Blue Bag Barrage

Plastic Shopping Bags are littering up our neighborhoods and I can't stand it! Who's with me? The above pictures are of my neighbors front yard. The blue bag in the tree has been there for, now get this....3 YEARS!!!!! Now I'm just waiting for the one on the ground to get blown into the tree so it can also stay there for a ridiculous amount of time. Lucky for them it won't have the chance to get blown up because I will be going over there to pick it up and put it in the pile of plastic bags to go to the recycle bin. Just the other week I removed a blue bag out of another neighbors bush that is no higher than my knee and was there for a good month. Now, why is it that it was not removed sooner? I mean, one would have to walk by it and ignore it or not care that it's there or are too lazy to go over and pull it out...which one is it, huh, huh? Granted, the one in the tree is high, much too high to reach without a ladder but you better believe that if it was in my yard, I would have that sucker down the first chance I got, even if I had to drag the ladder out myself. Also, seeing as though they do not cut their own grass, why don't they have there landscapers go up in the tree to remove it when they are doing all the yardwork? Simply put, there is absolutely no reason it should be there 3 years. The kids in the neighborhood talk about it and us neighbors also talk about it because we just don't get it! Please take pride in your home and yard, it's simple really, it's just the responsibility you have as a homeowner. If that is just not your thing, don't own a home, live in a condo, townhouse, cluster home or apartment so that responsibility is someone elses.

SO, the next time you see a plastic shopping bag "hanging" around a neighborhood and it's within reach, don't walk by it, yank it out and do away with it the proper way, PLEASE!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me...

Husbands...

What...??? Did you actually think that I was going to go on to saying something condesending or tell you about an argument or vent to you about my husband? Nope, won't hear that from me. Chances are you won't ever hear me say something negitive about my husband on a social network or in public, ever! You will never see us fight, call each other nasty names or treat each other less than the way we should be treated. It's just not who we are, it's not the way I was brought up to act like a scorned wife to the world when something doesn't go my way. Lucky me that my husband knows how to treat a lady. He puts me on a pedestal and makes me feel like I am a princess everyday, which in turn makes me want to do just about anything for him. Think I'm kiddin, I'm not and that is exactly what I want my children to grow up seeing. We've been together 20 years and married for 14 of them and I still have the best time with him. Go ahead say that it's not reality to be like that all of the time, well of course we live in the same world as everyone else with up's and down's but it's how you deal with them that makes or breaks a couple.

Recently our little Sophie was laying with us in bed and she was looking at our wedding rings (we call them love rings over here) on our hands and says, "What if you guys got divorced, lots of people do you know." We said that she doesn't have to worry about that, that mommy and daddy love each other very much. We asked her where she heard that and she said it was from watching her shows. It got me to thinking how sad it is that marriage is portrayed like divorice is the norm and no big deal. I see this around me all the time.

I was a member of a group on facebook that I think was called Mommies or something like that and basically it was a place that mom's can get advice for kids and things they are going through and for the most part it is a good place for that. One day though a mom/wife posted about coming home to her stay-at-home husband and walking in on him smoking around the kids. She went on to saying how mad she was and how inconsiderate he was and went on and on with name calling etc... As I was reading the comments from others I was getting so annoyed at all the other moms out there that didn't see anything wrong with the whole thing. Granted, while all that may be true as far as smoking around the kids being horrible, I can't help but think that blasting your husband on a social network is probably not the best way of handling the situation. I think that if the tables were turned and he was doing that to her and she happened to read that, how hurt would you feel? I voiced my thoughts on her post and was told that it was a place of venting. Maybe so, but to me I could have found a dozen other ways to have handled that situation. Needless to say, I removed myself from that group because I didn't want to read that kind of stuff. Thinking to yourself that that was no big deal? Well to me it's just one more thing that I don't agree with so why be a part of it.

