Melinda "The Mushy".

Admittedly, I do have a “mushiness” streak. I love sappy movies and stories that make me cry, albeit happy or sad. I love Lifetime movies and old Hallmark commercials, books that I can leave tear-stained and sappy feature articles in the local paper.


Some of the greatest movies are the ones that make you cry. Don’t get me wrong, I love all sorts of movies--comedies and dramas, children’s movies and action flicks. They all have their time and place. When I feel like a comedy nothing else will do. However, if I leave a theater with no makeup left on my face, red eyes and swollen eyelids, there is no doubt that I wholeheartedly enjoyed it. Or at least it ended well.


I’m mushy in my every day life too. If you are a close friend of mine, you already know this. I’m not shy to tell someone how I feel. Anyone I love knows quite clearly how much I love them. They REALLY know. I am sure they wish that there were times when it was left up to the imagination a little more.

I'm an emotional person. With me you'll always know how I feel. If I am angry, annoyed, happy or if I just have a different opinion, you'll know. But most importantly, if I love you, you'll know that as well. If you are my friend, expect this. That’s what I have to say. You knew what you were getting.


I’m sure I’m going to be "that mom” that doesn't just love her children but really loooooves her children. You know her. Her kids are the ones you hear moaning and groaning, “MOOOOOOOOM!!!!” in disgust as they try to break through the barrier that is their mothers' arms in attempt to escape. Yep. That’s going to be me.

I am quite aware of this fault and to be completely honest, I’m not concerned about it in the least. When it’s all said and done and my children are grown up and living on their own in their own little houses, they will know that their momma loves them. They will probably catch themselves even MISSING the smothering. Perhaps they will even catch themselves doing it to their kids one day and roll their eyes in disgust. But underneath it all, deeeeeeep down inside, there is going to be that warm, lovely, mushy feeling. And they will love it.

I am totally for children being independent thinkers. I do want my children to be their own people without me and without their father. I’m big on being the best you that you can be. The truth is, you can still love your children this much and encourage them to be themselves. I’ll smother you and send you out the door to face the big, bad world on your own the best way you know how. Spread your wings and fly, little ones.


I may get angry. I may not agree with decisions you make. I may have a few things to say along the way. But I will always love you. Just remember that you always have a place to land. You can always come home. I’ll be standing at the door with my arms wide open to smother you some more.

Sunburst Wire Wall Art from West Elm

A few years ago, I requested a catalog from West Elm and since then it's been one of my favorite inspiration sources. This sunburst art is something I am ordering for my living room. I have the perfect spot for it...possibly two. :) My parents used to have a "version" of this in the seventies and perhaps it reminds me of that...only way cooler.

Blue Serving Bowl

This is exactly what I need for my coffee table. It's low and wide--perfect for being able to "look over" while lying on my sofa and watching television. The color is GORGEOUS and I just love the flecks of white glass inside. This is from sirius.fnord's shop on Etsy. She also has some adorable coasters that I keep going back to.

I heart Etsy. :)

Euro Tunic in Pink and Turquoise

This adorable tunic is from Little Overcoat's shop (Etsy). If we adopt a little girl I'm sure I'll become a repeat shopper of her shop. I fell in love the moment I ran across it. The idea is ingenious--and what a great way to reuse beautiful, vintage fabric!

She says it herself best: "Inspired by the tale of an old man who had a little overcoat, and when it became too old he made it into a vest. And when the vest became too old, he made it into a tie. And when the tie became too old, he made it into a button. We use as much recycled materials as possible--you never know what a little overcoat can lead to!"

I love almost everything in this shop and her items are quite reasonable priced. They appear to be well-made; however, I cannot truly vouch for this as I've not purchased anything personally from her. She DOES have 100% positive feedback out of 366, so that's promising.

If you are looking for original and stylish outfits for your little girl, check her out. She also has some other items listed including some adult clothing. I'm keeping her on my list, for sure.

Red Poppy Cards

Everyone knows...I love red poppies. I love their simple lines and bright, beautiful color. The aqua blue envelopes are the perfect accompaniment to the red (I've always loved aqua and red together). The size is perfect for thank you notes and I love that they can be personalized as well. The price is well set for such beautiful cards and the artist has several other stationery items that I have my eye on. I love little notecards like this--I think saying thank you on something beautiful just means more.

I saw these today at MichelleBrusegaard's shop on Etsy. Check her out--coming from the industry, I know how pricey this kind of stationery can be--especially with the colored envelopes and the card stock these are on. She has great prices and beautiful products.

myeena style / adoption blog info.

I've decided to start another blog just for the "style" posts instead of cramming my personal blog with tons of images and comments. They will now be posted at "myeena style" located here .

Feel free to comment and / or subsribe to that blog as you wish. It will be great fun to shop together and compare ideas. I'll post a link on this page to the right as well with an image for easy maneuvering.

