on the up side...

Last week Dan sent me the following excerpt from one of our favorite books because it seemed to sum up what we both so strongly believe:

Your mind is unquestionably your most valuable possession. You may lose every material thing you own, but knowledge can never be taken from you. With it, you can earn a new fortune, build a new home, and buy anything you truly desire. No one else can control your thoughts; even the cruelest tyrant cannot force you to think about something you refuse to accept. When you make a deliberate decision to take control of your mind and feed it positive, constructive thoughts, you are on your way to taking control of your life. The thoughts you allow to dominate your mind will determine what you will get from life.

 Isn't that powerful and freeing? To know that  you have 100% control over the way your mind operates- what you allow it to focus on, how strong you enable it to become, where you allow it to take you- all of that is completely up to you. Incredible. 


But, to be honest, there are days- or more likely multiple times each day- when keeping my mind focused on the right things, the positive things, is really hard and I often fail. Unfortunately, my personality type is very unforgiving when I do this and I beat myself up over it. So, I'm working on it, working on progress instead of perfection and working on keeping those communication lines open with God to THANK Him throughout the day for all of those blessings that I just seem to take for granted or overlook as real blessings because they're too small. 

So here goes 5 things I'm thankful for this morning- because it's nearly impossible to let your mind focus on the negatives when your heart is so full of gratitude. 

1. For coffee. Who needs sleep when you have this guy in your life? 
2. For the freedom to work from home when I need like on days like this when I just need to be closer to my family- both physically and mentally.  
3. For the opportunity to take Jackson and Audrey away next week to the beach. 
4. For our new bed. Dan and I finally got a "big kid bed" and the amount of space in that thing blows my mind, I can finally sleep with my legs and arms completely stretched out like I've always dreamed of, no exaggeration. Jackson calls it our "weally, weally big bed."
5. For Dan. Where do I even begin on how amazing he is? 

ONEder Fund

I totally saw this coming. The snow-covered roads, the cars struggling to make it up the hill in front of our home, the school closings... I saw it all coming and prepared yesterday to work from home today- and I am so glad I did. Jackson is at mamaw's, the puppies are already napping (what a life!) and I am preparing for some morning conference calls with lots of hot coffee. I am hoping to finish a little early today so I can go and pick up my little man before there is too much snow on the road for the 5 minute drive over. 

Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you something that really touched me. I have mentioned Kelle Hampton's blog before- she is amazingly inspirational and shares a lot of the same views on life as I do. Well, her youngest, Nella, is just a couple of weeks older than Jackson. And as her first birthday is quickly approaching Kelle has set up a fund to raise money for a cause near and dear to her heart- The National Down Syndrome Society. You can read all about it here and more importantly if you feel compelled to do so in your own heart, you can donate here. 

There are many reasons why I blog. Mainly because I love it, but when a blog such as Kelle's has the power to do something so good, something so selfless for the benefit of others... well, how could you deny the beauty of something like that? 

Back to work for me, but if you're watching the snow pour down outside your windows like I am I pray that you stay safe and warm today!

Peacefully Balanced

As I have been thinking about 2011 and all of the dreams that I am dreaming for this year I became incredibly inspired by something I read on Lisa Leonard's blog (she was inspired here on Ali Edwards). The idea is to choose a word each year to focus on, thus inspiring you and pushing you towards living whatever that word is. 


So, I was inspired to choose such a word. I began to pray about it and two words kept coming to mind: PEACE and BALANCE. After praying some more I decided that I would choose "peacefully balanced" for 2011. I love it. When I say those words I immediately feel more at peace, more relaxed... as if the stresses and pressures I put on myself are all of a sudden given permission to leave my body. 


On their own, these two words just felt incomplete. Lacking something. But, when I put them together they felt magical and exactly what I need to have in my heart every day. PEACEFULLY BALANCED doesn't mean dividing my life into equal parts. It means prioritizing what really matters and dividing my time accordingly- that is true balance. Time spent not equally, but appropriately. And that is very personal and will not be the same for any two people. The "peacefully" part comes into play when I realized that when I do make those priority choices on where my time is spent I need to be at peace with it. Be at peace and just let it go.


It is being at peace with the piles of laundry that are just waiting to be put away while I am reading books and playing with Jackson. 


It is missing a run on the treadmill for going to bed at a semi-decent time because my body needs the rest.


