Adventures of Mommie-hood

Shakeology

2012-04-21T13:33:00.002-04:00

Let me begin by telling ya'll that Shakeology is my favorite way to start out my day nutritionally.

Shakeology was developed by Team Beachbody and is comprised of 70+ super foods. It is the healthiest way to start the day, hands down. It helps you lose weight and get healthy. I'll shed more light in a more descriptive post soon, but in the meantime I'll show you one of my favorite Shakeology recipes.

Red-Orange Choco Shakeology

1 scoop of Chocolate Shakeology

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of Tropicana Trop 50 Red-Orange Juice

Ice to taste (I prefer it thick so I use lots of ice)

And the delicious end result:

YUM! It's amazingly delicious and healthy!

You can order this from http://myshakeology.com/AvaMason

Ladies and Gentleman, I'm Back!

2012-04-21T03:13:00.000-04:00

Ok everyone, I am back!

I'm very excited to be back to blogging and have much to share! I've went through quite a few life changes since the beginning of this blog. I'm hoping that I can give some inspiration to single moms, divorced moms, separated moms, and married moms. I've been every one of those at some point or am about to be, but I still delight in simple inspirations.

Now that I have returned to the blogging world, I will be sharing things from my everyday life on all sorts of topics. I have recently become a Team Beachbody coach so that will likely influence my posts as I spill the beans on my fitness journey. I also absolutely love doing DIY projects, especially for/with my kids. I will also share recipes and nifty ideas I find along the way.

This is the official blog re-vamping! Hope ya'll enjoy!

Thoughts On Children

2009-08-23T15:25:00.000-04:00

Children.
The source of joy and happiness in our lives. They are also, many times, the reason for many of our tears. One example: Every time my daughter smiles, my heart swells with joy. Every time I must take her for her Well-Baby visit at the doctor for her shots, those peircing wails break my heart as I cry along with her. They say that a baby is something you carry in your belly for 9 months, in your arms for 3 years, and in your heart forever. Another popular quote said, "The decision to have a child is to forever have your heart walking around outside your body." My mother used to tell me that one all the time. I always knew she meant it. It just never grew wings until the day my daughter was born.
Sometimes I just stare at my daughter as she sleeps and its as if I can feel my heart growing. I used to think that was what had occured when I would look at my husband while he slept after we were first married. But now its entirely different. When you watch this child, you are watching new life. It's a clean slate with a plethora of possibilities. They could grow up to be many different things. They haven't made any of the mistakes of an older life and hold such a pure innocense. It's simply beautiful. When I hold her in my arms, I feel like I'm holding the entire world. She is the future. I'm sure that every mother can relate to the depth of feeling you have when you stare into your child's eyes and begin to wonder where they'll go, what they'll do, who they'll become. It's almost surreal. She is the joy in my life, the sunshine in my world. I am convinced there is nothing quite as wonderful and fulfilling than to be a mother.

Revelation In It's Best Form: An Update On Me

2009-08-23T15:12:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking alot lately. Doing lots of soul-searching and trying to find where I lost my way. Trying to figure out where I lost my spark, forgot my dreams, and began wandering aimlessly. Something I figured out was that when I fell in love...I forgot about myself. While being self-less is a good thing and putting others first is a good thing also, losing yourself and what makes you happy should not have to happen. But this is the time that I need to reclaim myself and who I am. I have decided that I'm going to start picking up the guitar again. I used to play all the time and I LOVED it. I wasn't amazing yet, but I was learning. And when someone entered my life who was very good at it and I'd watch them play...lets just say that instead of being encouraged to try harder, I was intimidated and felt very stupid playing around them - so I quit. I shouldn't have given up something I loved so much just because I was afraid. Today I stumbled upon an old binder full of old songs and guitar tab. And suddenly, all these memories flooded my mind of days when I would play those songs on my guitar, sing my heart out, and just have a good time doing what I loved - whether that was alone in my room, or at church, or in the dorms with the girls in college doing a little bit of praise and worship. My original inspiration to play came from the desire to have a talent and ability to serve God musically...and mostly because it's so much of who I am. I love music and there is something about it that drives me to God. I wanted to be part of that being driven to God through music and I wanted to be a part of helping others to be ushered into a holy place in their hearts and minds through music. But its like I lost that talent, ability, and desire when I stopped putting God first. I let other things get in the way. And when new things and people came into my life, I began to idolize them instead of just including them. A wise woman told me that men make great husbands, but lousy Gods. Lol. At first it's funny but then you think about it and its so true. And when I put my husband my #1 priority and put God on the back burner... I began to lose myself, my old friendships, my goals, my dreams, my desires, and eventually almost everything up to this point. And for those of you who are thinking that I'm targeting my husband, think twice. Anyone can make anything or any person an idol. It's just that in my case...I thought my husband was soooo wonderful and all that I put him up on a pedestal and idolized him. While he is important, he should not ever become an idol. But anything that you put before God is your idol. And I had definitely put my husband as my #1 before EVERYTHING else in my life, including my God - who is the ONLY reason I live.
So the point is...because of fear, and idolizing my husband, and putting God in the background - I lost it. All my hopes and dreams, my desire and passion, all the things that moved me and made me more than I am...and all because I lost sight of God. And I forgot in the process that the only REAL way to truly love my husband was to love God first and foremost - and then out of that pure love that only comes from God would flow the self-less and unconditional love for my husband. But I'll tell ya, when you lose sight of God and turn your focus...your life takes unsuspected turns into places you would have NEVER dreamed.
So this is the point in my life that realization has come. Revelation in its best form. And because my heart is changing and bending in the direction of my 1st love - God - my desires and passions are beginning to return. That cold, numb, and almost God-forsaken heart is warming up and beginning to feel again. My dreams are coming alive again. The passion and the depth that I once felt has returned. It's like I'm standing on the threshold of opportunity. And that opportunity is a HUGE and DEEP river - and that river is God and all He has to offer. And I'm so sick of just testing the waters and walking away. There is SO much more to life than that! And I'm so tired of being afraid of how deep the water is or where it'll take me! Now I just want to run and DIVE in! I want to be SWEPT AWAY in the strong current! I want to go wherever these waters, My God, will take me.