Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine's Day!  What a day!  I woke up feeling a little down today, not because I don't have loves in my life, but because I was feeling like a bad mom.  You know, not the crafty, super cute mom who goes all out and does a cute Valentine activity every single day leading up to the big day with her kids, makes amazing homemade Valentine cards and teacher gifts, and then decorates their rooms all cutesy while they are either sleeping the night before, or while they're away at school.  And then!  I didn't have a cute pink breakfast planned and bla, bla, bla. 

I used to try to be that mom when my first child was young but all it did was stress.me.out.  Big time!  I just don't have the energy for all of that.  And that's ok.  That's when I remember that I don't have to try and mold myself into an image that I think I am supposed to be.  I don't have to be super woman.  Letting go of those expectations of myself is such a relief!  I laugh, giggle, and have a good time with my kids without all that extraneous stuff and we are all pretty happy! 

So tonight we will be having a lovely homemade dinner {guaranteed to hit the spot with my husband because it includes bacon} and a lovely strawberry shortcake I bought from the bakery because that's about all I have the oompf for this year.  The kids are each getting a small gift and I think I'll just make a trail of skittles leading up to my bedroom for my husband!  It's his favorite candy you know!

There!  

Valentine's Day at my house this year! 

Nothing too fancy this year.

But it's good enough for me!

~ ~ ~

Listening to this song today!

~ ~ ~

I hope your day has been filled with

love and laughter today!

image via sxc

Making My List...

The new year is rapidly approaching, and I don't know about you, but I'm a total resolutions kind of girl!  I have been thinking about them since mid-October so that I could get real clear on my intentions of what I want to accomplish this year.  I usually make my resolutions with a theme that tries to embody everything into one little word.

In 2010 it was...health

In 2011 it was...peace

This year it will be ...

{drumroll please}

CLEAN!

Clean?  What does that even mean in regards to my resolutions you wonder?  Well a lot of things really.  This year I want to clean up my act in a lot of ways:

I need to clean up around my house.  

Well, this one seems like an obvious one, right?  Things have started to get a little out of hand as I've lost my focus on cleaning and organizing around here lately.  I intend to get things back under control.  It makes me happy, my family happy, and my house happy when it's clean and organized around here!

I want to clean up my diet even more.  

I'm already pretty good about not eating a ton of processed foods and getting rid of processed sugars from my diet but I'm ready to take it up a notch.  Now I'm getting serious about how my meat is raised.  I want grass fed, free range, happy animals that got to live the life they were supposed to live rather than pumped full of steroids and growth hormones and bla, bla, bla!  I also want to get rid of the amount of my exposure to pesticides on fruits and veggies.   I also really want to start making my own sourdough breads and get more of the good bugs into my diet through homemade yogurts and kefirs.

Clean up my style

This means further refining my style to more accurately reflect who I am inside.  I feel like I made some huge leaps in this area this last year but there is still more I can do and learn.  A few of the items I would really like to do is to keep editing and upgrading my wardrobe, find an awesome pair of jeans and to play with scarves more to name a few things.

Cleaning up my spirit.

Aww! David Archuleta is such a cutie {with a dreamy voice}! And I'm a sucker for a good song and this one illustrates this aspect of my goals perfectly!  This is an ongoing goal as I try more and more to become more Christlike.


So there you have it!  Some of my goals for 2012.  How about you?  Do you make resolutions?  Care to share any of yours?

Linking to The Lettered Cottage

spray bottle, and cow via sxc

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a fabulous holiday with your loved ones!

Enjoy this latest version of 

Where Are You Christmas?

by The Piano Guys!

Merry Christmas! 

However you celebrate,

I hope you have a safe and happy holiday 

wherever you may be!

Where My Heart Is . . .

On this beautiful Sunday I'm

listening to the soulful tunes of the cello:

and enjoying the breathtaking 

scenery from my home state!

