The Leading Lady

     Each of us at some point or another has to have thought about what their life story would be like if it was put into a book, play, or movie.  What would your life story look like?  Would it end up as a Lifetime special?  I kind of hope it wouldn't, actually.  I think the few that I saw had some deranged woman trying to run over her husband with the car or something like that.  The question is, however, do you behave as the leading role of your story, or do you behave like the supporting role?

     I think at one point in my life, I behaved as the supporting actress of my own story instead of the leading lady.  I let other people dictate what I wore, how I behaved, the friends I held, and I how I felt about myself.  My friends were not really friends at all, rather they were just characters that made my story interesting.  So I found myself doing what I could to keep those characters in my story.  Even if it meant sacrificing the very thing that was most important.  The fact that originally, I was cast as the leading lady of my story.  At some point in my story, I had forgotten that.  Or maybe I never even knew it to begin with.  I never really was sure that I had secured the lead role.  Regardless, sometimes it takes a series of events, (sometimes tragic), for us to realize our real place in our story and to start acting like it.  It takes actions, changes, (sometimes very dramatic), for us to secure our place as the lead role and to start acting our way to an Academy Award.

     Now that I know that I am the Leading Lady of my story, I intend to try to improve upon my act, all the way to the end.  My only hope is that when my story is done and edited and all the scraps of unused film lay out on the editing floor...I hope that what's left is good and decent.  That someone's life is touched by it.  I hope that the people watching my story know that I loved Jesus and my family.  That I wanted to be a giver of myself and I hope that I accomplished it enough for it to make the final cut.  I hope that after seeing my story, a life is touched or someone is inspired.

Giving

My 30th birthday has come and gone and with it, some of my unfinished aspirations. So I created a list of 30 Things I Still Want to Do, and this is my attempt to check #22 off my list.
So here I am. This is the real me. The unplugged version.

I am a mother of 3. I have two amazing boys, Ashton, and Preston, and one beautiful little girl. My daughter, Brooklyn Grace, is one of God's recent blessings to my husband and I. She is a symbol of His grace to us. I'll share more on that another time. There are many things I love to do, but one of them is going to the movies. My husband and I share a love for movies and have very similar taste when it comes to picking one out. So it is no surprise that our favorite thing to do on date night is dinner and a movie, (particularly if dinner is Mexican food). It's not very often, however, that we pick a movie as inspiring as the one we went to see tonight, "The Blind Side". Here we are right in the middle of this hectic holiday season and I find myself wondering what we could possibly do to teach our two boys what it means to give. To really give. I happen to know that my oldest son Ashton's love language is giving so he does it quite frequently.  But does he really understand the complete joy of giving to someone in need? Someone who has maybe never had anyone take the time of day to give something to them?

The movie we watched tonight really encompassed this idea for me. Without spoiling it, (for those of you who haven't seen it), I feel that this family really understood what it meant to give. To give so selflessly, asking for nothing in return is becoming something of anomaly in our current society. It is really refreshing to see how one family put the needs of someone else in front of their own.  I hope that we will find a way (or several ways) this Holiday Season to put the real meaning of Christmas into action.  Christ was the Ultimate Gift to us.  The Gift of salvation is one that no Christmas gift under the tree could ever supercede.  We could, however, reach out to those around us in need by giving something of ourselves as an example of the Ultimate Gift.  I really look forward to sharing in the experience of giving as a family and for exploring new ways to give of our time and money.  I hope you and your family are able to experience the joy of giving in a new way this Christmas as well.

30 things I know

I just recently turned 30. So I started thinking about things in know from my 30 years of life. Just thought I would share with you.


1. There's benefits to having long arms. Like being able to scratch your own back, or reaching things on the top shelf.

2. If you give a kid a bunch of sugar at bedtime, it will probably keep him up.

3. Just because someone says something is free, doesn't mean it's really free.

4. Allergies suck!

5. You can catch ants on fire with a magnifying glass. (learned that from my brother, although I never did it).

6. Biz laundry booster really does make your whites whiter!

7. Pride goes before a fall.

8. Little boys were made to wrestle & tumble, & run everywhere they go.

9. Little girls were made with the desire for all things beautiful & to be beautiful.

10. There are some really awful people in this world, & some really beautiful ones. I chose to focus on the beauty, & to give the rest to Jesus.

11. As you get older, apparently so does your body...

12. Family is a blessing & to be loved & cherished.

13. If you try to run on a pipe like Shaggy ran on barrels in Scooby-Doo, you will fall & break your arm.

14. When someone says "bless your heart", they usually mean "you're so stupid."

15. The devil comes to "steal, kill, & destroy." But Jesus comes to give us life & more abundantly! From John 10:10

16. Standing naked in the rain is a very exhilarating feeling. Dancing is even better.

17. There are WAY too many reality shows on tv!

18. Children are the greatest gift ever given to mankind.

19. Having a close knit family is second to none.

20. For pretty much every prescription drug that comes with a side effect, there is a natural remedy with little to no side effects.

21. Our country & lawmakers will be held accountable for all the innocent babies that have been murdered through abortions.

22. His grace "is sufficient" to cover all my sins.

23. LOL is used entirely too much on the Internet!

24. The Internet is both the best thing that ever happened to society, and the worst thing that ever happened to society.

25. You should ALWAYS check what you type on your iPhone cause sometimes it auto-fills with really wrong words. And it makes you look like a dummy.

26. There's nothing cuter than baby noises & baby smiles. :)

27. If you speak positively, positive things happen for you. If you speak negatively, your life will be full of negative things. "Life & Death are in the power of the tongue."

28. Next to Jesus, My husband is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

29. My children are the best thing I'VE ever done!

30. Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the father except through Him."

30 Things I Still Want To Do or (30 Things I Still Dream of)

I've always had a list of things I wanted to do before I turned 30. Now that I'm 30, I made up a list of 30 things I'd Still love to do and thought i'd share them with you.

1. Go skydiving!!!
2. Go to Africa.
3. Get my pilot's license.
4. Go scuba diving.
5. Go to Europe & visit ancient architecture.
6. Write a screenplay.
7. Record an album.
8. Go to New York at Christmas.
9. Invent something.
10. Take Salsa or ballroom dancing lessons with my Hubby.
11. Have a career in photography.
12. Finish organizing & scrapbooking ALL my photos!
13. Act in a movie.
14. See U2 in concert.
15. Learn to play the piano.
16. Improve my guitar skills.
17. Have the availability to give a $100 tip.
18. Take my children to Disney World.
19. Have a tattoo done for each one of my children.
20. Take my children to see the ocean.
21. Sing in a jazz band.
22. Start a blog.
23. Do a family history for both my parent's families.
24. Sing on Broadway.
25. Design & sew an entire outfit.
26. Turn my backyard into a peaceful garden with water falls.
27. Go snow skiing.
28. Help to bring about the reversal of Roe vs. Wade.
29. Open my own coffee shop.
30. Make a difference in this world. Leave a Legacy.

One dream I'd like to add on here would be to have the opportunity to design on something like Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  Even for just one day.