Happy Valentine's Day!

John & I just got back from seeing a movie. By ourselves. Thanks Mom & Dad! It was nice to have a real date on Valentine's Day. The first Valentine's Day John & I spent together, I made him a collection of hearts that were reasons why I loved him. If I could go through those today, I'd probably find that some of those reasons are irrelevant. But I'd guess most of them are the same- because I love my valentine even more 7 years later. Here is an updated short list:

Reasons I have the best Valentine- I could go on all day, here are the first 5 I can think of:

1. I have a husband who accepts (& excells at) the $10 Valentine's Day gift limit. That takes time & creativity, and it really speaks my love language. Thanks honey.
2. My daughters have a dad who gets really excited about Daddy/Daughter dates and treasures his moments with them. And who cries when he hears the SCC song "Cinderella." What a GREAT dad.
3. My husband worked on his off day so he could golf with my dad on Friday. It is wonderful for the two most important men in my life to enjoy spending time together.
4. My heart still fluttered when I read his Valentine's Day card.
5. While Valentine's Day was very nice, I can honestly say that it isn't much different from any other day of the year. I have a thoughtful, romantic, generous, creative, loving, wonderful husband. Any given day could feel like Valentine's Day.

And here is an unusual love song- in case you're tired of the mushy stuff on the radio... It might sound a little silly, but I think that it's perfect:

That's How Your Love Makes Me Feel Inside
by Diamond Rio

I'm no poet and I know it
I don't use five dollar words
This might not sound like much compared to all the pretty things you've heard
But here's how I'd explain it since you brought it up
It won't sound like anybody else's version of love

It's like just before dark
Jump in the car
Buy an ice cream and see how far we can drive before it melts kinda feelin'
That's how your love makes me feel inside
There's a cow in the road and you swerve to the left
Fate skips a beat and it scares you to death and you laugh until you cry
That's how your love makes me feel inside

It might not be more suitable for greeting cards and such
But it's a true and honest feeling and if you feel it half as much
We could go through life together without a worry or a care
Knowing deep down in our hearts that we've got something special here

I have always heard you can't put love into words

It's like just before dark
Jump in the car
Buy an ice cream and see how far we can drive before it melts kinda feelin'
That's how your love makes me feel inside
There's a cow in the road and you swerve to the left
Fate skips a beat and it scares you to death and you laugh until you cry
That's how your love makes me feel inside
That's how your love makes me feel

What's your favorite love song?!

I am a very sentimental person. I love looking through old photo albums and remembering. I can be instantly transported back to certain times in my life simply by putting on different scents. (I recently found an ancient bottle of Bath & Body Works Country Apple lotion and had some major high school flashbacks!) I'm addicted to Facebook because it helps me reconnect with special people, places & times in my past. And finally, I love thinking back over the musical soundtrack of my life. Earlier this week, I heard the following song on the radio. I hadn't heard it in years, but I still remembered every chord- even the sound of the guitar player's fingers on the frets. It was actually the first thing I learned to play on the guitar, although I've long since forgotten it. I hope you enjoy the video- if you can ignore the black fingernail polish and 90's hair-band hair.




Hearing this song made me think- what would I consider the best love songs of all time? I can't even begin to list them. I'd have a million different criteria- there'd be a list for creative lyrics (which would have to include "That's how your love makes me feel" by Diamond Rio.) I could list songs by the melody and musicality, by the mushiness factor, by all sorts of things. But at the end of the day, the best songs to me are the songs that make me remember. I think about dancing my first slow dance to "Everything I do (I do it for you)" by Bryan Adams. I remember smiling dreamily whenever I heard certain songs in high school- including our prom theme "Now & Forever" by Carole King. I think about the time my friends made me watch Pure Country in college and how I still love the song "I cross my heart" by George Strait. I remember my Uncle Tye, and his memorial service, and my deepened appreciation for Cole Porter and the Gershwins whenever I hear an old standard. I can immediately flashback to the summer I met & fell in love with John by hearing any number of songs- some of them aren't even love songs; they range from worship songs to Destiny's Child! Of course there are the wedding songs that remind me how I blessed I am to be married to him. I also remember the summer we fell in love with parenthood and one tiny little girl, all while listening to John Mayer's "Daughters." I could go on & on, but I won't try to bring more songs to mind just for the sake of blogging. I'll wait, and let the songs and memories find me. It's so much more fun that way!

