We all go through seasons of change. That's just life. God brings us through struggles for a reason. Some we see right away and some we may never understand. What I've really understood though is that through those times of tragedy, despair or dramatic change of any kind, we always find out who our true friends are. Through the thick of it all when we can't see clearly and we feel lost, the ones that are supposed to be there will be there. Some may be newer friends, some old. The nice thing is when you have those friends that you don't talk to often, but they are always there when you need them. I feel like I'm writing about those "friends quotes" you find on Pinterest, but there is some definite truth to them. Haha!
I feel so blessed to have some great Christian friends that will give me clarity even when I don't have it myself. To help me see through the fog and remind me that God is always there, even when I feel alone.
Picking up my Bible this morning, I came across a story of Moses (Exodus 17:12). He was fighting so hard to defend the Israelites against the Amalekites. As long as he kept his staff of God raised up in the air, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands in fatigue, they would then be defeated. His hands grew tired and weak. So, his friends helped him by putting a stone under him to sit on and then held up his hands for him, so that they remained steady until sunset. ...Could you imagine seeing that?! The reason for their victory was because of the encouragement he had from those around him.
In the same way, we need our friends to hold us up, to encourage us and guide us in in the right direction. It is easy to stray away in the wrong direction when we are troubled. We act out of anger and sadness. We try to "deal" with it alone. We don't see the damage we are doing till it is too late sometimes. Friends are placed in our lives to keep us hopeful and find strength to move forward in this life that God has chosen for us.
In the same way, we can be just what someone else needs as well. Be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, without judgment. Have an open heart and be the friend to others you need in your life as well. Show kindness to strangers as well, because you never know what other people's struggles are and we all need to give & receive love in our lives. <3
Monday, December 2, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Coconut Caramel Cookies!!!
This is what happens when your kid wants cookies and you're craving Girl Scout Samoas!
After looking all over Pinterest for the perfect Coconut Caramel with Chocolate chip cookie recipe, I couldn't find anything easy. Soooo, I tweaked a recipe I already had and they came out amazing! Soft and chewy!!! I have had 4 already!
Easy for your kids to help too!
Enjoy! -A
After looking all over Pinterest for the perfect Coconut Caramel with Chocolate chip cookie recipe, I couldn't find anything easy. Soooo, I tweaked a recipe I already had and they came out amazing! Soft and chewy!!! I have had 4 already!
Easy for your kids to help too!
Enjoy! -A
Coconut Caramel Cookies- 1c. Softened Butter
- 1c. Brown Sugar
- 1c. White Sugar
- 1tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2 Eggs
- 2 1/2-3 cups Flour
- 1tsp. Baking Soda
- 1/2pkg Chocolate Chips (about 6oz.)
- 1/2- 3/4cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes
- 1/2c. Caramel- warmed ( I used the apple dipping caramel)
Benefit for Brittany
As some of you out there may know, my sister Brittany was diagnosed with cancer this year. It has been extremely hard for me to be so far away from her during this difficult time (my whole family is in Minnesota) and watch her go through the chemo treatments through pictures and phone calls knowing all she wants is for me to be there by her side. So, I'm doing all I can from across the country and started a fundraising website to help her. Please check it out and share! Thank you!
https://www.youcaring.com/benefitforbrittany
https://www.youcaring.com/benefitforbrittany
10 things you may not know about me....
1. I hate, I mean hate doing the dishes. I will let them sit there and stare at them all day. Or do every other chore in the house, putting them off. (My husband knows this well)
2. I am a paranormal show addict. I love everything about the paranormal field and wanted to be parapsychologist for many years. Have never seen anything in person I can't explain...yet.
3. I was a jewelry designer for many years. I used to teach and work at a bead store in LA and sell my work in boutiques. Haven't done it in a long time, but you never forget a skill.
4. I love traveling! I have been to France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and done a few cross country road trips.
5. I was a model for over 10 years (most of my work done in LA). Have been in 2 books, a magazine, TV shows and website for jewelry lines & other ads.
6. When I was pregnant I started reading book series. Since then I've read, Twilight (Team Edward), The Hunger Games (twice), 50 shades of Grey and all 11 Sookie Stackhouse books! Whew!
7. I cook and bake as a form of therapy. I've only found this out in the last year. I go through periods where all I want to do is be in the kitchen and sometimes late at night when the kids are in bed and I'm all alone.
8. I have been to the Playboy mansion (yes, I met Hef and his 3 girlfriends), the Grammys, and have met quite a few celebrities. My favorite person I met was Ross Mathews, he made me laugh my butt off during an interview for the Tonight Show!
9. Fall is my favorite time of the year! Any excuse to layer, wear my boots and sweaters and drink lots of Pumpkin Spice Lattes!
