Category: gratitude

Three…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay3 Comments
Me– 
– again, I’d like to read two personal (non- work assignment) books. {I’ll take this moment to point out that I’ve had the same goal every month. In January I read two, and in February I read 5. FIVE. I didn’t read 5 books for me in all of 2011. This is huge, folks!} 

– I really want to celebrate my birthday right. This is a big one. Every year my birthday month is such a struggle and I lose myself in the planning of Genny’s birthday festivities. This month is different. And this birthday HAS to be different because it’s a big deal. One I feared I’d never see… 

– more handwritten letters. I keep saying it… 

Capture– 

– my pet, on a walk
– my workout
– young
– old
– something suessical
– spring
– irish
– birthday toes, x’s 2
– kites
– cake

Us– 
– birthdays. Specifically mine and Gen’s. Doing something really special for Genny’s birthday, but I’ll wait to blog details until it comes closer. 

– We’re going to see West Side Story and I am really, really, really excited! 

Heart– 
– for the season of Lent I’ve given up television and senseless spending. I am really excited about both sacrifices- and am moderately embarrassed to admit that both of them ARE sacrifices. It shouldn’t be like that. 

– I need to be better about shaving out quiet time to center myself… 

– I missed journaling in February due to everything being out of whack. i’ve really missed it. I want to get back to it, everyday this month. 

Home– 
– we’re reducing… We emptied out a storage shed and are purging. I love that. 

– together we are building a cool project that i can’t wait to show you… When it’s done. 

– spring cleaning is underway. It started after the Oscar party. 

Health–
– My immune system is out of control. It is ridiculous what 5 months of pneumonia can do to a girl. I want to learn how to repair it so that i stop catching EVERYTHING… 

– I am going to increase the level of difficulty in my water classes. 

– My goal is to lose another 5 lbs this month. 

– I’m also going to start hooping. Chw is going to make me one and I am really nervous/excited. 

– Also, curious about trying green smoothies. (It takes me awhile to warm up to stuff…)

– yoga, at least weekly. 

Love– 
– catch up on our weekly reading together. We’re a bit behind. 

– Sneaking away on mini-dates. I love them, maybe more than full dates… 

– working on projects together. I love that. 

– holding hands and walking. happiness. 
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take two…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay4 Comments
Confession 217- I’m cold and my head hurts. 
Confession 218- I am not, at all, graceful and apparently that’s catchy…
On Monday we started a new homeschool co-op. Part of the deal, if you will, about a co-op is that your child takes classes with other kids- taught by parents. It’s pretty cool, really. If you don’t teach, (which i currently do not) then you need to help out. 
Cool. 
So, First period I found myself helping out in a literature class for very young kids. It was all a rushed assignment so I am not sure their ages, but guessing K-1st… Cute kids. Anyway, the teacher read a few books to them about seeds and planting, and then we did a project. The teacher seemed put out at our winter’s lack of snow and a little unnerved that there are birds in the trees that also have buds on their branches… 
In other news, it’s freezing out and it’s calling for snow these next two days. 
Lovely… 
It’s been completely stressful, busy or emotionally crazy ever since we made the family decision to homeschool Genny again, back in December. It has been a lot. Finding a normal routine proved difficult and so we just stopped trying. We made it mostly unscathed, me somehow believing yesterday would come and a normal flow of peace and productivity would just sweep us away. 
You would think I’d be smarter than that… 
Instead we had a bloody dog paw/injury. I had a migraine. Genny fell into the counter, while feeding the non-injured dog, and sliced her eye lid open. I fell, at the rec center, after my water class. Genny grabbed a pot, off of the stove, by the base. 
We desperately need a do-over. 
And a nap. 
And a good allergy med, but that’s another gripe for another day… 
Maybe we also need for it to not snow here in the valley. 
Just in the mountains… No matter what that literature teacher says… 
Hope your weeks are going fantastically smooth and lovely! 
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Why the quiet…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay7 Comments
So, I’ve been a little busy. 
Life stuff. I’m sure you understand… 
Anyway, thought I would give you a glimpse- 
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 Eight weeks of basketball, that are over EXCEPT for one last game… 
 LOADS of good, quality time…