My heart is here today:

Some of my favorite people are in

Southern Utah right now and I

wish I could be with them today.

~ ~ ~

Check out The Piano Guys on YouTube.  

They are amazing!  You will be so glad you did!

November Love

The other day on Facebook I declared November as my absolute favorite month of the year!  It truly is!

I love November because it finally turns crisp and cool.  It is high canning season to get the grapes, apples and other fresh things squirreled away for winter.  And the house is cozy and warm.  But most of all the air is filled with gratitude, thankfulness and thoughts of home.  I love that!

Today is a perfectly blustery sort of day!

{Say "perfectly blustery" real fast 10 times! I dare ya!}

 I hope you are all staying cozy and warm!

Weird start to the day!

I had grand plans yesterday.

I woke up bright and early.

Thought about putting in an AM workout dvd.

Decided to stay in bed just a wee bit longer.
{It was deliciously warm and cozy!}

Finally got up to get the kids going for school.

Made breakfast.

Packed lunches.

Kissed them goodbye!
{and "have a fabulous day at school!"}

Started sorting laundry.

Then things started getting crazy.

The school bus forgot to pick them up.

So we quickly piled them into the car and sped off.

Got to school about 15 minutes after it started.
{Luckily, excused tardies were in order for the whole busload of kids!}

But I ran over a grasshopper on the way out the driveway.

Three more were waiting for me when I got home.

Staring me down.

Ready to jump on me.

Everywhere I went there was a grasshopper.

Waiting for me.

The sidewalk into the gym.

The porch at my friends house.

Yep.

Grasshoppers.

They are out to get me!

 The day just got weirder from there.  You don't need to know all the details {some of it includes cleaning up children's poopy accidents!  I wish I didn't need to know that hydrogen peroxide works wonders for getting poop out of carpets in such a quick and awesome way!}, but by the end of it all I just needed to go peace out a bit, clear my mind and relax.  PM Qi Gong did just that and now I'm in a much better frame of mind.  The laundry never did get started though.  ~sigh~

Those grasshoppers may be out to get me,

but they aren't going to get me down!

I am going to channel some of my inner Chumbawamba!

Take that grasshoppers!

Here's to a better day!

Exciting News!

I have been dying to talk about this!  And I think I actually can now!  My husband just took a new job that might help take us back to Brazil in about a year or so!  I am so excited!

~B. in Brazil, circa 1993

We feel really good about this career move.  Moving back to Brazil has been a goal of ours ever since we first got married.  We absolutely love that country!  The rhythms, the people and the scenery really get into your soul!  And I feel like we just took a huge step closer to that goal!!!

So we are getting our passports updated {and getting the kids their first passports!}, getting our house ready to sell or rent {probably rent since the market isn't that great, plus it will give us something to come home to someday} and just getting things in order so that when the time comes we will be ready to go!

And thanks to the movie Rio, the kids are actually getting excited to go too!   I am in love with this movie because it is actually very close to what I remember of Brazil.  The portuguese sprinkled throughout, sounds of samba, the crazy soccer obssession, the scenery, even the monkeys are the same type that used to hang out in the trees outside my bedroom window!

Though my monkeys were on the smaller side and didn't do that funky capoeira dancing like they do in the movie! ~wink~wink~  That would have been cool though!  :D

So for your listening pleasure, I bring you one of our favorite  Brazillian rhythms and songs from the movie!

At Home Workout Club: Month 7: How I Lost A Quick 10 lbs!

People seem to keep asking me if I've lost weight recently!  And while I'm so happy they think I have, or that it looks like I have, I actually haven't.  Even though I've been trying, I haven't lost a single pound in I don't know how long! 

So I've been thinking about it.  The only thing that is different is that I have new undergarments.  Yup!  I'm telling you, a new bra can do wonders!!!  So this month for the At Home Workout Club if you're following along with me, I hope you will show "the girls" some love and get some proper fitting bra's because {sing with me now!}...

