If at once you don't succeed...

Try again?

I just received the most amazing camera for my birthday/mother's day/anniversary/law school graduation day.  It's inspried me to record more memories of my little family's precious moments and to document them here as a little keepsake.  Lord knows I'm not into scrapbooking.

Until I figure out how to work the darn thing, here are a few images I've scored in the past two days:

ham

discovering dirt

The Face

"Noculars"

My Beauty

I can't wait to learn how to edit pictures with this camera.  Until then, I'm enjoying the raw images as they are: priceless....

Okay, maybe not priceless, but FANTASTIC!

Rocking a bikini

My sister in law recently was interviewed a yoga instructor for an article she was writing.  One thing stuck with her:  the instructor said that growing up, the best gift her mother ever gave her was that her mother was comfortable in her own body.  "I remember her rocking a terrycloth red bikini" I believe were her exact words.  If I can give my daughter that, along with a deep love for her Jesus, I'd die happy.  Question: How do I do this?

Seriously?  I need to live that- I need to live the truth that God gave me this body, and my worth is not found in it.  And that bodies are beautiful.  And that modesty is powerful.  And that I can rock a one piece...

Any other ands?

It's a start...

So, here I am again: in front of an empty screen.  I started this blog to explore some ideas and record memories.  The thing is, I've always enjoyed creative writing, but I've never been that good about it (or that disciplined).  I'm afraid of being terrible, of no one listening, or, the worst case scenerio, not having anything of value to write about.

What a pitiful quandry!

I suppose the more pitiful thing would be to give up completely and wallow in self-doubt.  So, today, I embrace my empty audience (what a true freedom!) and my keyboard.  I'm planning to try to write every week, even if it is just a word or two.  Literally.

It all goes back to the second grade.  After recess, we returned to our desks and had to write for 30 minutes.  I suppose it was really just some extra time for Mr. Graves to grade tests and catch up on his planning, but I used most of the time for passing notes with my second-grade-best-friend Abby Fulton and the other 5 minutes for journaling.  Mr. Graves gave us a list of topics to spark our writing interest.  It went along the lines of:
1. If I were a dinosaur, what kind would I be, and what would I do all day?
2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
3. If you could be the teacher for the day, what would you do?
and so on.

So, here is my current list:
1.  St. Therese
2.  Cooking with Liam
3.  Raising a daughter- my fears and my hopes
4.  Great Expectations of marriage
5.  My birth story
6.  My love story
7. Kendra
8. My ancestors
9.  Funny patients (HIPPA approved, of course)
10. My dreams

Here we go...

Something Organic

I'm going to stop with all the madness of expectation that I have for myself, husband, children, and life in general (aka this blog).  Of course, expectations are a wonderful tool in life, but when you only have 10 minutes a day for a creative outlet, it's good not to be too hard on yourself.  So for whatever it's worth and to those that may be reading, I'll try to let things occur naturally with this blog...

Here goes!

Enjoy the updated pics of my little fam.  They are too cute.

Recipes? Recipe #1

 Where in the heck are my 'recipes' in my subtitle?  Well, here's one of Liam's favorites:

1 banana

some tofu

blend well. serve fresh.

Quick and easy.  This recipe does, however, have its consequences.  Number one, my mother thinks I'm crazy and refuses to believe that he slurps it down.  Two:  my son refuses to eat anything sweet, delicious, and terrible for him.  (More for me, I suppose!)

phew!  Glad I got that one out of the way.  Now on to writing...?

I turned into precisely what I secretly predicted: a one time post blogger.  I'm going to give myself a run for my money and try another. 

Recently, two of my beautiful friends from Richmond moved (for the time being) to Honduras to serve with the Missioners of Christ.  Their blog was incredibly grounding.  My heart yearned to see the beauty and poverty of Honduras and its people.  I've decided to live through them for the time being with the help of my little friend, St. Therese, who always wanted to be a priest and a missionary and so on...

an intro, if you please

In an attempt to begin something of a literary hobby, I've set up this blog.  To be honest, I think it may turn out to be one of those 'things' that I drop after the excitement wears away.  Ah, well!

A little about myself:  I'm a 24 year old wife and mother of two beautiful men.  I'm blessed beyond belief.  I am a devout Roman Catholic woman. Until July, I am a part-time (to almost no-time) pediatric nurse at MCV in Richmond.    I love to cook, entertain, knit, play soccer, enjoy the outdoors, and travel.  

I hate to categorize myself- though I just did above.  Who wants to be minimized down to a few roles they play out in their day to day lives?  I'm a great adventurer at heart, and no life can be too mundane or unromantic without two things: God, the great Romancer, and a vivid imagination.

I'm hoping to explore these things more.

Until next time,

m.l.e.