If you happened to watch the Today Show this morning, you may have caught this story.  If not, then I’ll take care of that for you.  It is certainly not one to miss.

The Tutu Project, photo credit Bob Carey

This is a beautiful love story.

A life-giving story.

A story that brings smiles to those who have lost a loved one and possibly lost the desire to smile.

A story that will hopefully help those struggling to get through rigorous chemo treatments.

A gift that will help those who cannot pay for their own health needs.

If I explain it here I will not do it justice.  So please take 5 minutes and go check it out yourself.

Then return here to tell me which of the 24 images is your favorite.

Mine? “motel”

Not because of the dynamic color, but because of the lack thereof.

The loneliness

The isolation

If this post has made you aware of this project and thus impacted you today, please consider sharing it with your friends.  Below are buttons to make it a one-step process for you.

Is this your first time to the Spreadin’ the Word feature?  You can nominate someone/something.  Here’s how it works.

I’ts Mother’s Day.

This will be my 3rd year celebrating my motherhood.

I’ts weird.

Undeserving.

I’ve celebrated my mom for 40 years, that seems more natural to me. Or even my sister who has 14 years under her belt.

When will it seem normal for me, to embrace the honoring on this day?  It shouldn’t be about me.

Maybe I  feel guilty. I didn’t want to be a mom.  Now I am one while others who want to be moms can’t.

Maybe it is just something to get used to.  I’ve gotten used to 40 birthdays,  however I typically don’t like to make my birthday a big deal. Move the spotlight somewhere else.

Mother’s Day is different though.  You are thanked and honored even by people who don’t know you.

Maybe I just felt like I needed to give a little shout out to those who are moms but not able to celebrate it for one reason or another. Did you give up your only child? Did you lose your baby at some point in your pregnancy or even afterwards? Maybe you desire to be a mom so strongly, yet cannot be one right now.

I cannot say that I understand… I don’t.

What I will say though, having the title of MOM is not what defines you or me. It’s who you are in light of your circumstance.  It’s the choices you will make in the next minute.  It’s the grace you will extend to someone tomorrow.  It’s moving beyond your failures and your past with a desire to learn and improve for your future.

Celebrate life.  With someone you love and appreciate.  If it happens to be your mom or your children, embrace them and think of those who do not have the opportunity to do so.

Celebrate your identity and choose to live it with each breath you take in.

I love you mom, sis & tina (tee-nah). You challenge me everyday to be a better MaMMa, wife, sister & daughter of Christ. Thank you. It is me who is humbled to stand in the company of these women and celebrate this day with you.

I am blessed and honored that God chose me to be a mom to Pule.  And on this Mother’s Day I got my wish.

God smiled and gave me Perfect.  Breath deep. I have life. What could be more Perfect?

What is your Perfect today?

All you pinners out there…I’ve got a community board, Pinned there, done that, you might be interested in participating.  Come over an join us!

Yep, you read that right.  Newman’s Own, you know, the Paul Newman food products?

It’s time to start doing some posts for Spreadin’ the Word.  Need to know what that is?  Check it out here.

I have not been approached by Newman’s Own to do a featured post.  This is purely on my own accord that I decided it warranted a Spreadin’ the Word spot.

MM and I like to watch Biggest Loser.  It reminds us that we need to be diligent with our food intake and we like to cheer people on as they grasp a hold of the issues in their lives contributed to the weight they carry.

In March 2012, Biggest Loser featured Newman’s Own and it’s partnership with Feeding America.  They will have segments throughout each episode that is product placement and paid sponsorship.  However, with Newman’s Own I don’t think anything was paid.

What caught our eye and why are you reading about it here of all places?  I was floored when I learned that Newman’s Own doesn’t make ANY PROFIT.  They DONATE all profits.  How cool is that?  They have donated more than 330 Million Dollars since 1982.

I am not always in the position to donate as I would like, so what better way to contribute how I can?

On top of that, their ingredients are ALL NATURAL.  They have a new LITE salad dressing line too.  You can read all the ingredients when you click on each product.