10. My husband and I met in 8th grade (study hall) and later in life, we both moved to California separately and found each other and began dating when I was 29.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Craving connection...
I'm constantly trying to work on changing the need to feel connected online. I am the first to admit that I am so guilty of keeping myself so busy, I know I'm not always "present" when my kids and husband need me to be, even though I'm there in body.
In a society that's always "plugged in", I find myself always checking to see what I missed out on on Facebook or email. All our family is in Minnesota, so Facebook is one of the only ways I can keep updated on everything back home and love seeing pictures and updates from loved ones. Even if we haven't talked in months or years, I see what they are up to, which is great!! Social media can be a great tool!
But, I find myself checking it 1st thing in the morning, after breakfast, play with my son, check it again, go run errands, come home, check it again and so on and so on. My husband will be the 1st to tell me if he notices it's taking up too much of my time (not in a controlling way, but out of love).
You see, we don't realize the amount of minutes that slip away when we "check out" for awhile.
But I find myself asking, "Why am I always checking it? If its really important and I need to know, someone would call or text me, right?" But what I've come to realize is that we are all just craving connection. Texts, emails, Facebook & other social networking sites aren't meeting that need & the downside is, it's taking us all away from the connection at home. We all want to know that we are being thought of, missed, accepted and needed in some way.
(Man, I miss the days of receiving a letter in the mail just to say hi!)
We are present in the body, but not in the mind.
We have "checked out" to "check in" somewhere else.
I know I can't be the only one that has this struggle in a world today that is filled so much social networking right at our fingertips and it being socially acceptable to be plugged in all the time. We see it everywhere we go, people at the coffee shop, on the bus/train, in our car, parents with their kids at the library, parents at the park, even at church. So much that we are missing out on what's going on in our personal life because we are reaching so far out to stay connected to something we need in our lives so badly. Human connections.
The changes start with ourselves. Becoming a better listener to our spouse, a funny playmate for our children, and a friend to laugh with on coffee dates.
Just today, I had 2 families over for a playdate with new friends from church. My son has made 3 new friends and is learning how to share (even when he doesn't want to) and I loved listening and learning more about the women I attend bible study with. They are amazing women and we all have different struggles, but I loved having coffee with them. Watching our children play and staying connected and present, especially to correct our children if they weren't playing right, while trying our best to instill in them what being a good friend means.
Because even as an adult...I'm still learning that lesson.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Letting Go
A couple of months ago I had an amazing opportunity to go to Sugar Pine Christian Camp for a Women's Retreat with our church. There was about 60 women from our congregation that got together with a few other churches in California and shared a weekend together and the theme was "Letting Go". As a woman, wife and mom that theme couldn't have been more perfect. We are well known to hold onto things and have problems letting go. My husband has gone on 2 of these retreats and always had such a great time, so I was really happy I finally got to experience what he experienced. It was an amazing weekend filled with lots of love, laughter and I shed quite a few tears. It made me realize how much I really do hold onto and taught me how to trust in Him and the amazing women that I see every Sunday, but never had the opportunity to really get to know on a personal level.
I was also able to take a parenting seminar while I was there & that was really profound in itself. I learned so much in that hour, I was trying to write everything down so fast, but good news is that I have the recording here for you to listen to! I personally have done some of these things with my kids and guess what...they worked! Kids want structure and discipline and when we can give it to them in a loving way, things just work out so much better! Now, don't get the wrong idea here, I am far from a perfect parent. I have major struggles with many things. Patience and consistency being 2 of the big ones. We can get all the advice from well-meaning parents and friends, but in the end we learn mostly from our own mistakes and hopefully try to do better next time. In the mean time, not beating ourselves up about not being the perfect parent like Suzy Homemaker down the street with her perfect home, perfect kids, perfect marriage and just perfect everything! Because guess what, she struggles with the same things, she just keeps it hidden better. We all have "stuff", we all are flawed, we all are imperfect and we all have lots of baggage that we carry through our whole life. For me, some days, it feels like I'm carrying 3 large suitcases and 2 carry-ons, stumbling and tripping over myself with all my own crap. I find I have been asking myself alot lately WHY I can't let things go. Forgive and forget, right? Not so much. Not only forgive others, but forgive myself for what I've done to others as well. I don't know about you, but my past hurts onto others still haunt me. It's obviously not bothering them, so why can't I just let it go?