It is not being on the fast-track for promotion by being 'always connected' to work because my family comes first. 


It is not harassing Dan to please put away his things because it's really just not that big of a deal.


Peacefully Balanced in all parts of my life. That is the resolution.


Simply communicated, complicated to do. But I am going to pray about it and focus on it and look at these words every day and let it all sink in. Sink in so deeply that eventually I will fill up with peace and balance and I will exude peaceful balance in every way. 


Do you have a word... what is it? Thank you, Lisa, for the inspiration!

diez, dix, deset, عشرة, עשר, dieci, assara, ten... MONTHS!

jackson philip is 10 months! that's a lot of months if you ask me. months that have each brought new skills, new developments, new memories... and it seems like with each new month the amount of stuff he learns each day grows and grows and his personality is bigger than ever. i see so much of both dan and i in him. dan claims his attitude is one of those things he inherited from me, but we all know that could not possibly be the truth. sweet, sweet boy, i love you so much. the amount of love and joy that you bring to so many lives every day is something you may never understand, but trust me you are cherished to an almost ridiculous amount. 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Morning

It is officially Jackson's first Thanksgiving! 

I was very excited to share in his first Macy's Thanksgiving Parade viewing experience. I was even MORE excited because this year the Purdue Marching Band lead the entire parade. JP and I were jumping up and down watching- or rather I was jumping up and down while holding him... either way, my future boilermaker and I were so proud!

All of the excitement really wore Sammy out...

Now JP and I are off to the grocery store while Sammy and Dan nap. Dan has been having to work nights because of some equipment outages at work, so unfortunately he is missing out on the long Thanksgiving weekend of festivities. We are hoping he'll be able to have dinner with us before he leaves for work again tonight. 

More to come later!

Giving Thanks #14

Being the month of 'thanks-giving' and all I knew that one of my thankful moments would be directed towards my husband.  I am honestly very thankful for him. One thing I have noticed lately is that I am especially thankful for the things that come out of his mouth. Well, actually for roughly 67% of what comes out of his mouth. You see, these words I speak of do 1 of 3 things: 


1. Make me laugh
2. Make me think 
3. Make me want to scream and/or roll my eyes and/or slap him (this is that 3rd of the time that I am not thankful for when he's trying to get a "reaction"...)


Let me give you a few examples of some of the things he has said in just the past few days. I'll leave it up to you to decide which of the above categories each fits in to. 

#1: Context: We are driving in the car when we see a sign that is announcing that Santa Claus will be at a local church in a few weeks for children to come and meet. 

Jessica: "We really need to start thinking about what our stance on Santa Claus is going to be. I don't want Jackson to think that Christmas is in honor of him and not Jesus and I also don't want to paint this big lie for him for years... you know? So, what do you think our stance on Santa Claus should be?"

Dan: "That he ROCKS"

Jessica: "Hi, welcome to an adult mother/father conversation."

#2: Context: Out of nowhere (which makes it even more great) he starts telling me about how he asked the guys he works with 'what is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?' 

Jessica: "So,what is yours, what is the best advice you have ever been given?"

Dan: "Well, I am still narrowing it down, but I am down to my top 3 which are:

1. Do unto others what you would have them do to you.

and the other two are from C.S. Lewis which are

2. Don't judge anyone. Because even if you consider yourself a good person that doesn't make you better than anyone. You see, you have no idea what they are going through or where they are coming from in life.

3. When you get to heaven you are going to have eternity to live over every single decision you ever made and you will feel one of two things: shame or pride. So, don't do a single thing that you will ever be ashamed of."

#3: Context: Normally in the mornings Dan wakes up, feeds the puppies, makes us coffee and is out the door to work in less than 10 minutes. Meanwhile, it takes me at least a very efficient hour to get Jackson and I out the door. Dan is totally ignorant to what this takes. This morning he was home because he has to work through the night tonight so he's home during the day. So, after he watches me run around like a crazy lady getting everything ready for the day and I have Jackson all buckled into his carseat and ready to walk out the door he says to me:

Dan"So this is all you have to do every morning? This is it?"

Oh, husband... LOVE you!

giving thanks #13

I am so thankful for beginning my week and day with this beautiful sunrise. I snapped this with my phone from my mom's driveway this morning after dropping off Jackson. God is such a talented artist!

so full of THANKS

Please forgive me for my slack-ish ways in giving thanks each day. Please excuse me while I now catch up with a re-cap of some big things, some small things and some in-between things... I believe I left off on #5 in my quest for 25 days of Thanksgiving:


#5: For many of the unusually warm days that we have had recently. It has given us extra time to be outside, to take walks, to go to the park... 