Then there are the commercials that show the husband being a bumbling fool or an idiot in the kitchen or with finances. Oh please, those drive me nuts!!! This type of thinking is so mainstream it makes me mad! Shouldn't we give respect to get respect?! You better believe that my daughters will grow up to respect themselves so that they will expect nothing less than to get respect from others and that includes boys. My son will know how to respect girls and know that chivalry isn't dead. I want them to know that just because something seems to be the norm, doesn't mean it is and it's the right way. Hey, if thinking this way is wrong, I don't want to be right!
Here is a beautiful verse about love:

Song of Solomon 3

1One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover.

I yearned for him, but he did not come.

2So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city,

searching in all its streets and squares.

I will search for the one I love.”

So I searched everywhere but did not find him.

3The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds,

and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”

4Then scarcely had I left them

when I found my love!

I caught and held him tightly,

then I brought him to my mother’s house,

into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived.

5Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and wild deer,

not to awaken love until the time is right.^a

Cooking like a Jamaican Grandmother

Neil and I went to Negril, Jamaica for our 10th anniversary and it was the best vacation ever! We not only went there for vacation but we also renewed our vows on the cliffs of the Caribean Sea. It was so romantic and beautiful and I could have stayed in that moment forever. Anyway...decided to take out my Jamaican cookbook that I got while visiting and make some Rice and Peas for dinner tonight. Here is the recipe:

A Day in the Life

Last night while pulling down the covers of the girls beds, I couldn't help but notice how unbelievably messey Anna's room was. Not that I haven't noticed it every other time I went in her room but it seems after all the holidays and birthdays, it has gotten worse and last night was the last straw. I told her that today after homework, she will start cleaning it. She reluctantly agreed but I know better than to think that once that homework is done today, the, "I don't want to do it now, I promise I'll do it later" excuses will be flying out of her mouth! Yeah, not buyin it! So today comes around and I have this crazy urge just to do it myself because if I clean it, I can throw out a bunch of papers and junk that she would most certainly save and stuff somewhere. The old, out of sight out of mind trick. I know a lot of you are thinking to yourself, "Why the heck is she doing that, it should be Anna's responsibility" and you are a little bit right, however, not all the way right. Sometimes if you want it done a certain way and you know it's not going to be, you just gotta do it yourself.

So...I cleaned it and got a garbage bag full of junk that is now in the trash. Oh what a great feeling that is to me! All is right in the world when the house is clean! Don't worry, she doesn't get off that easy. Little does she know that I left her closet just for her to clean and it's a walk-in so it'll take her awhile.

Funny, while I was cleaning her room I started thinking what comes around, goes around...when I was younger, my room was a complete disaster most of the time and I would give my mom the hardest time about cleaning it also. Now that I'm a mom I totally understand the frustration my mom had about this same thing.

Cleaning to me is one of those things that I don't like to do but can't stand when things are not done so as my husband says to me, "You run a tight ship!" I would have to say he's right, I do. I can't leave dishes in the sink dirty overnight no matter what time it is. It will bug me all night. Toys get picked up and put away where they go, every evening. All beds made each morning. Yeesh, typing all this stuff makes me sound like a drill sargent. Trust me, I'm not. Wouldn't you agree that when all those things are done, you feel better? Well I do. Call me weird, it's ok. If I would let everything go, I can only imagine what this house would look like with 3 kids. There have been times when I would treat myself to a professional house cleaning and this place would be spotless and I mean spotless. How long do you think it lasted? Yeah about a day if that.

Well, Anna baby is home...time to spring it on her what I did for her. Until tomorrow...

"Let Food be thy Medicine and Medicine be thy Food” Hippocrates

Seems my life revolves around food and I'm not really talking about the act of eating it, although that's a big part of it. I'm either doing any number of these at any given time of the day, everyday, which includes but is not limited to: planning it, cooking it, cleaning up from it, talking about it, watching it, shopping for it, putting it away, savoring it, storing it, getting someone to eat it, washing up for it, budgeting for it, driving to it, starting clubs to support it, fundraising with it, working with it, thinking about it, celebrating it, making a hobby out of it, wishing for it, getting sick from it, staying away from it, dieting because of it, exercising to have more of it and of course eating it. Sometimes it makes me crazy! Oh believe me, I find enjoyment with most of those. I think that food brings people together. It's just that a few of them are just plain exhausting! Today is so far an exhausting food day. I mean it's not that I even did a lot of cooking (that was yesterday). Today I did a lot of cleaning up food. Everything I gave baby Neil to eat, ended up on the floor. Fun times!

