Weekend Links

Ty and I visited the Getty Villa here in LA, and it was a pretty little surprise. I suggest going if you like history or art. 

Funniest thing I watched online this week: Breaking the Barrier. You know you've done it. (berniehatefield.com)

Most beautiful, real and still respectful thing I've read on Sandy Hook and God in schools. (Rachel Held Evans)

Totally forgot about this board that I was planning on using for Christmas this year... #pinterestfail. Gonna do the smores for my little siblings though. Shhhh. (Pinterest)

Just found out about BeautyArmy from makeup guru friend, Kendra. Gonna try it! Have you? (Citizens of Beauty)

My mind is consumed with the Becoming Girls Conference right now. My staff has taken team work and leadership to a whole new level. Ugh I LOVE them. (becominggirlsconference.com)

Interesting: All the Weddings I've Ever Been to, as I Remember Them. (The Hairpin)

Considering ordering this book. I loved Experiencing God and I think this might be a woman version of that. In a way. Online book club anyone? (Wonderstruck)

What's new around your world? 

Home Birth VS Hospital Birth

I made Ty watch The Business of Being Born with me. 

It was an act of love really. I wanted to watch it for educational purposes but it turned out to be one giant, holy-crap-what-is-happening-session. But I would recommend it for first time moms. 

At least for me, it was informative and enlightening on the decades old battle of home versus hospital births. This particular documentary was a little heavy on the home birth side of the argument but understandably so. I think. 

Like I said, this is my first time. 

What I've been contemplating the most is the freedom aspect of labor and delivery. I know I cannot program nor predict how those days will run, but I at least want the power to say yes and no, music or no music, people in my room or no people in my room, walking around or not. 

I've heard horror stories about nurses and doctors manipulating situations, women who didn't want drugs ended up getting them, women who did get (and want) drugs and they didn't work, etc. And I've heard horror stories of home-birth panics, health scares, unpreparedness, etc. 

All of the above scare me. But just a little. 

I understand this is a tricky topic, but it's one that a lot of you know and care about. 

So, the virtual floor is open:

-How/where did you do labor and delivery?

-What do you wish would have happened?

-What do you wish would NOT have happened?

-And any other unsolicited advice and website references:) 

*Please keep comments and opinions respectful as this can be a tricky and personal topic. We are discussing information and not personal attacks. Any rude or disrespectful comments will be deleted.

 

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The Girl that Sings blog isn't a mommy blog, but I do post updates, stories and topics of motherhood I'm discovering and others I'm wrestling through once a week on Thursdays if you care to enjoy and join the convo.

Mo's Merry Christmas Music

Tell me your favorite Christmas album/song ever! I need to stock up for next year :)

My Pre-Pregnancy Body

Everyone says your body is at its sexy prime between the ages of 20-25. Or really, anytime before you have a kid. 

I know it's a real thing, the pre-pregnancy and post-pregnancy body thing, but it's one of those phenomenons you can't really grasp until you experience the widening hips, the extra padding around the midsection, and the bust boost. (This post might be traumatizing/over the line for the men, sorry about that.) 

I've read some hilarious posts on topics like "what no one tells you about pregnancy" and "before I got pregnant..." and others of the sorts. Here's my brief rendition.

Before I (miraculously) became pregnant:

• I could talk on the phone and walk at the same time. Without sounding like I just ran a marathon. 
• The only problem with doing laundry was that I didn't want to do it. Now, stretching ligaments allows for only 1-2 loads. (Thank goodness!)
• Eating was something I did because I enjoyed it. Now, my body curses me at 3AM for more applesauce. Or bacon. 
• People said I wouldn't show til 16 weeks. Lies. All lies. Everyone is SO different.
• Nausea meant a mean case of the flu. Now, it brings me comfort. 
• I didn't think it was possible to love Ty any more than I already did. Now, we've entered a whole new beautiful world. 

I love being pregnant. Laying on that doctor bed, with it's crinkly paper and bright white lights, the ultra sound tech placed her chilly wand on my belly.

For a split second she couldn't locate the baby and my heart dropped. 
Turns out, Baby Mo likes to hang out a little more north than usual. 

