Pray For Nepal

When I heard about the Nepal earthquake, my heart sank.  Our dear sweet Amanda, that is part of our ranch camp family, just posted a picture about a week ago of her standing on a roof top overlooking the city of Nepal.  She had just arrived there as part of a mission team.

I automatically started searching for someone from our camp family that may have spoken to her....and well she and her team are okay!  Praise God!   Now instead of going for their original mission...they are part of the relief efforts to help the city and people of Nepal.

I am so thankful that she is safe!  I can't even imagine the devastation they are experiencing.   The mix of emotions that they and everyone there are experiencing!   My heart aches!

There are a lot of organizations for you to contact and offer your support through.....and if you have one that you normally use for disaster relief funds, that's awesome!  ...but I'm offering an organization that I have supported and donated to for a few years now.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/  please check them out!  I know it's difficult to trust and donate when you aren't sure your funds are going for what they are supposed to go towards. BUT there are many..that are legit!   Samaritans purse is one of them....check it out for yourself!

One thing we can most certainly do...is PRAY!  Please pray for our dear Amanda and her team! PRAY for Nepal!  

~love~  Marcy  

// i don't understand grace completely but i do know this: it meets us exactly where we are but refuses to leave it where it found us //
by Amanda Clair Szerszen    

Can I Run WITH You?

Sitting here on Sunday morning sipping my coffee, trying to come up with some profound post to update my lagging blog.....yeah...I guess this blogging thing is tougher than I thought....I keep reading these awesomely put together posts by these amazing writers and I think...I just can't compete.

Obviously, one of the important details in blogging is having the time.  I think about the time I spend online everyday...and reality is.  it's not much.  I browse here and there.  I check my Facebook and comment or like or try to do my part to encourage my fellow bloggers and friends.  I usually forget about my Twitter.  I just don't seem to have enough time!  

I have my blog to reach out and hopefully inspire and remind women that despite the difficulties, there is life after divorce.   I don't always have something profound to say or words of wisdom to offer. I know that I want to be a successful blogger.  I know that I am not sure how to make blogging work for me right now.  BUT I know I am suppose to do this...and I know until I get it right, I will keep at it. Perhaps down the road I will find, that it's really not my thing. BUT if I have touched one woman.  If I have reminded ONE woman that there is life after divorce and that they are NOT alone, then my blog has done it's job.  

Life is so much easier knowing that we are not alone.

I'm in this everyday race of life just like everyone else.  And just like everyone else...we can all say at one time or another it is down right tough!  Sometimes I just like to know that I am not alone in this race, don't you?    

Will you run with me?    (Or in the words of Mr. Rogers..." won't you be my neighbor?" )

I have always wanted to run this race with YOU!   So let's make the most of this beautiful race...as long as we're here together, we might as well say....won't you be my partner?  

LOVE,

Marcy 

~~Wordless Wednesday~~HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!!

http://www.ashleymikulaphotography.com/n5a2ccibvga45ylotf22tkex0tvpcw

~ Who's that Cover Girl?!? ~ OMG! IS that ME?!?!? ~It Can't BE!!! or Can it?? ~

Back In February, I went to a friend of mine for a glamour photography session to update my photos and well to just hopefully feel pretty.

Correct me if I'm wrong....BUT....I'm pretty sure I am not the only woman who while on her way home from a long day at work with tousled hair and remnants of the makeup she so carefully applied at 5 o'clock that morning...  is standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, looks at that magazine with the beautiful, airbrushed almost to perfection woman on the cover...and thinks to herself......yeah....right...if only...  And while we know that it is airbrushed and that those women have their own beauty blunders we secretly wish just once I'd like to feel the confidence that that model seems to be exuding.  "Just once I would love to FEEL THAT beautiful!"   Please tell me I am not the only one who has had such thoughts??

I have always struggled with the idea that I am pretty.  Not really feeling very pretty at all lately, feeling more like a frumpy mommy.

This is where Ashley and her glamour shots come in (http://www.ashleymikulaphotography.com/glamourboudior/pijfx7ttx5w32at7mum9dqwnapl4h7) ....Ashley is this amazing talented photographer...talented in so many areas! Not to mention she has really great hair and is so pretty..and SUPER cool!   And she is the reason for this blog!!! She is the great gal that got me started with blogging and set up this awesometastic blog!  