Now do you see why I thought it would be worthwhile to do a Spreadin’ the Word feature for Newman’s Own?  This product will be one of my “go-to” items for salad dressing, lemonade, popcorn, spaghetti sauce, & even cereal (I didn’t know they had cereal!).

I’m all about supporting a business that GIVES AWAY it’s profit, uses only natural ingredients & cares about my family’s nutrition…plus it tastes good too!

What about you? Is there a product/business you appreciate?  Don’t forget, you can nominate one for a Spreadin’ the Word Feature anytime!

All you pinners out there…I’ve got a community board, Pinned there, done that, you might be interested in participating.  Come over an join us!

Pule April 2012, 22 months

Mother’s Day is right around the corner (SERIOUSLY?!).  I actually had not thought much about it until it came up as a writing prompt on MaMa Kat’s list this week.

When I saw the prompt “the perfect Mother’s Day consists of…” I almost burst into tears.  The beginning of 2012 has been such an uprooting of my comfort and emotions on so many levels for me and my family.

This year we have not had the opportunity to celebrate my birthday, Valentine’s Day, our 4 year Anniversary, Pule’s 2nd birthday and a few days of celebration.  So many times we are focused on the day itself and not the celebration of what it represents.

Honestly I am fine to not celebrate my birthday.  I’ve done it now 40 times…that’s good enough.

But, I’ve only celebrated my marriage 3 other years.  {insert little voice} excuse me…we celebrate it everyday! Yeah …yeah.… I know, I’ve heard that many times, but I’m still getting the hang of it.  Realistically you DON’T celebrate it everyday, and some days you just want to make things uber special.

Being a MaMMa and celebrating Mother’s Day is similar in that regard.  Making the choice (that’s how I put it, but God would probably have something else to say about it) to go off birth control and allow God to control this decision in our life was a HUGE lesson in obedience and letting go of fear.

I don’t honestly think I could say that I celebrate being a MaMMa everyday.  However, I celebrate my daughter; the gift and miracle she is to us D.A.I.L.Y.  There is a difference.

But this year, with the challenges my family has encountered, I WANT to celebrate ME on Mother’s Day ON May 13th.

What would make it the perfect day?

Enjoying the day alone with my Pule, and MM right by my side.

Yes, that would be just perfect.

If you are looking for community on Pinterest, I opened up a community board called Pinned There, Done That on Pinterest for everyone who wants to repin their pins they have tried out…tested…worked…failed…you name it. If you found something on Pinterest and tried your hand at it repin it here with your comments (first I have to add you though! follow the instructions).

If you are new here and are curious what I have to say about How Community Can Hurt and How Community Can Heal, it might be worth your read. Especially if you find it difficult to engage in community.  Here we go…in just 5 minutes.

Start

It’s for everyone, no one should be left behind

It’s a risk, It’s a reward

It doesn’t work if you don’t try

It isn’t fulfilling if you don’t engage

It will shut you out, if you shut out the others

If you are willing and dive in A.L.L the W.A.Y

You WILL be fulfilled

You will be challenged

You will be loved, if you love

Support will show up on your front door, but you have to be the one who opens the door.

Get it?

Community will NOT come to you. You have to go to it.

Community will NOT BE if you do not work at it.

It’s worth it. I’ve tried living life without it. I drowned.

Stop...cause I gotta go up and do a few formatting edits, and I have to put away the soapbox.  Usually not allowed, but I’m going to break a few of the rules just because I want you to get it.

Hey, speaking of community, I opened up a community board called Pinned There, Done That on Pinterest for everyone who wants to repin their pins they have tried out…tested…worked…failed…you name it. If you found something on Pinterest and tried your hand at it repin it here with your comments (first I have to add you though! follow the instructions).

Geraniums, Spring 2012

My MIL has been visiting for the past month or so.  I honestly love it when she comes to visit, but I also have much apprehension about it.  Especially since Pule has been born and because of my feelings from the last visit.

When my MIL is here I try to find the balance of her need (notice I didn’t say her desire) to take a break and yet to keep her busy.  When she is not with us she is with my SIL caring for 7 children ranging from 3–18.

