Mom on the Make

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Slow Down and Blog

December 4, 2012 by Mom on the Make 3 Comments

Blogging takes the mundane happenings of every day life, and makes them special.

It is through sharing our stories and photos that the beauty of our lives shine. Before my blog, I was not clear on the significance of journaling and writing in our daily quest to stay sane as Moms.

Now, it is crystal clear.

The truth is, as Moms, we are crafty, resourceful, good cooks, multi-taskers, nurses, playdate organizers, party planners, therapists, chauffeurs, and the list goes on. We have a lot on our plates, and sometimes it is difficult to appreciate the little moments each day. Blogging makes it much easier for me to slow down and enjoy, because I’m paying attention to the details so that I can share them in a post.

I’m finding out there’s quite a bit of joy and beauty in the every day to record on my blog.

For example, when I wrote a post about our visit to the zoo back in April, I was so inspired by my own photos and stories from that day, that I wanted to visit the zoo again, soon. Now, I have been to the zoo plenty of times since having kids, but I had never felt the need to hurry back for a repeat visit. I felt differently this time because I slowed down to thoroughly enjoy the animals and their habitats.

While slowing down, I took photos of the sleeping lions, kooky anteaters, swimming sea lions, cool polar bears, and waddling penguins, to name a few. I captured our moment there, and recorded our memories. In the past, before my blogging days, I would wander through the zoo aimlessly, glancing at the animals, and maybe taking a snapshot of my three kids standing by a marble lion. And, that was it. I was never really present in that moment.

Now, when I go to the zoo, I get into the cages of the animals with my zoom lens and capture their personalities, look them in their eyes, watch their movements, and click my camera at just the right time. The right time could be a lion’s yawn, the first moment the anteater finally emerges from his very long nap, or the moment the bengal tiger stands up and shows off his glorious orange and black fur, while taking a big tiger stretch. Thoroughly enjoying and being in the moment, is when you will notice the beauty of the life that surrounds us. Knowing that I will record my outing through writing and photography motivates me to notice more.

Cooking is another every day event that offers many beautiful details.

Food is gorgeous. I am not an expert photographer by any means, but I have never seen my meals and desserts look so appetizing since I started recording their beauty through photos on my blog. I mean, seriously, I have made my great Grandmother’s recipe for Rocky Road Brownies a hundred times, but did I ever stop to snap a photo of this decadent delight that’s been in the family for 60+ years? No.

I’m finding out now that I should have slowed down a long time ago to capture the beauty of this dessert. The layers of chocolate brownie, marshmallows, walnuts, and milk chocolate topping are tantalizing when seen up close with my zoom lens. I also didn’t know my tamale pie recipe was so pretty, or that peanut butter cookies could look like a work of art when photographed right out of the oven.

You can even find beauty and humor during run ins with your kids, if you take the time to reflect on them. Hectic school mornings are a mainstay in most Mom’s lives. Who knew that by sitting down and writing about a particularly unruly “getting ready for school” morning that I could feel better almost immediately?

After a particularly hectic morning, my feathers were ruffled and I was not a happy camper after finally getting my third child off to school on this nutty morning. When I sat down at my laptop to discuss how messy the morning routine turned out to be, I was chuckling out loud to myself. This was just a few minutes after the morning routine ended. Quick recovery, I’d say.

Before blogging, I would have been set on a low simmer of anger all day due to the horrendous morning. However, by writing my post, my spirits were not only uplifted, but I was cured of the anger bubble forming in the pit of my stomach. The cure was simply writing about the morning. In my writing, I recounted what my three little ones said and did that morning that made it so messy. By writing about my kids and the roles they each played in my hectic morning, the personalities of each of my little ones shined through, and I smiled. Yes, there can be beauty even in times when your storage tank is running empty on patience.

I’m so glad I found a place to maintain my sense of humor on this roller coaster ride of Motherhood. That place is my blog.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: blogging, me time, writing

An Important 15 minutes

October 18, 2012 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

In my quest to become a better writer, I am writing almost every day in response to various prompts.  Today, I am writing in response to the prompt “write about the most important 15 minutes of your life”, and the response needs to be in real time.  Here it goes……

Now, I’m pretty sure these are not the most important 15 minutes for me, but it was the first memory that popped into my mind, so I went with it.

I think with prompts, you should always go with your first thought.  Its more fun that way.  If you think and over think your response, it doesn’t seem quite as real.

The first thought that pops into your mind, I believe comes from your subconscious.

The subconscious works in strange and mysterious ways.  I’m picturing the subconscious as a large file drawer of memories shuffled away.  When prompted, I’m picturing the “subconscious librarian” pulling a file and saying “oooh, I got a great one for you….here!”  And it pops to mind instantaneously.  Yeah, this makes sense.  I’m sure this is how it works. 🙂

So, here’s my response……

It is two days before my wedding.  I am sitting in my hotel room, doing yet another trial run of my make up application for the big day.

Even though I’m focusing right now on my make up, all I can think about is the possibility of slipping or tripping on the way down the aisle.  I am obsessing about this detail like nobody’s business.

The aisle to walk down is very long, and even though it is made of stone, still there is a chance that I could trip, fall on my face, watch blood drip down my face, falling onto the beautiful lace at the top of my gown, and ruin my whole day.

