Life

Nathan and I were watching a DVD a bit ago on the foundations of our country on Christian moral principles. It started off with Chris sailing the ocean blue, and then all of a sudden, they were in the 70's and talking about abortion. There was an illustration of one of the methods of partial birth abortion...and then I lost it. I was crying and felt sick, and all I could do was look down at the beautiful baby smiling at me and waving hello with her little one-handed clap that she learned this week, and wonder why any warm-blooded human being could rationalize such an atrocity. Then I got terribly sad for the countless women who felt that was their only option, and if they aren't already broken over the weight of their choice(s), they will have to face it some dark day. Sad for the babies who haven't had a chance to smell flowers or share their gifts with us all, and who most assuredly feel pain as they are killed. Sad for the Doctors who have to live with blood on their consciences and hands. God forgive us.

Skin Deep

Here's a site you can check out to see what you're putting on your skin (bit only if you really want to know!). I looked up my cheapo shampoo and was appalled! On the bright side though, as we run out of toilitry necessities, and as the budget allows, we've been replacing items with healthy alternatives, like Burt's Bees and Tom's of Maine. (We got Tom's toothpaste at Sam's Club not too long ago at such a great deal, 3 for $9. Woo-hoo! My mouth is minty fresh with it as I type this.) Life is too short to be hyper paraniod about everything we come in contact with, but as much as possible, it's nice to limit contact with harmful chemicals. :) Have a nice day, I'm off to garden.

a WHOLE movie!

Last week Nathan and I had our first date night in forever. We went out for burritos and then saw Prince Caspian, using up our Christmas movie theatre gift cards finally (thanks Drew and Jamiey!). I absolutely loved the movie, it was entertaining and inspirational--though as often seems to be the case, the book is better.
I don't remember the last time I got to see a whole movie in the theatres! I was prepared to take our baby out and walk the lobby if she got sad or if the content was inappropriate. (Yes, we bring our daughter on dates. She's a lot of fun :) ) We were concerned with the scary creatures and battle scenes, as our little Rosebud has an innocence that we want to protect and nurture, so we timed the movie for her nap time, put her noise-canceling headphones on once the theatre got dark, and covered her with a nursing shawl--she slept peacefully through the whole thing! What a wonderful little girl! :)

there is a sun on my leg...

I haven't been on here lately because I've been absorbed with concern for my poor leg and the sun-like spider bite on it. I am going on day five, and the leg hasn't fallen off yet, which I hear is a good sign, so I'm starting to relax now. The following is an account of the events, which though tame, are not for the weak of heart. (nor is the picture I took of my leg two days ago, which I decided to not post here...I put my favorite little Spiderman up instead!)
The bug got me gardening, while holding a baby with one hand and a hose in the other. I felt a sting, but I just brushed at is with my other foot and kept going. (did you guys see my blog on the broken toe? I never pay attention to these things...) That night, Nathan pointed it out--the silver-dollar sized, red raised bite mark on my leg. The next day it got bigger, and the next the middle turned dark yellow and the outside had blood-red spindly "rays" shooting out from it. This alarmed me. My Mother-in-law had some topical antibiotic on hand, so I started using that.
Today the "sun" is all red. Is this a good sign? Is it healing? I have no idea. I should have seen a Dr. in the first, or even in the second place. Sigh.

You have a baby...in a bar...

Tonight we played a show in a cool restaurant/bar and my wonderful Mother-in-law came and held our little Rosebud while Mommy and Daddy and Kyle were on stage. Really though, she was stealing the show being so cute in her noise-canceling headphones :)
When she started getting fussy, we told the crowd I had to take our manager home.
The words of Melanie Smooter from Sweet Home Alabama came to mind. "You have a baby...in a bar."

Positive Post Tuesday- Things Worth Saving

Hmmm, post something positive on Tuesdays? I like it! I also really like my Dad, the most positive person I know and the star of today's blog.