..."love lifts us up where we belong"...

See Yourself As Beautiful

I seriously cannot wait for the Dressing Your Truth Celebrate Your Beauty Event this summer!

Imagine being among so many women who honor and appreciate each other for being their own unique beautiful selves!  It will be amazing!

Even if you can't come,{but I really hope you can!} you can participate in a little of our homework preparation ahead of time.  Just watch this video and create your own personal beauty mantra.

Have you ever thought of creating your own beauty mantra?

I thought it was an interesting exercise.

Here is what I came up with for mine:

I am a breath of fresh air and sunshine that offers hope and brightens the world around me.

That is the life message I want to send about myself.  That is what I want my beauty to emanate.

This is just another reason why I have loved getting involved in the Dressing Your Truth system.  Once you begin to know and understand your own truth, you will shift your old beliefs about what true beauty is and come to realize just how beautiful you already are.  I love how it is changing the way women see themselves. It is truly changing lives.

So please join us in this cultural revolution!  

Refuse to join in the pity parties!  

Please don't put yourselves down.  

You are beautiful just the way you are.  

Create your own personal beauty mantra.

Incorporate it as a life message.  

Make it your own.  

Identify the truth of your own beauty. 

"Because girl you're amazing!  Just the way you are!"

{You know I can't resist throwing a song in here!}

You can read others beauty mantra's over on the Carol Tuttle Beauty Profiling Facebook Page.

~ ~ ~

Do you know the truth of your own beauty?  You can.  And it will change your life.

Regrets of the Dying

In my life I know people who are battling colon cancer, brain tumors, and a dear friend who just had her second kidney transplant last week {so far she seems to be doing great!!  Hip!  Hip!  Hooray!}. 

Well, a good friend of mine sent me a link to Regrets of the Dying the other day.  {I think she must have been inspired because I doubt she knew of all the people in my life who are facing these serious health issues.}  It is about five of the most common regrets of those who are dying.  My favorites from the list:

I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 

and

I wish that I had let myself be happier.

People experience an incredible amount of growth when they are faced with their own mortality.  And everyone's time here is limited.  We only get one shot at this life.  Why not learn from their experiences and realize that your life is all about the choices you make.  You are creating your own experience here on earth.  You have the choice to choose love and happiness.  You can choose to be true to yourself and be who you were meant to be!  Go for your dreams!  Improve your life!  You can live a life without regrets!  Don't let your dying days be the ones when you realize these truths. 

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life.
Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly.
Choose happiness.

Please, go read the article.

{soon to be a book!}

What can you learn from those who 

have already faced their own mortality?

And because I can't resist a great song:

 

The At Home Workout Club: Month 6

How can we be half way through the year already???  That is craziness!

I am feeling like I got run over by a truck the last few days, so I am going to keep it simple this month.  My little sister wanted me to post what is currently on my workout ipod, so I'm going to give you my current playlist. 

These are tunes that totally inspire me with their words!  Most of them are Christian rock songs ~ when I'm working out it is my time to meditate and get in the zone with God.  It works for me.  I feel centered and healthy all at the same time.  Some of the beats may seem slower than you'd like for a good workout, but trust me, when they are pumped up loud they still make me want to jump {or run} for joy!  I just hit shuffle and off I go!

~B.'s Workout Playlist

• We Are Loved by the David Crowder Band
• Oh, Happiness by the David Crowder Band {btw, this is my toddlers favorite song!  He will just break out into singing it at random times!  I love it!}
• Hold Me (feat. tobyMac) by Jamie Grace
• Shine by the Newsboys
• Joy by the Newsboys
• Awake and Alive by Skillet
• Forgiven by Skillet
• Feel It In Your Heart by Abandon
• Search My Heart (Radio Version) by Hillsong United
• Forgiven by Relient K
• To the Sky (From "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole") - Single by Owl City
• Sticks & Stones {from How to Train Your Dragon (Music from the Motion Picture)} by Jonsi
• You are Loved by Girls with Glasses
• One Step Away by WakeUp Starlight
• Here I Am by downhere
• This Is Your Life by Switchfoot
• He Lives In You (Reprise) Original Broadway Cast recording from The Lion King
• Reach - Single by Peter Furler
• Tonight (feat. John Cooper of Skillet) by tobyMac
• Friend Like That by Hawk Nelson