#6: A "thank you" in advance for some SNOW hopefully soon!?! It is so much more fun to get into the Christmas spirit with some of that yummy, fluffy white stuff flying around. 


#7: For my eldest puppy son, Sammy Davis, who I love so much. His fair share of affection and cuddling has decreased significantly this year with Jackson's arrival, but he has handled it like the mature big brother that he is. I just can't get enough of his fluffy little face that lights up every time we come home. Dogs really have the idea of unconditional love down much better than the rest of us I think.


#8: For my faith that keeps getting stronger. I prayed for a very long time that God show me the way to a better relationship with Him and that prayer gets answered over and over again, especially this past year. 


#9: For Peppermint White Mochas at Starbucks. For coffee in general. I am in so much trouble when I have to give it up again whenever baby #2 comes along. 


#10: My my nieces and nephew. I am so thankful that Jackson is going to have so many best friends to grow up with. He and Josie already seem to have an amazing bond that I just adore. 


#11: For my magnetic, dry erase family calendar that hangs in the kitchen that I'm pretty sure nobody except me pays attention to (i.e. Dan ignores). It makes me happy nonetheless.


#12: This face. Even when it is covered with sweet potatoes and God only knows what else...

To be continued... someone is up from his nap!

Days like this

I am eternally thankful for days like this. Days that include maximum one-on-one time with Jackson, quality time with my mom, introducing JP to my favorite bookstore, shopping at my favorite grocery market and just total peace and relaxation. 

 JP and I have been reading books together since the day he was born. We read at random times throughout the day and always right before bed time. His love and appreciation for books has been a work in progress. He used to just fall asleep when I read to him. Then he would try to tear up the books. This of course progressed to using them as a teether. Now I think most of the time he truly enjoys story time although the biggest bonus in his mind is that the longer I read the farther away bed time becomes. I can only imagine how much more thrilling that will become to him over the next few years.

Aside from the countless educational and developmental benefits of reading to him, I also do it because I love reading. I always have. For as long as I can remember I have been in love with books and this is a passion that Dan shares with me. So, JP was destined to be a book nerd as well, like it or not. 

Walking into any bookstore is an instant mood-booster for me. It is my "candy store." I just can't get enough and I could spend all day going aisle to aisle, reading bits and pieces of this and that, trying to contain my almost uncontrollable urge to buy way too much. Today was no exception- especially since I was in my all-time favorite book store. If you have never been to Joseph Beth Booksellers and you have one near you, I highly, highly recommend that you go. 

Today was especially special because for the first time I was able to experience the children's section of Joseph-Beth for the first time with my little man. And by children's "section" I really mean children's wing because it in itself could be an entire store on its own, complete with a story time area, toys, puzzles, you name it. Jackson LOVED it and thought he was big stuff playing alongside the bigger kids. Mama and Nanna both came in at a far second place in comparison.  

We managed to tear the little man away with minimal outbursts and came home with some treasures- flashcards, a few books to add to his collection, some magnetic wooden ABCs for the refrigerator and some spanish learning books. That is what this mama considers a successful afternoon at the bookstore! 

Day #3 of Thanks-Giving

sometimes (most times, really) it's the most simple and seemingly basic things that end up making my day and for these things i am thankful this morning...

starbucks holiday cups are out

i went to bed earlier than I have in over a year twice this week

candles lit throughout the house

the way jackson's face lights up when he realizes dan & i are watching him play

work-from-home fridays

my purdue alumnus magazine that came this week with drew brees on the cover

heated seats in the car

it is FRIDAY

that snow "flakes" are in the forecast

the holidays are right around the corner

that jackson now sticks his tongue out and proudly points to it

pandora.com

this video, please watch it: www.KomenPhiladelphia.org/Video

my fuzzy warm uggs

jp all bundled up in his winter clothes

those are just a few that quickly came to mind. there are so, so many more. i am one lucky lady. it's easy to forget that sometimes. it's funny how easy it is to remember all of the things going 'wrong' but how quickly we forget the many, many more things that are going 'right.' so i'll add one more to the list: i am also thankful for this month to focus on giving thanks.

