Songs of my days...

To start, let me apologize to Susie for totally stealing your blog topic. I started leaving her a comment on her post, but quit because it was getting way, way too long.

These are the songs that take me back, make me giggle, and make me almost cry.

When I was little, my parents listen to country 24-7 ... so anything from Ricky Skaggs to Randy Travis from the 80's is tied to my youth. I especially liked "All My Rowdy Friends Are Comin' Over Tonight." When I saw that video the first time, I was amazed, and imagined that that was what all adults were like. I wondered when my parents had their friends over for parties. I must have been sleeping.
Oh, and Rainbow Connection as sung by Kermit the Frog. It just sticks in my brain in a way that is mildly comforting.

In middle school, my best friend made me a mixed tape from the radio with all kinds of songs that I hid from my parents. Mr. Big - To Be With You; Proclaimers - 500 Miles; C & C's Music Factory - Everybody Dance Now; Warrant - Cherry Pie; Wreckz N Effect - Rump Shaker... etc. It goes downhill from there. You can imagine that it was a great dance tape...

I also remember spending the night at a friend's house when REM's Losing My Religion was big. Her brother's friend shot milk out of his nose when her brother said he had a crush on me. I still blush when I hear this song - I avoid the song as much as possible.

In high school, I was all about Matchbox 20. I still am. There's something about his voice that I can listen to for hours on end. My favorite right now is still Smooth with Carlos Santana.

In college my hallmates were all over Shaggy's Mr. Boombastic; on Friday nights - Men without Hats' Safety Dance; and anything *N-Sync or Britney Spears. My Sohlmate introduced me to Weezer, increased my exposure to Garth Brooks, and subjected me to Smashing Pumpkins and Blues Traveler. We rocked out together to Green Day and Beastie Boyz, and loved us a bit of Smashmouth, Dave Matthews Band, Sugar Ray, and Outkast.

At our wedding, David and I danced to Garth Brooks' To Make You Feel My Love, and dang if that doesn't make me cry.

Now I still enjoy bits and pieces of most these. I like Dave Matthews, the Nadas, and Green Day. Weezer's still excellent. Garth Brooks can still make me dance or cry, depending... and there are just some great dance songs from the late 80's and early 90's. Most of the time, though, I'm belting out Third Day, Mercy Me, Phil Wickham, Big Daddy Weave, and whatever else I find on a WOW CD. I just bought 2007 and 2008, and they are excellent. I can't believe how many songs they smash onto the disc.

So... what are the songs of your days?

If you become...

Pastor Bil (and thus, I believe, God) often remarks that over time, I will become like the people with whom I spend the most time. In my old stompin' grounds, this was great. I was surrounded by women of strength, by faithful women who weren't fearful of sharing their love of Jesus. This is the woman I wanted to be. So I stepped out. I did what wasn't normal for me until it was normal. And you know what? I loved it. I loved who I was. I felt like my deepening love for God allowed me to shine from within, allowed His light to shine through my body. Now, please don't get me wrong: I had many, many tremendously difficult days, where His strength was all I had to get through. But the majority of the time, I was thankful for His plans, for His will, and for His blessings.

So now that my close friends, linerally-speaking (I don't know if those words work that way, but I'm using them... :) ), don't share the open and obvious love for Jesus, I'm struggling. It's on some levels a fear that they might be put off by who I am and what I'm about. Oh, I am so struggling with that whole acceptance thing. I know, I know. He loves me for me, not because I'm... whatever I think I should be. He loves me because He says He does, regardless of the silliness I decide to engage in. Thank God for that!

Well, I'm working on the struggle for acceptance. It's a lifelong thing, so it's going to take a while. As Daphne, (and thus, God) let me know, it's a process. I'm also working on a level of transparency. I think it's important to show I am a Christian who struggles daily, and I often think I can do a better job than He can. Yep. How's that for transparency? I know I'm wrong. I know that on my best day, His greatness overshadows me like Mt. Everest does an anthill. It doesn't stop me, however, from thinking that I can do this. To show that like every other broken person, I am still working through all the mess I've made, and keep making.