Her idea of needing a break is just getting away from it all.

My idea of her taking a break is to rest and relax.

That drives her crazy, so I have surrendered my idea of “break”.

This is the best time of the year for her to visit as Colorado is on the cusp of ushering in Spring.  One day we might have 75 degree weather and everyone itches to plant flowers.  Even the nurseries temp you buy pulling out all the flowers to the curb “please! Come and buy me…I’m so beautiful!”.  I don’t give in.  I have learned never to plant anything into the ground until after Mother’s Day.  We have been known to have snow on Mother’s Day.

So for my MIL visit this time, I decided to find common ground where I could and chose to start with gardening…but with a twist.  She planted seeds into pots that she would bring inside every night to avoid the frosty nights we still have.

Sprouting Seeds, Spring 2012

We also went to the store and found a beautiful geranium.  She continues to comment how beautiful it is.  Her seeds are sprouting and before she leaves on Monday I just might break my rule and put them into the ground with her.  Because this is our common ground.  She has been preparing the dirt for them just next to the grass we planted last year.  Sifting through and pulling out the rocks while I rake and feed our lawn urging it to return.  The time we would spend doing this together far outweighs the inconvenience of covering them should we get another frost.

This is something we can do together while Pule plays nearby.  It was very important for me to find a common ground for us during this visit.  Gardening seemed to be something that worked for us.  In the winter it’s watching The Price is Right and America’s Funniest Home Videos.  And I think Pule is enjoying it as well.

We also will cook together.  Although, at times, this requires some translation by MM.  We have gotten much better at figuring out what the other person is trying to say, but not always.  For a little humor, you might enjoy this post titled: I Don’t Want Her to Fire Me!

I hope that when she leaves she will remember this visit over some of the others.  Even though very few words are shared, I am all to aware that actions can speak much louder and more clearer than words.  I do believe we grow closer together after every visit.  Even the more challenging visits strong bonds can begin to grow.

A month ago I had my blog featured and had a link to the post: “If only I could Speak Samoan”.  It created a lot of comments and it was brought to my attention that it’s not just language barriers that can be challenging when it comes to communication.  I thought I had it hard, but I have come to realize it may be easier for me than many others who are challenged to communicate in English with their MIL (or anyone for that matter).

Do you have to find common ground when cultivating some of your relationships? What advice could you provide?

Pule 2 years

I’m just going to put it bluntly…these past 6 months have been extremely challenging for me and my family.  It has been a time of pain and suffering on many different levels.  Let me see…oh yes, here they are… I wrote about the importance of leaning on your community to help you heal & controlling what you can when you can.

However those two posts really did not address the personal journey you might be in, right now…in the moment of your suffering.  I actually was not going to write about this right now, but I prompted to do so.  You know, when you have that tug in your gut, the butterflies in your stomach.  Maybe there is someone reading this right now who needed to see it.  If so, then it was well worth it.

Much of the time music can bring me healing.  There is power in music, yet there is even more healing & power in the truth of God and knowing that you are not alone.  Sundays at church have been refreshing for me.  I’ve been encouraged, renewed, strengthened, and also challenged.  Not just with my pastor’s sermons, but also during our times of worship.  The time when you might be most vulnerable.  If willing, the time when you can surrender yourself before your Creator and allow yourself to be ministered to.

There are two reminders that have gotten me through this season of pain:

1. I am not alone in my suffering as Christ suffered far greater
2. If I am willing (which I believe I am), God is going to use this experience to expose a greater plan in my future.  Ultimately being that of a hidden blessing and an opportunity to glorify God.