My Dad, Dave, is a witty, intelligent, fun-loving, scuba-diving, fund-raising, photo-taking stock broker in Hawaii. He was a YMCA directer for 25 years (he became one at 19), and helps out with fundraising for countless non-profit organizations such as the March of Dimes, Rotary, the YMCA, The Salvation Army, The United Way, The USS Missouri, The Coalition for a Drug Free Hawaii, and The National Arthritis Foundation. He is a motivational speaker, on the Neighborhood Board, Friends of Hanauma Bay, SME president, and has been the Rotary club president twice (and I'm probably forgetting a lot!). As a stock broker I've seen him work just as hard for the little guy investing $25 a month as he does for the person investing 100,000 monthly. Dave is the best Dad a kid could ask for, and an absolutely amazing Grandpa! He is an all around great guy.

The thing is, he had a pretty lousy childhood. With a handful of drunken step fathers, my Dad had to fight for survival through his trailer-park upbringing--he could have had just as good of an excuse as anyone to mope around and do less than nothing with his life. Instead, he chose to pursue excellence and be the best at everything he put his mind towards accomplishing. His favorite saying is "success is a journey, not a destination."

And of course, behind every great man is a great woman. I don't know where he'd be without my Mom there to support him, so she deserves a mention here! :)

My Dad has an e-mail that he sends out every Monday called Things Worth Saving. (click the link to subscribe). The e-mails are inspirational, uplifting, humorous, and sent with aloha all the way from Hawaii.

destined to be like me

My husband and I were going to wait until our 'lil one got her first tooth to start her on food (God's way of telling us she was ready), and wanted to wait until she was two before giving her occasional sweets. Well, Little Miss. Rosebud had her first taste of solid food this week, though not one pearly white was present. Rice cereal, you ask? Nope. Pureed Veggies? Not those either. For her first taste ever of any food besides her Mommy's milk, she had... a chocolate chip cookie. A loving family member took notice of her interest in his chocolate chip cookie, and without thinking, he offered it to her. Great, now she's destined to have a whole set of sweet teeth, just like her Mommy!

RME

I just made my first sale on ETSY and the woman asked if she could pay with RME. RM-what? I looked it up online, and it's just like paypal, except that it's an actual bank, and they don't charge you a transaction fee to send and receive money! The cool thing about RME is that right now, you get $25 just for signing up! That's 25 bucks you can use on ETSY, or tons of other online stores. You can use the link on my blog to get to their site. I was really excited about it, so I'm telling ya'll.

Squeaky Clean and Mooing!

I was cleaning the house today when the thought hit me: paying someone to clean the house and paying a gym membership is like paying to workout and paying someone else to workout at the same time (plus gas!).

And by what means, you might ask, was I cleaning? I absolutely love Holy Cow! I'm hooked on their all purpose cleaner (it's pink, very pretty). Their products have organic, natural, biodegradable ingredients without toxic fumes, safe for people and the environment. I'm not a huge fan of the streaking left by their window cleaner, but I haven't tried wiping it off with newspaper (old family secret for cleaning windows, try it!), and at least it doesn't make me nauseous like Windex.

Of course, if there were no Holy Cow in the world, there would still be good 'ol fashioned vinegar! It never ceases to amaze me, vinegar cleans everything! Here are 1001 uses for vinegar, check it out! You can add a tip if you know one they haven't posted yet.

Happy cleaning :)

You reap what you sow.

My hubby and I planted a garden and a flowerbed from seeds three weeks ago. The day after we finished, the cold came back. Mind you I'm a city girl, but I've been tenderly watering, painstakingly weeding, and dutifully composting daily, hoping and praying that in just this one case, I could reap what I sowed. For two weeks I watched and waited, while some good-humored, well-meaning nay-sayers told me I didn't water it enough, or that the frost got it. Today my garden is officially full of thriving little baby sprouts! The corn, summer squash, snow peas, carrots, bell peppers, basil, spearmint, tomatoes romaine lettuce, and the row that shall remain nameless (I've forgotten what I put there...) are all happily reaching for the sun. The cucumbers remain shy, but I'm hopeful there. In the flowerbed the sunflowers, marigolds, sweet peas, the ones I forgot there too, and the wildflowers are all doing great. I'm so excited!!! Now if the pests could please just leave my garden alone, I would really appreciate it.