But back to the main idea here... so, if I become more like the people I spend the most time with, how do I stay the person I want to be? More importantly, the woman I think God wants me to be? The woman He knows I can be, and already am, and will always be? I want to be confident in His love for me, and not consumed with ideas of inferiority and guilt. I want to be a reflection of His loving spirit and generosity. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to do these things. I know He'll show me when His time is right. And I'm praying for His grace to sustain me while I wait.

So I'm going to start trying another Pastor Bil (and thus, a God-inspired) trick: doing what doesn't feel normal right now, until it does. I'm going to start talking like I did before, where I give my God the credit He's due for the blessings He's given me. And I'm going to start reading like I did before, refreshing myself through His word and encouragement. And, since I'm sharing this, I'm using another Pastor Bil (and you guessed it, God inspired) trick: holding myself accountable by sharing my stuff with other people. So here's my stuff. Can you make sure I'm keeping up? I know He will.

Ahhhh....

Imagine a breath of fresh air for your mom life. I've found one resource that's been just that for me. I've been struggling a lot lately with the stresses of life, parenting, being a wife, etc., and was at a particularly low point last week when God placed directly in my path just the right medium to reach me. Always having loved to read, I often used this to escape when I was younger.



I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids has proven to be an invaluable resource for me. I don't know about you, but I'm great at guilting myself over all the things I've decided a "good mom" does. Usually, though, those things are not completed, and the things that are really don't add to me, my family, or my goals. Or, if they do, I'm so stressed about making sure they're completed just so that the experience is lost.



I read reviews for it online after I'd read much of it. Most of the negative reviews stem from the idea that these moms are doing one of a few things...

1. Taking for granted the ability to stay home
2. Whining about the best parts of motherhood
3. Being unappreciative of the blessings (either children, finances, etc.) they've been given
4. Focusing on the wrong aspects of motherhood


My response, as well as the response the authors seem to have to these ideas are simple to say, but not always to remember. When you're tied up into the everyday, you lose sight of the ultimate goal. Loving the gifts you've been given is difficult when we add so many other things into our responsibilties as moms. It's somewhat like the way you realize how much your baby has changed when you look back at old photos. He's the same, and different. And I'm realizing how much I'm missing out on right now, by wishing for that what looks to be the ease of older kids. And sadly, what I have already wished away.


Most of what they discuss will make you laugh; some will make you cry (or if you're easily brought to tears, maybe much will do both :D ). I can say that much of the ideas seem commonplace, and are probably wisdom you've already received, or have wisely doled out. However, if you're like me, remembering to take the advice is quite another story.


So... I invite you to try out this resource. I'm thinking that I may order several copies of the book, and do a small discussion group here. I may even take it a step further and try to incorporate Christian ideals that aren't in the book itself. The book does, however, lend itself to this essay I found through Annie's blog. Her entry, It's The Pursuit, People, speaks to the idea that happiness isn't something simply bestowed upon you. Check it out!


On the I Was a Really Good Mom website, there are discussion questions that I think could really spark some intimate, healing conversations that would encourage some deeper thinking, deeper feeling, and deeper friendships that Jon, the essay writer, discusses.


Take some time for you, my sweet mom friends, and enjoy these few resources. Let me know what you think.

Photos anyone?

First, let me say that Crissy is redesigning my blog for me, and it is looking SWEET! I know you'll love her work, and so you'll patiently wait with me as she works her magic for us. Thanks friend!

I've been thinking about things you might like to see... some of these are to make you giggle like I do; others are just to entice your trip-planning. Either way, enjoy these tidbits of our Spanish life.


Our grill's a beer guzzler. No, seriously it takes butano, instead of propano. No, seriously... it does!

Look how long her hair is!?! She adores this pink sweatshirt and asks us to "ix it"(fix it, meaning put it on her) anytime she finds it.

My Sohl boyz painting our Sohl son's room. He asked that his room be blue and brown and black. We gave him two of the three... so it's mostly blue, and we're painting a brown stripe up top. He's got black accent pillows, so that counts, right?!?

My Sohl son... thought he was painting the outlet in this one! He's working on his technique.

