Things I Love: Growing Older

Today is Ground Hog's Day.  For most of you, that means nothing except that a ball of hair is either gonna make your day by saying Spring is coming early or make you want to fry him up for dinner by saying winter is staying longer.  For me, it means adding another year to my age.

I know some people who want to hide from their birthdays and pretend they aren't getting older.  As for me, I'm so grateful for one more year.  What a pleasure it is to look back and see how I'm not who I once was.  Each year I'm being made new--more compassionate, more patient, more disciplined, more affectionate ... more.

Sure there's more of me too.  More wrinkles on my forehead.  More cellulite on by butthigh.  More blond peach-fuzz on my upper lip.  More.

In the end, though, I'll take the the "growing older" badges of honor with pleasure because crow eyes have nothing on a lifetime of laughter and wrinkles can't diminish wisdom earned (sometimes the hard way) and fuzzy lips can't stop a smile and cellulite ... can be hidden by a good pair of Miss Me jeans.

So as I climb the hill every so slowly, one year at a time, I'm determined to do so with grace and humility--being grateful for a life well lived.  Each day. Each year.

What I Think About: Facebook

Ah Facebook.  I love hating you.  Or maybe I hate loving you.  It's so hard to tell.

Watch this.  It's important.  And it's from Easy A--a movie I big fat love!




I took a Facebook break during the season of Advent and it was amazing.  I never knew I would miss Facebook so little. On the other hand, once I joined and stalked all my friends' pages, I realized how much I missed.  What's a girl to do?

Real Simple did a whole spread on Facebook in their  January 2012 issue.  It was great to see all the reasons why people hate Facebook.  And yet, we're still logging in.  As for me, I'm still logging in because it keeps me connected to a community of people I actually talk to; I don't want to miss out on that.  But I'm also logging in less because, as luck would have it, I can talk to these people on my iPhone and e-mail without all the irritating updates.

As a point of comedic relief, here are the top 10 updates I hate seeing on Facebook (which is precisely why I log in less):

1.  The "I'm digging for you to ask me about it" bragging update.

**I just got the best present!
**Test driving a new car!

This update can also read like like: 


The "I'm digging for you to ask me about it" sympathy update.

**Could this day get any worse?
**Life sucks!

2.  The "I will shove my religion down your throat" update.
** I just finished day 12 of the How to Parent a Christian child book and I feel so bad that all the rest of your children are going to hell.  But for mine, I'm going to discipline them and support their decisions.
**Don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church.

3.  The "Clearly Facebook is my agenda book so I will write my to do list on here so every one knows how busy and important I am" update.

**Today I'm going to eat breakfast, workout, read the newspaper, drive to Denver, eat at Old Chicago's, and buy a blue shirt."

**First I'm going to work out then I'll pick up the dry cleaning, and then I'll go tanning.

4.  The "Facebook users must know what I'm eating" update

**Tonight I'm making crescent rolled hot dogs with orange jello for dinner.
**Going out to Chili's for nachos!  Boom!

This is more irritating when it's a normal meal.  If you are making Scallops Saint Jaques, brag.  Hot dogs--keep it to yourself!).  Oh, and pictures of food?  Seriously, if you aren't a food blogger WE DON'T CARE!


5.  The "If you aren't in my political party you are clearly an idiot" update.

**Michelle Bachman is a witch!
**Don't bitch to me about the President.  I voted for the American.

6.  The "I know this is painfully obvious but I'm going to say it anyway" update.

**It is so cold outside!
**The Broncos won!  The Broncos won!

Thanks for the update folks but I have windows to see the weather and sports center to check scores.  Move on.

7.  The "I'm not clever enough to come up with my own status so I'll use a status update tool or post a photo with some lame, misspelled quotation on it" update


**Reagan is poking you with a spork.

This is funny.  That does NOT make it a status update.  The end.

Source: i.imgur.com via Reagan on Pinterest

9. The habitual "Oh dear God I am so in love with this man" update. 

(NOTE: complimenting your spouse or saying "I love you" every now and then is cute.  Doing it daily is irritating.  Use walls for that--not status updates.)