If you haven't ever heard some of these songs, then you should definitely check them out!  I've tried to link them all up to iTunes so you can at least hear a sample of them.  They are fun with a great message!

What are your favorite workout or uplifting songs?

Send me your playlists!

I think it would be fun

to feature them on here!

P.S. ~ My cute little sister has a Shabby Apple giveaway going on over at her blog for a cute bracelet.  You should all hop over and enter!  Or don't {because then I have better chances of winning! Wahaha!}  Did I just say that?  ;)  Just kidding!  Go enter!  The bracelets are too cute!  {Love you seester!  Mwah!}  :D

Your Theme Song

I envision my life as a movie sometimes. Small snapshots put to music.  While I've always compiled songs that expressed the way I was feeling inside, (you know, the tapes we all made in junior high), it was the book Wear More Cashmere that actually gave me the idea to find a song that expressed my whole life or how I wanted my life to be. It's not so much a reactive song about the way you're currently feeling, like the way I felt when so and so broke up with me {since we're using the junior high school metaphore here}, but a song that embodies everything you are and want your life to be.

My song is Gli Impermeabili on Paolo Conte's greatest hits.  You must listen to it.  It's in Italian and I don't even know what it is saying, but it feels so swank and happy to me!  It embodies the feeling that I want my life to have. {Hopefully he isn't singing dark depressing lyrics  because I definitely don't want my life to be like that!  Help!  Someone translate for me!  No wait!  Don't!  I don't want to know!  It might ruin the whole song for me!}

Gli impermeabili

Cool song, right?  Can't you just imagine yourself coasting along life to that song?  

So if you want to pick a theme song of your own, this is what Gin Sanders writes:

"Choose a theme song--think Nadia's theme, named for the young gymnast. It could be stately, like Pachelbel's Canon in D; or bittersweet, like Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 23; or a sexy, sultry jazz standard, like Shirley Horn singing "Come a Little Closer". This is something not only to listen to at night, but this is also to hear in your head as you go through the day. Select a piece of music that you can imagine playing as you enter a room. Make a tape for yourself, or buy a CD to play in your car, so that you can float through life on your own carefully chosen theme. I once had an old Mercedes in which I observed very strict rules for behavior. One rule was that I could only listen to Brazillian jazz. Imagine how it made me feel as I drove around in an otherwise ordinary suburban setting, swaying my shoulders to the sultry Brazilian jazz of Astrud Gilberto. You might pick several themes for yourself--one that you imagine playing as you stride into work every morning, one that you can hear in your head as you pull into your driveway at night, and perhaps one that you can imagine quite clearly whenever the mood for romance strikes you."

Ok, now it's your turn!  

Do you have a theme song?  

Let me know what it is!

Easter Preparations Underway

I've been busy as a bee getting things ready for Easter.

Planning my Easter table:

In years past I have set  "Sea of Galilee" and "Easter Island"  tablescapes with my leafy platters, seashell chargers and creamy white dishes.  I will probably be doing another version along those lines again.  I hope to post pictures of that on Sunday!

Planning our church clothes:

The girls will be wearing white and blue ensembles this year.  I bought a new ribbon and flower to add to my white lace dress.  My daughter will be wearing a pale blue skirt and a gorgeous new white top.

The boys in the family will be looking handsome in their white shirts and new coordinating ties!