Check out the lyrics for two songs:

“All to Him” by Desperation Band

For every mountain that is high He is higher
For every burden that is great He is greater
For every valley that is deep He is deeper still
More than we can know

Our promise is Jesus
Our answer is Jesus
All to Him
All to Him we owe everything
Our savior is Jesus
Our future is Jesus
All to Him
All to Him we owe everything

For every fear that closes in He is closer
For every doubt that comes on strong He is stronger
For every battle that we face He has conquered all
More than we can know

We know the great God
We serve the great God
We owe the great God
Everything all to Him

Jon Egan, Jason Ingram, & Mia Fieldes © 2012 Integrity Worship Music/ASCAP (adm at www.EMICMGPublishing.com), Sony/ATV Timber Publishing/West Main Music/Windsor Hill Music/SESAC, Shout! Publishing (adm at www.EMICMGPublishing.com) CCLI # 6151735

“Blessings” by Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Blessings lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group

There is a lot to chew on in those songs.  Maybe you are wrestling with why God would allow some things to happen.  That is between you and God and there is no cookie-cutter answer.

I’m not going to post my thoughts on how to overcome your suffering, or preach about embracing your challenges.  You may not be there yet (it took me some time to get to that point).

I wanted simply to share what has encouraged me in my time of suffering with the hope it might minister to one of you.

Are you in a place of suffering? Is there one thing that urges you to keep going and get out of bed each day?

Join me in repinning those pins you have actually tried. Visit my community board “Pinned there, Done that” and request to be added.

I am only one blogger, and a pretty new one at that (just celebrating 1 year), I decided to reach out to more experienced bloggers for some input.  I was quite honored to have them reply and participate.

Below is a selection of tips from everyone.  There were a lot of duplicate tips which just reiterates the importance of taking these tips into mind on any feature day you might have.

You’ve submitted your blog to be featured…now what?

You don’t know when you will be featured, but it will happen…someday (for SITS, I waited 9 months. Another feature opportunity might only be a month away).

Don’t wait & be prepared!

Leah from Far From Perfect MaMMa

Don’t think you have 2 or 3 weeks to prepare for your blog for a featured opportunity.  Start preparing NOW!  Personally I only had 5 days notice (fortunately 2 of those days fell over a weekend) before my feature day.  For other feature opportunities you should have a welcome post ready to go in the event a blog needs a replacement blogger or last-minute hole to fill.  Then do some personal touches depending on where you will be featured.

Do a little cleaning up each day so that it doesn’t seem like such a daunting task when you have only 24 hours left. You will always be tweaking your blog.  It will never be perfect.  Start working on the things you want to change now.  It will give you time to play with the plugins or design changes to see if you like them and want to keep them around.  Trust me, you don’t want to find something you don’t like on the day of your feature.

Write or freshen up your “about me” page. If you have not yet written one, now is the best time (really it should have been done before your blog was public).  Maybe you have not looked at it in the past 3–6 months.  Better go take a look, there might be some things on there you will want to update and make more current.

Posts leading up to Featured Opportunity

Charlotte from My Pixie Blog

Make sure the posts leading up to the SITS day are ones you are proud of showing off. Chances are, you’ll have many new readers and if they decide to poke around a bit you’ll want to put your best foot forward to give them a reason to return and follow.

Elevator Pitch:

Beth from OMG! Yummy

Be prepared! Don’t put off writing your elevator pitch — you never know when you’ll get a feature offer and need a photo and summary of your blog.

Welcome Post

Shell from Things I Can’t Say:

Most of the new traffic you will get that day will be from SITS so you do not need to spend a lot of time explaining what SITS is. Just a line or two with a link. You can always gush about SITS on twitter, facebook, or a follow up post. But your SITS day is about you.

Keep your post short. Under 300 words. Yes, truly, that short. Give a brief intro into who you are and what readers are likely to find on your blog. Highlight your popular topics or any features that you do. Include links, but limit to 3–5. You want to give people a feel for who you are, show them around your blog a little, but not have them think that they need to spend the entire day on your blog just to see if they’d want to come back or not.

Be Yourself and put your best foot forward

Beth from OMG! Yummy

Always put your best foot forward — even if your site doesn’t look exactly the way you want or you’re halfway through a blog repositioning (like me), you can still make each element the very best it can be — photos that are crisp and clear and cropped the right size, proofread, typo-free copy, a post on your own site that welcomes readers and opens the door to even more great content.  Also, be prepared with quality content after your feature day to take advantage of the boost in readership!