**My husband is the most magnificent man in the world!  I love him with all the lovely lovey loveness that I have!  And his arse ain't bad either.
**My beautiful bride brought me powdered donuts in bed.  I am so in love with the donut deliverer!

10.  The "I don't have a journal so I'll use Facebook" update.

**I'm at my wit's end!  Seriously, the dog puked on the carpet, the kids drew on the walls with permanent markers, and my Mother-in-law just chewed me out for typing in the address bar of her computer!"
**Last night I put on my swanky black thigh highs and slutty lingerie and did things to Dale that made the neighbors call the cops!

What I think is Facebook can be fun.  And irritating.  It's a love hate relationship.  Darn it!

Share your best/worst facebook pet peeves or status updates.  Or if you need to, confess to the above and resolve to STOP doing it! Thank you to Shell at Things I Can't Say for letting me Pour My Heart Out.  It's been a long six months.

Days of Play: Hide and Go EEK!

You've played Hide and Go Seek.   Really, that's for amateurs.  When you're ready to play big time, try "hide and go EEK!"

This game was introduced to me by my friend Krista.  Her family swears by its awesomeness.  My family ... agrees!

How to play:

Same rules as hide and go seek EXCEPT you don't want to hide from the searching person, you want to scare them (and make them go EEK!)  So get behind that closet door and where your seeker turns his/her back, jump out and yell EEK!  Bonus happy points if you get them to jump!

Music Monday: Hot Hot Heat

As I write this it is cold and snowy in Wyoming which is precisely why I decided it was time to blog about Hot Hot Heat.  My husband introduced me to this Canadian indie rock band.  They aren't my absolute fave but I like them.

Bandages




Talk to Me, Dance with Me (with a little cowbell!)

 


 21@12 (wait for it ... wait for it ...)

 

Fashion Friday: Fashion To Make

During the holidays I got an e-mail from a friend noting they hadn't "seen" me on Pinterest in a while.  The reason?  I was making the stuff on Pinterest.  Duh.

Glowmen.  Milk Paint.  Gingerbread nativity sets.  It was all very fun--almost as much fun as pinning.

Anyhow, I have a whole board devoted to stuff I want to make and, not surprisingly, a lot of them are fashion pieces.

Sooooooo .... here are a few of my faves.  And since my birthday is next week, go ahead and whip up one of these awesome little numbers for me and send it my way.


This shrug is made from a T-Shirt. The directions are for a little girl but I'm pretty sure it'll work for big girls to {ahem, me!}

Source: brassyapple.blogspot.com via Reagan on Pinterest

An Anthropologie scarf knock-off (because you can never have too many scarves. Neither can I. Just sayin')

Source: sewingin-nomansland.blogspot.com via Reagan on Pinterest

I must make a cute cover for my Kindle (wouldn't this be amazing in grey with a pink K?)

Source: curlybirds.typepad.com via Reagan on Pinterest

{Sigh} I need some crafty-fashion time.

Things I Love: Finding New Blogs

I don't have one of those ridiculously popular blogs and I'm okay with that.  I do like to read ridiculously popular blogs.  I also like to read little blogs that make me think.  Or laugh.  When I find a blog that really "resounds" with me, it kinda makes my day.

If that makes your day then let me make your day by suggesting a few blogs I just can't get enough of!

Spirituality:


If you like:
A Holy Experience--This blog is UBER popular and penned by the author of 1000 Gifts.  This blog is encouraging. It is convicting.  It has beautiful pictures and lots of free stuff!

You should try:

Only a Breath--A real, honest exploration into living faith.

Real Life:


If you like:

Things I Can't Say--The famous blog who I link with every Wednesday.  Shell is totally down to earth.  Funny. Sad.  Amazing.  I totally relate to her!

You should try:

Naptime Notes-The not-as-popular but just as believable journey of a mom, wife, and woman.  I love her photography and the simple way she lives life and faith.