Including Monopoly on the Wii, which Lucas LOVES… 
 {and which I do ok at…}

Happy… Happy, happy, happy… that’s how these past weeks having Lucas home have been. 
Now if we can just all make it to his R & R… 
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Football at it’s absolute finest…

Published on by Mae @ RainydayinmayLeave a comment
Here we are, just one week away from the Academy Awards and I wanted to take a minute to talk about a nominated documentary that is absolutely amazing. I had the amazing opportunity to screen Undefeated this weekend, and it does not disappoint. 

Undefeated follows the Manassas Tigers football team, in West Memphis Tennessee, throughout one amazingly unforgettable football season. Their volunteer coach Bill Courtney has spent six years giving his everything, (quite literally) to this team of inner city kids. Throughout the film we witness the struggles and difficulties that these boys face every day along with the strengths that Coach Courtney tries to pull out of them as men, through the game of football. While he is their sports coach, his heart is for the hearts of these boys. He wants to teach them how to strive, fight and succeed for more than the lives they are facing. Hoping the metaphor of football and the moments in their journey will show them that they can do anything, if they work hard, and sharpen their characters in the process- Courtney makes the Manassas Tigers the center of his life. 
This is a beautiful story about so many things. An incredible story about doing more, and being more, with a heart for others. This is a story about the courage it takes to journey forward to better our circumstances. This is a gripping tale about a youth and area far more gritty and horrifying that I can comprehend.
Mostly though, this is a moving glimpse of lives saved and changing- and how that process truly does affect everyone and sometimes- being the one to reach someone in need- comes at a great price… 
Come Oscar night I will emphatically root for this film. Most recently Sean Combs (P. Diddy) jumped on board to promote this film. It’s gritty and raw, honest, moving and truly an extraordinary must see… 
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What integrity can look like…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay1 Comment
You guys have figured out, by now, how much I love movies. I would hope that, by now, you guys have also caught on to how passionate Chw and I are about marriage and saving/restoring marriages. As a sidenote, most people who read my blog know that I used to work the entertainment junket scene and have had the privileged of interviewing a good variety of celebrities… So-  
This past weekend I had the chance to see The Vow, starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. Let me back up a bit though. Roughly a month ago I read about the amazing real-life story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter- whom the film was inspired by. Last week I caught Rachel McAdams on Ellen and found myself thoroughly impressed with how she continued to direct her answers back to Kim & Krickitt instead of simply promoting the film. That stuck with me, Saturday, as I watched The Vow. 
I left the film with definite mixed feelings. There were things I loved, and things I didn’t. It was hard to examine it from an entertainment standpoint, knowing just a bit of the truth behind it’s inspiration. What I did know was that so much was changed, and it made me really sad. {But, my 22 year old son was my date for the night and he loved it and wanted to cry- so there ya go.}
This morning I was blessed with the most amazing introduction to Valentines Day possible- I interviewed Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. I have to say, they are amazingly kind people to humor my blubbering and crying. I was about as unprofessional as I could have been, but that’s ok. Their story has moved and inspired me so much. That their marriage was impacted as it was- and they CHOSE to move through it because they had made a vow- just moves me. {And, let the record state- I was far more starstruck by the two of them than any celebrity.} 
I am going to post a little bit more about my interview with the Carpenters tomorrow, but I just really wanted to take a minute- in relation to the film, to summarize something they said to me…
“Hollywood is Hollywood. We knew their would be changes but we really do love the movie. We thought Channing and Rachel did an amazing job. We know how hard they worked to get to know us and study us, and learn how we are. They tell our story, spot on, in that way…” 
I have a new respect for actors. Specifically, for these two. At the end of the day, it’s a job. They do what they are told. Whether it is a true to life scene or not, they act it out because that’s what they are being paid to do. They went beyond their job, and still are in the PR for the film. What a beautiful gift, from them, to feel so strongly about telling the truth… 
I totally need to rewatch The Vow… Have you seen it? What did you think? 
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