I end up setting up a glamour shoot with her...where I went to a local salon she partners with here in Western Pennsylvania....Salon Eye Candy (http://salon-eyecandy.com/) in Belle Vernon..they do the hair and makeup... go back to Ashley's studio and play dress up!!!! She made this awesome tulle skirt/dress...OMG..I felt like a princess!!!   I EVEN had false eyelashes....shhhhh..I KNOW right?!? ...but seriously!  THAT was way cool!  I had rockin' eyelashes!  just sayin'!

During the photo shoot..I was a little anxious...a little like...I'm too old to do this..I'm too chubby to do this..and really I am just not that pretty...anyhow...she puts on some music and we laugh and talk and she shoots away! It was so much fun!!!  Not to mention I got to go home all glammed up, great time to make it night out on the town..btw!

Then the best part is when your pics are done, she calls you and you go to her studio where she has them displayed like some exhibit!  HOLY cow!  I remember walking in and seeing MY pics displayed so beautifully!  I was like WOW...that's me?!?!  WOW...I'm not so bad! I have never felt more beautiful than I did that day! I felt like a cover girl!  LOL!

How many times do we as adult women, really take time to pamper ourselves and do something like this?  Mostly NEVER!!!   I think every women should do this...especially as we get a little older..we need to remember that we are beautiful. We need to feel it again and prove to ourselves that we really aren't all the bad!

Ladies, I urge you to find someone in your town and to take the time to do one of these glamour shoots...or even be daring and do a boudoir shoot!  HOW cool would that be!?!?  Not sure if I could pull that one off...but seriously, go for it ladies!  It's time to take back that power and remember that YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.facebook.com/IntimatePortraiturebyAshleyMikula?fref=ts

LOVE,

Marcy

https://www.facebook.com/IntimatePortraiturebyAshleyMikula?fref=ts

Do You REALLY Still Love Me Now that I No Longer Fit Your Definition of Who You Think I AM.

I love this quote from Author Dean Jackson.....
a lot of what I've felt since I've gotten my wings.

We all have differences, different political views, religious and other social differences. We all have quirks. We're all a little unique in our own ways....embracing differences doesn't mean you necessarily agree with some one's view point.  If you love and embrace someone, it doesn't mean you are going to end up with their quirks or differences... just means you embrace the human that God created. GOD created us differently....and guess what, since He created us that means HE knows we have those difference.  And guess what HE accepts us and our differences.   HE loves us.  He tells us to LOVE others...tells us the greatest of these is LOVE....that's funny!  REALLY?  Do you still love me since I no longer fit the mold you say I should? BUT I know God does...and the work He has started in me is not finished or perfected until the day He calls me home.

My ex stopped by last evening to drop something off for our son, he says, I hear you are learning to play the Ukulele....then he proceeds to ask about the white water rafting and the other things I've done since he and I have been a part....then says to me..I didn't realize you were into all of that stuff......hmmmmmmm.....maybe that's' because you didn't give me a chance to show you that side of me because you were so busy telling me what I did and didn't like.  

MADE me think about the people who have left my side, the people who removed me from their circle of friendship since the divorce and I've started learning who I really am.

Do we REALLY want people to be themselves?  Do we really want to know their differences?  I don't think so.

And how do you be yourself without being completely self serving...there is a fine line between being yourself and putting yourself before others.  We need to have a healthy balance of knowing who we are and being true to our likes, dislikes, and our personalities.

Today,  I'm seeing a lot on social media posts about being yourself..that we are all different and how we should embrace that....REALLY?  Funny how now that I've started to find out who I really am and have stopped letting people dictate what I like and don't like...over these last few years the people who have disappeared from my life... what is that again about how we are ALL different and we should just be ourselves???  Come again?!?

People are funny!  Be yourself.....but I'll only like you if your version of yourself is someone I can accept and tolerate.  

It's really true...you really do find out who are your true friends by who is still by your side after the skeletons have come out of the closet.  

I let go and I've decided to be just who I AM!  Weird, unique and different!


Love the weird and unique



Marcy!!!