Day 2 of Thanks-Giving

I need no words today for day 2 of Thanks-giving. I need only these photos of the best (almost) nine months of my life:

"25 Days of Thanks-Giving"

I have always tried to be pretty positive about Mondays, trying to look at them as the start to another week full of adventures and opportunities, but that all went out the window yesterday. My Monday was full of all the things that have given Mondays a bad reputation throughout the years. Nothing detrimental. Nothing major. Nothing even worth discussing. But along with my bad-attitude-package came my failure to begin what I wanted to begin for the month of November which is "25 Days of Thanks-Giving." 


The idea is that in honor of Thanksgiving, I will take the time to write about one thing that I am thankful for that given day. Maybe a person in my life, maybe a new opportunity, maybe something entirely basic but often taken for granted... it could be anything really, because I honestly have been blessed with way more than what I deserve or need. And, if you wish, you can play along and add something that you are thankful for by commenting below. So, lets get this started! Since I missed yesterday I plan to make up for it by writing 2 "thankful" posts today.

Day 1 of Thanks-Giving:

This morning I am so thankful for the little signs that God seems to be always sending my way. Little messages of encouragement. Little hints about which way to go. Little affirmations that I am doing the right thing. One that I came across this morning- just a few minutes ago- was this quote that popped up in my inbox:

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude...nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."

-Thomas Jefferson

I so needed to read that this morning. As you probably picked up from what I mentioned above, yesterday was not the best of days and I needed a big time attitude adjustment about some things. Well, one thing in particular. My job. It is just frustrating me a lot lately and I have allowed it to get me down. But seeing this quote this morning reminded me that it's all about my attitude. And today I am choosing to take back my attitude, let yesterday be history and move on with the confidence that things will improve. That I will be shown the way to what "better" looks like and how to get there. That it's all going to be okay. No, better than okay. It's all going to be amazing. So, thank you, thank you, God, for always picking me up when I stumble. Thank you for always reminding me that I have within me every thing I need to deal with whatever challenges are put before me. And most of all, thank you for reminding me to always put things back in perspective when I allow myself to jumble life up in my mind. Today is a new day!

The story of our rocking chair...

This is somewhat of a tangent. A sleep-deprived tangent. To begin we must rewind to 2 and a 1/2 years ago. The day after our wedding. Before we left for our honeymoon, Dan and I went to Lazyboy to order new living room furniture. I think they were having a big sale and we didn't want to miss out I guess- I don't really remember. It must have been Dan's idea or at least it sounds like something that would be his idea. Anyway, another of his idea's was to include in this purchase a recliner that we really didn't need nor did I want. But we got it. And it never really was used.

That is until the past 9 months. It is now in Jackson's nursery and has been used a lot. Used a lot for rocking and cuddling and story time. And in this chair I have had more moments of clarity and inspiration than anywhere else in the world. I think it has something to do with the magic that comes when you're holding your baby in your arms in the quietest, darkest hours of the night. When the world seems to come to a stand still. When nothing else matters. When there is nothing that could possibly match the peace that you feel in your heart. All of this combined sparks something inside that allows me to dream bigger and better than ever before. 

And what has really been hitting me hard the past few days is that I have only a finite number of these moments left with him. Because like it or not my little man will only call for me in his sleep so many times to come and rock him and love on him and cuddle him back to sleep. Like it or not there will come a day when the very idea of me cradling him in my arms will embarrass him deeply. And while that day is far away (thank you, God!) it will be here far sooner than I like to admit and the brutal truth is that these nights in themselves are already getting fewer and farther between.

Yes, I am actually sad that my handsome little man does not wake very often at night anymore. This must sound like utter lunacy to any one who has a newborn, but trust me, the day will come when you will cherish those moments when it's just you and your baby and the rocking chair and your dreams and those chubby little fingers locked around yours. And when that day comes you will do as I have been doing... you will hold him a little closer, hug him a little tighter and rock him a little longer.

From Blind to Bold

Every Sunday morning I take notes during church service. I'm am avid note-taker everywhere I go. I stash little bits of wisdom in my journals and read back through them when in need of reminders. I have done it for years. I love these little notebooks of inspiration that I have accumulated- they have served me very well.


Today's message has inspired me to more consistently share my sermon notes with all of you. I am going to do this each Sunday because as I learned today "genuine gratitude (for all of God's grace and blessings) requires that we tell others what Jesus has done for us."