Learning how to let it go and trust in the Lord is so difficult sometimes! I do know one thing is for sure...His plan for us is sooo much bigger than anything we could ever imagine for ourselves! My favorite bible verse reminds me of this "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jer.29:11)
You see, your everyday struggles are for a reason. We have an amazing loving God! Nothing can separate us from His love for us, nothing!! (Romans 9:37-38)
I write these things only to remind you that you're not alone, I'm not alone. There is always someone else fighting the same battles we are fighting, but learning to handle them all with grace and God's mercy is the only way to come out of the fight alive. Yes, we will have battle scars and wounds that sometimes will take forever to heal, but they will heal. Over time. Every time you feel the need to yell, say something sarcastic and hurtful or "lose your cool" with your kids, take a step back and ask God to help you right then and there. I know it's hard to do in the midst of all the anger, resentment and frustration, trust me... I know! But just do it! Sometimes we don't know what to pray or ask God for, especially in the middle of those times when the enemy has a stronghold on us. Just simply ask for help.
He knows what you need.
Play these while your cleaning the house, driving or whenever. I promise they will give you more strength, encourage and help you to "Let Go".
Parenting Seminar: http://chirb.it/2PwKDI
"Letting Go" Recordings: http://www.chirbit.com/SPCC
I was also able to take a parenting seminar while I was there & that was really profound in itself. I learned so much in that hour, I was trying to write everything down so fast, but good news is that I have the recording here for you to listen to! I personally have done some of these things with my kids and guess what...they worked! Kids want structure and discipline and when we can give it to them in a loving way, things just work out so much better! Now, don't get the wrong idea here, I am far from a perfect parent. I have major struggles with many things. Patience and consistency being 2 of the big ones. We can get all the advice from well-meaning parents and friends, but in the end we learn mostly from our own mistakes and hopefully try to do better next time. In the mean time, not beating ourselves up about not being the perfect parent like Suzy Homemaker down the street with her perfect home, perfect kids, perfect marriage and just perfect everything! Because guess what, she struggles with the same things, she just keeps it hidden better. We all have "stuff", we all are flawed, we all are imperfect and we all have lots of baggage that we carry through our whole life. For me, some days, it feels like I'm carrying 3 large suitcases and 2 carry-ons, stumbling and tripping over myself with all my own crap. I find I have been asking myself alot lately WHY I can't let things go. Forgive and forget, right? Not so much. Not only forgive others, but forgive myself for what I've done to others as well. I don't know about you, but my past hurts onto others still haunt me. It's obviously not bothering them, so why can't I just let it go?
Learning how to let it go and trust in the Lord is so difficult sometimes! I do know one thing is for sure...His plan for us is sooo much bigger than anything we could ever imagine for ourselves! My favorite bible verse reminds me of this "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jer.29:11)
You see, your everyday struggles are for a reason. We have an amazing loving God! Nothing can separate us from His love for us, nothing!! (Romans 9:37-38)
I write these things only to remind you that you're not alone, I'm not alone. There is always someone else fighting the same battles we are fighting, but learning to handle them all with grace and God's mercy is the only way to come out of the fight alive. Yes, we will have battle scars and wounds that sometimes will take forever to heal, but they will heal. Over time. Every time you feel the need to yell, say something sarcastic and hurtful or "lose your cool" with your kids, take a step back and ask God to help you right then and there. I know it's hard to do in the midst of all the anger, resentment and frustration, trust me... I know! But just do it! Sometimes we don't know what to pray or ask God for, especially in the middle of those times when the enemy has a stronghold on us. Just simply ask for help.
He knows what you need.
Play these while your cleaning the house, driving or whenever. I promise they will give you more strength, encourage and help you to "Let Go".
Parenting Seminar: http://chirb.it/2PwKDI
"Letting Go" Recordings: http://www.chirbit.com/SPCC
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| My bunkmates! |
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| Me & Rachel Barrentine- Our worship leader for the weekend. She is absolutely amazing! http://www.rachelbarrentine.com/ |
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| Me and my friend Deanna who made the decision to give her life to Christ that weekend! |
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Dad mimics daughter's tantrum- video
This is the funniest video I have seen in along time and I had to share because all of us with kids have been there. This Dad is hilarious! Bwahahahaha!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/19/dad-mimics-daughters-tantrum_n_4129284.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/19/dad-mimics-daughters-tantrum_n_4129284.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
Surrender & Trust
This semester at church, I recently joined a growth group called "Stuck". It is about the places we get stuck in our lives and how God can set us free. It has brought up a lot of painful memories & hurts of my past & present, but all things that I need to give to God and allow proper healing. Through this study, I have also learned a lot about how much I still hold on to and can't seem to let go of. It is like it's a part of my identity and without it, I don't know who I am. It has all molded me into who I am today and the type of Mom and Wife I am. This is a good and bad.
I sometimes realize I have become the exact thing I was running away from & never wanted to become and some days I am so proud of who I am & what I have gone through and actually came out a somewhat sane and normal person and I'm not locked up in a padded cell somewhere because I've lost my mind and gone cookoo!