I cried, first tears of relief and then awe.

Baby Mo was kicking around like a little soccer player (though I can't feel it yet) and it made all the chubbiness, abnormal bodily functions, and nausea worth it. 

There is a human being growing in my belly. A real, live, human being. 

That beautiful truth will never cease to amaze me and everyday I am overwhelmingly grateful. 

More on it next week. 

Baby Details: 13 weeks / Baby is moving around / Baby is size of a peach / Momma is craving mexican food and bacon

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The Girl that Sings blog won't turn into mommy-dom, but I'll post updates, stories and topics of motherhood I'm discovering and others I'm wrestling through once a week on Thursdays if you care to enjoy~

God is Pursuing You (and me)

Sometimes I forget that God is actively pursuing me. 

I forget that His love for me is so overwhelming when I stop and think of who He has made me to be in His eyes. I forget that there was never a "good enough" benchmark that I had to meet in order to deserve His love. There was no race I had to run to be accepted by Him. I just was. 

Then this morning, He reminded me. While eating my sliced apples and sipping my tea-cup full of coffee, He reminded me that His love, it never ends. It is new, every single morning. 

I knew that was a verse somewhere in Scripture, so I googled it, naturally, and cried over the whole passage. 

I wanted to share it with you because I know some of you are struggling with this whole God thing. Others of you, like me, have simply forgotten the depth of God's love for you. And then there may be some of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, but you know something is missing from your life. So be blessed dear friends and remember today, God is pursuing your heart. ~

I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.I remember it all-oh, how well I remember-the feeling of hitting the bottom.But there's one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up.They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left.


Continue reading...
 (Repost of New Every Morning)

A Stranger Mothered Me Back on Track

Original Photo Source / Edited by JMorlet

It's okay to be nice to a complete stranger. I'm grateful for the lady that taught me this lesson.

I was sitting in the corner of my favorite hometown french bakery, sobbing my eyes out. I tried my best to conceal the tears, but the mascara smudged down my lower lids was a dead giveaway. I couldn't help it. I was at my wits end, and with every last ounce of girth in me I struggled to put on my every things-going-to-work-out cap on. 

I knew it would. It always does. But at that moment, I was tired of waiting. 

I ordered my usual, a breakfast crepe with eggs, ham, mushrooms, cheese and strawberries, a stared off into space as though the answers to my questions would inscribe themselves on the back wall. 

Now, please understand there is a slight possibility I was overly emotional and approaching PMS week. 

Nevertheless, off into space I stared. 

For about 15 minutes. 

And then the sweetest little old lady walked up behind me, gently rubbed my shoulder and whispered five words that shifted my mood and my philosophy on strangers. 

She said, 

"Sweetie, you need to eat."

In that moment, that woman was my hero. At a time when I felt all my decisions were either being made for me or non-existent, she gave me the simplest of directions. I needed someone to remind me to focus on the next right thing. I needed to eat. I hadn't eaten anything all day.

It was like she knew that and instead of pitying me in her mind and walking away, she sweetly and gently took the time to mother my exposed heart. 

There are people in your life today, that need you to help them along to their next right thing. Look for them. They will come in all different shapes and sizes, looks and styles, ages and genders. Regardless, they need you to notice them and sweetly whisper something like, "Sweetie, you need to eat." 

What Are Your Christmas Traditions?

Original Photo // Edited by JMorlet

Last Year I did a series with my friends on our Christmas traditions. Since our little family is starting soon, Ty and I've been chit chatting here and there about traditions we might want to try with the Morlet Clan. 

I had a lot of fun re-reading through these and thought you might find them sweet and original. 

*IMAX, Ornaments and Bingo, by Misty Gatlin

*It's Not Christmas Without Tamales, by Crystal-Lee Howley

*A How-To on Tamales, by Marissa Bryson

*Documenting Christmas Dinners, by Laura Tremaine

*Remembering the Old and Learning the New, by Aislin 

*One Big Day of Little Traditions, by Tamara Clare

*Cake on Christmas Day, by Tammy Hodge 

What Christmas traditions does your family do? Tell me!