Dan, Jackson and I are so blessed to have found a church home that has completely filled us with faith, hope and love like never before in our lives and I hope that by sharing I can pass a little bit of that on to you.


Today's message came from John: 9- the story of the man who was born blind but was given sight miraculously by Jesus. Many lessons can be learned by such miracles. Miracles that God still provides us with each day. One such lesson is that God is ALWAYS capable of (insert the miracle you pray for), but He is just waiting for us to believe. Once we put our faith in Him, once we pass our burdens off to Him, once we truly believe that only He can make these miracles happen.. that is when he will make things happen for us. Maybe not in the way we think they should be done, maybe not on our timeline, but He always provides a way- the perfect way.


In this story in The Bible those around the blind man wanted to know what sins he or his parents had created that caused him to be blind. As if God would give blindness to someone as punishment. Jesus corrected them, he explained "Neither he or his parents sinned... this (the blindness) happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." Jesus knew that he needed to act out such miracles that had tangible results to help the weary and the doubtful see that he was the son of God, that he did have the ability to create miracles. It's amazing to think that He creates such miracles for each of us constantly and yet we still doubt Him. But, as a good Father,  He will not give up on us, He will continue to bless us, love us unconditionally and guide us. He is just waiting for us to really believe in Him, to really live our lives the way He meant for us. 


I think I have really blinded myself to so much over the last couple of weeks. I have allowed way too many distractions to blind my eyes to the most important things, allowing "stuff" to get in the way. This "stuff" is what lead me to get a little of course, deflating me a little bit. "I was blind, but now I see." But, today is a new day- another day to focus myself on living life the way it was meant to be lived. To go out and soak up all of the beauty God has given us and to give a little beauty back to Him by spreading love, faith and hope wherever I go. 

Lovely, lovely little things...

I am sure most of you have seen this video- Jessica's Affirmations:



This video has had more than 3 million views online over the past few months. Now, she is incredibly adorable and it is pretty hilarious, but there are a lot of videos online that are adorable and hilarious. I think the reason we love watching this so much is that we are in love with how freely and openly she is in love with her life. How much she appreciate every thing, every little thing. 


Can you imagine how much happier we would all be if we really thought about how much we love so many of the things in our life? The little moments that we breeze through way too quickly? How amazing it would be if we all took more time to savor the moments that mean so much. 


Here are a few very random, very simple, very "small" things that I am loving from the past few days: 


that jackson is a complete rockstar and now sleeps through the night again (or at least has for the past few nights- HUGE progress). that today my dad watched jackson all on his own for a couple of hours- i don't know why, but that made me happy that they had that one-on-one bonding time. also, that today my aunt sandy helped watch jackson for an hour- i love that i have the best family in the world who will drop anything to help us when we need it. that my grandma is now HOME- she has so many challenges in front of her to beat this horrible disease, but she has already come so far from where she was a couple of weeks ago- miracles happen!. that my mom e-mailed me the other night to tell me a story about my 14 year old brother- she said that he was eating an ice cream sandwich and was telling her how good it tasted and how "it really took him back to his childhood"- he's such a wise old man in a 14 year old's body. jordan (younger brother) also went to the courthouse this week to research some family history- i love that he is so interested in learning more- he is such a knowledge-craver, i love that about him. that one of my best friends is due on friday with her first baby- i love that she's about to experience the most amazing thing ever. that fall is right around the corner- my favorite season. that i received the sweetest, most beautiful email today from a blog follower- to quote her she said that my post this morning helped "feel like a big hug from God"- it doesn't get much better than that. how jackson now gets angry in the mornings when i turn on the lights- it makes me laugh every time, how does he already know to get grumpy because it's time to wake up. 


I could go on. and on. and on. but i won't, because like i said, my child is finally sleeping and i'm still crazy enough to stay up way too late every night. so, i'm now forcing myself to bed!


Good night and sweet dreams!

Counting Blessings

Yesterday was one of those days that flew by in one big rush. One of those days when I was running around so quickly from one thing to the other that I didn't have one moment to really stop and take a breath. One of those days that I have been trying to hard to avoid because in reality, none of those things that I was running around trying to balance really matter in the scheme of life. They matter for my job- which is important, but they don't matter enough to sacrifice my sanity. So, today, I'm starting fresh and counting my blessings. Because I'm finding that when I make myself count my blessings all of my stresses seem to disappear or at least get put into perspective....