"Memories, like fingerprints, are slowly raising..."
~Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town by Pearl Jam

"I Like Lady Moxes"

Last night John took Hannah on a Daddy-daughter date. They went to watch the Lady Mocs play basketball against the College of Charleston. Before they left, Hannah kept asking what the team was called. When she finally got it down, she said, "Oh good! I like Lady Moxes!" More than the basketball game itself, she liked the cheerleaders and the halftime show, the Gym-Masters from Southern Adventist University. She liked wearing face paint and silly pigtails. She also liked the soft pretzels, popcorn (until she ate so much her belly hurt) and ice cream. This morning, when she woke up, she liked seeing herself on the 11:00 news we saved on the Dvr. I can't figure out how to embed the video, but here is a link.

But most of all, I think she liked spending time with her dad. She is blessed to have a dad who loves her and wants to share special moments like this one with her. I am blessed to have him for a husband. Thanks, John, for loving our girls!

Not quite 10...

Well, I was a little disappointed when I went to weigh in. I have lost a pound since last week, but it wasn't enough to break the 10 lb. mark. That's the frustrating thing about nursing- my weight fluctuates so much depending on how long Lydia slept that night or how much she eats or any number of other random factors. But it's okay, I'm still losing weight; I feel healthier, and my clothes are starting to fit right again.

10 down, 10 to go...

Well, unless the lovely weather today drives me to make a mad dash to Bruster's this evening (stranger things have been known to happen- and we have a gift card sitting right in front of me...) I expect to weigh in for our Biggest Loser competition tomorrow morning and break the 10 lb. mark. Hooray! John & I have been keeping track of Weight Watchers points as part of our new year's resolutions. Lydia is still nursing, so I've not been doing any heavy duty dieting, but I have been watching portion sizes and avoiding really bad foods (by the way, check out the worst foods in America, according to Men's Health, here. The number one will blow your mind.) We've cheated a little here & there because 1) We had to have brats for the superbowl. John's rule. 2) Well intentioned people keep leaving donuts in our Sunday School room- that is my BIGGEST weakness... And 3) We never pass up free food. That's my rule. If John orders pizza for a referee meeting, the rest is coming home. If they are throwing away food in the kitchen at church, I will be bringing home containers full. I hate to waste it, and I LOVE to save money on my grocery bill. I guess I'm cheap like that (isn't there a previous post about that?) Honestly, sometimes they throw so much away, I feel like we need to have a back-up plan to get the food to Community Kitchen. Anyone of you know how to go about doing that?

Anyway, back to the diet. We've cheated a little, but we've been pretty good. I'm probably going to blow it when my parents come into town this week, but that's ok. We've built up some pretty good habits, so that even when we blow it, we're not eatting as much (or as poorly) as we could be. If I blow it, I think I want to go to Five Guys. Or eat Mexican. Or a Chinese Buffet. Of course, there's always Bruster's...

Oh yeah- I found this hilarious blog about ridiculous cakes: Cake Wrecks. It is (mostly) helping me NOT want to eat cake. And conditioning my stomach muscles because it makes me giggle! If you check it out, you have to go back to see the entry from Christmas. It's one of my favorites.

Downsizing?

