Saturday Obsessions: Tacos+Tea+Floral Leggings

Happy Saturday from the great desert of Palm Springs. Going on day 4 here and the weather is surprisingly a little chilly than I'd imagined. This week's obsessions are all Palm Springs related...kinda. They're things I've been obsessed with since being here. :)  

I have been craving these [specifically shredded beef] for way too long. Well, today I got my wish. So far, these guys have my favorite.

This drink tastes like ice cream in a cup. Make sure you don't put too much half & half in tho. Very importante. Thanks E.Rud for turning me on to these :)

Not usually a fan of the crazy florals, but I saw a girl wearing these today with boots and a black dress it was adorable, to say the least. So now I'm on a hunt for some of these, any suggestions? I already checked F21. No dice. 

Hope your Saturday is eventful. Or not. 


Love,

#Follow Friday#

Being sick this week turned out to be a good thing in one way only, I caught up on all the blogging world. Finally. And I am loving these girls:

This is the course I was taking in that one video post. I recommend it.

I just found this girl through another blog and I am in love with her stuff. She writes. Fonts. 

Recent find on everything fashion...aka: everything I can't afford.

This is one of the designers for RedVelvet fashion and accessories. She's a mommy and so her blog has some really cute mommy ideas for all my mommy friends...or soon to be :) 

Happy Reading!

Love,

Hospital Room

There is something about hospitals that mixes my emotions. It is a place where new lives are born and old lives begin to end. Today I am here for the latter. Sitting in this musky grey room, the green foliage curtains are begging to bring some kind of life to this world of needles, IVs and blue rubber gloves. Empty coffee cups are scattered about, showing signs of a wife desperate to stay awake and attend the every need of her weary husband.


As the rest of the family begins to arrive, his physical and mental state begin to deteriorate. Hellos and goodbyes are no more. Names are disappearing and faces are beginning to blend together. Yet in the old man's face is a lifetime of memories. A lifetime of love, sacrifice, and hardship. Married 58 years to the love of his life, he wouldn't change one day of it. They bicker and banter, but they can't live without each other. I try and imagine what it will be like to married for almost six decades. I have no idea where we'll be or what we'll be like, but I do know that if we have even half the love and companionship these two have for each other we will be two very lucky people. 


His pale white skin is beginning to bead with sweat now because for him, the simple task of breathing has evolved into a full contact sport. This place is filled with people gripping onto life. Some of the rooms are filled with despair, confusion and sorrow. But ours is different. Though there is sadness and sorrow, there is an over abundance of deep compassionate love. 


It's midnight. Two days down and counting. 

Be Back Soon.

So for the last two days I've had a royally wicked case of the flu and therefore have not been able to do even minor tasks like blog or eat. haha. Laying in bed, clenching my tummy was not the ideal way to spend my 23rd birthday, but at least it will be a funny memory. 


This morning I woke up feeling semi-normal so I thought hey, I'll take a shower. Much to my poor panicked husband's dismay, my body wasn't ready for that and I passed out in the shower. Blurg. So back to bed, gatorade, and chick-flicks it is. But I am going to beat this thing.


Be back soon.


Love,

Fighting for Love

Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Seeing so many people come and celebrate with us this fight for love, my heart melted more than once. The night started out very cold and rainy. I feared people wouldn't come because of the inconvenient weather. But that just wasn't the case. We had an amazing opener, Miss Jockii, who did a fabulous job. I loved the Ukelele. 

 We had a "plethora" of cupcakes, thanks to dear friends and family. All of them were decorated so cute and appropriately :) 

And we sang our little hearts out.

Passionately belting my new song :) Recording coming soon! I think.

I am not ok with all this pain and sorrow

we must choose today to make a new tomorrow

One girl one girl, one girl at a time

This fight just became mine.

This was my first ever attempt at wearing sequins. It was a little nerve wracking, but if there's any time or place one could wear sequins, it's at a birthday or concert right? 

And did you see my gorgeous choir girls in the back?? All of them talented musicians [yes, Jo, you are a musician!] and all of them have sweet sweet voices. They sang the finale song with me. It was a tear jerker. 

So thank you all who came and made this evening possible. I couldn't have done it without you:

-Kandis, Chelsea, Shereena, Alicia, Jenn, Crystal-Lee, Amanda, Jess, Amber, Rayna, Genee, Dierdre, Brittany, thank you for slaving over your cupcakes.

-Ed and Sydney for helping decorate :) 

-Della, Joanna, Erica, Jockii, and Crystal-lee, thank you for sharing your voices.

-Brian and Adam, thanks for running sound and lights. The show literally depends on you... :) 

-Bob for taking care of the kiddos!

-Andrew for setting up the genius donation bar. Seriously genius.

-My mom and dad for raising me to believe in goodness and justice for the glory of God. 

-Kenny, Danny, Justin and Andrew for playing with us. It is seriously a blessing to have such amazingly talented [and flexible] musicians in my life. I appreciate you guys. Even though I throw last minute songs in the mix...

-And last but definitely not least, my Ty, for believing in this cause and fighting with me. Love you.

