Way Back...

After hearing "Smooth" by Rob Thomas on the Way Back Wednesday radio show, I felt officially old.

For those of you who would like to reminisce with me, here's the video:


Anything making you feel old?

brand new day

Today is a good day.

It might have something to do with the fact that the new baby is almost 2 weeks old and things are slowly getting back to normal.  The mere fact that I have something as mundane as Cleaning Bathrooms on my to-do list instead of just Nursing and Surviving proves it.  Whether or not I actually get to the aforementioned bathrooms is beside the point.

It also might be the little face laying in my arms.  There's something about a wrinkly forehead and pursed little lips that make the world seem fresh and new.

Not to mention after having rain off and on all last week, the sun is shining bright today and it finally feels like summer really, truly is here to stay.

I suppose the *cough*zoloft*cough* probably doesn't hurt much either.

So, when I heard Joshua Radin's Brand New Day on my Pandora playlist, I couldn't help but smile and sing along.

Here's to a brand new day for us all.

ps-here's a link to the official video.  I find it amusing and it's worth the watch, but it was the lyrics that make me so happy, hence the video I posted

what I miss most (part I)

You know what I miss most about being single?

Dancing.

Now I'm not talking professional or even serious dancing...just the "getting your groove on" type. Serious or not, however, the mere thought of a good ol' hip-shakin' dance makes my heart ache something fierce. I don't know why, but it seems once I got married my opportunities for shaking my booty anywhere other then my kitchen just disappeared. I can count on one hand how many time I've done real-live public dancing since tying the know. O.n.e. h.a.n.d. folks, in over 6 years of marriage. Coming from someone who would go to at least one official dance a month in my single days (not to mention the innumerable spontaneous dances that seem to pop up like daisies when you're young), that is a drastic drop. I don't know that things are really going to change anytime soon. As I wasn't really the clubbing type pre-marriage (most of mine were done at at church or school functions or friends' houses), it seems a little silly to start that up three kids later. I've toyed with the idea of trying out a dance class (I just looove the idea of belly dancing), but lack of money and time have always kiboshed that. Really, though, it's not organized dancing I'm looking for. Instead, I long for the times when I could stand in a crowd of hot, sticky bodies and let the music move my body. Hip-hop, techno, country, oldies, even the ever-difficult-to-dance-to alternative...I loved and still love them all. And so, 6 years into my dance-less existence, I find myself, like a sneaky addict, trying to get a few mini-hits in when I can (in the car on the way to preschool, next to the stove stirring dinner, in my bedroom while getting dressed)...and still mourning the loss of it all.


How 'bout y'all? What do you miss most?

We are sowing, daily sowing...

I was attending our recent Stake Young Women Leadership Meeting*. While there, we sung the song We Are Sowing, to go along with the idea of how we are helping to grow a garden of strong, spiritual girls. Well, not only did this song remind me of young women...but my thoughts eventually led, as they typically do, to motherhood. The song starts with the line, "We are sowing, daily sowing Countless seeds of good and ill," then goes on to describe all the different places these seeds could be sown. There are the good places, like in "rich, brown furrows, Soft with heaven's gracious rain," and not so good places, like those "cast out in crowded places, trodden under foot of men."


It just reminded me that through the day, I'm sowing seeds inside my children, both with my harsh words and my gentle ones. When I teach my children of Jesus...and when I unintentionally teach my children that yelling is an appropriate way to express emotion. Sorry to be such a downer...but I was actually really comforted while singing the song, because the overall message of it is that even though our good seeds often fall on deaf ears, that some of them really do fall in fertile places...that if we ask the Lord to "bid thine angels guard the furrows Where the precious grain is sown," that he really WILL help us in our teaching of our children and in their ability to listen and learn. It's tough work being a mommy, especially since I often wonder if all my children will do is remember the yells and time-outs and forget the frequent hugs, giggles, and kisses...but this song reminded me that with the not-so-great seeds we sow, we also sow wonderful seeds, "sown in tears and love and prayer." At the end of the day, that's all I can really do. I can go to work in my garden of children and pray for the Lord to help my seeds take root, growing healthy and strong.


*For those of you not members of the LDS church, Young Women is our female version of your typical church youth group and our Stake is our church's organization in the area we live in.

We Are Golden Muffins

So, I was planning on ranting about the provocative Hot Mormon Muffins calendar. The "Hot Mormon Muffins: A Taste of Motherhood" calendar features 12 women who claim membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in vintage pinup picture poses. Each month also has a muffin recipe.


I was going to go on and on about the offensive way the calender's creator, Chad Hardy (the brain behind the controversial Men on a Mission calendar), is supposedly breaking down stereotypical barriers by parading about women who claim to be Mormon in next-to-nothing. I considered discussing all the different ways this is offensive to me, an actual Latter-day Saint mother, and how it drags the morals and reputation of the Church through the mud. Believe you me, I was planning on going on for quite some time.

...but then I figured y'all have already heard my opinion on the over-abundance of sex in the media, especially regarding women, and figured I'd leave the ranting to you in the comments. So, I threw that idea out the the window and instead, decided to share one of my very favorite songs and videos ever, We Are Golden by Mika (thanks Megan!).

I love basically anything by Mika, but this one in particular makes me smile. It takes me right back to the heady highs and lower-than-lows of the angst-ridden teenage years. Who doesn't remember dancing around the house with the music blasting? Whenever I turn this song on, I can't help but bounce around like I'm 16 again, much to my children's eternal amusement. I hope you love it even one iota as much as I do. Enjoy!