So while we are on the subject...Let's talk about the word "Foodie." epicure: a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink).
I believe that makes me one except I also think that the word can be thought of as being snooty or uppity at which I am not but it is those types of foodie's that give the term a bad rap. Let me tell you a story. This is one of my favorite memories about food and my dad when I was little. I was about maybe 4 till around 6 or 7 yrs. old, we lived in Parma, OH and my dad worked the 3rd shift at General Motors. On Friday nights I would be allowed to stay up until my dad got home from work at about 11:30-midnight. I thought it was the best because every Friday he would bring home a foot long Mr. Hero Hamburger and we would share it as a midnight "snack." Oh sure my mom and brother were probably there too but in my memory, it was a special thing just between my dad and I. I couldn't wait until Friday came around and I would look forward to it every week. My parents also called me the French Fry Queen when I was little because I loved McDonalds french fries. Now does that give me warped thoughts on food? No, not at all, it gave me some great memories. I am just sad that those days seem to be gone in this world of everyone giving their two cents worth on what's healthy and what's not and eat this not that and being made to feel like you are a piece of crap mother if you let your kids have fast food. I think that's rubbish and I'm not gonna stand for it! If I wanna post a facebook post that says I love me some Mr. Hero, by golly, I'm gonna do it because it's true, I do! Do I enjoy a Big Mac every now and then, you betcha!

Ok, now I'm gonna tell you another story and then you'll see where I'm going with all of this... When I was 7 yrs old my family moved to Middleburg Hts., OH where I grew up on 3 1/2 acres of land with the metroparks in my backyard. So what did my parents do with all that land? They built a huge garden. Actually I take that back, they built a huge vegetable garden, a nice size herb garden, a rose garden, an English flower garden and  multiple other flower gardens to landscape the property. Then one year my mom mentioned to her sister that someday she wanted to raise chickens. So that following Mothers Day, my uncle brought over 40 pullets (teenage chickens) and a rooster we named Hugh Heffner. For awhile they lived in huge connecting cardboard boxes in our garage until my dad could build a barn, which he did. After that, we were known as the people who had a farm in the suburbs. I was known as "Chicken Trapp" in school and when I would tell people what we had at my house the first question I would get was, "You live where?" So my memories of growing up was of eating fresh eggs with yolks so golden that eating a store bought egg was bland. We also had fresh fruits and veggies in spring, summer and fall and my mom's canned ones in winter. My mom would always make homemade bread, we never had store bought. When the chickens got older, my dad would butcher them and we would eat the meat. We also had rabbits, birds, a dog and occasionally I would bring home random wild animals until I could find them homes. A couple times a year a friend of my dad's from work would have to fly on business to Maine, so we would have him fly us home fresh lobsters that we would pick up from Burke Lakefront Airport and eat that night. It was a real treat! Oh and on top of all this my dad is a huge fisherman so it was a usual thing for him to limit out on Lake Michigan or Lake Erie perch or stealhead or walleye at which he would clean and my mom fry up immediately and we ate them like potato chips.

So you see, I know what good healthy food is and I feel very blessed to have been brought up with such experiences. Life is about enjoying every teeny tiny bit of what God blessed you with. Don't deprive yourself of anything because it will only make you want it more which will give you warped thoughts on food. However, if you want to make a lifelong personal choice to...not to eat fish because it's "smelly", only eat meat on Wednesday's, be on a fruit only diet, only eat green food, never eat standing up, only eat when the sun's shining or whatever it may be, hey it's cool with me. I'm not going to judge you, all I ask of you is not judge me for how I choose to raise my family on food!

