A happy message

Posted on September 19, 2012 | 1 comment

I got this forward from my sister-in-law at least a decade ago and it has been pinned to my cork board at work ever since. I glance at it every once in a while and it makes me smile… maybe it will do the same for you.

A Happy Message
Did anyone every tell you,
Just how special you are
The light you emit
Might even light a star
How important you make others feel
Somebody out here is smiling
About love that is so real
Did anyone ever tell you
Many times, when they were sad
Your email made them smile a bit
In fact it made them glad
For the time you spend sending things
And sharing whatever you find
There are no words to thank you
But somebody thinks you’re fine.

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Posted in Life in general

Instagram | 23

Posted on September 18, 2012 | 3 comments

A good lot of photos this week… it was a good week (even with a juice/raw food detox – which reminds me, I so should have taken a picture of my first meal post-detox. It was Mexican with green salsa and pretty tasty.)
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My first raw smoothie – this one featured cilantro and pineapple. It was not my most favorite but I could have stirred it up more so I wasn’t left with a lot of cilantro and green stuff at the end.

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I drank this “fake coffee” as I called it last week. As I wrote on Instagram, it wasn’t awful.

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We still remember. Flags at half-mast outside of a client’s building. Driving by more flags at half-mast prompted Liam to ask me why they were that way and I started to explain to him the significance in general and then talked about why Sept. 11 was an important date in our history as a nation. Trying to explain pure evil to your 6-year-old is not easy.

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The sunsets lately have been glorious and now the kids request that I take a photo of the sky on our way home.

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Day four of the juice detox and I had to make treats for the weekend retreat I was going to… these Brookies… I was so diligent, I didn’t even lick batter off my fingers. But the one I ate on Friday night sure did taste good!

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Jack has started wanting to “read” and look at books on his own. I love this.

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Warm water + cold air + sunrise = beauty. God’s a bit of a showoff.

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Portage Lake was bursting with photo opportunities.

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Love how overpowering the sun is.

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My dear Sarah DB… suited up to take on the Flying Squirrel (Fact: she and I both HATE squirrels).

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Another shot of the sun with a lens flare – way to go little camera on my phone.

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Am suspicious about the dairy in my diet, opted for a vanilla soy latte on my impromptu date with Simon yesterday morning. Again, it wasn’t awful.

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Music Monday: Road Trip

Posted on September 17, 2012 | 5 comments

I got to ride up to the women’s retreat with a car filled with some incredibly lovely ladies, in prep for the trip I made us a road trip CD – because making mixed CDs is just what I do (anyone surprised?).

The perfect road trip mix should have some good sing-along songs, some current faves and some pertaining to the weekend at hand (in our case, religious and inspirational; in other cases they have been all fun and empowering, i.e, a girl’s weekend trips to Chicago).

The playlist – starts peppy and poppy, mellows out and brings in the inspirational and finishes out with some good sing-alongs:

I’ll give a big high five to the person who guess what song #19 is (Track 14 by Tom Petty)…

Guesses?

If you went with Free Fallin’ then you are 100 percent right (and you’ve probably watched Jerry Maguire).

Here are some YouTube videos in case you want to listen.

Home | Phillip Phillips

10,000 Reasons | Matt Redman

Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) | Kelly Clarkson

You’ve Got the Love | Florence + The Machine

Free Fallin’ | Tom Petty

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Posted in Music

Five Question Friday

Posted on September 14, 2012 | 10 comments

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Welcome to Friday everyone! I am on the final day of the juice/raw food detox and I don’t feel too awful – I’m not sure how I am supposed to feel but I was prepared to feel awful. So I am happily surprised. Maybe my Diet Coke/coffee “addiction” isn’t as bad as I thought. I have had zero tummy issues on the detox so I am little afraid of what will happen when I eat dairy or gluten as I fear I might have a sensitivity to something (perhaps not one of those things and just bad/greasy/acidic food in general). We shall see – I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime… Five Question Friday, anyone?

1. How long did it take for you to find your wedding dress? (Wedding dress pics anyone?)
First store, first time out. I found two dresses that I liked, but one of them I really loved. Of course the one I loved cost quite a bit more than the other one but in the end, we went with the more expensive one and I am glad because I felt like a princess and didn’t have a moments pause the whole day over my dress (or my hubby). Thanks, Mom!

2. Someone in your general vicinity releases a NASTY smelling fart. Do you say anything or blow it off?
If it was a stranger, I’d scrunch up my nose a little but probably avoid eye contact. If it’s someone I know, I totally call them on it. I typically* own up to my “windies” (as my mom had me call them growing up) and I expect others to do the same. Now if I am out with my kids, they will say something out loud if they smell something offensive so all bets are off then – strangers, you have been warned.

* I say typically because if I am holding an infant and pass gas, I will most likely blame it on the baby. Only because it seems in poor form to own up to farting while holding some else’s sweet bundle.

3. What is the scariest thing that happened to you or scared you recently?
Recently… nothing too big. We did almost get side-swiped by an Illinois driver who was merging onto the highway and just came over into our lane without even glancing over their shoulder to check for traffic. I honked and had to switch lanes. But it’s at a spot I am always prepared for drivers to merge over so I was partially prepared, but it’s the first time it’s actually happened. It made me a little bit mad and a whole lot scared because had I not been diligent at that particular spot, we would have been hit.