Preparing for the Easter Egg Hunt:

We have been filling 20 dozen extra Easter eggs for the neighborhood Easter egg hunt to be sure that there will be enough eggs for everyone.  Sometimes we get kids who show up and have forgotten to donate a bunch of eggs to the cause.  We want all the children to be able to get some eggs. 

Hot Chocolate Peeps at the Ready:

It's not the healthiest of our traditions, but it's a fun one we enjoy for breakfast one day each year.

Setting the mood:

I have had this version of Beautiful Savior by Becky Williams practically on constant repeat all week long.  It is the most beautiful version I have ever heard!  Such an angelic voice and I love the instrumentals along with it.  I tried to find a YouTube version of it for you, but alas I could not find one.  So trust me when I say your .99 cent iTunes download will be well worth it!  You need this song!

 via Dear Lillie

I have also downloaded this beautiful  "He Has Risen" graphic from the ever lovely Dear Lillie to frame.   She has provided it in various colors for you to choose from.  Definitely go check her out!

How are you preparing for the Easter holiday?

You Are Loved

Ok, so I know this song was written as a Christmas song, but it's just so cute I had to share it ~ even in March! And besides, I totally love the message ...

You Are Loved!

"You Are Loved" - Happy Holidays! from The Girls With Glasses on Vimeo.

Like it too? 

Well you can download it for free by going here!  

Merry Christmas! 

You Always Make Me Smile

Just because I'm in a happy sort of mood today!

{Must be the springy sort of weather out there!}

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've had a lovely Valentines Day weekend.

Spent time with family!

Had a Beatles love fest playing Beatles Rock Band!

Listened to the most beautiful piano and violin duet 

that really touched my soul.

Spent time in the kitchen with my daughter making treats!

Helped the toddler make Valentine's for his friends.

Crafted up a wreath inspired by this one.

And now listening to The Beatles:

I'm such a sucker for the Beatles!  

So happy and fun!  

And oh so many songs about love!

I Saw Her Standing There

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Eight Days a Week

Can't Buy Me Love

All My Loving

Do You Want to Know a Secret

And I Love Her

When I'm Sixty-Four

All You Need Is Love

The first song I ever learned on the guitar was a Beatles song ~ {And I Love Her}.  Don't ask me to play it for you.  I was horrible at it then, and I'm horrible at it now.  It's ok.  I can deal with it!  It's not one of my best talents!  :D

I hope your day is filled with joy and loved ones!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kitchen Conversations

Yesterday The Teen and I were cooking up a storm in the kitchen.  Experimenting with some Asian dishes for her school lunches and the upcoming "Wok and Talk" at the church next week {more on that later!}, along with playing around with the No Bake Apple Snowballs again {I can't get enough of them!}.

I love times with her in the kitchen.  We always have such great conversations.  Yesterday?  The discussion over this song:

 Beautiful

Days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful

And praying that you have the heart to find
Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful

Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious
Of all the earth and skies above
You're the one He madly loves enough to die

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
In His eyes

You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His

~Mercy Me~

I am blessed with such an amazing daughter.  It was her that remarked during our conversation that she wishes more people really understood how beautiful they are, just the way that they are! 

Amen to that!  And here's to wishing that more people could see themselves as God sees them ~ with amazing potential and truly treasured by Him. 

In Christ Alone

I love music. 

It has such a way of speaking to the soul. 

This one speaks to me beyond what words can express.

Kind of sets the tone for my new year!

Enjoy!

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In Christ alone, my hope is found


He is my light, my strength, my song


This cornerstone, this solid ground


Firm through the fiercest drought and storm


What heights of love, what depths of peace


When fears are stilled, when strivings cease


My comforter, my all-in-all


Here in the love of Christ I stand

There in the ground His body lay


Light of the world by darkness slain


Then bursting forth in glorious day


Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory


Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine


Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death

This is the power of Christ in me


From life's first cry to final breath


Jesus commands my destiny


No power of hell, no scheme of man


Can ever pluck me from His hand

Till He returns or calls me home


Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

~ Owl City