Sweet Sayings by Sophie

Last night at dinner Sophie asked me, "Mommy, if i asked you who you love more, who would you say...me, Anna or baby Neil?"

That is a loaded question and my answer was this: "I love Anna so very much because she is my first baby girl. I love you very much, Sophie because you are my last baby girl. I love baby Neil so very much because he is my only baby boy. So you see, you are all special to me and daddy. "Ok so yeah, who do you love more?" Apparently my answer wasn't what she was looking for...can't win!

"...and the Greatest of these is Love."

1 Corinthians 13:13
Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.

Those of you who know me, know that I love, love! I mean, who doesn't right? I love to give love, receive love, see others in love, see others expressing love, the list goes on and on... So it's only fitting that I talk about love in the week of, well...Love.

I couldn't imagine a life without love, it's that important to me. You could have everything in the whole world but if you don't love, you have nothing. Pretty straight forward statement huh? Well I didn't make it up I just simplified it. It also came from the bible, here's the passage in full:

Love Is the Greatest

1If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^a but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages^b and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

11When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.^c All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

 

You probably have heard parts of this passage at weddings, it's popular to put in vows. We used it in our wedding. How could you not "love" it. The neat thing about love is that you can love in so many different ways but everyone of us loves someone and/or something. I personally have so much love in my heart, I could burst thinking about it all. Their is seriously not a day that goes by that I do not take the opportunity to say, "I love you" to my family and along with that I always follow it up with a kiss or two or five. I probably say it multiple times a day and I love hearing it in return. I usually end phone conversations with my husband, kids, parents, sister, nephews, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, extended family and some friends with, "I love you" and I 100% mean it if I say it!

 

If you look at verses 4-7, it tells you the ways to love and I vowed to do every single one of them, however, I probably have fallen short at times. I am forever working on patience because they get tried daily, usually by my children. Ahh, but they are children so it's my job to teach about love by being the example. Not easy sometimes, it's a work in progress. Another one that I've fallen short on is verse 5 "It does not demand it's own way" I know their are times that I expect someone to act a certain way or say a certain thing and when it doesn't happen the way I want it to or thought it would, I am disappointed. This happens a lot in this age of emails and texts, it's so hard to tell a person's tone and because of that, things get misunderstood. What usually works for me is to talk about it with someone, who then makes me see it a different way and then what I was upset about usually looks pretty silly. Sometimes even writing it down and reading it back helps me see that I am usually overreacting. I've probably been jealous a time or two as well, hey it happens. I guess I could find fault with myself on each one of them.

 

Here are some fun facts on Love:

 

1. Historically, sweat has been an active ingredient in perfume and love potions.^g
2. Engagement rings are often worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because the ancient Greeks maintained that that finger contains the vena amoris, or the “vein of love,” that runs straight to the heart. The first recorded wedding rings appear in ancient Egypt, with the circle representing eternity as well as powerful sun and moon deities.^l
3. Roses are a traditional symbol of love and, depending on their color, can suggest different nuances of love.ⁿ For example, red roses indicate passion and true love. Light pink suggests desire, passion, and energy; dark pink suggests gratitude. Yellow roses can mean friendship or jealousy. A lavender or thornless rose can mean love at first sight. White roses mean virtue or devotion. Some roses even combine colors to created more complicated meanings.^k
4. Since ancient Greece, the apple has been a symbol of love. The Celts believed that the apple represented love because it lasted so long after being picked.ⁿ
5. A four-leaf clover is often considered good luck, but it is also part of an Irish love ritual. In some parts of Ireland, if a woman eats a four-leaf clover while thinking about a man, supposedly he will fall in love with her.ⁿ
6. The maple leaf is a symbol of love in China and Japan—and in North America, it was often engraved on beds of early settlers to promote peaceful sleep and pleasure.ⁿ
7. Many cultures use knots as symbols of an eternal love that has neither a beginning nor an end. Young Muslim women would send love messages to their lovers using intricate knots.ⁿ
8. The herbs associated with Venus (marjoram, meadowsweet, mint, thyme, and violet) are said to be love inducing when mixed with those herbs sacred to Mars (basil and broom). Spreading them on the floor or scenting the bridal sheets with them supposedly evokes feelings of love.ⁿ
9.  People are more likely to tilt their heads to the right when kissing instead of the left (65 percent of people go to the right!).
10. The oldest known love song was written 4,000 years ago and comes from an area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
11.  Men who kiss their wives in the morning live five years longer than those who don’t.