Utilize links, favorites & “related posts plugins/features”

Adrian from Adrian’s Crazy Life

Your day has finally arrived…are you doing a dance?

It’s finally here and maybe you have prepared the best you can, now what?  Yes, you can do your little dance, I did, but no one saw it (thank goodness!). The tips below can make all the difference to get people to your blog and to return after the spotlight moves down the line to the next blogger.

Replying to comments:

Leah from Far From Perfect MaMMa

This was my biggie disappointment.  Since I had just moved over from Blogger, I didn’t realize that I needed to install a plugin for comment reply notifications.  Turns out all of my hard work in keeping up with the comments was for nothing as no one who visited knew I responded to their comments.  This is so important for building relationships with other bloggers.  Having someone leave a valuable comment (not just the stopping by from “X” blog) is like someone stopping by the house to say hello.  I’m not going to ignore them at the front door and not respond.

Blogger has a fairly new feature that not everyone knows about.  You can now turn on the “reply” feature.  This will enable anyone to reply to a particular comment and the person who left the first comment will be notified that there is a reply.  Blogger has made it very easy.  Here is a quick step by step to turn it on.

If you use WordPress you will need to install a Comment Notification Plugin.  Be sure you go in after the install and check the settings to change them to your preference.  You may not prefer the default settings.

Utilize Social Media

Deirdre from JDaniel4’s Mom

I was so excited that I tweeted and facebooked my post on SITS and on my blog. Social media is so important on your SITS day. You get to use @SITSGIRLS on Twitter and reach all their followers too when you promote your day. It gives you a chance to reach beyond your own Twitter audience to theirs. The same holds true for Facebook.

The Spotlight is gone…but what really matters?

Maximize the new traffic

Leah from Far From Perfect MaMMa

• There will be a lot of traffic and a lot of comments. Take your time and respond to them (you don’t have to do it on THAT day!)
• Visit each blog who visited you. Comment with something meaningful (not thanks for visiting me on my SITS day, returning the favor). Let them know you read their blog. You don’t have to follow them! Your comment just might make their day and encourage them though.
• Pay It Forward: If you DID enjoy what you read, tweet about it, link to facebook, etc… Follow them on Social Media.  Maybe even subscribe to the blog.
• Keep in mind you do not have to do all this in one day.  My SITS day was back in the beginning of March.  I am STILL visiting each blogger.  This is extremely important to me since I didn’t have comment reply notification.  I respect the time people took (when I know they DID take the time) to read a post..or two..or even three.  I want to return the favor.…because for me it’s about building relationship and encouraging others.
• DO NOT do it out of OBLIGATION.  Don’t do the above steps because you HAVE to.  Do it if you WANT to.  If you WANT to build your blog, build relationships, and obtain more readers you will need to invest the time & energy.  It’s not just going to happen. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Some additional words for thought

Treat others how you want to be treated.  As you wait for your feature day, how do you treat other featured bloggers? When you visit them do you do so out of obligation or because their blog looks like one you might want to follow and read more?  “Roll call” is great (actually required from SITS), it shows your loyalty and enthusiasm, however for the featured blogger do yourself and them a favor and visit the blogs that really do intrigue you.  I would much rather prefer to have visitors who read something interesting or desire to know me and my journey more (another reason why your SITS post and welcome post is so important).

I have found many (only a few are excerpted here in this post) new blogs to follow thanks to SITS and other featured bloggers.  I hope mine was one that people followed because of SITS too.  I was encouraged and blessed by many of the comments people wrote.  It was an honor to hear from those who enjoyed reading my story about how MM and I met, the tender memories that was spurred by my post about the wedding gift from my grandparents, or even the challenges I face in as a bicultural MaMMa.  They touched others and in return I was touched too.  This is what it really comes down to…being blessed by others.  Please don’t jump from one blog to another because you have to, or out of obligation, but because you WANT to.

Do you have advice to pass along to others from a feature day you had as a blogger?  Maybe you were featured somewhere other than SITS? Please share them!

If you are waiting for your first feature, what is one takeaway for you and your blog?

