Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Our New House!
After renting a house in Saskatoon for the past 5 months we finally are going to move into our own house! This weekend we put an offer in on a house and our offer was accepted! So on May 25 we will be getting the keys to our (brand) new house!
Look for future blog posts where I will be asking for opinions! We were lucky enough that the flooring was not yet put in! The hardwood was there in boxes ready to be laid, but we asked the builder if we could pick our own flooring/countertops and he was willing to return the hardwood and Let us choose our own! So now comes the task of choosing colors for those as well as what kind of appliances we want.
Look for future blog posts where I will be asking for opinions! We were lucky enough that the flooring was not yet put in! The hardwood was there in boxes ready to be laid, but we asked the builder if we could pick our own flooring/countertops and he was willing to return the hardwood and Let us choose our own! So now comes the task of choosing colors for those as well as what kind of appliances we want.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Current and Future Goals and Dreams - 52 Lists Week 4
It's the fourth week of the 52 Lists in 52 Weeks series and I'm excited with the lists I've come up with so far. Have you considered writing your own lists? If you want to follow along this series, check out the original series at Moorea Seal and my past posts HERE. This weeks project is to list current and future goals and dreams. What a great way to start the week. Talk about motivation!
Current and Future Goals and Dreams
1. One of my biggest life-long dreams is to go back to school and earn my teaching degree. I would love the opportunity to teach music to young children.
2. My biggest current goal is to get my house fully spring-cleaned and organized.
3. Save up enough money to move next year, after Nate graduates.
4. Work really hard to become healthy and strong.
5. Buy a piano so I can play again.
6. Join a band.
7. Join a choir!
8. Teach my children how to be loving and considerate people.
9. Paint my house.
10. Organize my pictures and put them up on the walls.
11. Visit my hometown and my family, most of whom I haven't seen in almost a decade.
12. Go on the honeymoon we never had.
13. Renew my vows in a big, traditional wedding.
14. Let my husband know every day how important he is to me, how proud I am of him and how much I love him.
15. Let my children know that they can do anything they set their minds to and that they will always have my support and love.
16. Hike up to the top of Saddlerock.
17. Learn to play the guitar.
18. Buy a dslr camera and learn all about photography and taking great shots.
19. Stick to my menu plan for a week.
20. Go a whole month without eating fast food or drinking soda.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Grace
A lot of my inspiration comes from song lyrics. I often listen to music at night after the kids go to bed and, unfortunately for my husband, I do it with headphones on. Why unfortunately? Because I can't help but sing along and if you've ever heard someone sing along to a song you can't hear...well, I'm sure you know what I mean. It's not the funnest thing to listen to!
Moving on! Last night an old favorite came on that I hadn't heard in a while:
The key phrases?
and
What do these two songs have in common? Grace. Similar, but not quite, to mercy. I've heard the difference explained like this: Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don't deserve. We deserve death. A harsh, but true reality. We are sinful creatures, no matter how hard we try to be good. We're just not. It's human nature. We're selfish at best, downright evil at worst. But God is in love with us. Have you ever looked at a couple and thought, "Man, what do they see in each other?" That's God's relationship with us. He loves us, but why? It doesn't make sense. We don't deserve it. We're not good enough for Him. We have absolutely nothing of value to offer Him. And yet, He yearns for us. He moves heaven and earth to be with us. He sacrificed everything for us. That's grace. We do not deserve His love and His devotion. We do not deserve His attention or His blessings. We deserve death.
This should not make you feel guilty or bad! I won't lie, it moves me to tears when I think about it, but I get an overwhelming sense of relief. There is NOTHING I can do to earn God's love. Nothing I say or do will cause God to stop loving me, or love me more. No ritual or good deeds or failures or mistakes will make it easier or harder to get into heaven. Whether I'm a "good" or "bad" Christian doesn't matter. There's pretty much nothing I can do to earn God's grace.
Except trust. That's all I can do. Trust God. And thank Him every single day, with every single breath that He loved me enough to give me what I don't deserve.
Moving on! Last night an old favorite came on that I hadn't heard in a while:
"Who I Am" - Casting Crowns
It sort of tied in to another song, of course an old one, that is one of my all time favorite hymns:
"How Deep The Father's Love For Us" - Phillips, Craig and Dean
"Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are. Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done."
and
"Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom."