4. Favorite brand and flavor of ice cream.
My favorite, which they don’t make any more, was Ben & Jerry’s “From Russia with Buzz.” It was their “Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz” ice cream mixed with White Russian flavored “From Russia with Love.” What’s not to love.

Another favorite, which they also no longer make, was Haagen Dazs’ Sticky Toffee Pudding (blogged about here).

5. Are you able to sleep well in hotels?
It’s a 50/50 shot. Often the first night of a trip I have a hard time falling asleep, I supposed because I’m excited about the fun that is to come. But sometimes I have zero problem at all. In general, I have a difficult time falling asleep, I have to be very tired with nothing on my mind. I am not one of those people who falls asleep while watching TV or a movie, I have to make a conscious decision to fall asleep. And then there’s my husband who could sleep anywhere, including in a room filled with people, as long as he’s slightly reclined. I wish I had that gift.

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday.

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Posted in Five Question Friday

Thursday Randoms

Posted on September 13, 2012 | Leave a comment
  • For lunch today I had a grape and fig protein smoothie that I believe has some cinnamon or nutmeg in it. It was very unusual and quite tasty (like for real).
  • My five-day juice/raw food detox is actually going quite well. I would not use the word “enjoy” but it really isn’t bad. I was realizing last night that I while I really wanted to eat something, it wasn’t because I was actually hungry, just that I wanted to eat – which is the wrong reason to eat.
  • I cannot imagine not enjoying food – but I know there are people who aren’t all about new flavors or delicious bites, very strange people who food does nothing for.
  • The evening meals might be my most favorite of the whole thing – we get raw soups each day: Thai Curry, Tomato Basil, Cream of Celery and tonight is Beet. They have been delicious and served with sesame seed crackers that at first weren’t that tasty to me but by last night were delicious (funny how your perspective shifts)
  • I have “cheated” with a couple tablespoons of soybeans and a hard-boiled egg (the first day I really needed a little extra protein), but otherwise I’ve been diligent – even drinking “fake” coffee (a blend of roasted barley, rye, chicory root, dandelion root and beetroot. I really don’t even know myself after reading that last sentence.
  • MOPS starts up next week – I am super excited about that!
  • This weekend is the women’s retreat for church… happy day! So looking forward to 2 days of fellowship and rest (plus a whole bunch of laughter).
  • Thank goodness for my mom who is coming to watch the boys while Simon is at work tomorrow afternoon/evening.
  • I’m possibly addicted to a natural shellac manicure… it makes my nails strong and unbreakable (aside from one I totally snapped off driving yesterday) and it stays on for nearly three weeks.
  • Liam has made a new good friend at school and I am so thankful and think it is super sweet that they have found each other. Liam is invited to his birthday party on Sunday and he is over the moon.
  • Liam said yesterday, “It’s no fair, Jack gets to do all sorts of fun things [i.e., walking with mommy, mall with daddy] and I just have to work, work, work all day!” Because first grade is so hard.
  • Whereas Jack strongly believes that it is no fair that Liam gets to go to school every day and he just has to hang out with daddy. Poor kids. Life is so hard.
  • In other news, I’m not my most sympathetic self this week.
  • I read a book I’d highly recommend to those in search of a good, funny, poignant read. The author is one of my favorite reviewers from the early days of Television Without Pity who now has her own blog and (apparently) career as a novelist. The book is called “You Take It From Here” Here’s the recap from Amazon:
    On the heels of a divorce, all Danielle Meyers wants is her annual vacation with sassy, life-long best friend, Smidge—complete with umbrella cocktails by an infinity pool—but instead she’s hit with the curveball of a lifetime. Smidge takes Danielle to the middle of nowhere to reveal a diagnosis of terminal cancer, followed by an unusual request: “After I’m gone, I want you to finish the job. Marry my husband. Raise my daughter. I’m gonna teach you to how to be Smidge 2.0.”As Danielle wrestles with this major life decision, she finds herself torn between being true to her best friend’s wishes and being honest with herself. Parenting issues aside, Smidge’s small-town Louisiana world is exactly the one Danielle made sure to escape. Danielle isn’t one for playing the social butterfly, or being the center of attention. And when your best friend tries to set you up on a date night with her husband, it might be time to become the bossy one for a change.
    In the spirit of Beaches and Steel Magnolias, You Take It from Here is an honest, hilarious, and heartbreaking novel that ultimately asks: How much should we sacrifice for the ones we love the most?
  • Simon and I got sucked into listening to a financial advisor for 2.5 hours yesterday. Apparently this person has been a sociologist, a business owner, a musician, an arts major, a world traveler and now a financial planner. Ugh. He was long-winded and told all the same stories he told when we met originally to talk about business stuff (albeit much more briefly, otherwise I would not have met with him again). Dislike. Plus when he found out I went to Calvin, he really turned up the Christian-isms, though he hadn’t at all indicated he was a person of faith before that. Double dislike.
  • I scared a little boy the other day when I saw that he was noticing Jack’s little hand – as in staring at it and holding onto it (the boy was probably 9 or 10) – so I said, “Jack, do you want to tell him about your hand?” And the boy then knew I noticed he was noticing it and instead of sticking around and listening to him, he ran away. Sorry about that.
  • A new brewery is opening north of town – cannot wait to check it out with Simon… Perrin Brewing Co. here we come!

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Posted in Life in general, Random