A few months ago, I noticed that the NutriPals snack bars I always buy for Hannah were on close-out at the grocery store. Usually they were around $6 a box, so I only bought them when I found them on sale or had a coupon. When I came across the close-out sale, I stocked up! My girl is a super picky eater, and with these bars she at least gets some nutrition even if she is just snacking while she plays or watches Max & Ruby. Well, the stockpile of snack bars ran out a week or two ago. Yesterday at Publix, Hannah saw them while I was picking out jars of babyfood. I noticed the price- $3.99 for a box. Now, we love shopping at Publix, but the deals there aren't that great... I wondered why they closed out the old only to bring back new, cheaper ones. Aside from a few new cartoon characters on the box, I was stumped- until after dinner when Hannah wanted a bar for dessert. I opened the box and pulled out the highly anticipated "s'mores bar" and started laughing. It was TINY! Like half of the size of the old ones! In fact, I had an old one in the diaper bag for "blood-sugar emergencies" (aka temper tantrums) so I pulled it out to compare.


It's hard to tell because the older bar got a little squished in our diaper bag (I carry everything but the kitchen sink; it's a wonder it didn't disintigrate all together!) but the old one was 1.41 oz, compared to .78 oz for the new one. Seriously? I mean, I guess Hannah did have a hard time finishing the old ones, but now we're popping two at a sitting! AND that "nice" new price? When I used to get the old ones on sale, it was MUCH cheaper. Even if you factor in the full old price, I'm now getting 1/2 as much at 2/3 the price. I know the economy is bad, and everyone is taking a hit. But not only are people worrying about losing their jobs, they are worrying about skyrocketing prices. NutriPals snack bars aren't a necessity, but what about milk? Here in Chattanooga, it's not unusual for milk to be as high as $5 a gallon- and I'm not even talking about the organic, no growth-hormone stuff I try to buy for my girls. I clip coupons and shop sales, but I am fortunate that I do not have to worry about if I can provide nutritious food for my children. Millions of people, here in the US and all over the world, are not so lucky.

I recall hearing someone not long ago talk about how heart broken he or she was to see poverty and starvation. It can shake your faith to the core. But when this person cried out to God, to ask why God was allowing this to happen, why God was not feeding the orphaned, the widowed, the oppressed, a funny thing happened. God asked them the same question. WE are Christ's hands & feet, and His serving utensils too. If we are fortunate enough to be able to utter a frustrated laugh when we see the price of our favorite snacks increase, what are we doing with the blessings we have? Rob Bell shared a startling statistic in his video "Rich"- The money it would take to wipe out world poverty is about equal to the amount that Americans spend each year- on ice cream. Meanwhile, every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related causes. Makes that scoop of Rocky Road taste a little bitter...

What can we do? There are all sorts of small things churches and individuals all over the country can do- 30 hour famines (which takes place this month), Rice Bowls, sponsorship through Compassion or World Vision, donations to Heifer International, buying fair trade products to ensure people a living wage, even just visiting a website. On a local level, you can participate in canned food drives- (your mail carrier will even pick it up for you in May!) and keep snacks or fast food gift cards with you to distribute to people you see on the street. While there are systemic things that need to happen to truly end world hunger, each of us is called to act- to be faithful in the small things. For more reading on hunger & poverty policy, check out this website: Food First. Also, there is an awesome blog kept by two Social Justice teachers who tried to live on $1 a day. It is very eye-opening. My intention is not to give you a guilt trip today, but my prayer is that we can be more determined to feed God's children. Jesus says whatever we do for the least of these, we do for Him.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" (Matthew 25: 34-36)

Some Sunday Sappiness

I wanted to put a video on here today for a few reasons. For one, I am tired and don't have a lot of original words of my own. And I was thinking of posting something Superbowl related, like a favorite commercial, but Don Miller beat me to it. Check out his blog for today.

So, I started thinking of other videos I have thought of posting from time to time, and I decided on this one. Be warned, it is a little sappy. This song has been one of my favorite lullabies for a long time- I sang it to Hannah before she was born. I've been singing it to Lydia, too. Last night I was blessed to be nursing Lydia while Hannah settled into bed, and I got to sing it to both of my "babies." I remember it best from the movie Beaches, but it is originally from Dumbo. Hannah & I recently had a little pj party in Mommy's room & watched Dumbo together- it tore me up! Especially this scene- all you mommies, grab your kleenex.