I Will Never Forget the Other Side of Motherhood

I have resisted the idea of Mommy-Blogger. I once went to a conference, having no idea how deep and wide the Mommy Blogger identification went, I was bombarded  overwhelmed by them.  

But now, I am a mom. No getting around that. 

I think mom thoughts, like how if we have a girl she won't date til she's 32. 
I feel mom feelings, like how love is showing up in quantities I didn't know existed.
I see mom sights, like this adorable stroller I will kill for. 
And so on. 

But I will also never forget the other side. 

I will never forget what it feels like to read someone's pregnancy announcement and cry tears of joy and longing in the same flow. 

I will never forget what it feels like to see my ugly crying face in the bathroom mirror because my period came, once again. 

I will never forget what it feels like to want something so bad, that without it you're not sure who you will be.

I know what it feels like to be broken, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. 

I know what it feels like to be angry, at something completely out of your control. 

I know what it feels like to be hurt, by a God you've ascribed your whole life to.

But I also know what it feels like to have hope. Not just because I got pregnant, but because I was always a mother. Whether in 2012 or 20 years from now, by conception or adoption. 

I am someone's mother and you, all of you whose stories I've read and cried over... 

You are too. 

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The Girl that Sings blog won't turn into mommy-dom, but I'll post updates, stories and topics of motherhood I'm wrestling through once a week on Thursdays if you care to enjoy~

Becoming Into the Weekend

This conference has been consuming the better part of my year. Tomorrow we're having one of our last team meetings before the big event (Jan 25-26). I could start a whole blog about my team and how they work together, sparking one another's inspiration and creativity.

I love these girls and all that they represent.

I am passionate about this next generation of women and girls, rising up to be who God called them to be.

Not feminists with an I am woman hear me roar, but girls who are discovering the heart of God and more specifically, the heart of God for them. 

If you're new, myself and team of (amazing) women and girls put on a 2 day conference for Middle School and High School girls. We invite moms to come too.

We have fun and there is always lots of goodies~

This year, we're incorporating a real live horse...on stage...doing backflips.

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In other news,

Next month's blog series will be on The Secret Life of American Teenage Girl. Not related (entirely) to  the TV show. The boy series will follow.

Christmas is 16 days, 2 hours and 40 minutes away.

For those of you who hear my cries for help on Facebook, thanks for your input! Loving the Etsy stores.

Ty and I, as horrible as it is, are in a not so silent Christmas Gift competition every year. We set a budget on what we're allowed to spend on each other and this year, I'm going to win. Guaranteed.

Have you seen this Instagram vid?? #peedmypantsitssotrue

Oh, and it's the weekend.

11 Things Not to Say to Newlyweds (and Why)

Every newlywed has that question that is like lemon on a salted wound or the broken record that is on everlasting repeat. Here's what not to say to a recent newlywed.

I'm guilty of these too.

1. How's married life?
This is kind of an exception because, in all honesty, you probably really want to know. Or do you? Newlyweds get this way too often, and answers can become rote and rehearsed. Of course they're not going to tell you about the actual married life, if you know what I mean. Let's try to change it up to what's the best part about marriage? or what's shocked you so far? 

2. Soooooo when are those babies comin??
I want to meet the first person ever that asked this and slap them. Kindly. Almost all newlyweds will smile and give you some long far off timeline but honestly, they don't know just as much as you don't. Life doesn't work like that.

3. Are you all settled in?
Timeline is very important here. 1 Week after the wedding: are you kidding? Have you unpacked a house before? 1 Month after the wedding: The proper answer is yes, because I don't want you to know I haven't touched anything since we've moved in... 1 Year after the wedding: If we're not by now, we never will be. 

4. Is it different living with a guy?
You're expecting them to tell you some funny story about the toilet seat being up in the middle of the night or the sink full of shavings, but what they're really thinking is I had no idea guys fart in their sleep! So yes, yes it is.

5. Aww sweety you look so healthy!
Why do you patronize me so? I know you mean, Aww you're gaining marriage weight. 

6. Oh I bet you're still in the honeymoon phase.
Maybe. Maybe not. And if they're not, they'll just lie to you anyways and that's gonna make them feel really bad.