What do these two songs have in common? Grace. Similar, but not quite, to mercy. I've heard the difference explained like this: Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don't deserve. We deserve death. A harsh, but true reality. We are sinful creatures, no matter how hard we try to be good. We're just not. It's human nature. We're selfish at best, downright evil at worst. But God is in love with us. Have you ever looked at a couple and thought, "Man, what do they see in each other?" That's God's relationship with us. He loves us, but why? It doesn't make sense. We don't deserve it. We're not good enough for Him. We have absolutely nothing of value to offer Him. And yet, He yearns for us. He moves heaven and earth to be with us. He sacrificed everything for us. That's grace. We do not deserve His love and His devotion. We do not deserve His attention or His blessings. We deserve death.
This should not make you feel guilty or bad! I won't lie, it moves me to tears when I think about it, but I get an overwhelming sense of relief. There is NOTHING I can do to earn God's love. Nothing I say or do will cause God to stop loving me, or love me more. No ritual or good deeds or failures or mistakes will make it easier or harder to get into heaven. Whether I'm a "good" or "bad" Christian doesn't matter. There's pretty much nothing I can do to earn God's grace.
Except trust. That's all I can do. Trust God. And thank Him every single day, with every single breath that He loved me enough to give me what I don't deserve.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
My Little Man
Today I become the mom to a 2 year old boy. My little Ryan has been a part of our lives for two years now :0. Amazing how fast time flies when you are grown up! Remember when in school, September - June used to seem like 300 years! Now you blink and the days are gone. It seems just yesterday we found out we were expecting our third little bundle. I had just finished nursing school 3 months prior, and we had just moved into our first home 3 weeks earlier. New house, new baby! I thought for sure I would be digging out those pink clothes that had overtaken our house, what a shock when we found out in fact we could finally get rid of those boxes and boxes of pink clothes! We were having a boy! Shawn wouldn't be alone in having to deal with all the estrogen in the house!!
On March 5, 2011 at 1:53 AM in room 2019 at Northern Lights Regional Health Center, our little man was born! All 9lbs 2oz of him! A whole pound bigger then his big sister was!! And a whole newborn bigger than Brooke! He was such an easy baby! All of mine were. How I lucked out I don't know! I won't complain though ;). Everyone told me I was in for it. Boys were SO much busier than girls. As Ryan reached 1 I came to see this for myself. Oh my! Not only is he busy, he is STUBBORN! Definitely not like his mother ;). If he has it in his head he wants something, it's game over until he gets it. The girls were so easy to redirect; not Ryan. He knows what he wants and goes for it. Right now this makes me want to scream, but I hope this is something he doesn't lose. I hope he realizes the world is his for the taking and he goes for his dreams no matter what it takes.
Happy birthday Ryan Alexander Meeres. Thank you for making me smile everyday. You are my favorite little man in the ENTIRE world!!
On March 5, 2011 at 1:53 AM in room 2019 at Northern Lights Regional Health Center, our little man was born! All 9lbs 2oz of him! A whole pound bigger then his big sister was!! And a whole newborn bigger than Brooke! He was such an easy baby! All of mine were. How I lucked out I don't know! I won't complain though ;). Everyone told me I was in for it. Boys were SO much busier than girls. As Ryan reached 1 I came to see this for myself. Oh my! Not only is he busy, he is STUBBORN! Definitely not like his mother ;). If he has it in his head he wants something, it's game over until he gets it. The girls were so easy to redirect; not Ryan. He knows what he wants and goes for it. Right now this makes me want to scream, but I hope this is something he doesn't lose. I hope he realizes the world is his for the taking and he goes for his dreams no matter what it takes.
Happy birthday Ryan Alexander Meeres. Thank you for making me smile everyday. You are my favorite little man in the ENTIRE world!!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Things You Should Be Proud Of - 52 Lists Week 3
Wow! Yesterday, with the addition of Mel, my sister, to the blog, we saw an all time high of viewers, triple what the blog normally sees! You guys love you some Mel, that's for sure!
Last week didn't see much action on the blog. I don't really have a good reason other than I was distracted with other things, such as my pictures. But that shouldn't really happen again, now that there's two of us. Hopefully one can pick up the others slack!
This is week 3 of the 52 Lists in 52 weeks series and I have a feeling this might be a toughie for me. I tend to be down on myself much more than I ought to be and this weeks list is to name things I should be proud of. Well, here goes!