Food:

If you like--

Kbelleicious or Our Best Bites--two quintessential food blogs (not counting Pioneer Woman)

You should try--

Frontier Kitchen (okay, this isn't a new blog BUT it is my fave food blog.  Seriously.  Look at the comments.  I try everything!)

Budget Bytes--Good cooking, on a dime.  Excellent recipe for baked pumpkin oatmeal and the world's yummiest, fluffiest, pillowyest naan!

Fashion:


If you like:


The Good Life for Less--a popular fashion blog dedicated to helping you tackle the hottest trends on the smallest budget


You should try:


GS Lillian-Baubles and Babble (and she's not afraid of color!)  Oh, and she's also not a college student!

What I Think About: Six Months Ago

Six months ago this week I wore a black dress.  I took a deep breath.  I shared these words with those who gathered to say goodbye to my mother.

What is love?  A gentle kiss on the cheek from a friend?  Words whispered in the ears of a lover?  A mother nursing her baby at breast?  Who now can comprehend love?  Define it?

I've seen love demonstrated to me a million ways yet one experience dwarfed everything I knew about love.  It challenged how I define love, how I feel about love, and how strongly I believe in the power of love.  In the end, I believe Death Cab For Cutie said it best, "love is watching someone die."

At the feet of Jesus, did that disciple, that mother, that follower understand the magnitude of love and how even in death, love frees?  Only love can fully permeate the darkness--a single beam of light in the dark.

Love is meeting a woman in hotel lobby, becoming best friends, and forming a bond so deep that no one would question why your children call that woman "Aunt."

Love is building a fence with a backdoor neighbor and spending thirty-odd years celebrating birthdays, laughter, burdens, and sorrow.

Love is lasagna prepared in the kitchen of concerned friends who want to help but don't know how.

Love is an e-mail sent at 6:30 am telling you that  you are loved and being thought of.

Love is a text at midnight from a husband who can't miss work telling you to hold your mom's hand while he prays for her--a couple hundred miles away.

Love is a Facebook message of encouragement and a promise to send strippers and tequila instead of a plant (I'm still waiting for both the tequila and the strippers but the flowers were lovely."

Love is old friends traveling far from other countries and states to say goodbye and to reminisce about how your mom stole exit signs and only drank once but was so drunk we leaned against the garage wall to keep it from falling down, rather than the other way around.

Love is hearing the tale of how your father met your mother and how, when they married two years later, they had only seen each other four times.

Love is the friend you joked with about aliens crying with you over a mom she loved, too.

Love is the in-laws who take the children so you don't have to cry in front of them or answer inquisitive questions about heaven.

Love is a care package from your mom's group stuffed with a good book, chocolate, tea, a journal, and liquor.  Of course, liquor.

Love is the people who know when to give you space and when to over-stay their welcome; the ones who know what you are really saying with each "I'm fine" or "I'm okay."

Love is caring for a lover like a child; love is sacrificing dreams of what could have been for moments--good or bad--that simply are.

Love is standing in the kitchen telling your son-in-law that if you knew forty-two years ago how it would all end, you would still do it all over again.

Sitting in a room, surrounded by family, watching my mom die, I finally understood love.  Even in her death, my mom teaches me--about life.  About love.

Love is messy.  It is not easily quantifiable or explainable yet is so simple the wholeness of it's meaning is expressed in three little words.

Love brings great sorry and great joy.  It makes you cry as easily as it makes you laugh.

Love is both random and steady--a feeling of falling and a matter of choice.

Love lives and though the ones we love may die, love never dies.  It grows.  It breaks.  It changes.  It stays the same.

Although we may be miserably broken over love, nothing can match the hope and joy that comes with having loved.  Love defies reason yet it is a reason.  Perhaps the only reason.

All I've learned about love is love is all there is.  In life--in death--love is all there is.  In my brokenness and sorrow I can celebrate the love of my mother.  All I am, all I hope to be, I owe to her.  Surely there is not greater legacy than love.

 Thank you to Shell at Things I Can't Say for letting me Pour My Heart Out.  It's been a long six months.