The Single Mom Debate

Being a single parent doesn't necessarily mean you are physically single.  You can be a single parent if you have a spouse that is in the military while they are away for great lengths of time, or if you have a spouse who travels for work a lot. Michelle Obama referred to herself as a "busy single mom". I mean come on, she is married to the President?!  How can she claim that...but really I'm sure she has "felt" that at times she is doing it alone.

She then self corrected herself in saying "Believe me, being a busy single mom - or I shouldn't say single, as a busy mother.....Sometimes you know, when you have a husband as President, you can feel a little single.  But he is there" She is essentially saying that she sometimes feels as though she does it alone.  And I can empathize, that yes, she probably does "feel" alone at times.

Just because a partner is physically present doesn't mean a parent can't feel that he or she is taking on the role of raising their children alone.

Single parenting doesn't necessarily have anything to do with relationship status...but relationship status certainly factors into it.  Single parenthood, I think can be defined by the level of social, financial, and custodial responsibility one assumes for the child/children.

I also saw this meme that was circulating on Twitter and Facebook.......when the anonymous married father who posted this was asked why he did so...his response was that basically he feels as though some people use the single mom term to pretend they are going through a struggle.  He feels as though some successful people pretend that they grew up rough....Mothers with GOOD fathers who pretend that they're in the same position as women who do it alone.

He went on to say that he knew women who had their children 7 days a week with little to no social interaction from the father, who paid everything, without the help from government assistance, who kept up with their childrens' educational and extracurricular activities .  To him that is being a single parent...and he's not wrong.

He says its a slap in the face to the women who really do it all alone.  I appreciate him "sticking up" for those who really do it all alone.

While I don't disagree with his thought process....I think that if we have ever cared for our children at any length alone or with out equal involvement or participation from the other parent, we can all empathize with single parenting experiences.

It's not about "us"verses "them" in the arena of motherhood.......being a mom is being a mom...Mothering is mothering is mothering.  End of story.  It's ALL hard, who am I to say who has it worse......It's a tough job and only a MOM can do it!  ;)

Here's to ALL the moms out there!  God bless!

Love,

Marcy

Learning to Love Me! My Journey to Change My Body and Mind....

One week in with my 24 Day Challenge.  The first phase of my challenge is the cleanse phase in which I have 3 more days.  Along with the cleanse and getting rid of the toxin in my body in order to better aid my hopeful weight loss, I've been doing a mental cleanse.  They say a good cleanse is good once in a while.  

As I have stated before, I have always struggled with my weight.  Always gone up and down. At the same time I have always been mostly active, working out up to 6 days a week. Staying as active as I possibly can mostly because I want to FEEL good and have energy.  All the while secretly wanting to have those rock hard abs and sculpted legs. To which has been a life long struggle..when it comes to the sculpted legs...I don't know that I have ever achieved that part..even with working out at the gym 6 days a week, my legs looked a heck of a lot better than they do now..but I still had the cellulite!  AND.... that my friends, is what has attributed to MY poor body image.

Body image is one's body perception and judgement of one's size, shape, weight and other aspects that relate to body appearance (hair, skin tone). 

*Can be different from how body actually appears to outside observers

*Influential factors in body image, reactions by others about one's appearance, comparison w/others and to cultural ideals, physical characteristics, parents, siblings, teachers, peers, coaches, media.  

So part of the mental cleanse I am doing is to remember why I feel the way I do about my body and what I need to do to purge those negative perceptions that I've acquired and allowed to take a hold of my life.  

I've told you all about my negative thoughts about my legs.  I remember two distinctive episodes in my life that I know have attributed to that negative view of my legs which has made it my life long mission to over come it.  ONLY two times has an outside observer said a negative thing and I have allowed those two times to "scar" me for life?!?  

I have challenged that negative voice inside me before and I've won the battle....but lately,  I've realized I am falling back into listening to that negative voice once again. 

My mental cleanse once again has started with taking my weight loss goals seriously and my workouts seriously. Taking those goals seriously has opened up the inner beast and I am ready to face the negative voice that says I can't and tries to shame me into hiding.   It is about shedding/cleansing those years of self hatred, shame, and misplaced criticism.  They really don't belong in the here and now!  

I love the quote "don't let anyone dull your sparkle".    I'm not gonna let that negative voice dull my sparkle!  

Have a great week and stay warm!  

Love, 

Marcy