Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Choose Your Own Meeting Rocked My Face Off


This morning I donned my stretchy pants and headed to MOPS. Not because I was planning on pigging out on a fabulous breakfast (although I always look forward to my bi-monthly donut), but because today was yoga with Soma.

Yoga? At MOPS? What is happening? My husband also seemed confused when I told him why I was wearing something akin to what my daughter would wear to Pajama Day at school.

The leadership tried something new today, and I have to say, I'm a fan. They called it "Choose Your Own Meeting" -- and I hope this becomes a regularly scheduled thing.

The morning was broken into 2 parts (not including breakfast, of course); and everyone had 4 sessions from which to choose: crafts, makeup, yoga, and couponing. 

It was hard to choose, but I went with yoga and makeup.

First session: Yoga. 

Can I just say, I want Soma and her soothing voice to follow me around everywhere I go? She was amazing. In 20 minutes she helped me feel relaxed, strong, and ready for the challenges the day would surely hold. And that's saying a lot since I'm literally having a hard time making it through my days lately as a mommy. 35 weeks pregnant, trying to balance my kids school schedules, and still clean and cook for my family. It leaves me wanting. Exhausted. Defeated at times.

But yoga, and doing it with a great group of other tired moms who also wanted to sleep on the floor of the choir room during the "resting pose," was just what I needed.

Second session: Make-Up

I love Heather and Carla, and their makeup is always flawless, right? So why wouldn't I want to learn some tips and tricks from these ladies? 

I was not disappointed. If you made it to this session, I don't know what you took away from it, but I am in love with this trick of "contouring and highlighting." Seriously, did you just tell me that I can easily make my face look less haggard, dull and tired? By putting lighter and darker powders on certain areas of my face? It's genius, is what it is. 

This is the stuff dreams are made of. 

If you didn't go to the makeup session, get their hand-out, STAT. Or take these ladies' advice and join Pinterest and YouTube (if you haven't already). They recommend checking out "The Makeup Chair" on YouTube for easy to follow tutorials.

The Day After: An Epilogue

Yoga has made my booty hurt so good. And that makes my heavy pregnant frame happy because it means I did something good for me, and I feel smoking hot even though I also feel super tired and grumpy. It's a good thing.

I tried the makeup contouring tricks before my OBGYN appointment today. The lady at the Kaiser desk told me my top was so cute on me, but I knew she was really just seeing how amazing my makeup was, and how glamorous and awake I looked, and she mistakingly assumed it was my shirt doing all that work. If she only knew.





Monday, January 20, 2014

Keep Your Eye on the Big Picture

Wanna know a secret?  I've attempted to write and rewrite (and rewrite again) this blog post a million times over the last week.

I'll admit that it may have a little something to do with my perfectionist tendencies.  However, I believe that the real reason I wasn't comfortable publishing anything I tried to put together has more to do with what God was trying to teach me in the meantime... more on that in a minute.

We learned a bit about having a financial vision for our family from our speaker, Christy Erickson.  Preparing for your family's future by having a spending plan (a term that's a little easier to swallow than "budget") is counter-cultural nowadays.  So many people are up to their ears in credit card debt because of our generation's "you deserve it" attitude, but it doesn't have to be that way!  Meal planning, couponing, gardening, and simplifying life in general are all great ways to cut back on spending and cut down on debt.  

We also heard from Pastor Robert Gelinas (via video), a husband and father of six who presented at the MOPs Convention last October.  He shared about how his family has created a plan - or "blueprint" - that encompasses`each family member's mind, body, and spirit.  They regularly pray about how to edit their blueprint, get the kids involved in the process, and refer to it often in their daily interactions.  They even created an acronym using their last name to help them remember who they are as a family.

Pastor Gelinas explained that by having (and using) a vision for your family, everyone can easily refocus and keep the big picture in mind when life gets a little muddy.  He said, "Don't let the immediate distract you from the ultimate."

Don't let the immediate distract you from the ultimate.

Easier said than done, eh?

God reminded me of this message all week long, tweaking it to fit the situation at hand, and whispering it into my heart:

"Don't let your the newest Facebook news distract you from playing just one more round of Candyland with your boys."
"Don't let that one little temper tantrum steal the joyful memories you made at the park this morning."
"Don't let the fact that your husband came home later than expected keep you from enjoying what little time you get to spend together."  
"Don't let a silly blog post get in the way of an important spiritual lesson."

Whether it's drafting a will, working on a spending plan, writing a family vision statement or something entirely different, let me encourage you as I've been encouraged this week... Plan for tomorrow, and then act on your plans, so that you can be present for today.    



Friday, January 17, 2014

Mom of the Month: January

Mom of the Month: January

Ciara Fielder


Who is in your family?
My handsome husband, Robert. My oldest miracle, Clayton (6), and God's way of molding my character, Christian (2).

What are your New Year's resolutions?
My New Year's resolution is the encourage someone with words and/or actions every day. It could be a friend or family member or even a stranger. (We are all in this thing called life together why not help encourage each other?)

What is your favorite "me" time activity?
I have 2 favorite "me" time activities scrapbooking (photography) and about 9 months ago I started running.

What was your favorite childhood activity?
My favorite childhood activity was every Monday night was "family night." My dad would play the guitar, we would sing, play games, etc. It carried into our teenage and adult years. And now even though we all live in different states we all having family nights with our own families.

What advice or encouragement can you offer the other moms in our group?
My advice would be, don't do this motherhood thing alone. Do play dates, grab a girlfriend and go for coffee, do a Bible study with friends, and make sure you get some "me" time.