2. I am teaching my children to be strong, independent and compassionate.
3. I believe in the value of the arts and that learning music is as important as learning language.
4. I believe that love is not a feeling and that a marriage is not convenient nor easy.
5. I'm a stand-by-your-man kind of girl and a momma bear kind of mom. Don't mess with my family.
6. Singing brings me immense joy and peace. There is truly no feeling more incredible than belting out the climax of a song and nailing it.
7. I've never fulfilled my dream of singing the national anthems (yes, both of them) at a sporting event, but I HAVE gotten a dream come true to sing at my sisters wedding, even though I couldn't be there in person.
8. I have friends that I love like brothers. I truly know what it means that family is more than blood.
9. I have gone to the gym for two months in a row and have seen my strength increase greatly. Sometimes I have slacked off, but my resolve to get in shape and lose weight has never wavered and I always get back to it and push myself a bit harder.
10. I believe that a person is not defined by their political or religious affiliation and that there is good to be found in everyone, but not everyone is worth the effort to search for it.
11. I'm proud of the relationship I have with my husband. We often clash and we're both stubborn and proud, but underneath it all, we have a bond that I believe will endure.
12. I'm proud of my pictures. I believe that I have a little skill, at least with editing, and I'm hoping to turn my little hobby into an actual skill and talent some day.
13. I believe in the value of education. I've caught myself acting like a "tiger-mom" when poor Damien is doing his kindergarten homework and I realized I didn't care. I believe that the most important thing a person learns in school is how to learn and I will happily shove that down my kids' throats for the next 12 years.
14. I've grown a thicker skin over the last decade. Maybe it comes with age, maybe with experience, but it's there now and for the most part, I'm happy with it. I've learned that there will always be someone who doesn't like you, has something mean to say or thinks you're a bad wife/mother/person/whatever. I've learned to let it go and not take everything personally.
15. I'm proud that I've actually gotten to number 15! I know, I know, that's cheating, but I think I'm learning to love myself more and that's something I'm proud of.
16. I think this list is supposed to be about things I'm proud of in myself, but I can't talk about pride without talking about the two most important people in my life (well, besides my kids which really goes without saying.) I'm insanely proud of my husband and my sister. Both of them inspire me to be a better person and to push forward through adversity to achieve my goals. I'm proud that I get to be a part of their lives.
17. I'm proud of the relationship I have with my mother-in-law. We haven't always seen eye to eye and have had rough patches, but I can truly say that I love her and consider her a friend and I'm proud of that.
18. I'm proud of my faith. It's been shaken over the years and questioned, but it's still there and I want to pass it down to my children. Perhaps not in the same form, but I believe in the importance of having faith and believing in something larger than yourself.
Last week didn't see much action on the blog. I don't really have a good reason other than I was distracted with other things, such as my pictures. But that shouldn't really happen again, now that there's two of us. Hopefully one can pick up the others slack!
This is week 3 of the 52 Lists in 52 weeks series and I have a feeling this might be a toughie for me. I tend to be down on myself much more than I ought to be and this weeks list is to name things I should be proud of. Well, here goes!
Things I Should Be Proud Of
1. I am a kind and compassionate woman. Maybe not always and maybe not enough, but I am.
2. I am teaching my children to be strong, independent and compassionate.
3. I believe in the value of the arts and that learning music is as important as learning language.
4. I believe that love is not a feeling and that a marriage is not convenient nor easy.
5. I'm a stand-by-your-man kind of girl and a momma bear kind of mom. Don't mess with my family.
6. Singing brings me immense joy and peace. There is truly no feeling more incredible than belting out the climax of a song and nailing it.
7. I've never fulfilled my dream of singing the national anthems (yes, both of them) at a sporting event, but I HAVE gotten a dream come true to sing at my sisters wedding, even though I couldn't be there in person.
8. I have friends that I love like brothers. I truly know what it means that family is more than blood.
9. I have gone to the gym for two months in a row and have seen my strength increase greatly. Sometimes I have slacked off, but my resolve to get in shape and lose weight has never wavered and I always get back to it and push myself a bit harder.
10. I believe that a person is not defined by their political or religious affiliation and that there is good to be found in everyone, but not everyone is worth the effort to search for it.
11. I'm proud of the relationship I have with my husband. We often clash and we're both stubborn and proud, but underneath it all, we have a bond that I believe will endure.
12. I'm proud of my pictures. I believe that I have a little skill, at least with editing, and I'm hoping to turn my little hobby into an actual skill and talent some day.