7. Oh you two are young, you'll get the hang of it.
The urge to respond with a big fat, "duh" is unbearable. We understand you're reminiscing of the younger years in that sentence, but we're living in the younger years and we could really use some chocolate.

8. Honey, no one's an expert on marriage, but...
As you proceed into your 20 minute monologue alluding to the fact that you are, indeed, an expert on the subject, all they're thinking is that is so not my marriage. Everyone's different. Let our advice be as such.

9. How's the sex?
No! You better be the BFF if you're asking this question. If you're anyone else, back off. In.appro.priate! 

10. It just gets better. 
Though you're probably right, this can be either really good or really bad. How long does it have to be bad to get better? Or wait, it gets better? Than this?! But I love this!

11. Marriage isn't all about the sex.
Right now, it probably is. Or maybe it isn't. But you don't know that. Preconceived notions about the percentage sex should take up in a marriage isn't up to the cultural norm to make. It's up to the couple. Let it be.

What To Say Instead: I'm so happy for you!
Yes. This is the most amazing response we ever received as a newlywed couple. No pressure to talk, no weird questions to answer, and yet we knew our friends and family were happy for us.

Got some to add?

10 Tricks to Fuel Your Blog Writing

1. Carry a mini-notebook everywhere.
Ideas escape faster than they fly in. Catch as many as you can and decipher their quality later. There are dumb ideas, but if you don't write those down too, you'll never spot a good one.

2. Get the Evernote App
I use this app for nearly everything pertaining to writing. Songs, blog posts, random quotes and books I need to read. It syncs up with any device you have the app on (iPad, iPhone, Mac, etc) and is available offline. Love it.

3. Get the Weave App
I use to only make my shopping list on Weave, but now I categorize and plan out my posts with this baby. You can set due dates, keep track of time spent on posts, and assign to-do's to various projects. It's an organizer's Disneyland.

4. Scan Facebook & Twitter
What are people talking about on Facebook? What are they retweeting on Twitter? Who are they mentioning? Find out what people care about, and then get creative with how to mold that into your niche. Sometimes it doesn't work. Other times, it's your golden post. 

5. Eavesdrop 
I said it. I tried this one day, totally nervous someone was going to catch me, and it was a huge eye-opener to what people's conversations really revolve around. Different areas will have different norms and cultures. In LA, almost all the conversations I've caught glimpses of revolve around relationships. Make sense huh? 

6. Take a walk.
Writers have been doing this for centuries. "Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move," wrote Henry Thoreau, "my thoughts begin to flow." He describe walking as, "a great art." Whether it's the rhythm or the movement, the seeing or hearing, walking enacts all the senses of a writer. (For an interesting article on Walking and Writing click here.)

7. Develop a routine.
I've started looking at Pinterest every morning right when I wake up. But not for house cleaning tips or hairstyles. I have a board I've called "When in Doubt, Look at Me," and in there I put colors, pictures, art and photos that stand out to me. Sometimes I don't know why and other times I do. Then I choose one to keep referring back to throughout the day. It forces my mind go deeper in thought, story development or theory. 

8. Think Back
What memories do you have that fit your writing niche? Are you a mommy blogger? Write about a childhood memory of your mother. Are you a fashion blogger? How about how you insisted on wearing your ballerina costume on picture day! Home decor blogger? Everyone has a memory or two of "decorating" your room with Crayola Markers. 

9. Ask Questions
Some of my biggest blog series came from this one. I asked what people wish they knew and at what age. Nearly everyone said their 20's! So I did a series on What No One Ever Told Me About My 20's. Bingo. Most read series to this day. 

10. Write a Yes Share | No Share List
Blogging can be, and usually is a very personal endeavor. Not matter how "business" you make it. People read your blog, well, because they like you. Early on, I made a list of things I was okay with sharing with the public and things I would steer away from. Over the years, some things on the NO SHARE list have hopped to YES SHARE list. And vice versa. 

Wanna start a blog? Here's an online course to get you started.