Thankful

Today is one of those days that is easily griped about. It's Labor day, I'm having to work, it's raining, and I am exhausted (a boppy acrobatic baby doesn't lead to restful sleep).

However, I have to be immensely thankful. Although there are literally three people in the office today and the phone has not rang ONCE, I am sitting here making money... in a pretty freaking nice office, inside, with tons of food and coffee at my disposal and some great people to go talk to if I start falling asleep in my chair.

My sweet husband was kind enough to bring me lunch and make the long trip up here to eat with me.

I've eaten an entire king-sized Mr. Goodbar today.

My crazy funny baby seems to be happy.

So I'm going to choose thankfulness today! Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of dark clouds looming over me right now, but I'm choosing to live & enjoy today to the fullest :)

Oh, and I'm going to try to stay up-to-date with this blog. I have plenty to write about!

Educating Myself...

I love education. I love learning. Even though I walked away (umm, ran away screaming) from a career in education, I know there is a purpose for my education & ECE degree. Certainly, one day I will use my knowledge to education my own children. What could be more valuable than investing so much into your own kids? :) I still love to learn today. It is heartbreaking to see young people now, graduating high school, even children going through elementary school, who are NOT being taught critical thinking skills. To me, teaching critical thinking in school is about as close as you can get to teaching common sense. Personally, I question EVERYTHING. I do not accept this world at face value. I ask "why". I do not believe every bandwagon should be jumped upon. I have become very guarded & protective of my life- it would seem selfish, but of all the selfish natures of people, this is one way in which people are not selfish when they should be! It's your life! Question where the world is taking it! I was lucky enough to be blessed with a partner who, like me, doesn't think inside the box and go with the predetermined way things are supposed to be. We question everything. The world says: go to college, get a job in your field, get married, buy a house, have kids, go into debt, be unhappy forever. We say: take as long as you need to make it through college/drop out cold and never go back to college, get a job in your field and run screaming because it's not worth the unhappiness, get married while still in college, don't buy a house- instead move in with your mutual best friend for an unpredictable life of welcomed craziness, have a baby when God moves you to, and live as small and simply as you can instead of maxing yourself out to "have" the best of the best. It works for us, anyway.

These days it seems like I am always questioning against what everyone else seems to be doing. Earlier this year, when I found out I was pregnant, I knew I had a long journey ahead of me. More accurately, I was terrified to death. I had never thought about being pregnant before, kind of just never considered it. I knew I wanted kids but I had never thought about the... process. Well I am questioning the process upside and down.

Isn't it true that people do NOT like to be told what to do? Or what to think? Try sticking someone in a preconceived mold and they will freak out on you. Well that is exactly what childbirth looks like in America!!!! You are told from the first moment what to do. You are told what to think. You are put in a preconceived medical mold and NO ONE fights it. You are told the way it is and people accept it with no argument! Call me crazy, but isn't this completely backwards?

Before I go further and risk sounding like a lunatic, here's a documentary on the subject. Remember the talk show host Ricki Lake? She is behind this. I have seen this a thousand times on Netflix (who doesn't love documentaries?) but have only just recently watched it. Below is a link to the trailer, and if you find yourself intrigued, the full version is actually on youtube as well. Check it out! A little education never hurt :)

The Business of Being Born

My life has been blessed (by no accident) with a wonderful woman, very close to my husband & I, almost like a second mom, who had her first son the traditional way, then had the next three sons using the Bradley Method. One unnatural birth inspired her to have three natural and wonderful births, so I know this is not just  propaganda from some crazy feminism inspired crusade. I have heard from a very real woman what a difference it makes to question the way things are. This woman's own mother, a nurse, was so moved after witnessing the first natural birth that as soon as she got home, she pursued her own Bradley Method certification. My husband and I have been reading through the Bradley Method book and we love it!

All this leaves me to say, I will be doing things a bit differently with the birth of my son and I couldn't be more happy about it! More later :)

I have had this on my heart since I discovered it on Pinterest a few weeks ago. I see it not only in my own life and the unforeseeable directions it has gone, but also in the lives of the multitudes of new people whose lives' have intertwined with all things new in mine. 

Would a person willingly drink a cup of acid? 

No! And why??

Because it's not good is the easiest answer. Temporarily it is going to burn your mouth, your throat, your stomach, and permanently it will scar you for life. Right? Because what goes in matters. If you diet, you watch what goes in because you know that it affects you. If you feel strongly about organic/natural lifestyles, you watch what goes in because you know it matters. Why doesn't it make sense to guard your mind and heart also? What goes in matters! Your thoughts and feelings ARE you. You are your actions, which are outward expressions of inward feelings. Why not choose good ones? I can't think of anyone who WANTS bad things for their life, can you? So why willingly put bad things in? The journey to this mindset was a very long, long, hard and painful road for me, leaving me with scars and hurt that I still carry today. There will be lots more from me about guarding your thoughts, actions, and life from today's world. Things people take for granted now and no one cares about. 

On a lighter note, I am blogging from my comfy bed, watching the best show ever made (Gilmore Girls, oh goodness. It's the Life & Death Brigade episode with the blue dress, ahh!), with my laptop on my legs because laying it on my once effortlessly flat & toned & cute stomach just isn't possible anymore. I'll take the trade-off though because laying my arms across my cantaloupe-like tummy means I'm feeling lots of little pokes and nudges from a sweet little Italian boy :) In a bit I'll gather myself up and head over to visit one of my sweetest friends and then on to town to meet my husband for a peek at our lil' babe. The perfect off day! 

I'm not sure what the contents of this blog will end up being... my passions, I suppose? My thoughts & opinions? (Dangerous areas at this point, evidently) The goings-on in my life? 

Although this is also a happy discovery from Pinterest, the root of it comes from my own personal beliefs, and from what I believe is my biggest personal flaw. The area in which I fail over and over is simply choosing joy. It seems like a tiny thing, but it is truly an every day thing. Every day I can survive, or I can choose joy. 95% of the time, I just try to survive, and that's miserable. I need to choose joy, everyone does! I don't know anyone with an easy, perfect life. Life is just hard.  Therefor, we must choose joy over and over. I can wallow in my disappointments, my annoyances, my aches & pains, my letdowns... or I can choose not to be self-centered and pessimistic. I can choose to think about my sweet and near-perfect husband who is the blessing I will never deserve. I can rejoice in the surely God-orchestrated friendships I have now. I can be thankful and honored for the gift of a child, a gift I never thought I would receive. I can stop whining because as I type I've got a roof over my head, electricity, clothes, food, a car, money in the bank,  a  great job, health, family, and the freedom  to have or not, all those things as I wish. Just as I can choose my thoughts and my actions, I can choose joy. 

Within the next year, I will face all of the following: buying a home, owning a home, decorating a home,  giving birth, welcoming a little Warrior of God into the world, attempting to cook while doing all this, and helping plan the wedding of my best friend to my other best friend (I'm the MOH and my husband is the BM and needless to say we are almost more excited about this wedding than we were our own). All this while being prepared for the desires God has placed on my heart, and to fulfill the roll He has called me to in this "little corner of the world".