13. I believe in the value of education. I've caught myself acting like a "tiger-mom" when poor Damien is doing his kindergarten homework and I realized I didn't care. I believe that the most important thing a person learns in school is how to learn and I will happily shove that down my kids' throats for the next 12 years.
14. I've grown a thicker skin over the last decade. Maybe it comes with age, maybe with experience, but it's there now and for the most part, I'm happy with it. I've learned that there will always be someone who doesn't like you, has something mean to say or thinks you're a bad wife/mother/person/whatever. I've learned to let it go and not take everything personally.
15. I'm proud that I've actually gotten to number 15! I know, I know, that's cheating, but I think I'm learning to love myself more and that's something I'm proud of.
16. I think this list is supposed to be about things I'm proud of in myself, but I can't talk about pride without talking about the two most important people in my life (well, besides my kids which really goes without saying.) I'm insanely proud of my husband and my sister. Both of them inspire me to be a better person and to push forward through adversity to achieve my goals. I'm proud that I get to be a part of their lives.
17. I'm proud of the relationship I have with my mother-in-law. We haven't always seen eye to eye and have had rough patches, but I can truly say that I love her and consider her a friend and I'm proud of that.
18. I'm proud of my faith. It's been shaken over the years and questioned, but it's still there and I want to pass it down to my children. Perhaps not in the same form, but I believe in the importance of having faith and believing in something larger than yourself.
19. Oh goodness, two more! I'm proud of my writing. I believe I have a unique conversational tone and descriptive ability. I'm proud of my ability to communicate and I think I have a solid grasp on the English language.
20. I'm proud of my resilience. I've been through more storms in my life than I care to count, but I have survived and thrived and I know that no matter what life throws my way, I will survive. I will not give up.
So, what are you proud of?
Sunday, March 3, 2013
I'm here!
This evening Elaine and I were having a little chat on Facebook messenger and out of nowhere she asks me to join her blog! *gasp*!! Ok it wasn't quite as dramatic, but she did, ask me to join her blog. Of course I hesitated being that I suck at doing things like this, and tend to start things and then forget all about them. But I decided why not, ill do my best and give it a go!
So here I am. On a list of things I am good at, expressing myself in writing is waaaayyyyyy down there on the bottom. But that's ok, I'm here :)
For those who don't know me I am Melissa :) I have a wonderful (most of the time) husband Shawn and 3 amazing kiddos. Brooke (6), Katie (4) and Ryan (1). Well for now Ryan is 1. For another day and a half :( (sniffle, sniffle) but that's another post for another day. I am also a registered nurse working on a very busy labor and delivery floor in Saskatchewan.
So that's me in a (very small) nutshell! Talk again soon!
I also have to add in a picture (my favorite!) of my family. It's a year old now, but I just love it. I look at it and it just makes me LOL.... Literally! I see all the craziness that having 3 kids brings, but I also see the amazing love and closeness we share as a family.
So here I am. On a list of things I am good at, expressing myself in writing is waaaayyyyyy down there on the bottom. But that's ok, I'm here :)
For those who don't know me I am Melissa :) I have a wonderful (most of the time) husband Shawn and 3 amazing kiddos. Brooke (6), Katie (4) and Ryan (1). Well for now Ryan is 1. For another day and a half :( (sniffle, sniffle) but that's another post for another day. I am also a registered nurse working on a very busy labor and delivery floor in Saskatchewan.
So that's me in a (very small) nutshell! Talk again soon!
I also have to add in a picture (my favorite!) of my family. It's a year old now, but I just love it. I look at it and it just makes me LOL.... Literally! I see all the craziness that having 3 kids brings, but I also see the amazing love and closeness we share as a family.
A New Name
Well, you might have noticed that the blog has a new name. It also has a new address: lovehopeandhanginging.blogspot.com. That's a mouthful, isn't it? If you don't want to remember it, you can subscribe to get all the new posts easily with no fuss!
So why the change? Because I'm extremely excited to announce that my sister, Melissa Meeres, will be joining the blog to share her experiences as a wife, mother and nurse in Canada! And since her family isn't Fox's, the title just didn't make sense anymore.
So keep an eye out for her first post coming this week. I'm seriously excited to have my sister working with me on the blog!
So why the change? Because I'm extremely excited to announce that my sister, Melissa Meeres, will be joining the blog to share her experiences as a wife, mother and nurse in Canada! And since her family isn't Fox's, the title just didn't make sense anymore.
So keep an eye out for her first post coming this week. I'm seriously excited to have my sister working with me on the blog!
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