I'll soon have the adoption blog up and running and it not will be linked in any way to this page. It's the organizational freak in me, I suppose--but I feel it will be better for everyone and for myself to separate my personal blog from the style posts and the adoption blog. The adoption blog will not be linked to this page for privacy reasons. This is for the children's safety and for my family's as well.

I hope everyone understands! If I know you personally, feel free to ask and I'll give you the link. I have this as a public blog and you will not have access to the adoption blog any other way than through me personally. :)

Thanks for everything--love to you all!!!

I was sent home early from work today due to lack of work. I suppose that's what happens when the day after Christmas falls on a Friday and you are dealing with print shop owners and designers who can set their own hours. They decide to take a long weekend. :) In my free time, I decided to surf Etsy while my hubby lounged on the couch, enjoying his ENTIRE day off from work.

I ran across this ADORABLE recycled book day planner from Doublebooked's shop. This is one of my favorite shops now and I've labeled her as such. She takes old books that are falling apart and soon to be discarded and creates little day planners and journals from them. This one in particular drew my eye as one of my favorite childhood stories. I think this such a cute idea and am now going to be going to yard sales trying to save an old book from destruction.

Family

Winter holds within its grasp so many dear memories for me. The hopeful expectation of cancelled days from school, skating in snow boots with my brother and making snow forts with all of the neighborhood boys. Sometimes I still stand outside in the cold, close my eyes and take a deep breath. There I am. I'm five years old in Ohio--sweating in a snowsuit I can barely move in and having the time of my life.

I remember lying in the snow and looking up at the tree branches, staring at the snow balancing on them. I'd watch it sparkle in the sunlight and I'd drift off into my own little world. And of course, many of those memories involve the Christmas holiday and Christmas break from school. I don't know that it was Christmas day itself as much as all of the love and happy times surrounding the holiday. I remember traveling nine hours to my grandmother and grandfather's house in Kentucky every year. I remember the anxiousness I would feel when I knew were getting close. I remember hoping I'd fall asleep so that the trip would go just that much faster.

But what I remember most of all was all of the love. Coming from a family that didn't spend a lot of time all together, Christmas meant that we would all gather in my grandparents home and get to know each other all over again. Everyone seemed nicer. My parents were more loving and even my brother and I seemed to get along that much better at Christmastime. I remember how I used to wish that Christmas came more than once a year. If only we could do this more often.

I suppose that is where most of the memories of Christmas stem from for most people. It's a time of gathering with the family you may not see that often, sharing memories, and making new ones. It's what so many people look forward to every year...some for many months ahead of time, and some for the entire year.

But I can't help but think...why do families only gather for once or twice a year like this? Are we all so busy that we cannot make time for each other for no other reason than "because we love each other"? I often wonder why this is. Why so many families can make time for other things--scheduling appointments, working around other people's schedules, planning for parties of other sorts...but to do this with our very own family is such a task.

Many people may say that feel this way because I no longer celebrate Christmas. This is true; I do not celebrate Christmas. However, I do remember what it was like to celebrate the holidays. I also realize that people are busy and it's hard to make time out of our busy schedules to get together. I also think it's a real shame that so many of us don't try harder. If one of our family members offered us a free cruise for two weeks to spend that time with them, we would definitely find a way to make the time to be there. How sad it is that we cannot do this more often for that one Saturday on that one weekend without the prize at the end. Or perhaps the time with the ones we love IS our prize.

I am guilty for not making the time I should. I suppose it takes the one person to plan the get-together to have everyone over. I suppose no one wants to "go through the trouble" of the cleaning and cooking and preparing for everyone to be there. I try to do this as often as I can. Perhaps this is something I should work better at doing more often. Loving someone means spending time with them and getting to know them. We may know the people we love...but if we only see them once or twice a year, how well do we really know them?

It's something we all need to work on, I'm sure. It's something that I have been thinking a lot about lately, considering the adoption and the expansion of our immediate family. When you are just a family of two it's easy to consider the other. When you become a family of three or four, it takes more effort. But it's definitely an effort that is well rewarded. Truly our children learn how to love by watching how we love each other. Love is what Jesus stood for most of all and what the basis of his teaching was about--the greatest gift from Jehovah God to us was founded upon love...and it's the greatest gift that we can give to each other as well.

Nest Egg Necklace

I was shopping Etsy today and ran across this gorgeous necklace at All Those Threes' shop. I absolutely love the simplicity and the beauty of it. I've seen several other "nest egg" necklaces that are an actual nest with pearl eggs inside...and always liked those. But this one is so different and unique. I also love the way it hangs on the neck--so gracefully.

I think this would be a great gift for someone adopting. (hint hint haha) The nest necklaces are said to symbolize a mother and her children. To me, this pendant symbolizes the awaiting of a child to come to you through another means...a symbol of hope and faith.