I am telling myself right now that I have taken all the necessary precautions to prevent slipping or tripping.  Just last week, I purchased ballet slippers that have a suede bottom.  I mean, a suede bottom.  Have you ever known someone to slip while walking with suede bottomed shoes?

Last week, I was so relieved to come up with the idea of suede shoes, that I had a moment of peace about this fear.  That moment has passed, and here I am two days before the actual wedding, and am nervous again.

So, tomorrow is my rehearsal at the chapel, where I get to try out my new suede bottomed shoes.

Here I am on my rehearsal day, driving over in my parent’s rental car to the chapel.  I am carrying my shoes in my bag wrapped in a plastic bag to ensure no scuffing.

When I get out of the car, I see my fiancé looking so handsome in his dark grey suit.  His dimples are huge as he smiles and opens the car door for me to get out and join him.  I am now looking up at the tall gothic style chapel adorned with beautiful stained glass windows.  Breathtaking.  We are getting married on our college campus where we met.  For more details on our story, I’ve written about how I met my hubby here.

Now, the moment of truth.  The most important 15 minutes of my life.  Will I walk down the aisle in my new white, suede bottomed shoes with zero slippage?

The wedding party is lining up right now and beginning their practice procession down the aisle.  There are smiles and giggles and jokes being shared, I can hear from a distance.

The organ is starting to play the march where I am supposed to start walking, oh no……nerves again.

I am placing my ballet slippers on the stone floor and they feel as sturdy as ever.  My face seems to be loosening up, wait I actually feel a smile emerging.  I’m lifting up my head now to look down the aisle instead of nervously at my shoes, and I can see my fiancé beaming at me way down at the end of the aisle.

Ok, now I’m actually having fun.  There is zero slippage or really any threat of tripping anywhere.  In fact, I’m not even thinking about it right now.

Its amazing how this 15 minute window is changing me from a worried little soldier to a beaming soon to be bride.  Wait, I’m actually thinking about how fun the reception is going to be and about the cool blue waters of Hawaii, where my new hubby and I will spend 10 days for our Honeymoon.

I think I’ve successfully kicked my shoe obsession.  Relief.  Let the party begin. 🙂

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: memories, writing

Falling

October 16, 2012 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

I received a prompt to “write about falling”.

Here it goes…..

Falling seems to show up most in my life in my dreams.

There was the dream where Mountain Man and I were driving up the most mysteriously windy and narrow road to a mountain top that could not have been more than 4 feet wide.

I remember I was terrified.  We were going out for a getaway and got lost.  This super windy mountain was something out of a Dr. Seuss novel.  In other words, nothing like this exists in the real world.

The mountain was purple and as we drove up the mountain, the road became narrower.  When we were at the top, the car flew through the air, and we started falling.

The scenery surrounding this Dr. Seuss type mountain was similar to the Grand Canyon, except there were lots of colors that do not typically present themselves in nature.  Purples, bright greens and blues all over the mountains and rolling hills below.  There was a purple stream flowing.

I could see all of this as we were driving up, and then as we were falling down.

Whenever I have a falling dream, I tend to wake up right at the point where I start to fall.  I usually wake up sweating and terrified.  They are always the most real dreams for me.

Another dream involved my son, the youngest of my three kids.  I have mentioned this dream before in my strange dream post.

I was dropping him off at preschool one morning in my minivan, and as I walked up to the front door, I noticed a swinging wooden gate to the right of the preschool entrance.

When I looked over the swinging gate, I could see that there was a huge cliff as soon as you stepped through the gate.  The cliff and the back drop resembled the Grand Canyon exactly.

It was eerie because the preschool in the dream looked exactly like my son’s preschool here in our small town.  This made the dream even more real for me.

I was trying to be brave and understand that the preschool teachers knew what they were doing, and surely they were aware of this ominous gate that lead to an almost certain death if anyone dared to push open the swinging gate.

However, as I drove away in my dark blue minivan, I was shaking and crying.  I did not feel safe at all.  All I could think about was my son falling down the cliff, after pushing open the swinging gate door.

I quickly turned my minivan around, and hastily thought up a believable excuse as to why I had to pick up my son so quickly.

A dentist appointment that I forgot about seemed like the perfect excuse, and I went with it.  I rushed back and let myself in to the preschool.

I signed my son out and placed him in the safety of his carseat in the van, and breathed a sigh of relief.  I woke up at this point, and remember feeling very scared.  Immediately, I got out of bed at 3 in the morning, and checked on my precious baby boy, and all was well.

Climbing up ladders in my dreams also happens quite often.  I will be climbing up an extensive ladder that leads up to the sky, and then start falling off it.  When the falling starts, I wake up.

Apparently, dreams can really take it out of me, especially when actual falling or even just the prospect of falling is involved.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: memories, writing

Teddy Bear Cakes and Broken Arms

October 15, 2012 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

I was in kindergarten.

We had just moved to a new desert town, where I turned six shortly after the move.

…

Read More »

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: memories, writing

When I fainted over ice cream

October 7, 2012 by Mom on the Make 1 Comment

When I was about 9 years old, I fainted at the local Thrifty store.

…

Read More »

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: memories, writing

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