I heard this today on the radio, see if you can name what movie it came from, "I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!" It's actually one of our family's favorite Christmas time flicks to watch. Yeah, it's Elf and Buddy is boasting about falling in love with Jovi.

I could talk about love all day but I'll spare you my sappiness. Just tell someone you love them, don't miss the chance, you may never get it back!

 

  

---

A Wife of Noble Character

Proverbs 31:10-31
^{10 [a]}Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

¹³ She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
¹⁴ She is like a merchant’s ship,
bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.

¹⁶ She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
¹⁸ She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamp burns late into the night.

¹⁹ Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber.
²⁰ She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
²¹ She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm^[b] clothes.

²² She makes her own bedspreads.
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
²³ Her husband is well known at the city gates,
where he sits with the other civic leaders.
²⁴ She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to the merchants.

²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
²⁶ When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.
²⁷ She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.

²⁸ Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
²⁹ “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”

³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
³¹ Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

Ok, you are probably wondering why I picked this to write about today? Well, I know this passage well. That doesn't mean I have it memorized but I know enough about it to explain it to others. Actually the real reason I know it well, is that everytime I go to my parents house and sit in the kitchen, I look at the cross-stitch picture of the passage that my mom made, hanging on the wall. At many family parties it becomes the topic of conversation. We joke around by going through each verse and discussing how we are not virtuous women or we try to rationalize the ways we are virtuous women. Either way, our discussion brings more questions and some laughter, poking fun at our rationalizations.

 

In today's world, 2,000 years after this was written, one would think that it would be easy to be a virtuous women, with our advanced technology and fast paced lifestyle full of convience, however, I believe in these times, it's harder than ever...or is it? Do you want to be a virtuous women? In my very traditional beliefs, I really do. I wish I came close to saying I am one but at least I can say I try every day. Raising two girls also makes this passage extra important, because I know in this world, striving to be virtuous is a goal I want for each of them. My sweet husband never fails to compliment me on the many ways I am and that makes me feel good. Sometimes my kids would beg to differ though and I'm still waiting for the time they stand and bless me. Yet being that my job is a stay-at-home mom, I feel the pressure of proving to myself and others, that I am in fact virtuous and more precious than rubies. Believe me, I am in no way talking down about myself, I, like anyone with an important job, wants to be noticed for doing it well. There are days though that I look at other women and think to myself, "Wow, she's got it going on, I wish I could be more like her." but I quickly remember that in my little world, I got it going on and I don't want to be anyone else but me.

Look, no one women can be all of these things all of the time, I mean, I'm not making my own bedspreads, inspecting fields, buying them and planting vineyards (although that would be pretty neat) but the verse that sticks out to me and I really try to remember above all others is verse 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Which verse speaks to you?
 

Jumping on the Blog Bandwagon

I'm sure it's no big surprise to anyone that I have a lot to say on facebook. So although I knew some of what I was writing was better suited for blog content, I resisted starting one. Why? I'm not really sure. Maybe I feared that once I created one, people wouldn't find it interesting enough to read. Maybe I just didn't want to take the time to learn to write one. Well, I have since changed my thinking and I want to welcome you to my little area where I'll share the goings on in the day in the life of me. Lots of things happen in Our House, sometimes I'll share a story, a tip I've learned, a recipe and even my epic fail's. I guess you could call it a journal of sorts. Anyway, if you stop by, I hope you find it worth coming back to check things out and say hello because everyone is welcome at Our House.