A HUGE thank you to each of the contributing bloggers who wrote me with lessons learned from their SITS day:

Shell from Things I Can’t Say

Deidre from JDaniel4’s Mom

Beth from OMG! Yummy

Adrian from Adrian’s Crazy Life

Charlotte from My {Pixie} Blog

Teeth brushed. Stories read. Rocking in progress…she was waiting.…for her MaMMa

And sometimes a late night of getting to bed is totally worth it.

There are some moments for a parent that are more precious than others…tonight was one of those for me.

Something was different though. After being gone all day long I was happy to have her cuddling in my lap.

Instead of only scooping her up and kissing good night, we just sat and rocked.…and talked a little.

Pule & MaMMa holding hands (March 2012)

“Hands”.…“hold hands”.  I gave her my hand to hold, happy she had asked.  But one was not enough.  She wanted the other one too.  Both of her tiny hands being held in mine.  I cringed inside because my heart grew just a little bit bigger.  I thought it had grown enough, but no. God had other plans and it needs to grow that much more.

Today she celebrates 2.  Our Pule has been with us for 24 months and I don’t have to tell you how the time disappears.  But there are also some moments where time stands still…and your heart grows just a bit bigger.  This was one of those moments for me.

Happy Birthday my sweet Pule.  You challenge me everyday.

Challenging me to love you more and serve you more…daily.  I pray that this third year brings you exploration, joy, words, discovery, love, independence & peace.  And while I am challenged to be your MaMMa, I pray you are challenged too.  I love you.  You make my heart grow bigger and my eyes larger.

How has your heart grown bigger this week?

I selected this post for my Best In Blog this week. Don’t laugh…I know it was my only one, but hey! It happens to be one of my favorites in general. Simone over at Great Fun For Kids has a weekly link up which I like to participate in. Maybe you might want to give it a whirl. Nothing extra to do except pick your favorite blog from the previous week, add the button and link it up!

For the rest of you who are bloggers, more specifically, those of you who have had a SITS day…this is for YOU (well, I just need some input…the more brains the better than just mine)!

Just two weeks ago I had the pleasure of being the feature blogger on SITS.  Sorry if you missed it, and I’m even more sorry if you are a blogger and don’t know what I’m talking about.   SITS is a blogging community for women who are looking to be better bloggers and wanting to build a community of support as a blogger.  It was actually so encouraging a lots of fun to meet new bloggers.  I’m still going through and visiting each of the bloggers who stopped by and said hello.  It takes a lot of time!

I certainly learned a few lessons as I prepared for the day, on the day, and am still learning them!

So in the spirit of SITS, I am preparing a post called “What to expect for your SITS Day”.  While I have my own thoughts on what to do to help fellow bloggers prepare & engage, I know that many of you who have had a SITS day might have some valuable insight.  So, here is your chance to share what you learned on your SITS day (or in preparing, or thereafter!).

Here are a few questions to get you thinking.…

• What was most successful?
• Is there something you would do different if you had another SITS day?
• What lesson did you learn on your SITS day?
• What ONE piece of advice would you pass along to the next feature blogger on  SITS?
• Did you use Social Media to market your day? If so, what did you do?

If you have something to offer here, please send me an email (see that cool “contact me” slider on the left side?…just click there) answering one, two, or all of the questions above.  The more answers to the questions you are able to answer, the better chance of you being included in the post.  If there are duplicate answers only one might be selected.

Please be sure to include the URL you want me to link up, the html code for your badge (or just a thumbnail if you don’t have a badge).

Emails must be sent by 11:59 Sunday, March 25th. I will plan to post the week of April 2nd.

When the post is up, if you would be so kind to mention my post on your blog, social media, newsletter, etc… I would really appreciate it.  Here is my badge for you to grab for placement.  That’s it…easy peasy!

<div align="center"><a href="http://farfromperfectmamma.com" title="FarFromPerfectMamma.com"><img src="http://farfromperfectmamma.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Badge.jpg" alt="FarFromPerfectMamma.com" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I will email everyone when the post is ready to go.