The thing is, we hold onto so much anxiety, pain, fear and stress because if we let go we feel like we have lost all control when in reality we have no control at all. We live in a society where "perfection" is expected and all our flaws are analyzed and pointed out and people remember the negative about you waaay more than the positive. We have daily fear & anxiety of losing our jobs, not pleasing everyone, keeping our kids safe. Stress from our marriage, relationships, families, and keeping the perfect "front" so people don't know how broken you are. I don't know about you, but all that is enough to make anyone have a mental break-down. How do we cope on a daily basis when we are all so fragile and so close to going over the edge?
God asks us to surrender & trust.
All He wants us to do is open up our hearts and minds to Him. Allow Him to repair it little by little. All our stories are different, but we are all connected. He made each and every one of us for a purpose. A purpose that has already been in the works since the day we were born. Everything we have gone through up till today has been for a specific reason- and only He knows why.
God is asking us, "Do you trust me?"
Some days, I can answer a very definite and profound YES! Other days, not so much. My stubbornness and pride takes over and I have to be the one in control. Then, when things don't go my way, I cowardly turn inside myself and realize, I was never in control in the first place. I will learn this lesson over and over again in life. This will always be a struggle for me. I have to constantly remind myself that by surrendering everything, we find freedom.
I sometimes realize I have become the exact thing I was running away from & never wanted to become and some days I am so proud of who I am & what I have gone through and actually came out a somewhat sane and normal person and I'm not locked up in a padded cell somewhere because I've lost my mind and gone cookoo!
The thing is, we hold onto so much anxiety, pain, fear and stress because if we let go we feel like we have lost all control when in reality we have no control at all. We live in a society where "perfection" is expected and all our flaws are analyzed and pointed out and people remember the negative about you waaay more than the positive. We have daily fear & anxiety of losing our jobs, not pleasing everyone, keeping our kids safe. Stress from our marriage, relationships, families, and keeping the perfect "front" so people don't know how broken you are. I don't know about you, but all that is enough to make anyone have a mental break-down. How do we cope on a daily basis when we are all so fragile and so close to going over the edge?
God asks us to surrender & trust.
All He wants us to do is open up our hearts and minds to Him. Allow Him to repair it little by little. All our stories are different, but we are all connected. He made each and every one of us for a purpose. A purpose that has already been in the works since the day we were born. Everything we have gone through up till today has been for a specific reason- and only He knows why.
God is asking us, "Do you trust me?"
Some days, I can answer a very definite and profound YES! Other days, not so much. My stubbornness and pride takes over and I have to be the one in control. Then, when things don't go my way, I cowardly turn inside myself and realize, I was never in control in the first place. I will learn this lesson over and over again in life. This will always be a struggle for me. I have to constantly remind myself that by surrendering everything, we find freedom.
Monday, October 21, 2013
1st Entry!
Writing this 1st blog entry, I can't help but feel a little like Doogie Howser at the end of the episode, hoping that I have something profound to say. Lol! I'm hoping that this outlet will allow me to connect with you, as you get a peak inside of my life and my thoughts. Things I struggle with, my fears, what makes me happy, excited and following me through our lives as a family. Its an adventure and I hope we can all help each other enjoy the ride through laughter, noticing the small blessings and taking it one day at a time!
My back story: My husband Nate and I have been married for 3 1/2yrs. We are both born and raised in Northern Minnesota where we met in Jr.High and both separately moved to different parts of California, where we later met back up in life. We have a 3yr.old son (Parker) and I have been blessed with an amazing step-daughter (Hannah) who is 6yrs.old. We do our best to raise our children in a Godly filled home & keep our Christian faith on the forefront of our core values.
We are adventurers and love the outdoors, camping, off-roading and whatever other mischieve
we find ourselves in! Since this 1st entry is close to Halloween, here's how we celebrated this year for the holiday and a few other family photos! Enjoy! :)
My back story: My husband Nate and I have been married for 3 1/2yrs. We are both born and raised in Northern Minnesota where we met in Jr.High and both separately moved to different parts of California, where we later met back up in life. We have a 3yr.old son (Parker) and I have been blessed with an amazing step-daughter (Hannah) who is 6yrs.old. We do our best to raise our children in a Godly filled home & keep our Christian faith on the forefront of our core values.
We are adventurers and love the outdoors, camping, off-roading and whatever other mischieve
we find ourselves in! Since this 1st entry is close to Halloween, here's how we celebrated this year for the holiday and a few other family photos! Enjoy! :)
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| Halloween 2013 |
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| 3yr.anniversary- Half Moon Bay, Ca. |
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| Valentines Day Dinner 2013 |
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| Our beautiful Hannah! Age 6 |
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| Summer 2013 |
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| Mother's Day with Parker 2012 |
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| Spring 2011 |
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| Spring- 2011 |
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| Wedding Day- Lake Tahoe May 2010 |
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| Wedding Day- Lake Tahoe May 2010 |
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| Our 1st date to Alcatraz! |
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