He's telling you it's a bridge to Africa with doctors and lions and trees. He is obsessed with Africa right now, and asks all the time if he can go. Of course we're taking him, since we're so close... we just don't know when or where. Any ideas where?

Our backyard. We're still working on the grass.

Our new patio set. The patio is like 13' wide by 23' long, so the table looks tiny on it. Which is ridiculous because it seats six people, and extends to seat 8.

Our view. Every time I'm outside I tell my Sohlmate, "GOSH, it's beautiful here."

A close up of what we can see of Rota.

What we can see of Cadiz. It's usually hazy, so we can't see much from our vantage point, but from other areas, one can see a lot!

My sweet ride. It even has a euro-plate. Oh yeah.

My new fav drink. Mmmm... I love this lemony goodness.

The belly photo. I do not like this.

See, I told you, I don't like this.

But HE does. Oh, and check out our persiana shades. They block out the sun at anytime of the day. They so rock. And roll! LOL!

A plaza in Jerez. There were kids here chasing the pigeons.

Street in Jerez. Just outside a castle too big for me to photograph today... maybe next time.


My little Sohl Gal in one of her new outfits.

Some of the CUTEST food I've ever seen. I think it's marzipan, but I don't know how to say marzipan in Spanish, so I didn't ask.

My Sohl son cashed out on our bed. It was a long day a school today. He looks like his dad, talks like his dad, and sleeps like his dad, too. Awww.

My new cam...

I have seemingly misplaced my camera, so my loving Sohlmate bought me this one. Gotta love a man who likes to buy his sweetie electronics. Since I got it just today, I've yet to try it out. However, you can expect new pictures of the house, the views, and the kids in the next few days. Let me know what other things you'd like to see of Espana. Oh, and if you know the super secret codes to make special characters (like those I'd need to make the n with the tilde over it), please let me know. I hate that all my stuff says Espana and not... well.. you know.

Prayers, please!

Hola!

So I'm going to make this short and sweet! I need some prayers for my Corpus peeps. They're prepping for hurricane Dolly, which as of this post was to head just south. Pray for the people of that area, for their safety and health. If you're in Corpus, be safe my friends, and let me know what's up. The static weather images make me more anxious. I'm watching you!

Pictures!

And now, the moment you've been waiting for... pictures!!


Fountain in Cadiz. They really, really like fountains here.

Churros y chocolate. MMMM... no sugar on these, though many people say that they're better with it. The chocolate is sooo thick and rich, I can't imagine adding more sugar.

C-dawg enjoyed them.

K-Oed. And, yes, we thought he was smoking, too.

Waiting for the train. Andres and Carter were as patient as you could expect them to be.



It arrives!



Watching for our stop.



Waiting for our stop.



Checking the monitor. ARE we THERE??

THE TRAIN STATION!

What more can I say?!?


The tasty chicken, cream cheese, and pineapple croissant, with olive oil chips, and the tiniest fork I've ever used.



The merry-go-round. More like the crazies-go-round.

Cathedral Nueva, circa 1700's, in Cadiz.

Former Cadiz city battlement wall. Now it's a tunnel.


Street in Cadiz.


Sandwich shop I've mentioned before. This particular one has a great view.



Hills of Jerez.





View from Puerto Sherry.



Cadiz coastline, and the coolest power pole I've seen. Ever.



Cadiz.



Cadiz.





Government building on the plaza in Medina Sidonia. Tasty pastries made here since Moorish times. So a while then.



The fam. Bit brisk this day...



My Sohl son's new ride.



Showin' his skillz.



Rota views.





Our hotel room in Marbella.



The pools, viewed from our balcony in Marbella.



Rock of Gibraltar.



This picture doesn't truly show the degree of narrow-ness of the streets of Medina Sidonia.



View from a hillside in Medina Sidonia.





The city hall, which is inside an old chapel, which used to be a castle... in the 1500's I think.



Gorgeous Spanish balcony.



David's meal. Nice presentation, right?!?



My mushroom crepe. Muy delicioso!



A view in Rota.



The cold section at Mercadona, a Spanish grocery store, during the trucking strike. YIKES!



The emptied fruit section.



An example of a Feria dress. These are bright, festive dresses with lots of "flair."

My new Spanish shoes.