I am full with thankfulness. I am full with peace.

Love,

Getting Ready for Tonight

*Due to the hustle and bustle around getting ready for tonight, FF is being taken hostage. Here's a few snapshot sneak peeks into our busy morning. Hope you can come!

The party favors.

My Ty working on the set list. I'm about excited as can be. 

Tonight's menu :)

My kitchen is well used.

Mmmmmm.

Love,

A Song for Tomorrow.

We're playing this song tomorrow night. It makes me cry every time. I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to get through it but luckily I will have 8 of my singing friends helping me with this one. 

The party is tomorrow!

Music starts @ 7PM, debuting our friend Jockii.

Location:

The Venue 

29930 Hunter Road

Murrieta, CA

Map it here.

From the Diaries of a Slave Girl

**The next couple days of posts will be focused on awareness, education, and opportunities to abolish modern slavery. None of the pictures or videos posted on blog will contain disturbing content, however some of the links provided for those who desire further education may . -JM**


This play was written and performed by the writers for Lydiafair 09. Each year they construct an art show to benefit a non-profit organization. They did this play the year they chose Love146 as their organization to sponsor. 

It's spoken from the perspective and journey of a slave girl.  

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.

**The next couple days of posts will be focused on awareness, education, and opportunities to abolish modern slavery. None of the pictures or videos posted on blog will contain disturbing content, however some of the links provided for those who desire further education may . -JM**

As I jokingly wrote the title of this post I laughed at myself because I will probably seriously cry at my party. You see, this year's birthday is a bit unconventional. Usually I look forward to my birthday for selfish and introspective reasons. Selfish because I get presents on my birthday. Good presents. Introspective because I get to reflect on the last ___ years of my life and see what I have or haven't accomplished. I get to see where I came from and whether or not I grew this year. 


But not this year. This year I gave up my birthday because something came to my attention that shattered my "almost" 23 year old heart. Something broke and crushed my entire world view on what exactly it means to celebrate. 

That something is Love146. 

Love146 is an organization that fights towards the abolition of slavery. Sex slavery. The enslavement of girls [and boys] as young as 5 years old who are [present tense] forced into this life of defilement and disgrace and degradation. 


For me, that is just not ok. My heart is physically burdened for these girls as I have seen their faces, read their stories, and heard their cry for freedom, wholeness and love. They just want love. 

They just want love.

Friday is one step closer to giving them that love. Friday is my birthday party and I want you to come. 


Ty & I will be doing our first very own concert just for you guys. We started planning the set last night and I think I cried a minimum of 17 times. Especially on this song. There is a line at the end that I've never been able to sing because I become overwhelmed with sorrow. Passionate sorrow. It says, "I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor, I see the man with a passion come and kickin' down that door..." and all I can hear in my head is:

We're coming. We're coming. Please know that we're coming to find you. Help you. Love you.

So if you're Friday night is open, please join us for some coffee, cupcakes, and a really good concert ;)


The address is: 
The Venue 

29930 Hunter Road

Murrieta, CA

Music starts @ 7PM

Love,

She's a Fave.

Some voices just move me. They could be singing about rain dancing in the middle of the Sahara desert and all I hear is the sweet tone that is sung. Music is weird I know. And musicians are even weirder. 


But A Fine Frenzy is definitely my long-lasting obsession and since I didn't do my normal seg on Sat, I thought I'd share her here with you.


It's good stuff.

Friday Feature: The Pastor's Wife

A number of things come to mind when someone says the phrase Pastor's Wife: 

She plays the piano for the service. She directs the choir. She wears fancy hats. 

She sits in the front row, put together, prim and proper and freshly ironed. 

She brings meals to all the sick and boards missionaries in her home. 

She laughs at all his jokes and claps at the right times. 

These are stereotypes. These are expectations some use to have of minister's wives. These are the reasons I never wanted to be a pastor's wife. I knew I was incapable of being that put together.

But today's Friday Feature is of a woman who has trumped these stereotypes: 
A woman who decided not to force herself into a role that just didn't fit. 
A woman that discovered the best thing she could do for the Church was to serve her husband and raise her family.
A woman who decided to be raw in a world that expected her to be untouchable.


Jenny, once my youth leader and now my friend, has been an example of organic and biblical femininity. She and her husband walked us through our pre-marriage counseling and has been a source of wisdom and encouragement in the life and wifehood of ministry. 

It is my great pleasure to introduce you to her.

So whether you are the wife of a pastor or not, I want to hear your questions as well. What have you always wondered about wives in ministry or questioned about your own role as a wife of a man in ministry?

Playing for Love

**For catchup posts on our cause for love, go here

In light of the contributions we've received for our birthday wish, we are throwing you all a concert! How cool is that? Ty & I have never really done a concert with just our music before, so this will be the first :) 

We hope that you will come and celebrate with us. Clear your schedule. Load up your friends, kids, parents, and whoever else and come join us for a super fun night of music for love.

We finally got a place solidified and we're on last-minute-promo-stress-out-mode. So feel free to copy the flier above and post it to your facebook and twitter.

