and I am stoked!!

On my list for the summer:

-Wooden chairs for kitchen table
-Outdoor chairs
-Lamps
-Kids clothes
-Weed Whacker
 ......to name a few

I am also on the lookout for many of my friends, for some reason they think I love doing this or something........well I do! Plus who doesn't love drinking coffee, driving around with good company and saving a buck. Now if only I could find a way to get there without using gas at all, that would be great. But you have to spend a little to save a lot sometimes:)

Here is a chandelier(one of my fav finds) I found a few years ago for only 2 bucks, love it!!

Finding......

"In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die~but where you invest your love, you invest your life." -Mumford and Sons

Have you ever loved someone you didn't even know? Out of situation or circumstance you find yourself yearning for their life to be great, to know love, God's love. That is my heart for our friends who are adopting a baby from Ethiopia.

 A little back story: Our beautiful friends Cory and Shannon Church took the amazing step forward to adopt a child in Africa. This step comes with many challenges such as finances, laws and time. But through it all they have been hopeful and full of love for their little baby. They have such a passion the children there, and through them I have heard stories of such despair and sadness concerning the situation there and why they have such a urgency to do this NOW! Here is a just a run-down of some of them:

In General

• Ethiopia is ranked by the UN’s Human Development Index as one of the four poorest countries in the world
• Annual per-capita income is less than $1,000.00
  
• Over 65% of the population lives below the poverty rate

Population

• Population: 79,455,634
• Average Ethiopian woman gives birth to 5.2 children
  
• Population is expected to double in the next 20-30 years

Religion

• Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, Traditional 4.6%, Other 1.8% (1994 census)
  

Child Health

• 1 in 4 women dies in pregnancy or childbirth
• 4 million children are orphaned, nearly 1 million by AIDS
• 1 in 10 children die before their first birthday
• 1 in 6 children die before age 5
• Over 50% of children are stunted
• Malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than half of all child deaths

General Health/Life Expectancy

• Average life expectancy is 53 for men, 58 for women
  
• 1 physician for every 34,988 people
• 1 in 4 women dies in childbirth or from a pregnancy-related illness
  
• 22% of the population has access to improved drinking sources:  81% in urban areas and 11% in rural
  
• 13% of the population has access to adequate sanitation facilities:  44% in urban areas and 7% in rural

Gender Issues

• Unlawful kidnapping and forced seizure of young girls for marriage is common in certain parts of Ethiopia, especially in the SNNPR (13%) and Oromia (11%).
• 80% of women and about 50% of men believe that there are at least some situations in which a husband is justified in beating his wife.
• Rape is a serious problem.  A study on street violence among girls ages 10-24 in Addis Ababa found that 15% of the respondents had been raped, and during their first sexual activity, 43% had been coerced into sex.

HIV/AIDS

• Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than any other region of the world. An estimated 22.5 million people are living with HIV in the region – around two thirds of the global total. In 2009, around 1.3 million people died from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and 1.8 million people became infected with HIV. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 14.8 million children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.

But out of all this comes the hope of saving a child to a better and fruitful life. So as a community we have taken the burden along with the Church's to bring a baby home to them. I can't tell you the excitement and love that surrounds this little child. It has just been amazing to see people stand up and help, from tattoos,scarfs, jewelry, to gifts of love from complete strangers over the internet. It has been one of the most incredible stories to be apart of, so blessed by this family and community I find myself in.

For more information please check out their website @ http://www.findingchurch.net/ and help bring this baby home.

Won't it be amazing to see how this story unfolds, how this baby grows, and how this story will reach so many others, and unleash the love!!

Playing in the Dirt

I don't know about you but I feel like there is something theraputic about digging in the dirt. I mean since we were little we have been getting done and making mud pies or digging holes.

So this afternoon I got down and dirty in my garden and played in the dirt. And it was awesome, it no longer looks like a box of grass, it is now a bounty of overturned black, black soil. That little garden is just waiting to grow some fruits and veggies for the summer. But now I have decide what to grow! I did cucumbers last year and it they went wild and took over the plane!(well it felt like it) and sunflowers. Which technically is not a fruit or veggie, but are just so darn beautiful I had to plant them. My hubby on the otherhand thought the sunflowers were goofy cause you can't eat them and they just stay there and get bigger and bigger. Oh boys!! So I think this year I will venture into uncharted territories of squash, peas and maybe a tomato or two.

If nothing else I will just go dig a hole and call it good!:)

My little lady attempting to sing Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star in the car!!:) So cute!!