Love,

Inexplicably Incomprehensible

Happy Monday! Mondays are a love/hate thing for me. Sometimes they are refreshing because it is a brand new week with no mistakes in it [that's an adapted movie line...anyone?]. Then sometimes they are daunting because your weekend was so good and relaxing you wanted it to never end.

However, this week is a refreshing week for me. 


A couple months ago I wrote about not having life figured out. About how I feel like I am floundering in life and I just can't reach to top anymore. About how I forgot that it's ok to have more questions than answers and how life doesn't have to be all figured out.


Now fast forward 3 months and you have me, here and now. Still with no answers and even more questions, but I see a little bitty light at the end of this long tunnel. Since then, I quit one job and cut my hours on another. I am teaching more from my home so that I can housekeep just a little better. I get to travel a bunch the next 3 months doing what I love most: singing and speaking. And I am slowly discovering my creative niche. My marriage feels like it's on cruise control [for now :)] and I am the happiest girl in the world right now. 


I can't explain it and that makes me beam with joy because that means this has to be real:

"Be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus."

I can't explain why I am at peace when my world feels like it's tumbling on high in an industrial size dryer. I'm disoriented, confused, and I can't focus on anything but what's one step in front of me. But my panic is gone. My worry is subsiding. And my fear has been nowhere to be found. 

It's in explicable peace. And I am overwhelmingly grateful. 


Yesterday we sang Come Thou Fount in worship and that first verse brought me to my knees. 

"Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing your praise", meaning, God I am inviting you in to tune and tweak and fashion my heart so that I might praise you in everything. 

"Stream of mercy never ceasing, calls for song of loudest praise", because You have yet to let me go. You have let to withhold your love and mercy from me and because of you I am alive and breathing and because of you I will sing at the top of my lungs forever. 

"Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Here's my heart take and seal it, seal it for your courts above", meaning let my praise be as pure as the angels and my heart be only accessible by You. Nothing else can make me or break me unless it comes from You.

Therefore I will not question this peace because I know there is no comprehendible answer.


Have you ever felt like this before?  


Love,

Saturday Obsessions: Thrift Stores+Books for Writers

It always intrigued me that people write books for other people who are writing books.

And you could say, I'm obsessed with those books.

I've read numerous books on the topic and all share the same common denominators. Ones that I cannot seem to grasp yet. They all encourage new writers to let the stories write themselves, read ALOT, and practice. 

Blurg. 

The last book I read on writing was that one by Julia Cameron I mentioned a while ago. It was incredibly down to earth and practical. What I appreciated most about her work is that she looks at being a writer just like a normal part of life. Very few things comes naturally to people and very few people are natural at writing. So her whole point is that if only the natural writers actually wrote, we'd have hardly any books to enjoy and educate us. Hmmmm.

Writing is weird because I feel like I'm writing all the time, especially with this blog. But I don't have a test or a scale to figure out if my writing is getting better and more comprehensive or not. I need a book on that :) I have been scouring thrift stores [side note: I heart thrift stores] for new books to read. Old books, new books, pretty much anything under the categories of literature, psychology [even textbooks], or writing. 

In fact, I got two new ones yesterday for $.50 each! One was Readings for Writers [originally a $40 book] and one was on Family Dynamics [originally a $20 book]. [You can get those through my bookstore.] 

So today I am going to read. Not write. Just read, head deep into my new books, because I want to fill my mind and then exercise that practice. Ooo, I just got really excited to be inspired. 

Do you ever get excited for inspiration??

Happy Saturday! Hope you have a splendid weekend.

Love,

**Don't forget about the flowered necklace giveaway!**

She's a Miracle.

On February 2, 2001, my baby sister Danielle was born. With four older brothers and sisters at a 10 year age difference, this kid was bound to be in for some lovin. 

On June 2 of 2003, Danielle was diagnosed with Leukemia Cancer. It came out of nowhere. For months her 2 year old body was filled with harsh chemicals, feeding tubes, IV's, and monitors. 

For 2 years we administered home chemo treatment, drove hours to hospital on emergencies, took blood, took temperature, had surgeries and sterilized the house from top to bottom. 

For 2 years this girl was our everything. She consumed us. We came together as a family and fought what could have been the most detrimental season of our lives. 

Our girl made it through the first year and was put on "maintenance" medications and treatments. She had to re-learn to walk, re-learn to talk, and re-potty train. It was like someone hit a Ctrl+Alt+Del button on her body. 

She lost all her hair [eyelashes, eyebrows and everything]! But she was a sweet, sweet joy. Though her days were filled with pain, she still smiled. Though her body was beat and worn, she still giggled and belly laughed. She was stronger than any of us through those days. 

After 5 years of remission, on October 10, 2010 the Dr's declared her cancer free.

::insert crying now::

And now today, February 2, 2011 our healthy, perfect, cancer-free, book worm baby girl turns 10 years old. 

She is our pride and joy. 

She is our reminder that God is sovereign, though not because He cured her, but because of the journey she took us through as a family.

I love you baby girl and I am thankful for your life every day.

Love,